Code: Amy
by Angelxoxo8
Summary: A new girl teams up with the Lyoko Warriors in the fight against Xana.
1. Xana Awakens Part 1

**Angel: Hello everyone. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Angel, and this is actually a second attempt at a Code Lyoko story. The first one didn't do so great, so I scrapped it, but I'm trying this again, because this is one of my favorite 2000s shows of all time. And for those of you who do know me from my other stories, hi XD I know that this prequel didn't come out until later into the show, but I thought it was best to start out with this first, since a prequel is supposed to...you know, precede the show? XD**

**Most of season 1 might seem short in terms of episode length, because I wrote them about one or two years ago and I just never bothered to fix them...back then, I was still in college, and I just never had the time to post the story, not to mention I was doing other stories that took up my time. **

**Oh...and I'm on season 3 ^^' Don't ask. **

A 4'10 blonde boy with glasses sits in front of a computer. He's wearing a long-sleeved blue sweater, beige khakis, and blue sneakers. _"Diary of Jeremy Belpois. Kadic Academy, Eighth Grade student, October 9__th__. A few weeks ago, I was hunting for parts to finish building my miniature robots. I couldn't find anything around here I could use, so I decided to rummage for scrap in the abandoned factory not far from the Academy." _Jeremy opens the hatch, climbing a ladder. He crawls out, running across a bridge to the entrance. _"I figured that I could find plenty of cool, old mechanical stuff left inside there that would be useful."_

Jeremy looks at a rope, grabbing it. "_And I wasn't disappointed, it was unbelievable!" _Jeremy slides down the rope. _"I stumbled into some sort of complex, with an entire computer lab with scanners, and especially this totally intense mainframe." _Jeremy presses the button to the elevator. _"For the moment, I haven't told anyone. It's my little secret. It's the coolest thing that's ever happened to me. And that wasn't all. That night, even though I was scared stiff, I decided to start up the computer." _The lever appears in front of Jeremy and he grabs it.

"I hope I'm not gonna regret this in a minute," he says to himself. "Okay, go!" He pulls the lever and the computer glows bright, making him scream. He backs away to the elevator, adjusting his glasses. He rubs his chin slightly, deciding to go down to the computer lab. The doors open in front of him and he gets into the chair, cracking his fingers.

"Now, let's see what you've got under the hood, my friend." He starts up the computer and a pink-haired girl with elf ears, one earring on her left ear, and pink eye make-up appears in front of him. She has her eyes closed. "Wow, what's all this?" The girl wakes up at his voice, looking surprised. "A video game?"

She looks around curiously before finally noticing him. "Who...who are you? W-Where am I?"

He gasps, his glasses falling from his face.

* * *

The bell rings at Kadic Academy, Jeremy's school. The students walk into their class, a gray-haired woman with glasses and a white lab coat at the front. Jeremy sits up at front, near a brown-haired boy.

"Um, are you Ulrich Stern?"

The brown-haired boy behind Jeremy turns to a boy dressed in purple. His hair is partially purple near his forehead. "Uh, that depends. Who wants to know?"

"Odd Della Robbia, his brand-new roommate."

"What?" Ulrich turns to him in surprise.

"I'm new at the academy and the principal told me to move in with you," Odd tells him, Ulrich raising an eyebrow.

"Latch onto me sounds more like it."

"Relax, I'm totally cool. Trust me, you'll see. You won't even know I'm there," Odd reassures.

"I sure hope so. Look, we don't exactly go way back, so just for now, let's take things nice and slow, okay?" Ulrich warns, pointing to him.

"Okay, nice and slow," Odd holds up his hands in defense. A black-haired girl with a yellow headband and a pink outfit walks to their table.

"Hi there, Ulrich sweetheart. I've got something very important to tell you."

"Important like uh, 'I lost my mascara' or 'my pink t-shirt ran?' " he retorts.

"No, nothing as serious as that. It's something about you and me, Ulrich. If you wanna know more, come by my dorm tonight at 8. I'm counting on you," Odd just watches in amusement and she walks away, two boys nearby staring. Odd turns his chair around.

"Ulrich, sweetheart?" He places his hands behind his neck as he winks. "Who's the good-looking babe?"

"Sissi, she's the principal's daughter. Guys flip over her, but she's only flipped over me," Ulrich explains, unamused.

"That's pretty cool."

"Cool? She's totally brain-dead and a leech as well," Ulrich puts a finger to his temple.

"Well in that case, it's pretty lame."

"Class, I'd like to introduce another student, Amelia Smith." The teacher gestures to the door as a light brown-haired girl walks in, looking to be close to Odd's height, if not a little taller at 4 feet and nine inches tall. She wears a baby pink shirt with a purplish grey border and two black buttons on the top. A light blue sleeveless denim tunic is over her shirt and she wears a black belt around her waist. She wears a flowing pink skirt which has a black rim, a blue necklace on her neck. Her shoes are grey boots to her knees and she has on black tights. Her hair is down and wavy to her waist, pink streaks in her side-swept bangs. She holds a baby pink bag in her hands. She smiles, walking inside and to Jeremy's table, sitting down next to him.

"Whoa..." Odd murmurs, winking. "Now she's a babe."

The bell rings, Odd opening the door as he's telling Ulrich a joke. "And the wiener says, 'I don't have frog legs, that's just the way I walk!' " He laughs, but Ulrich doesn't. "Ya get it?"

"No, but what I am beginning to get is that you're determined not to give me a break," Ulrich says in annoyance.

"We're gonna have to get to know each other. And you'll see by the end of the day, you won't be able to do without me," Odd replies.

"Why don't you get to know her?" Ulrich jerks a thumb behind him and Odd turns around, seeing Amelia walking out of the building.

"Fine, I will. Hey, new girl!" Odd calls out, waving. She turns to him, smiling brightly. She walks over to him and he holds out a hand. "Odd Della Robbia at your service!"

"Amy," she grins, shaking his hand.

"Welcome, Amy. I'm Ulrich," Ulrich introduces himself.

* * *

Jeremy sits down in his chair at the lab, typing. "Artificial intelligence? Can you hear me?"

The girl from before appears on the screen. "Yes, but would you mind calling me something else, please?" She requests.

"Okay, how do you like the name...Maya?" He suggests.

"Maya?" She thinks it over. "I like that, but what I'd really like is for to tell me what I'm doing in this virtual universe."

"That's not so easy," he confesses, since he didn't know all the details. "But I've already got a couple of answers. You're part of a virtual environment called Lyoko, and you've gotta try to get out of there. Look around for a door or something like that."

Maya is in a digital environment, it seems, sitting on an eye logo...She looks around, standing up. A pathway is in front of her and she starts walking. Maya presses against the walls. "Jeremy, I can't find anything, I-" She phases through and looks around to see a forest. She was in a tower that's glowing white. "Jeremy, I...this is weird, you have to see this."

"I'd love to. You think you can give me a visual?"

"I'll try," she tells him, Jeremy waiting patiently. "Huh?" A screen pops up, showing the forest through Maya's eyes.

"Wow!" A map appears near him. "Maya, there isn't just a forest out there. There's an entire world! I count four sectors, each one is different."

Maya gasps, stopping as two monsters come from two paths. They have the same eyes that she was standing on. "Uh, Jeremy? I'm...not all alone out here. There are some animals."

"That's fantastic! This virtual world has an entire ecosystem with virtual living creatures, can you get-" They start firing lasers at her and Maya starts running.

"Jeremy! They're attacking me!" She shouts.

"Run away, Maya. Get back to the tower," he tells her. She gets hit by one of the lasers, falling just in front of the tower. An ID card appears in front of Jeremy and it glows red. "Maya, hurry up!"

She stands up and runs, getting hit again and falling inside. She looks to be unconscious. The ID card stops beeping. "Phew...your...your life points are regenerating."

* * *

A black-haired girl in black clothing puts a coin in the vending machine. She stirs her drink, walking past Amy, Odd, and Ulrich. They had drinks in their hands.

"You know what I was thinking. You know your girlfriend there, Sissi?" Odd asks.

"She's _not _my girlfriend," Ulrich points out.

"Cool!" Odd throws his cup in the trash can. "So that means she's available," he crosses his arms.

"She looked kinda stuck-up to me," Amy frowns as she sips her hot chocolate. Jeremy walks past them to the machine.

"Thank you, Amy. At least you're not blind. I'm telling you, she's lame. Plus no offense, but you're not her type," Ulrich says.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot."

Jeremy suddenly gets electrocuted. "Belpois!" Ulrich exclaims and he falls, unconscious. Ulrich throws away his can, running to him. "Hey, Belpois, you okay?" Ulrich puts his glasses on for him. Amy bends down to him. "We'll take him to an infirmary, tell a teacher okay?"

"Mmhm," Odd runs off. Amy helps Ulrich with Jeremy, slowly walking to the infirmary. They don't notice the buttons showing the same eyes as the monsters from Lyoko...

* * *

The nurse checks over Jeremy. "Nothing too serious, just a minor electrical shock and some superficial burns."

"You wanted some juice, well you got some," Ulrich jokes, Amy hitting his arm slightly with her elbow.

"Very funny, Stern, but thank you all the same," Jeremy says in amusement.

"Hey," Amy places her hands on her hips.

"You too Smith."

"Don't mention it, we'll come by to check on you tonight after my martial arts class," Ulrich leaves and Amy waves at Jeremy.

"Bye Belpois, I've got some unpacking to do," she leaves as well.

* * *

"How are you all?" A man with red and black gym clothing asks later that night. He's Jim, the gym teacher as well as the supervisor of the school. "I'm happy to see so many of you here tonight." Despite him saying that, Ulrich is the only person there. "Canari Paya! Kogusoku! Jutsu!" The same black-haired girl from before walks into the gym. "No, these are not dishes from the Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant." He laughs at that. "Uh, no offense, Miss Ishiyama."

"None taken, sir. I'm Japanese," she corrects. He rubs his head.

"Yeah, well, whatever. Anyway, these are combat techniques that can save your life! As they did for me when I was a forest ranger in Quebec."

"Really? What happened?" Ulrich questions curiously.

"That night? Well, I was quietly enjoying a waffle with maple syrup by my campfire when I was attacked by a vicious beaver!" Ulrich smirks in amusement. "Its razor-sharp teeth were going for my jugular, but I was able to save myself thanks to my perfect mastery of the Raging Hand of Lei Fu Chang!"

Ulrich and the girl burst out laughing. "What? What's so funny about that?"

"Excuse us, sir," the girl apologizes.

"Honestly, I think you would've been better off not talking about it!" Ulrich exclaims.

"Right. Okay then, enough laughing. Let's get into groups of two." The only two stand up, walking past him. The girl bows to him before they take stances. The girl kicks, but he ducks. She proves to have good skills.

"Pretty good for a beginner."

She kicks him in the face and he falls to the ground. She tackles him, holding him by the shoulders. They stare at each other intensely before realizing how close they were, blushing.

"Not bad," they look up at their teacher. "But you could both use a lot more work. That'll do it for tonight, kids. Battle each other and go get some beauty sleep." They stand up, the girl bowing in respect. Ulrich turns and leaves without having bowed back to the girl.

"Well nice to meet you too," she narrows her eyes.

* * *

Ulrich walks back to his room, opening the door and dropping his backpack. "Huh?!" The room is a total mess, a dog on his bed. "What is with this mess? Where did that mutt come from?!"

"Uh," Odd sits up. "That's Kiwi, my dog. He just had a little fit, that's all. You understand, the poor thing's not used to being cooped up."

"I mean, look at this! My CDs, my clothes, he's trashed everything! And he-argh! Did you see what he did in my bed?" Ulrich states, not at all happy. Odd walks over and cringes.

"Oh, sorry, but I couldn't take him out with everyone around. There are no dogs allowed at Kadic."

"No kidding! I think the principal's gonna be interested in hearing about this!" Ulrich smirks, closing the door.

"Oh, that's okay, Kiwi," the dog tears up Ulrich's pillow. "My little diggity dog!"

Jeremy is typing on his computer in his room, a robot next to him. Suddenly, his computer shuts down. "Hmm, what's going on?" It starts up again, showing the same eye yet again. "Hey, I've seen that logo before." He turns to his robot starting up, the same eye appearing from the lens. Jeremy gasps nervously, Ulrich walking past his room. Amy opens the doors, holding a notebook.

"Oh, hey Stern. Belpois forgot his notebook when I took him back from the infirmary-" Jeremy screams from inside his room. They turn around and Ulrich opens the door, seeing Jeremy being attacked by the robot.

"Hang on," They try to pull the robot off him, only to be slightly shocked by another one. "Hey!" Ulrich stomps on it, knocking it away using his martial arts training. The computer turns off and Amy grabs a book, smacking the robot off Jeremy.

"...Sorry, I'll build you a new one," she looks down at it.

"No need," he groans.

"Your little friends are kind of aggressive, maybe you should check their settings," Ulrich suggests.

"I had nothing to do with it. They just attacked me all of a sudden," he explains.

"You lost us, do you mind explaining?" Ulrich presses for more information.

"No, forget it," Jeremy looks away.

"Come on, tell us. Maybe we can be of some help," Ulrich says.

"Yeah, it's not like the world's gonna end," Amy shrugs. "...I don't think."

"What if you suddenly get attacked by a hairdryer and we're not around?" Ulrich jokes, Amy snickering.

"Ha, very funny," Jeremy still won't let up. He didn't want to tell his secret, they'd think he was crazy.

"We're not leaving this room until we know what's up," Ulrich sits in his chair, tapping his right leg over his left one.

"Dude, you've been shocked and your robots attacked you. That equals not normal," Amy presses in slight annoyance. Jeremy leans against his desk and Amy crosses her arms, leaning against the wall as she raises an eyebrow. Ulrich turns, but Jeremy stops him.

"Okay, what have I got to lose? I'm already in over my head, so I might as well tell you. This is so crazy." He looks at the door, walking up and closing it. "But first, tell me if you can keep a secret."

Ulrich and Amy glance at each other.

* * *

They start walking across the bridge to the factory. "That tunnel in the gym is a great way to beat curfew," Ulrich replies.

"Yeah, and there's another one on the campus as well," Jeremy explains and they walk up to the rope. "Ladies first," Jeremy gestures to the rope. Amy jumps up and grabs it, sliding down safely. Jeremy climbs down. Ulrich lags behind. "What's the matter, scared of heights?" Jeremy calls out.

"Uh, no," Ulrich closes his eyes, cringing as he slides down. They go down in the elevator and into the lab. Amy looks around in awe. "Okay, so that's the mega computer you started up?" Ulrich questions.

"Uh huh. It's actually a supercomputer. It's ultra powerful and while I was examining it, I found out that it runs a virtual universe called Lyoko," he tells them.

"You know what, Belpois? This morning's electric shock fried your brain," Ulrich points to his head.

"Oh, come on. It's not _that _unbelievable. I mean, yes, that's science fiction, but...yeah, I got nothing," Amy murmurs.

"This is just the control center of the factory, that's all," Ulrich dismisses. Jeremy types in some keys and Maya appears.

"Oh yeah? And what would you call this, huh?" They turn to Maya. "A program for spray-painting doors?"

"Hello, Jeremy," she greets.

"Who's the girl with the pink hair?" Ulrich asks.

"And how did she get there?" Amy questions.

"That's Maya, a form of artificial intelligence who lives on Lyoko. I don't know what she's there for yet," Jeremy replies.

"This...this is..." Amy says in shock.

"Don't mess with me. You programmed her, right?" Ulrich asks in disbelief.

"No," Maya answers. "I woke up the moment that Jeremy restarted the supercomputer. I don't know who I am. My memory has been erased."

"Maya has to hide in some kind of a tower." Ulrich raises an eyebrow at Amy, who shrugs. "As soon as she leaves it, she gets attacked by monsters. You've gotta believe me, Stern and Smith. This is an incredible discovery!"

"I don't know, Belpois..." Amy confesses.

"Let's say it is...what if...what if it's just some kind of giant video game?" Ulrich crosses his arms.

"Then it's a very dangerous game. My robots are programmed just to go and fetch a ball. And they just tried to kill me, don't forget. You SAW them. What's more, the moment they attacked, a kind of logo appeared on my computer screen. The same one that the monsters had on Lyoko." Ulrich turns around in his chair, Amy standing next to him.

"Better and better. Do you mean then that the virtual thing that attacked Maya also wants to kill you?" Ulrich points to him.

"That's what it looks like."

"...This can't be all coincidence," Amy places a finger on her chin.

Ulrich turns around. "You know what? If that's true Belpois, if it's that dangerous, I think you should shut it down and call the police."

"Okay...but first I want to help Maya to understand what she's doing on Lyoko," Jeremy explains.

"Say what?" They both ask.

"I really do, and if I'm right, we can materialize her right here on Earth," he looks away shyly.

"Oh, that's too much. What makes you think you can?"

"You'll see, Stern and Smith." Jeremy smiles.

"...You know what, Belpois? I believe you," Amy confesses and they turn to her. "You getting shocked, the robots, the logos...they're all connected somehow. I think it makes sense, and if you really wanna help Maya, then you've got me on your side."

"Thank you, Amy!" He smiles brighter.

Sissi has a mud mask on, getting ready to meet Ulrich. "This one is absolutely perfect! Tonight, my dear Ulrich, you're all mine..."

* * *

"What's all this?" Ulrich questions as they're in front of something.

"Scanners, I still haven't found the program that can bring Maya back to Earth, but I dug up the one which allows someone to be scanned and sent to Lyoko. In fact, the supercomputer analyzes your molecular structure through these cabins, and then breaks down your atoms before digitalizing them and recreating a digital incarnation in the virtual world."

"Hm, in English?" Ulrich scratches his head.

"You go inside the cabin, you're teleported to the virtual world," Jeremy elaborates.

"So, we can actually go to Lyoko?" Amy raises an eyebrow and he nods.

Ulrich taps the scanner that Jeremy's in. "Jeremy, these things don't exist yet. There's no way," he shakes his head, Jeremy crossing his arms.

"You still don't wanna believe me," Jeremy points out.

"I would love to, but virtualization is straight out of science fiction," Ulrich argues, Amy turning to him.

"You're kidding, right? And what would you call tonight, hm?" She gestures to the scanner and they see Jeremy sitting on the scanner.

"Why don't we try it out? That way, you can see for yourself," Jeremy suggests. "But we're gonna need a guinea pig."

"A guinea pig? No problem," Ulrich gets an idea.

The only question was, was his roommate gonna kill him?

* * *

Odd snores in Ulrich's room, his hair messy. Ulrich stands over his bed. "Well, got a surprise for you, doggy. You're gonna be virtualized," he places his hands behind his back. Kiwi pants, not knowing what he was in for.

Sissi waits in her room, already ten minutes past 8. She huffs impatiently, pulling out her cellphone.

Ulrich's phone starts to ring as he picks up Kiwi. Odd hears it and turns around just in time to see Ulrich leave with his dog. "Hey!" He runs after him.

Sissi gives a blank look, shutting her phone. She stands up and leaves, stomping along the way. Ulrich runs past, not even noticing her. Odd tackles her to the ground and she looks up at him.

Odd appears at the staircase. "Hey! Ulrich!" They both run after him and he runs downstairs to the boiler room. Odd and Sissi look to see a tunnel leading to the factory.

"Where's he going?" Sissi asks. "I'm sure there's another girl behind all this!"

Odd narrows his eyes. "No look, it's not a girl, it's Kiwi, my dog."

Sissi faints at this revelation.

Ulrich pants, pushing the button which closes the elevator. Odd and Sissi run up, looking at it go down the shaft. "But why is he taking Kiwi into this factory?"

"Who knows? Maybe he wants to use him for some horrible science experiment," Sissi suggests.

"You watch too many horror movies," Odd replies.

"Yeah you're right, that was pretty dumb. It's probably more like some sort of ritual sacrifice or voodoo thing!"

"Nice doggy, don't move," Ulrich warns as Kiwi is in the scanner. He climbs up the ladder that leads to the lab.

Odd and Sissi climb down the ladder from the shaft.

Ulrich comes down, Amy and Jeremy turning to him. "Everything's cool, guys, the mutt is in the scanner."

"Okay, let's see how it goes. It's not gonna be a piece of cake."

"I hope Odd's not too mad we're using his dog for this," Amy cringes.

Odd jumps down into the scanner room from the shaft. Sissi follows him. "Those things look like coffins," Odd points out, tilting his head in confusion.

"You're right! Maybe it's the tomb of an Egyptian Pharaoh, huh?"

"Right, we're all set," Jeremy finishes setting things up. "I'm starting up the procedure."

"Let's hope this works so Stern over here can actually believe it," Amy snorts, jerking a thumb to Ulrich.

"Kiwi! Are you okay, boy?" Odd steps into the scanner, picking up his dog. Jeremy presses enter and the scanner starts up. Kiwi jumps out of Odd's arms and out the scanner. "Hey!" The doors close in on him.

"Oh no! You're going to be mummified!" Sissi panics.

"Transfer guinea pig. Scanner guinea pig." They see a human silhouette, however, and not Kiwi's. "Huh? I-wait...that's a weird-looking dog."

"That's no dog, that's Odd Della Robbia!" Ulrich realizes.

"Wait, how did he find the scanner room?!" Amy exclaims, turning to Ulrich, who rubs his neck sheepishly.

"Uh, I don't know how to stop the procedure!" Jeremy explains.

"Heeelp!" They look to the ladder and Ulrich decides to check it out.

"Man."

Odd is virtualized into the forest, but as a cat? He lands roughly. "Ouch! W-What's going on around here? Where am I?" He looks down at himself. "And why am I dressed up like a giant purple cat?" He's in a purple cat costume with cat paws and a tail. His hair is also spiked to go straight up.

Amy couldn't help but laugh, covering her mouth. "_Uh, Odd Della Robbia_?"

"Uh, who's calling me?" Odd looks around.

"_It's me, Jeremy Belpois._" Jeremy is using his headphones to talk to him.

"Is this a joke or something?"

_"Uh, no."_

Ulrich jumps into the scanner room. "Sissi?!"

"Oh, Ulrich!" She turns around to him.

"Wait, Sissi's down there too?!" Amy asks in surprise.

_"Ulrich, it's okay. Odd is safe and sound on Lyoko,"_ Jeremy is also talking to them using his headphones.

"Am I...in a video game?" Odd asks. "It looks like the set for Babylon Ninja Fighters Three."

_"Actually, I don't really know. It's a virtual world, that much I'm sure of."_

"Cool!" He's suddenly hit from behind, seeing the two monsters that attacked Maya. "Uh, that's a lot less cool. Uh, there are these giant cockroaches attacking me, is that normal?"

"Yeah," Jeremy answers as he looks at the map.

_"Oh, nothing to worry, then."_

"That's not what I meant. You gotta get out of there," Jeremy says.

"But how?" Amy asks him and he doesn't answer.

_"Ulrich, Della Robbia is in danger. And I need time to devirtualize him. I don't know what to do_!"

"He needs help. Do you think you can send Amy, Sissi, and me to Lyoko?" Ulrich asks.

He hears a spit take, which was from Amy. "What?!"

"_Well, I can always try_." Sissi cringes nervously.

"What? Send us where, Ulrich?"

"To a virtual world where weird monsters wanna massacre you. You wanted to go out with me, now's your chance."

"No thanks," she waves a hand. "Uh, I prefer real worlds. I'm not into the other kind. Plus I couldn't possibly miss cheerleading practice tomorrow morning."

Amy climbs down the ladder, walking to one of the scanners. "I can't believe I'm doing this...but he needs help," she steps inside and Ulrich does the same.

"See ya, chicken! Jeremy, we're ready to go."

_"Okay, I'm starting the procedure." _

The doors close in on them and they turn around. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Amy." Wind comes in, flying Amy's hair in all directions. "Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

_"Odd, hang in there. Ulrich Stern and Amy Smith are on their way to give you a hand."_

"Great! I was starting to get bored here all alone." He looks up to see Ulrich and Amy being virtualized into Lyoko. Ulrich looked like a samurai. They land roughly.

"Ouch! Aww..."

Ulrich stands up, looking around at the environment and himself. The boy looks similar to a samurai, with an Oni drawn on his back. He pulls out a sword from the sheath on his left hip. "Wow! This sword rocks!"

Amy looks at herself in awe. Her outfit is a high-waist, hip-length frock, primarily fuchsia, with orchid, violet, powder blue and soft green trimming, thistle, above-the-elbow translucent gloves that are decorated with various pearl colored jewels, and soft green and light yellow, ample butterfly wings with orchid outlining that are bejeweled with pear shaped and colored decorations. Her forewings are edged with a convex tornus and she has terminal hind wing lobes between a convex apex and tornus. Her hair is now styled into two small buns while the rest of it is out, and has grown several inches in length to her ankles. She dons strappy, cyan colored barefoot sandals, and wears a cyan tiara upon her head. She feels something behind her back and pulls it out to reveal a spear.

"Oh wow...this is so amazing," She murmurs in awe.

"Hey, that's not fair, how come he gets to be a samurai? That's so much cooler!" Odd complains, blushing at Amy. "And Amy is a fairy? Totally unfair!"

Amy touches her hair and wings lightly. "I have no idea why. Maybe the computer just reads into your own subconscious desires and projects them onto your digital incarnation."

"I don't dream about giant purple cats!" Odd argues. "What's more, I'd rather have a weapon like Ulrich or Amy! Not these great big useless paws!" Suddenly, an arrow comes out from his paw, Ulrich dodging it.

"Hey, watch out."

"Hm," Odd looks down at his paws. "These arrows are pretty cool. I take back what I said. Amy, you look awesome," he winks and she grins.

"Well, I did like nature fairies when I was little," she confesses. "Never thought I'd actually be one."

Sissi and Kiwi appear from the elevator, the girl gasping in shock. "Wow!"

"Try to hook up with Maya in her tower. Hold on, I'll give you the coordinates," Jeremy says.

"Who's this Maya?" He turns to see Sissi. "And what is that thing?"

"It's-it's the mainframe of a supercomputer." Suddenly, the red logo appears on his screen. Kiwi barks at the electricity coming from the wires and they shoot up from the floor. Sissi screams as the wires have come to life.

"Who's this Maya?" Odd asks Ulrich and Amy as they walk.

"A virtual girl who lives on Lyoko," Ulrich tells him.

"Oh, you mean there are babes here too? Great!"

Amy rolls her eyes. "Not why we're here, Della Robbia."

"Yes, but I get the impression that Belpois has flipped for her," Ulrich comments.

"For a virtual chick? Is he nuts?"

"Kinda. Jeremy, are you gonna give us those coordinates or not?" Ulrich looks up.

_"Jeremy? Are you asleep or what?" _Jeremy ducks from getting zapped as Kiwi continues to bark.

"Sic 'im, I said. Sic 'im, you dumb mutt!" Sissi tries pushing him forward, Jeremy getting shocked.

Odd turns to his left. "Huh? Look, I see a tower. It could be that one." They see a glowing blue tower in the distance. They run up to it. "Is there a door?" Odd presses against it, only to phase through. He ends up near the platform and he hangs on. Ulrich and Amy go through the same way he did, only to fall and catch each other's legs. "I can't hold on for much longer! You're too heavy! Drop your saber and spear!"

"Nice try, but forget it," Ulrich states and they fall, screaming.

Suddenly, they get out of the tower and are in a new environment. This one is ice-based. There's a red glowing tower in the distance. "Okay, right. Where are we? Where did the forest go?"

"How should I know?" Ulrich retorts.

"I think what happened to the forest is when we came from this tower, it took us here. So maybe the towers are gateways to other places in Lyoko," Amy explains, gesturing to the tower behind her. At least, that was the best way she understood what just happened. "That's not gonna help us find Maya if this is the case..."

"But you see the tower over there? Weird how it's not the same color," Ulrich points out.

"Hmm..." Odd sees it. "And those creatures, they're kind of weird too."

"What cre-" Amy turns to his direction to see three block creatures. "Oh. Those creatures." One of them starts to power up.

"It might be a good thing to beat it, don't ya think?" Ulrich suggests. Odd nods at him and they run as they fire lasers.

Sissi holds Kiwi as a shield as Jeremy falls to the ground. He gets grabbed by one of the wires, screaming as he's electrocuted.

Amy, Odd, and Ulrich are surrounded by the blocks. One of them powers up behind Ulrich and he deflects it with his sword. Another one fires a blue laser and Ulrich dodges it. The third one fires lasers behind Amy, but Ulrich speeds over, deflecting it.

"Wow!"

Odd makes a shield appear from his arms, deflecting a laser. A laser is fired at Amy and she puts her arms in front of her face, making an ice shield appear.

"Whoa..." She murmurs. Ulrich speeds to a block, jumping and landing on top of it. He hits it with his sword, but nothing happens. He jumps back to the two. Ulrich deflects another laser.

"So how do ya kill these things?" Ulrich questions.

"I wish I knew. Hey, you wouldn't know how many life points we have?" Odd answers.

"No," Ulrich deflects more lasers. Odd gets hit and he suddenly disappears.

"Odd!" Amy shouts and Ulrich jumps to a block, hitting it in the eye. The block is destroyed.

"Yes!" Ulrich pumps his fist.

"So we have to hit the eye..." Amy murmurs before Ulrich is hit, disappearing. "Oh no!"

Amy turns around, jumping from lasers. "Come on, come on," she looks to her wings before they start to flap. She laughs as she continues flapping them, lifted from the ground. "Alright! I got them to work!" They start firing at her again and she disappears too.

Ulrich appears from the scanner. "Great, at least we're alive."

"Uh, alive? Well, if you say so. I think I'm about to throw up," Odd calls out.

"What happened to Jeremy, though? Why didn't he come back?" Amy wonders.

"AHHH, HELP US!" Sissi shouts as her answer. She starts crying in fear as Jeremy is in trouble.

"Uh oh," Odd comments as the three have entered the lab from the scanner room.

"Ulriiiiich!" Sissi cries.

"Hang in there, Jeremy!" Ulrich calls out, seeing a bent metal stick. He hits the wire with it, getting shocked himself. He falls to the ground, about to be attacked by a wire, but it stops.

"It works the second time!" Odd had hit the wire with the stick again. "I told you that by the end of the day you wouldn't be able to do without me!" Amy helps Ulrich get away. He slices the wire off and the wires drop Jeremy. Sissi looks up, walking over to them. Jeremy gets into the chair.

"Maya? Are you there?"

Maya appears on the screen. "Yes, is everything okay on your side?"

"Well, we're a little shaken up, but it could've been worse!" Jeremy chuckles.

But in Lyoko, the red glowing tower still lingers...


	2. Xana Awakens Part 2

**Angel: For those who want Amy to be paired with someone…I suggest you wait as more chapters come out and then it'll be obvious *winks* Also, I'll be updating Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No specific time really, since I just got back from work and I have classes Monday and Wednesday...**

The next morning, at breakfast time, Sissi is sitting next to Ulrich, staring at him. She sighs lovingly.

"Hey lovebirds, sleep well?" Odd comes up...with the Lyoko style.

"Huh? What's with the hairdo?" Ulrich asks in confusion.

"Lyoko style. It's pretty trendy, huh? Meow," he sits down, Sissi looking annoyed. Ulrich sighs at him and he dips his food in milk, eating it. He drinks the milk before dipping his croissant in it.

"You always eat that much?" Ulrich questions.

"No, I'm not that hungry today in fact," Odd answers, holding a banana. "Has anyone seen Jeremy?"

"He was up all night in his room working on Lyoko after he put the computer back together."

"Man, that guy's a real Einstein," Odd wipes his face.

"Who's Einstein?" Sissi wonders.

"You're kidding, right?"

The three turn to Amy, who's holding her tray next to the empty seat. "Sissi, you are a REAL piece of work..." She sits down next to Odd and Sissi huffs, turning away.

* * *

"Unfortunately, you're not like Amy, Odd, or Ulrich. You can't be devirtualized when you lose all of your life points," Jeremy reveals to Maya in his room.

"Too bad. At least now I know how to change sectors," Maya replies.

"Yes, and I also found out what the towers are for. They're portals between the real world and a virtual world. And when they're red, it means they're activated," he explains.

"Are you sure?" Maya tilts her head.

"Just about. And they may be the way to materialize you on Earth! Unbelievable, huh? I can't wait to tell the others about it."

On Lyoko, pulsations lead to the red tower in the ice sector.

* * *

"You want us to go back to Lyoko to get Maya into a red tower?" Ulrich asks as the four sit on the bench.

"Like I said, I'm sure that's the only way to bring her into the real world. Pretty wild, huh?" Jeremy finishes.

"Pretty dangerous, you mean. We could've all been wiped out for good last night," Odd recalls.

"Odd's right, we're better off shutting down the supercomputer. Too bad for Maya, but still, it's not like she's human," Ulrich replies.

"Excuse me?" Amy turns around to him. "That doesn't mean she can't be virtualized on Earth, ULRICH. We can't just leave her there."

"Amy's right, she's still a sort of intelligent being. She's got emotions like we do," Jeremy agrees.

"You see, I told you he's madly in love with a computer program," Ulrich turns to Odd.

"Come on guys, be cool. I'm just asking you to go there one last time," Jeremy suggests.

"We can't even make it past the monsters. We'll probably get ourselves blown away in a heartbeat," Odd points out.

"At least they don't do harm to us outside Lyoko," Amy shrugs.

"If only there were at least four of us, but Sissi's too scared," Ulrich thinks, it'd definitely help to have an extra pair of hands.

"What? No I'm not, I really do wanna go with you guys to Lyoko, but when cheerleading practice is over," she says.

"Oh yes, because that's first priority," Amy mutters sarcastically.

"See, Amy gets it!"

"Thanks Sissi. So here's the scoop. As soon as Maya is materialized into the real world, I give you my word that I'll shut down the supercomputer. Meanwhile, we gotta keep this a secret," Jeremy tells them.

"Promise," Ulrich raises a hand.

"I swear," Odd raises his hand too.

"I'm all for that," Amy grins, giving a thumbs up.

"Ditto." Sissi raises her hand, placing it on Ulrich's shoulder. "I can't wait to see what I look like on Lyoko!"

"Me too. With some luck, I won't be the dumbest looking one in the group," Odd jokes.

Ulrich stands up to leave. "Ulrich, where are you going? Aren't you coming to see my cheerleading routine?"

"No, I got something important to take care of," he dismisses.

"Hmph!" Sissi gives him a slightly angry look and Amy leaves before she can be roped into going. The last thing she wanted was to see the principal's daughter to a cheer routine.

* * *

Ulrich opens the door to the gym. "Back for another thrashing?" He closes the door to reveal the same girl from his martial arts class.

"I don't like ending on a bad note," he chuckles.

"That's good, I like a challenge."

"You're gonna get one." They walk to the middle of the room, bowing to each other. They circle each other, Ulrich making the first move. Yumi jumps away and blocks his strikes.

* * *

On Lyoko, Maya is in the forest sector tower. She feels something and opens her eyes.

"One two three four!" Sissi gets out of her room in her cheerleading outfit. "One two three four! This is gonna blow their minds!"

An outlet behind her starts to spark, creating an electric ball.

"Jeremy? Jeremy, can you hear me?" Maya calls out. "Jeremy?"

Jeremy is walking with Amy and Odd in the forest. "It's true that at first I thought Sissi was a real babe, but the more I get to know her, the more I realize she's, uh, how can I put this tactfully?"

"A turkey?" Jeremy suggests.

"Exactly!"

"I can't believe you even liked her," Amy snorts at Odd. "Sissi can be...well. You know, a turkey."

They all laugh.

* * *

"A cheerleader chance so we won't lose!" Sissi exclaims as she twirls her baton. "We got short skirts and sparkly shoes, we're just so gorgeous, how can you choose?"

Jim, the gym teacher and martial arts teacher, has his arms crossed as he and the other cheerleaders watch. "Kaaadic!" Sissi throws up her baton, gasping. The other cheerleaders gasp and the baton ends up hitting Jim on the head.

"Ouch!" Sissi smiles sheepishly, waving as Herb and Nicolas clap.

"Sorry Sissi, cheerleading is not about being a boomerang juggling baboon!"

She narrows her eyes.

* * *

Maya walks up to the end of the pathway. She clenches her fist, since she was supposed to stay in the tower for her own safety. She exits the tower out of curiosity, feeling something from the ground... She starts running.

Ulrich and the girl pant in exhaustion. "Have you been training for long?"

"Yeah, my parents think it's weird," the girl says.

"Not me. By the way, I'm Ulrich. You-you're...uh, Yuri, right?"

She sweep kicks him in response. She stands over him, smirking. "It's Yumi."

* * *

Maya appears in a mountain sector, looking around. She continues running, but stops, running off from lasers. She hides behind a rock from the same monster that she encountered before.

"A baboon, huh? Why not a red-tailed macaque while he's at it?!" Sissi walks down to her room. She turns around to Herb and Nicolas. "Hey, you two dumb dorks. Are you planning on following me around all day?"

"Yeah," Nicolas smiles widely.

"We're your biggest admirers in the whole school. We even started a fan club called Friends of Sissi," Herb answers.

"Oh. And about how many of you are in the club?" Sissi smiles.

"Well, two of us," Herb reveals.

"Right, then come back and talk to me when there's at least 50 of you. Meanwhile, if you don't stay away from me, my father's gonna find out that you two clowns tried to break into my room!" Sissi threatens, slamming the door shut.

"...She's even more beautiful when she's angry, isn't she?" Herb questions.

Sissi opens her closet, pulling out a white blouse and an orange tank top. Electricity comes from her closet. "Huh?" She screams as an electric ball comes from her closet. Herb and Nicolas hear her, running back to her room. They open the door to see Sissi on the ground, the ball over her. Sissi looks to be unconscious.

* * *

Meanwhile, Amy, Odd, and Jeremy are in the library. Amy is reading a book while Odd is writing a report.

"Aha, bingo! A couple of days ago, I dug up a brand new program on the supercomputer called Return to the Past and-and I just figured out how to activate it. Hmm?"

"That's great, Einstein, but could you give me a hand with my electrochemistry report?" Odd asks him.

"Hey Odd, are you planning on calling me Einstein forever?" Jeremy questions in response.

"I think it suits you just fine, Jeremy," Amy smiles, glancing at the boy. He smiles back at her slightly at the compliment. Odd glares at them, not sure how he feels about their interactions with each other.

"Uh, why not?" He interrupts sharply, on purpose. "So what about my report?"

"Well, why don't you say that...that electrochemistry is a science that deals with the relationship between electricity and chemistry. Then, you say that electrochemistry involves opposing polar systems composed at its two extremes of electrically conductive material," Jeremy suggests.

"What, you mean all I have to do is say that?" Odd questions.

"Well no, of course not. You have to give examples," Jeremy tells him. "Just do some research like Amy's doing," Jeremy gestures to Amy next to him as she writes down a few examples.

"If you want, I can help you, Odd," she offers, glancing at Odd as she stops writing.

"Great! Here ya go!" He places the paper in front of her and she looks down in slight surprise. "Just make it seem like something I would write!"

"...I immediately regret this," she deadpans, giving the paper back.

"I just saw Sissi, Jim was taking her to the infirmary," A boy named Matthias walks past behind them, talking to a boy named Christophe.

"What'd she do, pull a muscle in her brain trying to add two plus two?" Christophe jokes.

"No man, she got electrocuted."

Odd turns to Amy and Jeremy, who have looks of thought.

* * *

"Jeremy?" Maya calls out as she looks behind her. "Are you there? Answer me." She looks ahead to see a path. She jumps off as the monster fires at her. Maya lands on another path, running away. The monster chases after her and she's surrounded when another one approaches her from the front. She looks back at the other before she finds herself trapped. She jumps off, screaming. The two monsters jump after her and Maya lands in a different area. One monster keeps falling while the other hits the path and flies off. Maya sees two hornets flying towards her and she runs.

Yumi keeps dodging Ulrich's attempt to attack, ducking from a kick. The light switch starts to spark, going over to the light. Yumi grabs Ulrich's foot, holding onto him. He grabs her by the shoulders, throwing her over his shoulder and landing on top of her. He looks down at her, both of them blushing. Ulrich gets off of her, laying down next to her. They stay silent until Yumi sits up.

"Call it a tie?"

"Okay," he sits up. "Anyway, I gotta go. My friends are gonna start wondering where I am. Same for you."

She stands up, looking at him. "I don't have any friends." They suddenly notice the sparking light. "Whoa, what is that?"

The electric ball that attacked Sissi appears in front of them. "No time to explain, come on, we gotta get outta here! Quick!" He grabs her hand and runs.

* * *

The principal appears in the infirmary, Herb and Nicolas sitting outside. "You're the one who brought Elizabeth here, what happened?"

"She was in her room and she was attacked by this electricity monster that jumped from the coat hanger," Nicolas explains.

"Would you try to be serious, Poliakoff? You're the one who's going to get a shock in a moment!" Amy, Odd, and Jeremy watch the conversation from behind.

Ulrich opens the door to the boiler room, shutting it closed. "It was as if that electrical thing was alive. What is going on?" Yumi demands as Ulrich dials Jeremy.

"Yeah, Jeremy?"

Amy, Odd, and Jeremy are running in the park. "Ulrich? Great, I really need you. Sissi just got electrocuted by some sort of giant-"

"Electric thing?" Ulrich interrupts.

"Huh? Yeah, how did you know?"

"That same electric thing attacked me in the gymnasium. This is getting more and more dangerous, you and your supercomputer."

"All the more reason to materialize Maya ASAP. We have to get to Lyoko and bring her to the red tower. If it works, we can shut the computer down tonight. We'll meet you in the sewer." Jeremy hangs up as Odd opens the manhole cover.

"Babes first," Odd gestures to the entrance and Amy rolls her eyes in amusement, jumping down.

"Sorry Yumi, but I've gotta go," Ulrich starts to leave.

"Hang on, you seem to know what's going on here. What was this electrical thing that attacked us and what is this supercomputer you're talking about?" Yumi requests.

"Look, I don't have time to explain," he opens the door.

"Okay, she grabs his shoulder. "You have time for a third round, then?"

"You're as stubborn as a mule, aren't you?" He points out.

"That's right. And since I have no friends, I have lots of time."

"Aw come on, I'll explain on the way." He knew his friends wouldn't be pleased, but it was either that or delaying time.

* * *

Yumi and Ulrich jump into the sewer. Amy, Odd, and Jeremy join them, noticing Yumi. "Hey, who's that girl?" Jeremy jerks a thumb.

"This is Yumi, she was there when I was attacked and she knows how to fight, so I thought-"

"Okay, okay later. Right now, we have to get to the factory," they start running. "Let's go!"

Amy turns around to Yumi. "Well, you wanted to know, so come on. Welcome abroad, Yumi."

She starts following them.

Maya is hiding in a cave, the hornets approaching behind her. She gasps and starts running again, getting hit in the arm by a stray laser. She sees a tower up ahead and gets inside. She stands in the middle of the logo, closing her eyes as she stands at the edge. She lets herself fall, ending up in the ice sector. She looks around, hoping she was safe, but two blocks are near her. She runs off yet again.

The five climb out the hole, running to the entrance. Odd and Jeremy swing down the ropes first. "Don't tell me you're scared," Yumi teases Ulrich. She and Amy go next, Ulrich following after them. The electric ball appears in the sewers. The elevator opens to the lab.

"So who's this Maya?" Yumi raises an eyebrow.

"You're going to be meeting her in just a minute. Go straight to the scanner room and get ready for the big plunge," Jeremy walks into the lab, leaving the four in the elevator.

"Big plunge? But I don't have a bathing suit," Yumi says in confusion.

"Relax, you won't be needing one," Odd assures and Jeremy gets in contact with Maya.

"Maya, can you hear me? Maya?"

"Jeremy, I'm...I'm being chased by monsters," she calls out.

"Why did you leave the tower before we got there?" Jeremy asks. "Are you crazy?"

"I heard some strange pulsations, I wanted to see what they were," Maya explains.

"Okay, I'm sending back-up. For now, just try and hide somewhere," Jeremy prepares the procedure.

Maya pants and she runs to a path where there's a waterfall. She runs behind it, jumping on a few stones. There's a tunnel in front of her and she turns around, seeing the blocks approach. One of them jumps on a stone, only to fall in the water. Maya smiles as she's found a weakness.

Yumi looks at the scanners. "This story of yours is pure science fiction."

"Uh, yeah, except that it's for real," Ulrich tells her.

"Even I didn't believe it at first," Amy says, raising a hand.

"Hmm," she narrows her eyes.

"You guys ready? I'm starting up the procedure," Jeremy looks at his notes. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich."

"Don't tell me you're scared," Ulrich teases Yumi back, smirking.

"Wait, I'm coming too!" Yumi steps into the last scanner before Amy walks inside. "You don't mind, right?"

"No, you go on ahead," Amy waves her off. "I'll go after you."

"Okay. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich." Odd and Ulrich's ID cards appear on Jeremy's screen, but Yumi's is blank. "Virtualization." He presses enter, Odd and Ulrich virtualizing. Yumi virtualizes above them as they land safely this time.

"Bummer, I'm still a big purple cat."

"Ouch!" Odd turns around to see Yumi in a geisha outfit.

"Wow, that Japanese outfit is pretty sharp!"

"Virtualization." Amy virtualizes near them, landing next to Odd. Yumi looks at herself in confusion. Part of her hair is up.

"It's not fair, I don't know anyone who looks like a nitwit on Lyoko!" Odd complains.

"You'll live, Odd," Amy tells him.

"Uh, mind telling me where we are?" Yumi asks.

"In a virtual world. Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Ulrich explains.

"_Move it! Maya needs you, she's in danger_," Jeremy warns.

"Okay, here we go!" Odd and Ulrich run off, Yumi starting after them. Amy looks at her wings as she flaps them, laughing as she's lifted from the ground.

"Yes!" She flies after Odd and Ulrich. Yumi runs after them to catch up.

* * *

Sissi wakes up in the infirmary, seeing her father, the nurse, and Jim. "Oh, my head. What happened?"

"You'll be fine, my dear. You must have electrocuted yourself with your hairdryer," her father dismisses.

"Electro-oh no!" She sits up. "It wasn't me, it was that super whatchamacallit of Jeremy's at the factory! Where's Ulrich?"

"I don't know, dear. Please, try to stay calm," her father assures.

"No, Ulrich is in great danger. So are Odd, Amy, and Jeremy. There's an electrical monster on the loose and we gotta find 'em!" She insists.

"Calm down," he pushes her back onto the bed.

"Sure there is, and a giant chemical teddy bear too," Jim jokes.

"Daddy, I'm not crazy! Jeremy Belpois found this gigantic computer inside the abandoned factory. They use it to go into this other world where these monsters shoot lightning!" Sissi argues, the adults staring at each other.

The electric monster appears from the sewers, approaching at the entrance to the factory.

* * *

Maya sees that there's two more monsters and the block fires at the stone she's standing on, making her float away. The other two monsters start jumping over to her and they get to the second to last one, floating over. Maya jumps into the tunnel, sliding down it. The two monsters jump to the last stone, resulting in one falling into the water while the other is catapulted into the tunnel. Maya ends up falling a few feet when the tunnel ends, sliding to a glacier. The monster hits the glacier, destroyed in mid-air. A block appears in front of her, another one appearing.

"Jeremy," she finds herself surrounded by blocks. Ulrich stabs his sword into the eye and the block is destroyed. Odd lands behind her.

"Hi, are you Maya? I'm Odd. I have to admit, you are a real cutie. Jeremy's got taste," he winks at her, Amy narrowing her eyes in annoyance. Ulrich deflects a laser.

"No time for flirting, Odd. We got work to do," Ulrich interrupts.

"You're right!" Odd calls out as Amy pulls out her spear. She throws it at the eye, defeating one monster.

"Hey, I don't have a weapon," Yumi looks over herself. She sees something behind her back and pulls it out to reveal a fan. "A fan, that's all?"

Odd jumps over lasers. "Try throwing it, with them, you never know," Odd suggests. Yumi throws it and the fan destroys the rest of the monsters.

"Not bad," the others turn to her. She catches the fan. "Oh, I think I'll keep it."

"_Nice work. Now bring Maya into the red tower so we can materialize her_."

"Yeah, so we can stop that thing from hurting anyone el-" Suddenly, ice shoots up from the ground as Amy's hand glows blue. "Uh, did I do that?"

"_Hmm...apparently, since you're a nature fairy, you can adapt to nature in each sector_..." Jeremy murmurs. "_At least, that's what I think it is_."

"Cool!" Amy cheers with a smile.

Sissi lifts the manhole cover off, her father and Jim behind her. "Now Sissi, this is ridiculous. We are _not _going down into the sewers!"

"Fine, you can tell that to the police when you find Belpois and the others burn to a crisp!" She argues, the two adults glancing at each other warily.

The video of the electric monster appears, and it looks like he's near the elevator.

"Um, hey Odd. I think I've got a good life-size example for your electrochemistry report."

_"Oh yeah? Hey, what's that?"_

_"A nice little electric monster. Where are you guys?"_

"We're coming up to the tower," Ulrich calls out as they run or fly.

"_Hurry it up, then. Things are about to start jumping over here_."

"That doesn't sound reassuring," Amy comments and Jeremy sees two red dots on the screen.

"Watch it, guys. There are some more monsters coming your way."

Sissi runs to the entrance followed by the principal and Jim.

Two giant crabs appear in front of the red tower. "Great, crabs. Who's got the tartar sauce?" Odd jokes. The crabs walk forward and they start running in the other direction. Odd starts firing his arrows at one and Ulrich pulls his sword out.

Jeremy looks up as the electric monster is above him.

Ulrich runs away from the lasers and jumps before running. Odd is clinging onto a structure, the crab firing at him. "Go ahead, beat it Krabes! Cuz Odd is coming in!" Yumi throws her fan and it hits the top of the Krab, but nothing happens. "These guys are not only ugly, they're tough." He's then devirtualized. Yumi runs from the Krab.

"Jeremy?" Maya calls out.

Jeremy is shocked by the electric monster and he tries to find his glasses. "Odd just got devirtualized. Jeremy?"

Jeremy screams in fear.

"Wanna give it a try?" Ulrich asks Amy and Yumi.

"Uh huh," they say and she slides, giving Ulrich a leg up. He lands on top of the Krab, stabbing it with his sword.

"Bullseye!" He jumps off the Krab, but Yumi's fan doesn't hit the other one. She gets hit in the leg by the laser.

"Yumi!" Ulrich calls out and runs over to it, only to be thrown away and hit to Maya, who gasps. "Maya, get back to the red tower," he says as he's devirtualized. She nods, only to be cornered by a Krab.

"I'll deal with him," Amy narrows her eyes, holding her arms out to it. "I hope this works..." She freezes its legs and Maya kneels down, singing. An ice wall appears in front of them.

"Was it you who just did that?" Yumi jerks a thumb to the wall.

"Yes, I think so," Maya nods.

"Run to the tower, hurry!" Yumi tells her.

"Okay." Maya starts running and the Krab fires at the wall.

"Uh oh," Amy turns to the wall.

"Jeremy, it's okay, Maya is-" the wall breaks and Yumi is devirtualized.

"Yumi!" Amy calls out and she turns to the Krab. "Frosty Vine!" She makes an ice vine appear, tangling the Krab in it. "It worked..." But the Krab still manages to devirtualize her by firing a stray laser.

Sissi, the principal, and Jim appear in the lab, their eyes widening in shock.

"What is all this about?" Jim demands. Sissi screams in panic. "Oh, wait till I get my-" Jim runs over, only to be shocked.

Maya walks up to the logo, a screen appearing in front of her. She steps back, scared, looking around. She presses her hand to it and a name appears. "Aelita..." The word Code appears along with Lyoko and the monster disappears, dropping Jim.

"What's going on here? What were those flashes?" The principal demands.

Ulrich appears from the scanner room. "Sissi!"

"Ulrich!" She exclaims in relief. She runs over to him just as the others appear. She tries to hug him, but he backs away.

"You swore to us you wouldn't tell!"

"Huh? ...I came here to save you, Ulrich! And what's this Chinese girl doing here, huh?"

"I'm Japanese!" Yumi growls in frustration.

"Sissi, I can't believe you! You broke the promise!" Amy shouts in disbelief.

"What about Maya? Is she here?" Jeremy asks, now awake.

"No. Sorry Jeremy, but it didn't work. She didn't materialize," Ulrich reveals.

"Alright, that's enough, Belpois. I order you to shut this thing down now, and then you can explain to me exactly what this is about!" The principal said sternly.

"I think we ought to alert the authorities right away!" Jim inputs.

"Me too, Jim. It's much too dangerous. I told you, so didn't I?" Sissi agrees.

"You're nothing but a rotten traitor!" Ulrich hisses.

"No more than you are, Ulrich darling!" Sissi crosses her arms.

"No, it's just you. We didn't spill," Amy growls at her.

"Let's go, Belpois. Kill this thing immediately and follow me," the principal places a hand on Jeremy's shoulder.

"No," Jeremy starts typing.

"What do ya think you're doing?" Jim asks.

"I'm launching a new program, with a little luck, it'll work!" Jeremy explains.

"What kind of program?" Ulrich wonders.

"Return to the Past, now!" Jeremy presses a button, white light coming from the map. It engulfs them all and Yumi is back at the vending machine at Kadic. It's a day earlier, before Jeremy got shocked. Yumi takes her drink from the machine, walking past Amy, Odd, and Ulrich. Odd still has his hair down.

"What happened, anyway? What are we doing here?" Ulrich questions in confusion.

"But we were doing this yesterday," Yumi recalls. "You don't think...?"

"Did we...go back in time?" Amy murmurs in thought. Jeremy rubs his neck as he walks past them.

"Einstein, you're a genius. Your Return to the Past, it works," Odd calls out.

"What's that? What are you talking about?" Jeremy asks cluelessly.

"You haven't forgotten about the supercomputer and Lyoko and my big purple cat costume, huh?" Odd questions.

"You know about Lyoko?" Jeremy raises an eyebrow. "But how come?"

"That's weird, it looks like the return in time didn't quite work on him," Yumi points out and Ulrich throws his can away.

"Come on, we're gonna fill you in," Ulrich starts to lead him away, the others following.

"It's not fair, you have the coolest costume in Lyoko," Odd pouts to Amy, who turns to him in surprise.

"Really? You think I looked that cool?"

"Well, duh! With your fairy costume and your powers! All I got is arrows, but they're still cool," Odd shrugs.

Amy smiles at him.

* * *

Later that night, they're in Jeremy's room, Odd having his hairstyle back. Amy sits next to him, a leg raised to her chest. "But why would I not remember anything?" Jeremy murmurs.

"Maybe because you were the only one who didn't get digitalized on Lyoko," Yumi suggests.

"Hey, maybe you're right, Yumi. After all, we were all virtualized and we remember everything," Amy says.

"Yes, that could be. Well, tomorrow I'm going to the factory first thing and scan myself!"

"No, Jeremy. We have to shut down the supercomputer and you know it. It's too dangerous," 'Maya' protests.

"But Maya-"

"Aelita," she winks at him. "When I went into the tower, I...I remembered my name."

"Aelita," Jeremy repeats. "That's even better than Maya. But what about bringing you in? I promised." He turns to the others. "Give me one more night to work it out, okay? I'll find a way."

They glance at each other, thinking it over.

"Okay," Ulrich answers.

"Thanks guys," he smiles.

"We'll meet up in the computer lab tomorrow morning to see how you're doing," they leave.

"Ulrich!" They turn to see Sissi. "What are you doing here, I've been waiting for you for an hour! I've never been stood up like this before!"

"There's always a first time. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm with my friends," they start to walk away.

"I'll make you pay! Did you hear that, huh Ulrich?!" She declares.

"I've got a bad feeling about this girl Sissi. I get the idea that she's gonna give us a lot of grief." They all laugh.

"Though, we should all remember one thing: NEVER tell Sissi about Lyoko. That was a mistake," Amy whispers.

"Agreed!" They all whisper back.

"Hi. Well, find anything?" Yumi asks.

"Yes, Xana," Jeremy tells them.

"Xana? What's that?" Odd questions.

"A super dangerous program, like a virus which can control electricity and it activates towers on Lyoko to gain access to your world," Aelita explains.

"So the red tower, the electricity monster, the weird symbol, the monsters on Lyoko, all of that was Xana?" Yumi wonders.

"Yes, only Aelita can counter it by deactivating the tower that it uses for attacks in the real world," Jeremy finishes.

"That's great, what about materializing Aelita?" Ulrich ponders.

"I could do it, but I need some time. It's dangerous, Xana can attack at any moment."

"And with anything," Amy points out.

"Be reasonable, Jeremy. We better just shut this thing down," Aelita suggests, since she didn't want anything bad to happen to them. They all close their eyes.

"Listen, now that we know how to neutralize Xana, we just have to get Aelita to the activated tower," Ulrich suggests, Jeremy nodding.

"We can find a way to counter the attacks while Einstein figures out how to bring Aelita back to Earth, right?" Odd gives a thumbs up. They all look at each other.

"It's risky, but I think we should. After all, we are Lyoko Warriors, aren't we?" Yumi smiles.

"Yeah!" Ulrich and Odd fist bump each other.

"We can't just leave you there to fend for yourself. Besides, you should get to experience our world for yourself, Aelita," Amy winks.

"You really think you can do it?" Aelita asks.

"They don't call me Einstein for nothing. In a few weeks, I'll have it figured out. Meanwhile, let's not forget about our pact, huh?" Jeremy turns to the others.

"Hey, relax. We all know how to keep a secret," Amy smiles.


	3. Teddygozilla

At the gym, two girls named Milly and Tamiya are reporting for the school news with a video camera. Tamiya is holding it upside down. "Okay, are we rolling?"

"Yeah, look we're upside down." She fixes it and Milly starts.

"Hello, fellow students of Kadic Junior High. Your ace reporters Milly and Tamiya are here to bring you an exclusive for today's school news and it's really big. Since as I'm pretty sure you already know, tonight is the big night, the night of our annual school prom." The picture suddenly flickers out. "Unfortunately, our cameras weren't authorized to film the site where the festivities will take place, but I can make out from where I'm speaking, the girl who might be crowned our beauty queen tonight, just as she was last year. I mean of course, our principal's daughter, Sissi. Let's see whether she'll answer a few questions. Well, Sissi, how about a few words for our TV audience before the big night?"

Sissi looks annoyed. "Sorry, munchkins. I only talk to real pro reporters," Herb covers Tamiya's camera. "I have no time to waste on a couple of nerds."

"But it's for the school news program! What about freedom of the press?" Milly protests.

"Oh Milly, little dipsticks your age don't _have _any freedom, understand? Anyway, who needs your dumb recording? What do you know? Besides, you've got a problem. Don't forget you have to have a date and I don't know anyone who'd want to go with a dork like you. Even them. I'll bet if you ask them, they'd run like scared rabbits." Herb and Nicolas cringe at her, backing away.

"Who needs them? There are lots of other boys!" Milly defends.

"Oh yeah? What are you waiting for, then? Try and find one," Sissi laughs. Milly turns to the left, looking at Ulrich. He and the others are decorating the gym for the prom, except for Jeremy of course.

"Um, U-Ulrich? Would you...would you be my date tonight?" Milly asks in embarrassment, turning red as a few tears escape her eyes.

"Uh," Ulrich blushes, "I'm sorry, Milly. It wouldn't be a very good idea. I'm too old for you. And, uh...well, you see, I promised to go with Yumi." Yumi smiles at him.

"You see?" Sissi laughs. "What did I tell you? But don't worry, Milly. I'm sure you'll find a boy for the sandbox dance. Meanwhile, why don't you go play with your dolls?"

Milly runs out crying. "Milly! Milly, wait!" Tamiya runs after her, Sissi and her gang smirking.

"I hope you're proud of yourself," Yumi says and they turn to the others as they stare at her.

"You've got SOME nerve, Sissi," Amy hisses and she didn't seem to care.

* * *

Jeremy is in his room, working on what else? Aelita's materialization program. He tries contacting her while she's in the desert sector. "Aelita? This is Jeremy, do you read me? Aelita?"

She appears on his screen. "Hi, how are you?"

"Uh, I'm fine. How about you?" He replies.

"Okay. I didn't see anything unusual around the towers. It all seems quiet," she reports. "Well, for the moment."

"You know, I'm making progress with my research, so...so you can come live with us," he reveals bashfully.

"The key to materialization? You've found it at last?" She asks happily.

"Well...no, not yet, but I'm working on it. It's just a matter of time. Then XANA won't be able to do anything to harm you, or us," he explains.

"That's great, thanks."

* * *

Milly cries as she holds her teddy bear in the room she shares with Tamiya. "Milly, don't cry. We'll go to the prom, you'll see. As for the news, Jim said it was okay. We have until 9 o'clock."

"Oh, it's a waste of time! Let's face the facts! They don't care about us or the news. Oh, I hate them all!" Little did they know that XANA was watching them from their computer. "I hate them! I hate every single one of them! I hate everybody in the world!"

"You don't know what you're saying. It's just-"

"Oh, stop it, I'm sick of you too! Just leave me alone!" Milly runs out of the room with her teddy bear crying. Tamiya looks at her from their door.

"It's true, Ulrich could've been a little nicer," she admits.

* * *

Ulrich tapes down some wires. "Don't look so gloomy, Ulrich," Yumi tries to comfort him. "Is it because of Milly? You could've said yes, you know me. It's prom."

Odd swings a microphone while Amy is adjusting the speakers. "Even if I was your date?" Odd asks, using the microphone.

Amy scoffs, "You don't even have a date."

"Neither do you," Odd points out before getting an idea. "Hey, why don't you and I go together? As friends?"

"I dunno, Odd, this is my first prom after all," Amy admits, rubbing her arm.

"No one should go to prom alone, Amy," Ulrich tells her.

"Hmm, looks like I'm gonna have to convince ya!" Odd takes her hand and pulls her up to the stage.

"Odd! What are you doing?" She asks in confusion and he starts dancing with her like Jack and Rose on Titanic.

"Come on, say you'll go with me!" He exclaims as he starts spinning her around.

"Odd!" She laughs as they look at each other, "Stop it!"

"Then say it!"

"Okay, okay, I'll go to prom with you!" She giggles as he stops. "But as friends, okay?"

"Deal," he bumps fists with her. Sissi is admiring herself in the disco ball.

"Sissi did come on a little strong. If meanness is one of the qualities of a beauty queen, she'll get re-elected alright," Ulrich comments. Jeremy comes into the room, placing down a box.

"I can't believe she did that to Milly," Amy murmurs, dusting her skirt.

"That's true, Ulrich, but try to get Miss World to see that," Jeremy smiles.

"Ha, Miss World, huh? Miss Inner World is more like it," they all laugh and Sissi glares.

"So what'd I miss?" Jeremy asks.

"Odd just convinced Amy to go to prom with him," Ulrich smirks at him and he rubs his neck sheepishly.

"Only as a friend," he retorts, Jeremy raising an eyebrow at Amy.

"If convincing means spinning me around, then yes, he did convince me," she replies.

* * *

Milly is hiding in the garden shed. "At least you don't care how old I am, do you?" She asks her teddy bear. "We understand each other. We're not like those dumb older kids who always want to run things. They think that because we're young, we don't count at all. If for once we were older, a lot older than them, they wouldn't laugh at us, would they?" The light flickers above her.

"Milly," she gasps as Tamiya knocks on the window. "Are you in there? Are you finished sulking? Hurry, we have work to do."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," Milly calls out. She places her bear, poking its nose. "You stay right there. I'll be back for you." She opens the door, closing it.

"We have a report to finish on the prom, remember?" Tamiya reminds her. The light bulb sparks, dark shadows pooling on the teddy bear...there's a roar from the shed.

* * *

Sissi walks to her room. "Hey, I hope you two aren't gonna follow me around all day long. As far as I know, you're not beauticians, so stop sticking to me like glue. I don't need you, understand, so scout." She waves them away, opening her door.

"Uh, Sissi, we-we thought-"

"Take this advice: Don't think, it doesn't suit you," she slams the door closed and she hears them leave. She brushes a bang away, walking over to her bed. She slips her shoes off. "A bunch of babies at our prom. They've gotta be kidding," she takes off her pants, skirt, and t-shirt. She puts on some music from her stereo on loud, walking over to her closet. "And that other freak who had the nerve to invite Ulrich. Can't believe it."

She starts going through her clothes as one of her sheets moves away. "If anybody's going out with Ulrich, it absolutely has to be me. I am the star, the diva of the school." XANA watches her as she goes to her vanity, sitting down in front of her mirror. She adjusts her bangs, getting some cream. She hears a noise, turning around in alarm. Sissi turns down her music, seeing nothing. She smiles at herself in the mirror, scratching her backside as she places a Band-Aid on her nose. She peels it off and places some cucumbers on her eyes, having a facial mask on. Her bottles from the top shelf start shaking.

"Who's there? Answer me, who is it?" She demands and she takes off her cucumbers just in time to see her bottles falling down. A cloud appears and she falls to the ground. She runs out of her room.

* * *

Some students have gathered around Sissi, who is in a bathrobe. "Move along, back to your dorms, everything is just fine." Principal Delmas dismisses.

"Looks as if we got ourselves a super scoop!" Milly says as Tamiya takes a picture. The five look at Sissi being led away by her dad.

"What do you say we take a look to make sure that our old friend XANA isn't behind this," Odd suggests, Yumi nodding.

"What do ya think?" Ulrich asks Jeremy as they look inside Sissi's room.

"A simple short-circuit. Too many appliances plugged in at the same time," Jeremy explains.

"Yeah, the highlights, lady shaver, curling iron all together, what do you expect to happen?" Yumi asks.

"Sissi's got a lot of stuff, it was bound to happen sometime," Amy gestures to the room as they leave.

"Not to mention the brain stimulator. Although she probably never figured out how to use it. Hm..." Jeremy walks away, Milly and Tamiya appearing. She takes a picture.

* * *

"I don't know what happened, but if you ask me, Sissi had it coming," Milly opens the door to the shed.

"I couldn't agree with you more," Tamiya says, Milly gasping to see her teddy bear isn't where she left it.

"Oh no! My teddy bear's gone!"

"Ah ha!" They turn around to see Jim. "Caught you. It's forbidden to play in the garden shed."

"Wait a minute. Jim, it was my-"

"I don't wanna know why," he interrupts. "I've told you a hundred times that this place is much too dangerous for children. Look at all these rusty tools. What do you think this is, a kids playground?" He leads Milly out.

"We know, but-"

"No buts, huh?" He locks the shed. "I hope I've made myself clear. Entry forbidden. Access reserved for adults."

"With you, everything is off-limits!" Milly argues.

"Now you listen here, huh? I would change the way I talk if I were you, little girl," Jim tells her.

"Little girl?! Okay, I'm young, so what? It's only big kids who can say what they think, huh?" Milly crosses her arms.

"Huh, so you think you're real big kids. Ha! Okay, that's fine. News report or not, the two of you are grounded for tonight in your room!"

"Oh, great, Milly. Really great. Thanks to you, it's goodbye prom," Tamiya sulks.

"Now beat it!"

* * *

Milly cries outside the building, Tamiya trying to reassure her. "Aw, look at the pictures we took. They're really fantastic."

Odd and Amy turn to them as they carry CDs for the music. "Something wrong, Milly?" Odd calls out. They step up to them, bending down.

"Somebody stole her teddy bear," Tamiya explains.

"And I'm sure it's one of the big kids who did it for spite!" Milly accuses.

"But why?" Amy wonders.

"Milly, you're right. Look at this," They look at the picture Tamiya has in her hand. "It's a picture of Sissi's room."

"And there's my teddy bear!" Milly points to a teddy bear under a pillow. "Hidden under her pillow! Incredible."

"Ah, who would've believed it? Soon she'll be playing with dolls," Odd jokes, making Amy laugh. She then thinks to herself.

_Has Sissi even been to her room since her incident?_

"Okay, come on now. We gotta find her," Milly declares.

"If Jim catches us in the dorm, we're in big trouble, Milly," Tamiya reminds her.

"You go back to your room," Odd takes the picture. "We'll handle this." The two girls smile happily at them as they leave.

* * *

Jim is about to go into the gym when he hears a rustle from the bushes. "What's going on now? Who's there? Come on out!" He screams as a large shadow looms over him. "Y-You better watch out! I'm a black belt!"

There's a snarl and he whimpers, backing away. He screams in fear.

In Sissi's room, Odd and Amy look in bewilderment, seeing no teddy bear. Odd looks at the picture, placing his hands on his hips.

"No teddy bear? That's impossible," Amy murmurs. "This is really weird."

"Come on, let's go back to the gym and help the others with decorating," Odd grabs her arm, pulling her away gently. "...Hey Amy."

"Yeah, Odd?"

"I'm really glad you agreed to go with me to prom, you're gonna love it," he confesses and she smiles.

"Well, you are my closest friend, Odd. Who else to go with?"

* * *

"And now you're sure, Jim, that this is your attacker?" Principal Delmas asks Jim in the room, who nods rapidly. "And you say he's an expert in martial arts," Jim nods again. "I think it would be better not to call the police, right Jim?" Jim whimpers, hiding in his blanket.

Amy is helping Odd unload a box.

"What happened to Sissi, it was...it was kind of weird, don't you think?" Jeremy asks.

"It was a short circuit, a simple short circuit. What else could it be?" Ulrich replies.

"I'm not so sure, Ulrich, you know just what I mean," Jeremy says.

"Anyway, let's play it real cool. Walls have ears, hm?" Yumi suggests as Herb and Nicolas walk by. Yumi stands up, stretching her arms. "Oh well, I've gotta go now and get ready for the prom tonight. Ah, sometimes being a day student can be a total drag."

"Don't complain. No one wakes you at 6 am. You have hot water, and you don't have to sleep next to smelly Odd. I don't know how Amy can deal with it being his best friend," Ulrich explains and Yumi chuckles, waving before she leaves. Jeremy waves at her.

"See ya later."

"I gotta get ready too," Amy stands up, adjusting her clothes. "I don't even know what I'm gonna wear yet."

"Relax, I'm sure you'll look fine," Odd waves it off and Amy smiles, waving at them before leaving. Odd feels stares, turning to Ulrich and Jeremy. "What? I'm just helping her let loose."

"Let loose or flirt?" Ulrich teases.

"She's a good friend and that's all!" Odd tells them.

* * *

Principal Delmas leaves the infirmary, Odd and Amy standing nearby. "Odd, Amelia, are you looking for something?"

"Oh, uh, no. You see, we just heard about what happened to Jim. Do they know who attacked him?" Odd explains.

"No, for now I think our gym teacher could use some rest," he balls up the paper, putting it in the trash. He walks away, Amy waving at him.

"Bye sir..." She leans into Odd's ear, "Something's definitely up...and that paper must've been from Jim." Odd takes the paper and unfolds it, both of them gasping at the drawing...of a teddy bear.

"XANA?" Ulrich asks as he holds the paper later that evening. "In a teddy bear?"

"Yeah, we're pretty sure," Odd answers.

"He's always there when you least expect him," Jeremy comments.

"Okay guys, who goes and who stays here?" Odd offers.

"We can't have a solo mission, it's too dangerous without Yumi. If you go alone, you never know what you're gonna find over there," Jeremy warns.

"I volunteer!" Odd raises a finger with a smile.

"What did I just say, huh?" Odd gives an annoyed look.

"Well, have you got any other ideas? There have been two accidents, we can't leave the school unguarded and even going back in time, if there's an accident, it's all over!" Odd reminds him.

"Odd is right. You go, and I'll stay. If I find any clues, I'll pass them onto you," Ulrich throws the crumpled paper to Odd.

"What about Amy?" Odd asks. "She's in her room getting ready for the prom, I promised I'd take her."

"It's _Amy. _She'll understand. Just call her and ask her if she wants to go with you or stay here," Jeremy points out.

"Go on and say hi to you know who for me," Ulrich teases, Jeremy smiling with a faint blush on his face. Odd calls Amy as they go through the boiler room. They run through the tunnel.

"Amy, it's Odd. I'm sorry, but there's been an attack." They jump into the sewers, grabbing their rides. Odd takes his skateboard while Jeremy takes his scooter. They start riding through the tunnel. "You can either go to Lyoko with me or stay with Ulrich to warn the school."

"It's okay, Odd. There's always next year...I'll go to Lyoko. I'm on my way to the factory," she hangs up and he sighs.

"Man, I really wanted her to have a good time...now she can't even go," Odd mutters as he climbs up the ladder. Jeremy follows him.

"She'll live, it's just one dance," Jeremy calls out and they run to the entrance. They swing on the ropes, landing in front of the elevator. Amy starts running to the boiler room. Jeremy presses the button to go down. He leaves Odd in the elevator to go to the scanner room. Jeremy gets into his chair while the elevator doors open to the scanner room. Odd stands in front of one. "Aelita. Aelita. Aelita, it's Jeremy," he says into the speaker. "Do you read me?"

She appears on the screen. "Hi there."

"We think that XANA has launched an attack. Have you noticed anything?"

She shakes her head, "No, nothing. But we can take a closer look."

"Aelita, I'm sending Odd. He's coming over solo for now. Amy's on her way and Ulrich had to stay behind to watch for any virus action at school," he explains. "Odd looks ready to go. How are things with you, Ulrich?"

"It looks like we have a problem, a big one," Ulrich is looking at large footprints.

Odd steps into the scanner. "Transfer Odd." Odd turns around, the doors closing. "Scanner." He's scanned, "Virtualization."

Odd is virtualized into the desert sector. He lands on his hands and feet, looking around. Aelita is waving at him a few feet away. He starts running over to her.

"Jeremy, it's bad. The bear got out of the school," Ulrich reports, looking at some damage.

"If it's under XANA's control, it'll only become much matter. It'll go for anybody that's around, especially his mortal enemies," Aelita explains. "Like you."

"Huh?!" Jeremy exclaims.

"Oh, Yumi!" Ulrich realizes, starting to run into the neighborhood.

Jeremy calls Amy from the computer. "Amy, where are you?"

"I'm almost at the factory," she pants as she runs to the bridge.

"Just be careful. XANA's got a huge teddy bear looking for us."

Amy comes to a stop, surprised. "Huh. Never thought I'd hear that sentence."

"You see that?" Aelita points to a gaping hole. "The tower that XANA has activated can't be too far away."

"Well, uh, not down there anyway," Odd comments.

"Maybe on the neighboring plateaus," Aelita suggests.

"Hmm, oops, uh too late. Here come the reception committee," Odd says as five Kankerlots appear. They gasp as they're surrounded.

"Odd, take good care of Aelita," Jeremy worries. "Amy will be there soon."

Amy jumps down to the elevator.

Ulrich dials Yumi as he runs, following the damage caused by the teddy bear. "Answer, will you answer?"

Yumi's phone rings, but she's in the bathroom. She lifts her head up from the water.

"Odd, what's going on?" Jeremy demands as Amy is in the elevator.

Odd jumps from various lasers. "Laser arrow!" He fires a laser, defeating one. Aelita runs down the hole, seeing Odd get hit.

"Odd, you just lost another 10 life points!" Jeremy tells him, the elevator opening to reveal Amy.

"No kidding," he retorts, ducking as he moves down the hole.

"Odd, I'm afraid we haven't any choice," Aelita replies and he gets a vision of Aelita falling down the hole. He gets back up, following Aelita.

"Just in time. Quick, get into the scanner, Odd really needs help," Jeremy reports to Amy and she nods.

"On my way," she runs back, descending into the scanner room. She stands in front of a scanner. She steps inside, turning around slowly.

"Transfer Amy," the doors close her inside. "Scanner Amy." She closes her eyes as she's scanned, hair flying everywhere. "Virtualization."

Amy is materialized, landing on a platform safely. She starts running to Odd and Aelita.

Ulrich pushes on the doorbell, getting Yumi's attention. She wraps herself in a towel as Ulrich continues to ring the bell. She comes down the stairs, now wearing a mini skirt and leggings. He pushes past her. "Ulrich! Watch it, will you?"

"Sorry, are your parents home?" He asks.

"No, they went out," she shakes her head.

"Okay, come on, we can't stay here," he pulls out the door. She grabs her arm back. "Hey, would you mind explaining?" She hears a thump and turns around, gasping.

"We don't have time, come on!" He starts running with her, the large teddy following after them. The Kankerlots follow the two down the hole.

"Odd, be careful, you only have 50 life points left," Jeremy warns.

"Laser arrows!" Odd fires three, getting of all but one. The last one falls down in front of Aelita, startling her and making her fall. Amy swoops down and catches her. Odd slides down to them using his claws, sighing in relief. "Ah, we can't leave you alone for one second, huh? And I seem to recall asking for help, earlier," he glances at Amy.

"Hey, you bailed on me. This is payback," she retorts.

"Fair enough."

Aelita discovers a tunnel. "Odd, Amy...I think I found something."

* * *

The teddy bear continues to terrorize the city, people running away screaming. Ulrich and Yumi run to the school, the teddy bear crushing a car with its foot.

"That way!" Yumi exclaims and they turn a corner. They hide inside a building, gasping as the teddy bear walks past them, breaking the window with its loud stomp. Ulrich and Yumi inch closer to each other, blushing as they realize their situation. Yumi brushes away her hair.

"Jeremy, it's Ulrich," Ulrich says. "Yumi's with me. We're coming back to the school to evacuate everyone. Tell Odd and Amy to move it. It's getting rough around here."

"Odd, Amy, hurry up. Teddy's getting real angry."

"Okay, okay," Odd calls out.

"The tower can't be too far away," Aelita says. "Let's see now..." She starts walking, Odd and Amy catching up with her. They suddenly hear a noise, turning around to see a megatank, followed by another one.

"Houston, we've got a problem," Odd comments.

"Run for it!" Amy screams and they start running.

Yumi and Ulrich arrive at the school, in front of the gym. She moves her phone away from her ear. "Amy and Odd still haven't found the activated tower."

"You go and clear the dorms, I'll take care of the gym," Ulrich catches his breath. Yumi nods at him.

Aelita, Amy, and Odd make it out of the tunnel, tripping to the ground as the megatanks roll past them. They hit the activated tower. The three look up to see it.

"We found the tower, Jeremy," Odd calls out.

"Great, well done, now all you have to do is deactivate it," he tells them.

"Okay, just give me a minute to say hello to an old buddy of mine," Odd places his hands on his hips as Amy stands up.

"_Cut the courtesy, you only have 50 life points left. You can't let them hit you_!"

"I haven't been hit yet...hope it stays that way," Amy's hands glow dusty, like sand. Odd aims his paw at one and it opens up, revealing their target.

Ulrich walks around the gym, bumping into none other than Jim. "Hey, Ulrich, you could've made a little effort. I don't believe how sloppy you look. Well, I'll let it go this time. Put it down to the company you keep. Try to chill out and have fun, you look like you're expecting a disaster."

Little did he know that disaster was just around the corner. "Ulrich," Sissi stops Ulrich from walking. Her hair is curled, and she wears a one shoulder t-shirt with a yellow and purple star. Her pants are blue with a star on the back. "How are you? Hey, where did your date go? Next time, just call me."

He narrows his eyes in annoyance. "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the election of this year's beauty queen. So get ready."

"Gotta run now, it's my moment of triumph," she walks away, Herb and Nicolas laughing. Ulrich glances at them and they stop.

The first megatank gets ready to fire, sending an extremely thin, vertical 360 circular wall of yellow-orange energy. Odd jumps away from it. He aims his paw again.

"Now that's what I call a really warm welcome."

The other megatank fires its circular laser and Amy jumps to the side, sighing in relief. The first fires again and Odd screams, the explosion knocking him back.

"Odd!" Amy calls out.

"Jeremy, Odd and Amy aren't gonna make it on their own," Aelita calls out.

"Yes, they will. Odd, Amy, come on, you have to hit the target."

"You wanna come down here and do it yourself, then?" Amy shouts and he cringes. The one in front of her starts to power up.

"And now, everyone, this year once again, it's time to elect the young lady who in your view, combines more than any other girl, charm, grace, beauty, and elegance. And here is our first candidate," Principal Delmas gestures to Sissi and she steps forward.

"Stop! Listen to what I have to say," Ulrich is standing on a table, using another microphone. "You have all got to get out of here. We have to evacuate the gym. Now, keep calm." They all stare at him. "I'm not joking, this is serious. We are about to be attacked by a gigantic teddy bear." The kids start laughing at the thought.

"Ha, I knew it! I saw it, too!" Jim insists. "I saw the giant teddy bear too!" They start laughing again.

"Quiet! Quiet, shut up, all of you, you bunch of idiots!" Sissi shouts. "Can't you see what's he trying to do? It's a trick, I tell you, a trick to keep me from winning again this year! A gigantic teddy bear, come on! Why not King Kong while you're at it?"

Suddenly, the teddy bear crashes into the school behind her and she screams. Jim screams at his attacker and Ulrich gasps. Sissi runs as it stomps onto the stage, turning to Ulrich.

"_Odd, Amy, it's now or never_."

The other megatank powers up, shooting the laser again. Odd jumps into the air, rolling the megatank in front of his paw. "Impact!" He hits and jumps away, the megatank rolling and crashing into the wall. Aelita covers her face, Odd landing and giving a thumbs up.

Amy concentrates her power. "Sandy storm!" She makes dust appear around the megatank, confusing it. She throws her spear at the eye, but it still manages to fire a laser. She gasps and Odd pushes her out of the way. The megatank is destroyed. Jeremy sighs in relief.

"_Go on, Aelita, it's up to you_."

She enters the tower, Odd still on top of Amy. "Um, Amy?"

"Yeah?" She asks.

"I really am sorry you had to miss prom tonight."

She smiles at him. "Don't worry, with the return to the past, I won't have to miss it."

He smiles back, getting off of her. Aelita walks into the middle of the eye, floating to the top.

Ulrich looks nervously as the teddy bear raises its arm, slamming it down. Ulrich runs away as the windows smash.

"Ulrich!" Yumi sees the windows break, running to go help him. Ulrich trips, landing on the ground.

Aelita makes it to the top, walking up.

The teddy bear snarls as Ulrich looks up.

Aelita presses her hand to the screen.

_Aelita_

_Code_

Ulrich closes his eyes.

_Lyoko _

The teddy bear stops as Ulrich screams. He opens his eyes, sighing in relief. "Ulrich," Yumi bends down to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Yumi hugs him happily and a faint blush is on his face.

The tower deactivates and there's a flash of light. It starts to engulf everything.

"Ready for a trip into the past, Yumi?" Ulrich and Yumi look at each other as the Return to the Past happens.

* * *

Just like before, Milly is standing outside of the gym. "Ulrich, would you, uh...would you...would you be my date?" She blushes like before, crying a little. But this time, Ulrich steps over to her, bending down to her height.

"Be glad to, Milly," he tells her to Sissi's shock. "I'll see you here at 8."

"Really?" Milly asks happily.

"Well, sure." Ulrich stands up. "You're not too mad at me, are ya, Yumi?"

"Not at all," she smiles. "Anyway, my secret admirer will dance with me tonight, right Odd?"

"What?!" Sissi exclaims in disbelief. "But-Ulrich! You're gonna...go with that silly baby?!"

"That's right, I sure am, but don't worry. When your brain gets another neuron or two, maybe I'll go out with you too," he retorts.

Sissi growls, turning red in embarrassment. Tamiya is recording the whole thing.

"Good job, Ulrich," Amy smiles, patting his shoulder.

"You are recording Tamiya, I hope," Milly turns to her friend.

"You bet I am. This is a scoop!"

"A super scoop!"


	4. Seeing is Believing

**Angel: Normally I wouldn't update this early in the morning, but I have too much stuff to do today for me to post it later. I have a test today, I have to get a maintenance check on my car, I have to finish an essay, I have to go to the gym...the list goes on and on. So, at almost 7:30 in the morning...here's a new chapter!**

The Chief Engineer from the local nuclear power plant is giving a lecture for Ms. Hertz's class. "Our heating plant uses energies supplied by a nuclear reactor, thanks to which we produce thousands of megawatts of electrical power. Here, we have the cooling tower, this is the turbine, the alternator, and finally, the reactor. This plant is one of the most powerful in the world." Ulrich looks out the window, most of the students finding the lecture boring.

"As Chief Engineer, I'm particularly concerned with safety. And to guarantee this safety, security measures have been applied at every level of production." Odd is drawing Kiwi, sitting next to Jeremy. Amy is sitting next to Ulrich, drawing Kiwi descriptively. "The plant's design, its functioning, and problem phases. We call this combination of safety measures in depth defense. I'll be glad to answer any questions." Sissi is reading a magazine, Jeremy raising a finger.

"Uh, sir?" Sissi looks up from her magazine.

"Yes, go on, Jeremy," Ms. Hertz says.

"I'd like to know if an atomic process exists for fusing virtual particles and materializing them in the real world," he stands up. The other three turn to him, Odd smirking.

"Mm hmm." The chief engineer pushes up his glasses. "Son, that is in the realm of science fiction, sorry."

"Uh, Jeremy is an excellent student, but he's a bit of a dreamer," Ms. Hertz explains, the other students laughing as Jeremy places his hands on his cheeks. Odd turns around, blowing a raspberry at Herb and Sissi. Suddenly, the power to the projector goes out. "Well now, what's happened here?" She tries to make it work, but nothing happens. "Oh, certainly nothing serious, just a blown fuse, that's all."

Jeremy turns to the others, Odd shrugging as the bell rings.

* * *

Yumi is standing outside the science building, waiting for her friends. Sissi and her gang walk out, the girl noticing her. Yumi stares at her and Sissi chuckles, walking away.

"And I'm saying that maybe XANA is behind this," Jeremy insists as they walk out.

"Don't get so excited, Jeremy, it was just a short circuit," Odd dismisses it.

"Yumi!" Amy sees her, running up to her friend. "Hi!"

"Hi Amy," Yumi smiles at her enthusiasm. Whenever Amy was happy, no one else couldn't help but feel the same...well, except for Sissi.

"Odd," they turn around to see the principal approaching. "I've thought it over, you can form your group, the uh, Foxtrot Fanatics?"

"Yes!" Odd cheers at the news.

"Yaaay!" Amy says happily.

"It's the Pop Rock Progressives, sir," Yumi corrects politely.

"But it must be open to anyone who wishes to play, is that clear?" He finishes.

"No problemo, sir," Odd answers as the others nod. He nods at them and leaves.

"Yeah, let's hear it for the God of Rock and Roll!" Odd slides to the ground in excitement. Amy slides next to him, doing a little bit of air guitar. They stare at the two.

"...Odd, you're putting way too much influence on her," Ulrich comments after a few seconds.

"That's a bad thing?" Amy grins, turning to him.

"Hey, come on, if we step on it, we can photocopy the leaflets before lunch, Jeremy," Odd suggests.

"Well, you know what, I'm not into rock. Besides, I wanna check on that outage," Jeremy tells him, walking away.

"Okay, see ya later Jeremy," Yumi calls out.

"I'll help you, Odd," Amy offers to her ftiend.

"Alright!" He cheers. "And thanks for designing them, they look great!"

"You draw?" Ulrich turns to her.

"Well, a little," Amy confesses, rubbing her neck sheepishly. "Odd found my sketchbook one day and pleaded me to help him with the flyers..."

"And she's really good, too!" Odd explains, Amy smiling shyly.

* * *

Jeremy is in his room, typing away. "Hi. Is something wrong, Jeremy?" Aelita asks.

"Hmm." He doesn't answer, looking for signs of trouble on his computer. It's like he couldn't hear her.

"You know, if you ever have a problem, you can always talk to me about it," Aelita suggests.

"Weird," Jeremy murmurs. "Why can't I hear anything? Let's check this out." He presses enter on his computer. "Aelita? Aelita, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Jeremy," Aelita is in a deactivated tower in the forest sector. "Is everything okay?"

"_We had a power failure in class this morning and the school electricity system seems to be having problems_."

Aelita slides away her screen, appearing on Jeremy's screen. "And? Do you think XANA's behind it, Jeremy?"

"You never know," he answers, not wanting to take any chances. XANA would pull anything. "Have you noticed anything in Lyoko?"

"No," she shakes her head. "Everything's quiet here."

"Okay, I'll do a scan. If XANA's activated a tower, we'll find out soon." He stands up.

"Where are you going?" She questions.

"To the cafeteria. They've got brussels sprouts today. You know what they are?" He explains.

"Yes, but I don't know what they taste like. Are they good?"

* * *

Ulrich pushes away his tray in disgust. "They're gross, ugh!"

"Odd, what are you up to now?" Yumi, Ulrich, and Jeremy turn to Odd, who holds out a flyer to Jim.

"We're holding auditions for our group." Jim snatches the flyer, reading it. Odd walks away, holding out a flyer in the air. "Hey, if anyone is interested, we need a drummer!" He hands out the flyers. "Here. Here you go." He stops when he gets to Sissi's table, Nicolas standing as he holds out a hand patiently. Odd just walks away from them, Amy walking to their table with a tray. She narrows her eyes, placing a hand on her hip.

"Odd," she warns.

"What?" He asks innocently.

"That's not fair, don't you remember what the principal said?" She reminds him.

"We don't need someone like him auditioning!" He tells her and she takes a flyer. "Wait, what are you doing? Amy, stop!"

"Here you go, ignore him," Amy gives Nicolas a flyer and he looks slightly surprised.

"You traitor!" Odd accuses when she walks back to them.

"All I did was give him a piece of paper," she rolls her eyes, sitting down. "Principal Delmas said it has to be open to everyone, and whether you like it or not, that includes them. And plus, I made them, so technically, I can give one to whoever I want!"

Odd crosses his arms, glaring. Amy glares right back.

"Should we stop this?" Jeremy asks, uncomfortable at the tense silence between the two.

"He'll get over it," Yumi says, waving a hand.

* * *

However, this is not true, as Amy and Odd won't even talk to each other as the boy is at the vending machine. "Let's see now, hot chocolate? No, soup. No, the soup tastes like dishwater."

Ulrich leans in and presses a button. "Hey, you pressed soup!"

"Aw come on, it's not that awful," Ulrich tells him.

"It really isn't, but Odd's so picky about _every _little thing, he forgets," Amy narrows her eyes and Odd glares at her.

"Guys, come on. Stop fighting, you're friends. Odd, she was just doing what the principal told us," Ulrich says, but they don't respond. Only a few drops come from the machine.

"Oh, this miserable machine's on the blink again." He groans as he spills the drops.

"Maybe it's another power failure," Jeremy suggests.

"Are you worried?" Yumi raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I am. I'll keep checking things out," Jeremy explains.

"Well, there's the projector, and now the machine. I kinda have to agree with Jeremy, this can't be just electrical problems. I have a bad feeling about it," Amy replies.

"Maybe because you gave Nicolas a flyer," Odd mutters bitterly.

"Or MAYBE because you can't grasp the fact I did it because of the principal, but just like with school, you don't pay attention!" She glares, placing her hands on her hips.

"If you need us, we'll be in the gym," Yumi steps between them. "We're gonna hold auditions."

* * *

Someone in the gym is doing heavy metal, Amy sitting a few feet away from Odd. To be honest, it kinda hurt their ears. Yumi has a leg raised to her shirt, Amy in the same position as she tries not to cover her ears out of disrespect. He finishes, looking at the four.

"Well yeah, you've got a lot of style," Odd admits, "It's heavy metal, right?"

"Oh yeah, sure, I love it," Mike says, tapping a cymbal. The brunette raises an eyebrow. Amy couldn't help but get the impression that he didn't even know what that was.

"Really sorry Mike, um, but we're looking for something more...traditional, you know?" Yumi breaks it to him easily.

Mike just shrugs with a smile. "Next!" Odd calls out, Mike placing the sticks on one of the drums. He walks away and Odd gasps at the next participant. He smiles as a girl with dark hair in a tank top walks to the equipment. She has a flower in her hair.

"Hello, guys." She greets.

"Hey, how are you, Naomi? I didn't know you played the drums," Odd comments and Amy frowns deeply as she crosses her arms, because Odd would be biased in his vote.

"Well yeah, a little. Besides, I've always dreamed of being a band." She confesses bashfully, Amy rolling her eyes.

_Oh please._

"Okay then, go on," Ulrich was only being nice because she's a girl.

Amy couldn't believe the next few seconds, and she didn't mean it in a good way. It's obvious that Naomi doesn't know how to play the drums at all. _Maybe I should've put that they actually have to have experience, _she thought to herself as she rubs her temple. Naomi bows, Odd standing up and clapping.

"Great, Naomi, that was fantastic. Well, I mean, come on, we're not gonna find anyone better, right?" Odd turns to Yumi and Ulrich, who stare at him.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Amy mutters so only they could hear. "You just want her in because you like her, the answer is no."

Odd narrows his eyes, placing his hands on his hips as Yumi and Ulrich snort in laughter.

* * *

Jeremy is looking over Lyoko in his room, realizing something. "400,000 volts at a high-tension pylon?" He rubs his chin. "That's not right."

He presses a few keys. "Aelita?"

Her face appears on the screen. "Anything new?"

"Well, not really," he scratches his head before the power in his room goes out, shutting his computer. "Aelita!" He tries turning on a lamp before running out of his room. He races down the stairs and into the park. He appears at the entrance of Kadic, catching a glimpse of the pylon, which is surging with electricity.

* * *

Odd taps his knees with the drumsticks as they wait for another participant. They hear the doors opening, turning to a panting Jeremy. He stops in front of them, taking a deep breath. "This is XANA's doing! I'm almost sure of it." He takes another chair, sitting in front of them.

"Yeah, go on," Yumi urges. Jeremy takes off his glasses, wiping his forehead.

"The current's cutting out all around the school and the pylon outside is way over the voltage limit, it could explode!"

"But why would XANA do that?" Ulrich wonders.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Ulrich," Jeremy shakes his head.

"One thing is for sure, though, whatever he wants to do that for, it's bad, big time," Amy points out as the doors open.

"Surprise!" They turn around to see Sissi, Nicolas, and Herb.

"Speaking of bad things that a traitor did," Odd whispers, Amy fuming, but she says nothing.

"It's obvious that my friends and I aren't very welcome by some of you," Nicolas gives Amy a little smile as Sissi continues. "But my father did say that the band was open to everybody, right?" They stare at her. "Oh, but don't worry, I don't wanna be in a group of deadbeat weirdos."

"Get to the point, Sissi," Amy rolls her eyes.

"But Nicolas just loves the drums," she finishes.

"A drummer, huh?" Odd asks, amused. "What does he play, his mom's pots and pans?"

"Would you quit it and be civil?" Amy glares at him. He blows a raspberry at her and she pushes him slightly. Jeremy stands up.

"Okay guys, I'm off to the factory. Keep you posted," he leaves and Nicolas picks up the drumsticks. He taps them, revealing himself to be a natural. Odd sits there with a dumbfounded look while Ulrich and Yumi pay closer attention. Amy snaps her fingers to the beat, bobbing her head. Sissi sees their reactions, smiling smugly. When Nicolas finishes, everyone claps except for Odd.

Sissi laughs, "Looks like you found yourself a drummer." They leave them alone.

"Nicolas? The drummer in _our_ band?" Odd asks in disbelief. "I don't care how good he is, the answer is no. Besides, Sissi set this up just to give us a hard time."

"Maybe for once, she was trying to help," Yumi tells him, "And you've gotta admit that Nicolas can really play the drums."

"Better than Naomi, that's for sure," Ulrich smirks, placing his hands behind his back.

"She's only a beginner, she needs a little more time," Odd argues.

"Uh huh, a couple of more years should do it," Ulrich replies.

"Or a century," Amy mutters under her breath.

"Of course you'd take HIS side," Odd murmurs loud enough for her to hear.

"And what does that mean?" Amy frowns towards him.

"You're changing friends now? First you give them a flyer and now you're encouraging Nicolas to be in our band! What's next, you're gonna join them?!"

Amy pushes Odd to the ground, standing up with clenched fists. Odd stares up at her in shock. "All I did was give out a piece of paper, why is that such a bad thing? But what you're doing right now is acting like a jerk instead of listening. Maybe YOU should join them, you seem to be perfect for it. As for me, say goodbye to your bassist, because I QUIT the band AND Lyoko!" She declares, storming to the doors. She places her hand on one of them, turning around. "I didn't betray you like Sissi did, Odd. Think about that." She opens the door, slamming it behind her as she leaves.

"...If Sissi's idea was to cause trouble, she's done a great job," Ulrich comments, Yumi giving Odd a glare as he sits in his chair.

"Odd, that wasn't cool. Amy's not Sissi, she did what she was told. She was trying to help. If she didn't, Sissi might've told her father and we wouldn't be here right now."

Odd gives them a look before he thinks about what he did and Amy's reaction. Guilt is all over his face a minute later and he covers his face. "I can't believe I said that to her...she's my best friend..."

Yumi and Ulrich raise an eyebrow teasingly. "My best female friend. After all, I was the first person she met when she came to Kadic. But now...who knows if she'll even hang out with us anymore? And it's all my fault..."

They're interrupted by the sound of a trombone behind them, turning around to see Jim playing one. "Uh, would you guys need a slide trombone by any chance?"

"Huh?" They all look in confusion.

* * *

Jeremy runs down the boiler room tunnel. He ends up in the sewers, grabbing his scooter. He rides it to the ladder, climbing up it. Jeremy presses the button to the elevator and the door closes in on him. He's taken to the lab and he sits in his chair, which swivels around the map.

Aelita looks around in front of a tower in the forest sector. She feels pulsations and Jeremy turns to the map of Lyoko. He types away on the supercomputer. "Aelita, sorry about the outage. What's new?"

Aelita appears on the supercomputer screen. "You were right to be worried. XANA's woken up," she reports.

"Huh?" Jeremy turns his attention to another screen. "The scan's picked something up. The tower XANA's activated is in the desert region."

"I'm on my way," Aelita says.

"Be careful, Aelita," Jeremy replies in worry.

"I will." He tracks something down, gasping.

* * *

Jim plays his trombone, the others staring. "Well, what do ya say?"

"Uh, Jim, the fact is...uh, you see we're a rock band, not a military brass band," Odd tells him, Yumi's phone ringing. She answers it.

"Okay, be right there." She hangs up. "We're going to have to audition you another time."

"Oh no, you don't, you're not going anywhere unless you agree to take me as part of your group!" He threatens, but they're already gone.

The three start running to the park, approaching the manhole cover. Ulrich opens it.

"Jeremy, we're on our way...except for Amy," Odd admits on the phone.

"Wait, why?"

"Uh, she might have...quit." He cringes for the boy's reaction.

"WHAT?! Odd!" Jeremy shouts accusingly.

"I know, I know. I've tried calling her, but she won't pick up." He sighs, climbing down the ladder last. Yumi and Ulrich wait for him at the end, Ulrich throwing his skateboard.

"She's not coming?" Yumi asks.

"I don't think so," Odd sulks. Ulrich throws him his skateboard and he catches it. "Man, I'm in some serious hot water with Amy."

"If she knows it's XANA, she'll come, we need her help," Ulrich says. They skateboard over to the ladder, Odd jumping over a gap. Ulrich opens the shaft, getting out first. He helps Yumi up and they run to the entrance. They use the elevator to go down, the doors opening to the lab.

"Ah, at last...still no Amy?" Jeremy notices the three of them, Odd looking especially upset. He had no idea where she was, and if XANA has launched an attack by now, she could possibly get hurt. He...he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something happened to her.

"No," they shake their heads.

"Well, was she serious about quitting?" Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "It's not like her to do that, she's been pretty loyal."

"Yeah...she's serio-"

The doors open to reveal Amy, who has narrowed eyes.

"Amy!" Odd cries out in relief, running up to her. She doesn't respond, walking over to the other side of Jeremy, staying quiet as Odd joins her. They stare at her curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Listen, I only came here to help you with XANA one last time. After that, I'm gone. Go on, Jeremy."

"Okay, here's what XANA's up to. Once he's stored enough voltage in that pylon, he'll unleash it all," he starts.

"Unleash it where?" Odd wonders.

"Guess, on the nuclear plant."

"Creating a short-circuit and-"

Odd gasps in realization, interrupting Yumi.

The pylon sparks, a firefighter talking on a walkie-talkie. "I can't manage to cut the power. I've tried everything. I've never seen such a weird thing."

"The pylon can take 1 million volts. Once it's all accumulated, XANA can blow everything up," Jeremy explains.

"Nuclear sabotage, that's a little over our heads, wouldn't ya say?" Yumi starts to panic.

"Yeah, what do you mean?" Ulrich questions.

"Think about it. If we fail in Lyoko, the whole region will be wiped out. We've got to warn the authorities!" Yumi insists.

"Are you crazy? They'll be an inquiry and we'll be questioned," Jeremy points out as Aelita looks at the pulsations in the desert sector. "We'll have to tell them everything! And if they discover XANA, they'll pull all the plugs out."

"And we'll lose Aelita. I know that, but we're talking about a nuclear disaster!" Yumi argues. They stare at each other.

"...Okay. Let's take a vote. Who's for raising the alarm?"

"For," Yumi raises a hand.

"Against," Jeremy raises his hand.

"Against," Odd votes. Aelita appears on the screen, but says nothing.

"Sorry Aelita, but I also think we can't take that big of a risk. I vote for. Let's report it," Ulrich says. They turn to Amy and she crosses her arms.

"I say both."

"Huh?" They all look to her in surprise.

"You didn't say I couldn't vote both. While I do think the authorities should know, I don't want to unplug the supercomputer. I can't do that to Aelita."

"Well then, two votes for, two votes against, and one for both. It's a tie. We don't tell anybody," Jeremy declares, since he didn't want to lose Aelita. Yes, he was being a little selfish about it, but he didn't want the police knowing about the supercomputer. The whole reason why they were a team is because of their discovery of the lab.

"I think it means that we should tell everybody!" Yumi points to him.

"Don't I have the right to vote?" Aelita asks, Jeremy turning to her.

"Why sure you do. That way, there won't be a tie."

"In that case...I vote for."

"Huh?" Jeremy turns to her in shock.

"I don't want thousands of people to die just to save me," she explains.

"Thank you, Aelita," Yumi says, Jeremy looking a little upset.

* * *

It was decided that Ulrich, Odd, and Amy will go to Lyoko while Yumi heads off to warn the authorities. Amy initially wanted to go with Yumi so she didn't have to be near Odd, but Jeremy ordered that she work things out with him. Plus, Aelita could use an extra hand.

"Amy, talk to me. I said I was sorry," Odd pleads, but she doesn't listen as she leaves the elevator first.

Jeremy starts the procedure as Odd groans, walking into the scanner. Ulrich steps in next, then Amy. Jeremy presses enter, the three of them scanned. Their hair flies as they're transported.

They virtualize, landing safely. "We're gonna make it, huh guys?" Odd asks.

"I sure hope so, Odd," Ulrich answers. Aelita is a few feet away from them.

_"Okay, the scan has located the activated tower_."

Ulrich and Amy nod to each other, Odd sighing as they run to her.

"It's in the desert region, near an oasis."

"I know where it is. That way, on the other plateau," Aelita points ahead.

* * *

Yumi opens the manhole cover, seeing the pylon growing worse. She manages to make it to the school, where the power has gone out.

"I don't get it, the plant is functioning perfectly, but the city's in total darkness," the chief engineer says as he hangs up the phone, sitting next to Ms. Hertz in the principal's office. "No need for alarm, though. We're working on finding the reason."

There's a knock on the door before it opens. Yumi walks inside the office. "I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but it's really important. You've gotta trust me. I know it's gonna sound crazy, sir, but please hear me out. The nuclear plant is in danger of blowing up!"

They all stare at her.

* * *

The four arrive at the oasis. "I don't believe this, what's going on? Where is this tower?" Odd questions as they only see water.

"We can't see it now, but it's here alright. Look at XANA's pulsations. They all converge here," Aelita explains.

"Come on, you can do it. You can't be too far away. You've gotta find it fast, the pylon is gonna be overloaded soon!" Jeremy insists as it goes up to 77 percent.

Yumi runs to the entrance of the school as the pylon gets covered in electricity. "Jeremy, the principal and Dr. Delaker didn't believe me."

"We're going crazy here too, Yumi. The pylon is 85% charged and we can't find the tower!"

Ulrich stabs the ground with his sword. Odd stares at the water before looking up at Amy. She's circling around the oasis across from him. He throws a rock in his hand before tossing it in the water, but it shines instead of rippling. "Huh?" He touches it, his hand phasing through the pool. He looks at his hand. "I found it."

"Hmm?"

"Huh?" They turn around.

"We've been tricked. There's no water down there, just a surface layer. I'll go and have a better look." Odd goes into the 'pool.' The others follow him, landing within sight of the activated tower. They race over there past the field of rocks. "There."

The tower is guarded by three Krabs. "Careful!" He gets hit in the leg by a laser.

"Odd!" Jeremy shouts.

"I hate those horrible Krabs!" Odd mutters. Ulrich pulls out his sword.

"Aelita, it's you they're after. Go on, run!" Ulrich calls out. She runs and one of them starts chasing her.

"Aelita!" Odd yells after the girl. The Krab starts firing lasers at her and Amy runs up in front of it, throwing her spear like a boomerang. The Krab fires at it, making it fall out of Amy's range. It starts firing lasers at her and Odd jumps in front of Amy, taking the shot for her and getting devirtualized.

"Odd!" Amy exclaims before making her hands sandy. "Sand shot!" She fires a ball of sand, only damaging the first Krab. Ulrich deflects lasers with his sword. He runs forward, two yellow ghosts flash away from his body, turning into clones of himself, which is his triplicate ability. However, they only have 1 life point each. The original Ulrich jumps up, stabbing the second Krab and defeating it.

"I'm sure Amy will forgive you after you saved her, but things look bad here," Jeremy says to Odd as he joins him. "Up to 95 percent. Soon XANA will be able to attack the nuclear plant."

Electricity is literally spilling out of the pylon as Yumi is talking to the police. "Can you repeat that?"

"The voltage that built up in this pylon is going to be used to blow up the nuclear power plant, sir! How can you just stand there, do something, before it's too late, huh?!" The two stare at each other before looking back at her.

"How do you know all that?"

Yumi narrows her eyes, clenching her fist.

"Go on, go on," Ulrich tells his clones. They jump up, one of them defeated, but the other manages to defeat the first Krab. "What, you're gonna let me do all the work?"

Amy chuckles, running forward and grabbing her spear. "_Amy, what are you doing_?" Odd asks, her ID card and the Krab's appearing. She says nothing, the Krab hitting her in the arm.

"No!" Ulrich and Aelita call out. She keeps running.

"Come on, hurry! The pylon is over 98 percent!" Jeremy urges.

"I got it, Jeremy, sheesh!" She shouts, throwing her spear like a javelin. The spear flies over the Krab's head, landing on the eye. Amy jumps up and grabs it, defeating the Krab.

"Okay, it's up to you, Aelita," Ulrich turns to her. Aelita runs to the tower, Amy getting devirtualized by a Krab.

"Amy!" Ulrich defeats it.

Amy appears in the scanner, groaning as she slaps her forehead. "I can't believe I didn't see that coming."

"A supercomputer in a factory? A virtual world?" The officer asks.

"I swear, you have to believe me!" Yumi insists. They look at each other.

Aelita walks into the middle of the eye, floating up to the other platform.

"It's gonna work," Odd says, Amy on the other side of Jeremy. Aelita continues floating, the pylon reaching 100 percent. It starts to power up. Aelita reaches the top.

"Oh no!" Yumi exclaims, electricity gathering up. Aelita walks up.

The electricity starts moving to the power plant.

Aelita presses her hand to the screen. Jeremy gasps, Odd and Amy's mouth open. Aelita puts in her name.

_Aelita_

_Code_

The electricity has almost reached the power plant.

_Lyoko_

The electricity flickers to a stop in front of the power plant, the pylon reaching down to 0. Jeremy sighs in relief. Odd and Amy turn to him.

"Ready for a return trip to the past, guys?"

The tower deactivates before the return trip is launched. It engulfs everything, Yumi smiling.

* * *

After the time reversion, the Pop Rock Progressives perform a song. But this time, Nicolas is on drums and Jim is playing his trombone.

"Okay, hit it!" Odd orders. "Three, four, and-" Nicolas starts playing, followed by Odd on guitar. Ulrich is on keyboard while Amy is on bass. Yumi starts singing a song called 'Mystery Girl,' dedicated to Aelita, but only the Lyoko Warriors knew that. Herb claps for them, but stops when Sissi gives him a look. Jeremy enjoys the song, eating popcorn. Odd smiles at Nicolas' playing, leaning into Yumi's ear.

"You were right, he's doing great."

"Are you talking about Jim?" They look at Jim playing.

"Great, you guys. The energy is super nuclear!" Jeremy claps. "You're gonna make this town explode!" They stop playing and Amy gives him a blank look.

"Dude...too soon."

"When are you gonna apologize?" Ulrich says to Odd.

"I got it all figured out," Odd waves a hand away.

* * *

Later that night, Amy is dressed in a light blue ¾ length pajama shirt under an off-one-shoulder light pink top with dark pink trim. Her pants are dark pink pants with light blue pockets. Her hair is pulled back into a bun with a pink ribbon. Her room is light pink wallpaper, a bed in the corner, a computer next to her bed, a wardrobe, and a hanging chair. She's looking over her notes when there's a knock on her door. She looks up, walking over. She opens it, looking down to see a gift box and a note.

"Huh?" She looks to her left, seeing the doors closing. Amy gives a wary look, opening the note up first.

_Amy, take this as a peace offering. I hope this works things out between us. If I could, I'd take it all back._

"What peace offering?" She opens up the box to reveal a medium-sized teddy bear, holding a star that read 'I'm beary sorry.'

She smiles, hugging it as she looks at the doors.

"Thank you, Odd..."


	5. Holiday in the Fog

At nighttime, Ulrich peeks around the corner. He gestures Jeremy to follow him. They run over one of the buildings, Ulrich shaking a can of spray paint. Jim snores in his room, drool coming from his mouth. Kiwi comes in, sniffing him before howling. He rolls around before taking Jim's blanket off of him. Jim rolls around and Kiwi sniffs his neck, licking him. He breathes in Jim's nose and he wakes up from the smell.

"Hey, what are you doing here, huh? You dumb dog!" He starts chasing Kiwi. "Wait till I get my hands on you! I'll get you this time, you mangy mutt."

"Yeah, way to go, Kiwi," Odd whispers as he and Amy watch him leave. She turns to him.

"So Kiwi's your dog, right?" She asks and he nods.

"Yeah, why?"

"Come with me. I wanna show you something," she smiles, walking away. Odd follows her, having no idea what surprise she had in store. When they get to her room, she opens the door and bends down to one of her drawers. She opens it up to reveal a female dog who looked almost like Kiwi!

"Hey, she looks like my dog!" Odd exclaims and the dog runs up to him, panting. She has a bow around her neck. "Who's a good girl?" He bends down and pets her.

"Her name's Kiki, she's been my dog for as long as I can remember," Amy tells him.

"This is great, Kiwi has a playmate," Odd smiles at the dog.

"Just don't tell anyone besides the others, okay?" Amy grins.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Ames," he winks as she picks Kiki up. She blushes at the nickname. It felt a little nice to be called that...

* * *

Ulrich and Jeremy are spray-painting, hearing Kiwi bark. Ulrich runs off while Jeremy continues spray-painting. Jim runs right past him before realizing the fact that he's outside.

"Jeremy, you mind telling me what you're doing outside at this hour? And that, huh? What's that supposed to be?!" He sees that Jeremy has spray-painted him with bunny ears and a goofy look on his face. Jim looks in disbelief.

"If I'd have had more time, I could've done the eyes better," Jeremy admits. Jim turns to the blonde boy, who has a smile on his face.

* * *

Odd, Amy, Yumi, and Ulrich sit outside the principal's office, waiting for Jeremy. The door opens, Jeremy stepping out.

"I hope this will teach you a lesson, Jeremy. I don't understand, a model student like you. You should be ashamed."

"Uh, yes sir," Jeremy answers, Principal Delmas closing the door. His friends gather around him.

"What'd he say?"

"Tell us."

"Oh, he gave me detention for the whole week of vacation," Jeremy fake sulks.

"Cool, he really let ya have it," Odd says.

"As punishments go, you're a champion!" Ulrich tells him.

"I'm sure we couldn't have done better than that," Yumi smiles.

"Nice job, Jeremy. Couldn't have done it better myself," Amy winks at him. He got himself in trouble on purpose so he can stay at school during the upcoming break, to keep an eye out for XANA. That way, there would be no attacks.

"Anyway, XANA won't get any vacation this time," Jeremy smiles. They walk away, Nicolas appearing behind them.

"Am I dreaming or does Jeremy look happy to be punished for the vacation?" He asks skeptically. No student, especially one like Jeremy, would be glad to be staying at school the whole time.

"Yeah, it sure is weird. You'd almost think he did what he did cuz he wanted to be punished," Herb points out. "I don't get it."

"Me neither. And who's this XANA he was talking about?"

"Herb is right," Sissi stands in front of them. "It's even weirder than weird and I'm gonna find out just what's going on."

"Huh? What are you gonna do?" Nicolas asks curiously. "Don't you have to leave with your dad after school?"

"Just a little change of schedule," She turns to him. The girl could be very persuasive when it comes to her father...

* * *

Principal Delmas is writing in his office when Sissi comes in. "Daddy, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"But Sissi dear, I'm very busy," he tells her.

"It won't take long. Well, you see, there's this girl I know," she sits on his desk. "Whose grades aren't very good and the best thing for her would be to study over the vacation. But she's supposed to go to see her grandparents."

"I see, and who is this, uh-"

"Shh," She stops him from speaking. "I'm coming to that. She knows that when she gets to her grandparents' house, she won't feel like studying, so what do you think she should do? She needs your advice as a principal."

"...Well, my advice would be to give up her vacation and stay home and study for her own good. What's this girl's name? Perhaps I could talk to her."

"You just did!" She hugs him, to his confusion. "Daddy, it's me!" She kisses his cheek. "Thank you for the advice! I promise to study hard, kiss Grandma and Grandpa for me!" She runs out of his office, giggling.

* * *

Ulrich, Odd, Amy, Yumi, and Jeremy are walking through the park. "You get to go and see your parents at the other end of the planet. Yumi's off for a vacation in the mountains, and what do I get? A whole week of math tutoring."

Odd laughs, placing a hand around his shoulders. "If they think that they can make a good student out of you in one week, well I say good luck to them. It sounds like Mission Impossible, if you ask me." Ulrich smiles in amusement.

"You're sure you can manage on your own without us?" Yumi asks Jeremy.

"No sweat! And if XANA leaves me alone, I'll be able to work on Aelita's materialization," Jeremy says, grateful for the extra time. Thank goodness he wasn't in trouble with his parents, though they were disappointed in him for his 'crime.'

"Oh don't worry, he's not gonna be alone." Sissi is standing in front of them. "I'm staying at school too, and I'll look after him. I'll be his guardian angel."

"Wow Jeremy, are you lucky?" Odd leans in.

"Alright, young man," Jeremy turns to Jim. "You think this wall's gonna clean itself? Get to work NOOOOOOW!"

Sissi laughs at this. "Go on, go on, laugh while you still can, young lady. Your father told me to monitor your studying and that's what I intend to do!" Sissi looks surprised. "Okay now, get to work and clean that up!" Jeremy starts walking along with Sissi, who looks annoyed.

"I don't know why, but all of a sudden, my math tutoring doesn't seem all that bad," Ulrich comments.

"He's stuck with Sissi for a week, I think I'd rather do tutoring," Amy admits, shrugging. "That is if I didn't already have a good grade in math right now."

"So what are you doing for vacation, Ames?" Odd questions with a grin.

"Are you gonna call me that all the time?" She smiles slightly.

"Maybe," Odd shrugs at her casually. "It's cute."

Ulrich and Yumi smirk. Odd and Amy would definitely make a cute couple. The connection was so obvious.

"Well, if you must know what I'm doing for vacation...it's a surprise," Amy gives a sly smile.

* * *

Jeremy uses a wet sponge to wipe the wall. Jim is in a lawn chair, opening a soda can. He gulps some of it down as Jeremy squeezes some water out. He groans slightly as he continues scrubbing.

"Come on, you can do better than that. A little more elbow grease. Keep scrubbing, go on, you can do it. How's that math problem?" He turns around to Sissi. "Making any progress solving it? I sure hope so."

"Um, I'm a little bit stuck here. Maybe if I give Jeremy some help? My father always says that manual labor is good for the brain," She suggests so she can interrogate him.

"Huh, I guess all kids aren't lazy after all. Good idea, Sissi. Stay there, I'll go and get you a sponge," Jim takes his leave.

"Oh, what a shame to have to wipe all that off. I guess I'm not the first one to recognize your talent. It's really well done, a work of art. By the way, did you do it all by yourself or did your friend XANA help you a little? Huh?"

He stares at her, not answering. He did wonder how she knows about him, though. Jim walks into the boiler room, opening the door to the supply closet. He finds a sponge and grabs it along with a brush. When he leaves, black shadows come from the outlet and onto some barrels of liquid, spilling them and creating a thick, purple gas.

"I overheard you talking to the other kids about XANA, she your girlfriend? Maybe I know her. Come on, Jeremy, tell me," She presses the genius. Luckily, she had the wrong idea.

"XANA is the name of a rock group. But with all that junk that you listen to, there's no way you could possibly know them," He tells her.

"What do you think I am, an idiot or something?" She demands.

"Uh, you said it, not me," He hands her his sponge. "Here, since you volunteered to help me. It's time I took a break." He sits in Jim's chair. "A little more elbow grease, go on, keep scrubbing," He imitates Jim as Sissi starts scrubbing. "You can do it, go on, you could do better than that."

Jim walks up behind him, clearing his throat. Jeremy turns around to an unamused Jim, smiling sheepishly.

* * *

Sissi is in her room later that night, talking to Herb on the phone. She's complaining about all the scrubbing she had to do. "Oh, I ache all over, I swear. I'm telling you, I'd have never thought it was possible to be this sore. It's even hard to blink."

"Sissi, you should go to sleep," He tells her, wanting the girl to drop it.

"Are you kidding?" She sits up. "I can't. What if Jeremy tries something tonight?"

"Oh yeah? What?"

"I don't know, but he's up to something, I'm sure of that. And I'm almost sure that this XANA is in on it," She holds up a mirror so she can see outside her door. "Tonight's the night, I'm gonna play super spy. At last I'm gonna find out the secret of Jeremy and his weird friends!"

"I know I'm on the right track, but I need the computer in the lab to check out the figures," Jeremy tells Aelita in his room. "I'm gonna head over to the factory."

"You should go to bed, Jeremy. XANA seems to be stable. I don't feel any pulsations," She suggests. "And you know, it's not the end of the world if I stay virtual one more day."

"Uh, that's fine for you, but if you don't come soon, I'm gonna have to spend my vacation with Sissi and Jim! I'll never survive," He stands up.

"Jeremy, thank you. Thank you for everything you're doing for me," She explains.

"That's okay," He replies while blushing. He sneaks out of his room, past a sleeping Sissi. He goes down to the supply room, but hears a crash from one of the rooms. He opens it, encountering the purple gas. He chokes on it, continuing to cough after he shuts the door. As he tries to catch his breath, Jim comes up behind him, scaring him.

"Now don't try to tell me that you were sleepwalking because I've been working here for 20 years, and I've heard that story about-"

"Jim, something awful has happened! Have a look, in there!" Jeremy points to the door. Jim opens it, seeing the mess of barrels, but no smoke.

"Huh? It looks like there was a hurricane in there. This had better not be your doing."

"But the smoke, it's disappeared! That's weird, not even a trace. It's XANA!" Jeremy realizes quietly.

* * *

Jim has taken Jeremy to his room. "Don't even think about leaving this room. Tomorrow, I'm calling your parents. You've got some explaining to do. I wouldn't wanna be in your shoes!" He slams the door shut, Jeremy turning to his computer.

"Aelita, come in. Please, hurry. We got a big problem."

"You're not the only one, XANA's woken up. But I don't know which tower he's activated, but the pulsations converge in this direction."

Early the next morning, the purple smoke starts traveling though the school's vent system. Sissi is still asleep in her room.

Jeremy has made it to the factory, pushing the button. The elevator starts going down.

The smoke travels above Sissi in her room.

"It's even worse than I thought, the spilled bottles contain an extremely poisonous substance. If the data from the computer is right, the gas can...even be deadly! In cases of extended inhalation." The smoke appears in Sissi's room.

Jim is walking to Jeremy's room so he can call his parents. "Get up, young man. Time to face the music." He sees that Jeremy is not in his room, however. "Jeremy!"

Sissi wakes up to the gas. "What's happening? Where am I? Jeremy! Can't see, I'm totally out of it. What's going on?" She starts screaming and Jim hears it as he's walking down the stairs. He runs up the stairs as Sissi runs out of her room away from the gas. She bumps straight into Jim before hugging him. "Jim! Over there, smoke with arms!"

"This has gotta be contagious, what's all this about smoke anyway?" The smoke that she's talking about appears around. "Come on, I don't see any-" he sees it and screams, running away with Sissi. They race down the stairs.

There's beeping from the computer and Jeremy looks at the map of Lyoko. "Bingo. Aelita, I found it. 37 degrees south in the forest area."

"Okay, I'm on my way, but I'm nowhere near it. And I'm gonna need some help," she says, since she's in the desert sector.

"I know 4 volunteers who will be happy to cut their vacation short and help."

* * *

Ulrich looks in boredom as the tutor is speaking. It felt like he was in school all over again just by listening to her. "You'll soon learn that mathematics is actually quite easy, young man. All you need is a sense of logic, a little bit of common sense, and of course, if you have good concentration, skills, and if you have-"

Ulrich's phone beeps and he picks it up to see a message from Jeremy. "S.O.S. XANA, Jeremy."

"Analysis, that will help as well, but I assure you, if you apply yourself, it's not at all complicated." Ulrich sneaks out of his house, his tutor not even noticing.

* * *

Odd is at the airport, where security is looking at what looks to be a moving skeleton in Odd's bag. It's just Kiwi, however. "Hey, come and have a look at this, Charlie."

"What is it? Wow, that's incredible!"

"What is that, kid?"

"Uh," Odd looks at the screen, "It's, uh, looks like a skeleton."

"Yeah, that's right, but uh, don't you see anything strange?"

"Your skeleton is moving." Odd looks closer.

"Uh, oh, that's Kiwi. Kiwi's my dog."

"You do know that dogs are only allowed in the luggage compartment."

"Well, yeah, sure, uh...I don't know what happened," Odd shrugs. "He was supposed to stay here, with my grandma, but..."

"Odd!"

He turns to see Amy smiling behind him. "Ames, what are you doing here?" He asks in shock.

"Going to see my mom, of course," She holds up her boarding pass. "I wanted to surprise you. I checked, and we're on the same flight, but I have to go on another plane to get to my mom's."

"Cool!" He cheers as his phone rings. "Hm?" He picks it up. "Oh, it's Gram. We were just, uh, talking about you." It's actually Jeremy on the phone.

"What are you talking about, Odd? It's me, Jeremy!" He says in annoyance.

"Yes, of course I know it's you, Gram. I'm sorry, I know you told me a hundred times that you don't like me to call you Gram. Yeah, okay. I'm on my way, right. I'll bring back the dog. Bye Gram." Odd turns to Amy. "We have to get to the factory, XANA's launched an attack."

Jeremy rubs his temple in confusion. He had no idea what that was just now, but he'll let it slide.

* * *

At Yumi's house, their car trip hasn't started yet because her mom hasn't finished packing a dress. "We should have left over two hours ago!" Mr. Ishiyama complains from the driver's seat.

"You know how much she loves that dress," Yumi points out.

"I don't even know what dress she's talking about."

Her mom opens a window from the second floor. "I'm coming! I'll be down in two seconds!"

"Yeah, I doubt that," Yumi replies as her phone rings.

Mrs. Ishiyama returns to the car. "You're gonna laugh, darling, when I tell you-"

"No, I don't really feel like laughing. Have you noticed someone is missing in the back seat?" Yumi's seat is now empty, the car door opened.

* * *

Jim and Sissi hide from the smoke, which moves past a hallway. Jim shushes Sissi from whimpering, the smoke coming back.

"Oh no!" Sissi shouts. Jim coughs from the smoke, seeing a closet.

"Over here, hurry up!" He pulls Sissi into the closet. He shuts the door before any smoke can come in, taking off his jacket and rolling it up. He places it at the bottom of the door.

Aelita has gotten to a way tower and she enters it. She walks to the side and holds her arms out, letting herself fall. She flies through a data stream, landing on the lower deck of another tower. She leaves the tower, now in the forest sector. "Jeremy, I'm coming into the forest area now."

"Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and Amy should be there very soon. Be careful, Aelita. There are bound to be monsters around there," Jeremy warns. "I better go back to the school. Jim and Sissi might be in trouble. I've gotta warn them."

"Help, help us!" Jim shouts, even though it was hopeless. Besides Jeremy, they were the only ones on campus.

"Heeelp!" Sissi yells and they both start to sweat. "It's no use. We're finished."

"No, no we're not finished. Be brave now. Jeremy can't be far away. He'll help us out of this," Jim tries to assure her.

"Jeremy? Huh, that's pretty reassuring. It's nice to know the closest thing to Bruce Willis is coming to the rescue!" She retorts back.

Jeremy arrives at the school, starting to look for them. "Sissi? Jim? Where are you?" He starts to sweat as he's suddenly surrounded by the gas. Ulrich and Yumi arrive as well.

"We'll cut across through the boiler room, it's faster!" Ulrich calls out to Yumi.

Jeremy coughs from the gas, Ulrich and Yumi stopping when the gas is blocking their way. "Through the park!" Yumi says, turning around as they hear coughing. Jeremy crawls out of the smoke.

"Jeremy!" Ulrich exclaims, the two helping him get away from the gas. Yumi and Ulrich look over him.

"Jim...and Sissi...are still inside. We gotta find them," Jeremy explains, catching his breath.

"I'll go," Ulrich runs off.

"Ulrich, wait!" Yumi calls out.

"Yumi," she turns to Jeremy. "The factory, you've...gotta go and...help Aelita." She helps him to his feet.

"Oh, hang on Jeremy," she starts dragging him when Odd lands nearby, carrying Amy piggy-back style. "Amy, Odd, you got here in the nick of time. Why were you carrying Amy?"

"I couldn't deny my favorite girl a ride. Where's Ulrich?" Odd asks, Amy rolling her eyes.

"I didn't even ask for one...but yeah, where is he?"

* * *

Ulrich walks up the stairs of the foggy building, coughing. He holds a tissue over his mouth as he starts checking the rooms.

"I only stayed at school to try and find out the secret of Jeremy and his friends, cuz...the truth is that I've been wanting to be part of their group for ages, but it seems so hopeless," Sissi admits. "Do you understand what I mean?"

"Huh?" Jim turns to her, not listening to a word that she had just said. "No. All I understand is there's no ventilation in here. We're gonna run out of oxygen soon."

"I better stop talking then, right? Okay, I can take a hint."

* * *

Odd, Amy, and Yumi are watching a news report about the smoke from the supercomputer. "A strange and toxic smoke whose origins are unknown. The elderly and children are advised to remain indoors."

"Odd, help me get over to the computer," Jeremy coughs, holding his stomach. "And get ready to dive in. Stop looking at me, come on. There's no time to lose."

Yumi, Amy, and Odd are standing in front of the scanners. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Amy. Transfer Odd." They step into the scanners, turning around. "Scanner Yumi. Scanner Amy. Scanner Odd. Virtualization." He presses enter and they're scanned before there's a whoosh.

They're virtualized into the forest sector, landing safely. They look around for Aelita. "Where do we go now?" Odd asks as she's seemingly nowhere in sight.

"The activated tower is over this way," Aelita appears from behind a tree, waving.

"Hi Aelita," Yumi waves back. "Have you seen any monsters?"

"Not yet," Aelita shakes her head.

"Guess you didn't look very hard," Odd points ahead, three Kankerlots approaching.

"Welp, guess they found us," Amy murmurs, hands on her hips.

"Ulrich, do you copy?" Jeremy asks into his headset. "How's it going?"

Ulrich coughs into the phone, "Still nothing. I've been through most of the building."

"Ulrich, get out of there. You can't stand that smoke any longer, it's too dangerous. And they may be outside already," Jeremy warns him.

"I'll try one last room, then I'll go," He walks up to the closet. "Jim! Jim, Sissi, are you in there?" He tries to open the door.

"Ulrich, get out right now! Ulrich, come on, what's going on?" Ulrich has fallen unconscious outside the door. "Ulrich, answer me! Look, I don't wanna rush you, my friends, but it's getting kind of urgent here."

"What about us? What do you think _we're _doing, huh? Getting a suntan?" Odd jokes as he fires an arrow.

"This isn't a cake walk, Jeremy," Amy retorts as Yumi destroys one with her fan. Another laser is fired and Odd flips away from it. One of them prepares to fire.

"Odd, watch out!" Yumi warns, Odd flipping from more lasers. He gets hit from the last one. They start going for Amy too, but she flies past them in the air. Aelita goes to check on him, only for one of the Kankerlots to fire. She gasps and Yumi pushes her out of the way, getting hit instead.

"You okay, Yumi?" Jeremy asks in concern.

"No broken bones yet!" She replies as Amy gets hit by a laser, falling to the ground.

"Ames, you alright?" Odd holds a hand out to her. She nods with a slight smile, accepting his help.

"I haven't devirtualized yet, Della Robbia! I'm still going strong!"

"Take good care of Aelita," Jeremy tells them.

Ulrich is pulled into the closet by Jim. "There, you see, Sissi? I told you he'd come and rescue us." He sees that it's Ulrich when he turns him over. "What the-Ulrich!"

"Oh, he came for me. Oh, he came to save me, it's just like I always dreamed!" Sissi says, though that wasn't the case.

Amy, Odd, Yumi, and Aelita hide behind a tree as the Kankerlots continue to fire. _"Only way to access the tower is via a tree bridge. But it happens to be behind the monsters. And so_ _you're gonna_ _have to find a way around them."_

"It'll be too easy for them if I fly," Amy looks at the monsters.

Yumi moves her head away from a laser. "I might have an idea for blocking the monsters. You two take care of Aelita."

"Laser flash!" Odd destroys the second one. Aelita smiles at him. Amy steps forward, Odd stopping her with his arm. "No, let Yumi do it."

Yumi uses her telekinesis to move a rock. She lifts it over two Kankerlots, who fire lasers. She drops the rock over one of them. She throws her fan at the other one, but it moves to the side, hitting her with a laser. Odd, Amy, and Aelita watch as they run. Yumi is hit again.

"Yumi. If she gets hit one more time."

"Jeremy," Aelita says just as Yumi is devirtualized. They run across the bridge.

Yumi appears at the lab. "Welcome to Earth, Yumi."

"Hey look," Jim takes Ulrich's phone from the ground. "A cell phone. Now we'll be able to call for help."

"Jim, is that you, huh?" Jeremy questions into his headset.

"Jeremy!"

"Where are you?" Yumi is standing next to him. "And Ulrich?"

"Jeremy, we really need help. We're starting to run out of oxygen in here," the smoke starts to come into the room. "Nooo!" He drops the phone.

"Jim? What's happening? Jim! Odd, Amy, hurry up!"

They arrive at the tower, but there's water blocking their path. "Well what do we do now?"

Aelita turns around. "You take care of the monsters." One Kankerlot appears, walking onto the bride and Odd crouches down, aiming his paw at it.

"I'll help Aelita," Amy calls out, holding out her arms. "Glowing Ivy!" Long vines grow to make a ramp so Aelita can run up it. The Kankerlot sees this and Odd fires, missing. The monster fires lasers at Amy and Aelita, but Odd jumps in the way to let himself get hit.

"Odd!" Amy turns to him, Aelita standing up and walking. Odd stands up as Aelita starts walking up the ramp slowly. The Kankerlot appears behind her.

"Hey!" The Kankerlot turns around to Amy. "That's right, you're mine." They stare at each other, Aelita almost at the tower. "Green Luxuriant Ivy!" She makes vines wrap around the Kankerlot, but it devirtualizes her and Odd before it's destroyed.

"...Remind me to upgrade that power for Amy," Jeremy murmurs. Aelita walks into the tower, walking onto the lower pad. She stops at the center and floats up to the top pad.

Smoke is everywhere in the closet.

Aelita lands on the pad, walking up. "Let's hope it's not too late," Jeremy says to Yumi as the interface appears in front of the pink-haired girl. She presses her hand against it.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_"Aelita, hurry up!"_

Ulrich lies on the ground, still unconscious.

_Lyoko_

The smoke stops and the tower is deactivated. Jeremy launches the return trip. "Return to the Past, now!"

* * *

Time rewinds to before Jeremy was caught by Jim. "I don't understand why you insist on getting punished with detention again, Jeremy," Ulrich says in confusion. "Come on, XANA's not gonna reactivate this soon. You could give yourself a short vacation."

"Not as long as Aelita stays virtual. And this time, to tell you the truth, considering what we've painted, Jim can't be too angry." This time, instead of making Jim look like a goofy bunny, they've made him a king. They hear barking, meaning that Kiwi was approaching with Jim on his tail.

"Come to think of it, I'm gonna stick around. Anything is better than another one of Miss Smit's math lessons." Jeremy smiles at him. "Even Jim."

Jim runs past them. "Get back here!"


	6. Log Book

It's 7:30 AM at Kadic as Odd waits for Ulrich to hurry up. "Hey Ulrich, what are you looking for? I'm hungry." Ulrich seems to be searching for something.

"Huh, you go have breakfast. There's something I have to find."

"Kay, I'm gonna go meet Ames at breakfast."

"What's up with you and Amy? Everywhere I look, you're always with her," Ulrich points out.

"She's just fun to hang around," Odd shrugs, leaving.

Ulrich goes through his closet, rubbing his head. "Can't believe this!" He opens a drawer, but he doesn't find what he's looking for.

* * *

Odd's breakfast lies in front of him, most of it eaten. "Ah, eight slices of toast and three bananas, not bad, huh?" He asks Amy, who's sitting next to him. She rolls her eyes in amusement, Jeremy holding his toast as he reads. "Hey, are you skipping gym class again?"

"Yup," Jeremy nods in confirmation. "It gives me time to work on Aelita's materialization."

"Of course," Amy smirks at him. "But then again, you and gym never got along." Jeremy wasn't athletic like Ulrich or Odd. He didn't have the stamina, and preferred not to participate in gym. It saved him time to work on Aelita, anyway.

Ulrich closes the door to his room. He sees Sissi, startling him. "What's wrong, afraid the wall's gonna crumble?"

"Ha! Very funny. Can we talk for a second?" He stares at her, wondering just what she's up to...

* * *

The bell rings at 8 AM, Yumi arriving on campus.

"Hi Yumi," she hears, walking over to Jeremy, Odd, and Amy standing near the cafeteria.

"Hello." She spots something. "Hey, look over there, it's Ulrich."

The three look behind the tree, seeing Ulrich sitting with...Sissi?

"But...what's he doing with Sissi?" Odd wonders, because either Ulrich is crazy or he's in trouble. "Hey Ulrich!"

He looks up, seeing Amy waving him over. Sissi leans closer to him. "So?"

"Hey, that's blackmail! Why do you expect me to give in to that?" He argues.

"First of all, because it's hard to say no to a pretty girl like me. And second of all, I'm not going to give you any choice." He gives an annoyed look as she laughs.

"Come on, come on," she drags him away, to their surprise.

"Did he...just ignore us?" Amy blinks slowly. "What's up with that? How rude!"

* * *

Later, they're in their history class. Except for Yumi of course, because she's a grade higher than them. "In the 17th century, all European states were governed by either a king or a prince." Sissi can't help but look at Ulrich as they sit together. "They rule over mainly peasant populations."

"Hey, what's going on with them? I'm seeing things. Ulrich and Sissi, that's weird," Odd whispers to Amy and Jeremy, since he's seated between them.

"With an iron hand, we call this..."

"On the brighter side, check out how jealous Herb is." Amy tilts her head to see Herb's jealous expression.

"Odd!"

"Huh?" He turns around at the teacher saying his name.

"Are you listening to me, Odd?" He smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He hears giggling, glancing at the corner of his eye to see Amy covering her mouth to hide her laughter. Odd couldn't help but feel a little less embarrassed by the sound of her laughter. At the same time, though, he feels...a warm glow as well. The bell rings and Ulrich leaves with Sissi, though he definitely didn't look happy about it.

"We have some important things to talk about, Sissi," Odd grabs the black-haired girl by the arm. "Come on, hurry."

"Hey! But-" Odd pulls her away from Ulrich.

"Mind explaining?" Ulrich turns to his right, seeing Jeremy and Amy.

"Please don't tell me you've gone insane," Amy says in concern.

Odd is distracting Sissi, Ulrich turning to Jeremy and Amy. "Okay, here goes. I'm in a...I'm in a jam. Big-time. For years, I've, uh...been keeping a diary," he mumbles the last word so quietly that they couldn't hear.

"A what?" Jeremy crosses his arms.

"A diary!" Ulrich speaks louder. "And Sissi found it and...now she's blackmailing me. I have to go out with her. If she thinks she'll win me over that way, she's wrong."

"Waaait a minute..." Amy crosses her arms, hoping he didn't do what she thinks he did. "Did you talk about XANA or Lyoko in your diary?"

"Well, yeah, and if I don't do what Sissi says, she's gonna tell everybody. I don't know what to do," He looks down.

"Don't worry, Ulrich," Jeremy places a hand on his shoulder. "While you're all at the pool, Yumi and I will look around. We'll find your diary, you'll see."

"I can't believe Sissi would go that far just to get your attention," Amy murmurs, shaking her head. "But then again, I shouldn't be so surprised. I mean, it's _Sissi._"

"The answer is no!" They turn to Sissi yelling at Odd. "For the last time, I did not have a nose job. So stop asking, huh?!"

"Cut it out, Odd. Leave her alone, will ya?" Ulrich steps forward, but only because Sissi is blackmailing him. He places his arm around her waist, leading her away, to Odd's confusion. Sissi looks back at them, snickering.

"It's nothing," Jeremy places a hand on Odd's shoulder. "We'll explain."

* * *

Electricity crackles, one of XANA's specters entering the bus parked outside Kadic. "Take a look, Odd, not bad, huh? This bus is the latest in modern technology," Jim brags. "It's electricity driven so it's non-polluting, but powerful too."

"Electric and powerful too, huh? I'll bet you this crate goes about as fast as its name," Odd gets onto the bus, Amy giggling as he enters. Amy has a puppy backpack on her back, entering behind Odd. XANA's symbol appears on one of the headlights. Odd and Amy wave to the bus driver, walking forward to find seats. He notices sparks around the steering wheel.

"What the-?! Huh?" It stops, Sissi followed by Ulrich, who notices the bus driver's confused expression.

"Come on, come on, all abroad now. Go sit down, kid," he pushes Ulrich forward. He bends down to the steering wheel. "Okay, what's the problem?" The bus driver taps the speed display, a black silhouette quickly racing up the windshield. "What is that?"

"I have no idea." The bus driver taps the display again. The adults both shrug, Jim pointing to the peeking students.

"Sit back down and stay there till we get to the pool!" The doors close, Ulrich whispering to Amy. She whispers to Odd as the bus leaves the school.

* * *

In Jeremy's room, a gasp is heard as Yumi punches Jeremy's picture of Einstein. She couldn't believe what she just heard. "Sissi is blackmailing him?"

"Yeah, incredible, huh? What matters now though is to find Ulrich's diary, before she starts blabbing about Lyoko." Yumi sits back down.

"I'll go through her room. And I'll call you if I need any help."

"I'll be at the factory," He tells her. They both stand up, Jeremy closing the door.

"Good luck," They say to each other, going in opposite directions.

Jeremy appears in the lab, his chair swiveling to the computer as the map of Lyoko appears. "It's Jeremy here, Aelita. Do you copy?" He presses enter. Aelita is in the forest sector, in a way tower. "Aelita?"

"I'm here, Jeremy. I was waiting for you to call. In the meantime, I was studying your world a little more. There are so many strange things to discover." She couldn't wait to actually experience all of this herself one day.

Odd suddenly calls him. "Odd, what's up? Huh? Something strange? What bus?"

The vehicle is going unusually slow for a bus, as not even a bus for the elderly would go that slow. "Isn't this nice and cozy?" Sissi asks, Ulrich leaning in to Amy and Odd.

"We're zipping along at two miles an hour," Odd reports as Amy holds his phone.

"I don't believe this!" The bus driver steps on the gas, only to move at the same speed. "I got it floored, it just refuses to move."

"Okay, I'll load a scan on Lyoko. I'll call you if I find something," Jeremy replies.

"Okay, gotcha," Odd answers, hanging up.

* * *

Yumi opens Sissi's door, having picked the lock. She looks for Ulrich's diary in Sissi's closet, then the top of the wardrobe, then under her desks. Yumi sits in on the bed, thinking. She places her head on the pillow, finding it surprisingly hard. "Ah ha," she feels it before pulling the zipper. She finds a diary. "Bingo! Oh no," she notices that it's pink and that Ulrich wouldn't DARE have a pink diary. And the fact that Ulrich doesn't write in cursive. "This is not Ulrich's handwriting. Oh, wow, it's Sissi's!"

She gasps at a picture of Ulrich, reading the last entry.

_I'm tired of his acting as if I don't even exist. I can't stand him watching him pay so much attention to Yumi. So, while he was in the lunchroom, I went looking around. I just wanted a picture of him, but I found much better than that. Now, he can't possibly turn me down. I know what I'm doing isn't very nice, but it's the only way I can get him to stop ignoring me._

"Of all the nasty tricks!" Yumi closes the book. She calls Jeremy.

"Yumi, did you find Ulrich's diary?"

"No, but guess what? I found Sissi's. You were right, she knows about Lyoko. She doesn't really understand what it is, but she's ready to use what she knows," She explains, walking down the stairs.

"Rats! Look, you've gotta find Ulrich's diary before they come back from the pool."

"Don't worry, I know how to get a hold of it," Yumi smirks, having a plan. With this new discovery, this would get Sissi off Ulrich's back for sure.

* * *

Meanwhile, the bus is being so outpaced, a biker passes by it. "Hey, what if I ask my father we can go to a movie tonight?" Sissi suggests to Ulrich. "That'd be cool, huh?"

"Huh," He replies curtly, as he couldn't care less. He'd rather be stuck with Kiwi than with Sissi right now, and he chews up his shoes.

"Huh?! I'm being nice to you right now, but if you keep ignoring me, it just might not last, you hear?" She threatens. "A little friendly advice, pay attention to me or the whole school's gonna read your diary."

"Okay okay, you don't have to threaten me, I know exactly what I'm risking," He answers, not even looking at her.

"Oh yeah? You really think so, Ulrich?" Her phone rings and she answers it. "Hello? Oh, Yumi. What do you want?"

"Well, uh, I wanted to tell you how much I like your style." She starts imitating Sissi. "I ran into that dipstick Jim today. What an idiot he looks like in that sweaty gym suit-"

"Okay, okay, what do you want?" Sissi interrupts, realizing those words came from her diary.

"Tell me where you've got Ulrich's diary hidden," Yumi demands. "And hurry up or all your nasty little secrets will be on page one of the school paper."

"Okay, okay. If you go into the girl's bathroom, it's in the third stall on the top of the water tank, you got that?"

Yumi gives a surprised look because, ironically, she's in that exact stall. Talk about luck. Yumi looks up, seeing the dark green book. "Okay, I'll go and check."

"Wait! What about my diary, what are you-" Yumi hangs up.

"Thanks a lot, Yumi," Ulrich looks relieved. "There, you see? It's good to have real friends, isn't it?" Amy pats the seat next to her and Ulrich switches seats.

"Ames, scoot closer to me so we can make room," Odd orders jokingly and Amy does so, sitting between Ulrich and Odd. He smirks as he sees Amy's leg slightly over Odd's from the slightly tight space. Immediately Herb, who was obviously waiting for Ulrich to leave, sits down next to Sissi.

"It's about time. I thought that guy would never get off your back," He comments.

"If you know what's good for you, shut up!" She growls in frustration. She was not in the mood.

* * *

Yumi gets out of the girl's bathroom, running while clutching Ulrich's diary. "Yumi, what are you doing there?" She skids to a stop, seeing one of her teachers looking at her from a window.

"Nothing, sir. I felt sick, but I'm fine now!" She runs off.

"Aelita?" Jeremy calls out.

"Jeremy, Odd, Amy, and Ulrich were right. XANA is at it again, the pulsations are getting stronger."

Jeremy scans for the tower. "Aelita, the activated tower is in the desert."

"I'm off."

Jim sits in the back of the bus. "What's going on now? This is weird!" Ulrich looks up at front as the steering wheel sparks again. XANA takes control of the brakes, making the bus accelerate. The students scream, catching Jim's attention. Ulrich, Amy, and Odd manage to stand up.

"Hey, get back to your seats!" Jim yells. "You're not allowed to get up!"

"What's going on with this bus?" Ulrich questions, the three of them ignoring Jim.

"God, kid, I wish I knew. All I know is it's out of control!" Jim runs up to them.

"Hey, it seemed to be working okay before you recharged the batteries, right?" Ulrich wonders.

"Yeah, everything was just fine, but now, I can't..."

Ulrich calls Jeremy. "Ulrich, what's happening, huh?"

"We're in trouble. XANA has taken complete control of the bus," Ulrich explains.

"Okay, give me a sec. I wonder what XANA's trying to do. Where are you?"

"At the corner of Washington Street and Franklin Avenue."

"I'll call you back as soon as I can localize you," Ulrich goes back to his seat.

"We're in for a rough ride," he turns to his two friends.

"Aelita's gonna need a hand on Lyoko. We've gotta go," Odd explains.

Ulrich narrows his eyes. "Then you go. I'll stay here," he says, turning to the brunette. "Amy?"

"I'll stay here with you," she gives a determined look. Odd places a hand on her shoulder.

"Ames...be careful, okay? Stay safe."

"You too, Odd," she places her head on his shoulder as he hugs her briefly. The bus driver and Jim try to move the steering wheel, but XANA has made the controls unresponsive. Odd stands in front of the door, opening it. Jim hears it and turns around. Odd leaps out of the bus and onto the pavement. Jim screams, the doors closing. Amy goes all the way in the back, seeing Odd get up. He turns around, seeing her. He waves with a reassuring smile and she waves back silently. The bus accelerates to speeds over 100 kph.

"Take off your backpacks and use them as airbags!" Ulrich orders, the bus smashing past cars, continuing on.

"Do what he says!" Amy calls out.

Jeremy calls Yumi and she answers it. "Yumi, things are getting tough here. Come straight to the factory after class."

"Right," she runs off.

"Now hurry up and get your seat belts fastened!" Jim tells them as he's on the floor. The bus driver tries to comfort a frightened Herb.

"Come on, kid, take it easy, just calm down, huh? Does the little girl need any help?" Sissi puts on her seatbelt.

"No thanks, the little girl can take care of herself." The bus speeds past a truck and Amy calls Jeremy from her baby pink cell phone.

"We've just gone through the constellation intersection, okay?" She keeps him updated.

"Don't worry, guys, I've got you spotted now. But I still don't understand what XANA is trying to do..."

"Odd managed to get off the bus to get to the factory, so it's just me and Ulrich now," Amy reports, giving a slightly worried look. She hoped that he managed to get over there without any problems...XANA would do that to distract him.

Aelita has gotten to the desert sector, following the pulsations. "I can see it, Jeremy, I've got a virtual image of the activated tower."

"Well done, Aelita. Stay where you are, Yumi is on her way."

* * *

Speaking of, Yumi has gotten to the park, looking around for anyone spying on her. She opens the manhole cover, grabs her skateboard, and starts skating through the sewers. She climbs up the hatch to the bridge and runs across it. She presses the button to the elevator and goes down to the scanner room.

"Hurry, in the scan. The situation is getting worse!" Jeremy urges. He starts the virtualization process. Yumi stands in front of the open scanner and steps in. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner, virtualization." Yumi is scanned and virtualized into the desert sector. She lands, fan ready.

"Yumi! Yumi!" She turns around to see a waving Aelita running up to her. Yumi smiles, running up to her.

Jeremy is tracking the path of the bus. "Crazy!" He finds the destination, and it's not good. "Amy, Ulrich, XANA is launching the bus on the petrochemical complex!"

"He's what?!" Ulrich and Amy exclaim, and because the bus is electric, they know exactly what the outcome would be.

Instant explosion upon impact.

The bus starts driving into a tunnel and Jim cuts several wires.

"How's that?" He laughs in triumph, but it doesn't stop the bus. "There's no way to stop this infernal thing."

"We don't have any other choice, we have to jump." The bus driver pushes on the button, but the doors do not open. "Now look what you've done, huh? By cutting the cables, you blocked the door!"

"Jim," he turns to Amy and Ulrich. "Jeremy thinks we're headed straight for the petrochemical plant."

"You mind telling me how he knows that?"

"Uh, we'll tell you that later," Amy murmurs, although they weren't planning on doing any of the sort. Once Jeremy launches the return to the past, everything would be back to normal, as normal as they could be, that is. "But, for now, you just have to trust him. He can help us."

Jim stands up. "Okay, okay." They smile at him.

"Uh, Ulrich?" They turn around to Sissi, who looks guilty. "Well, I'm really sorry about your diary. It was wrong to take it. Please forgive me. Can I help in any way?"

Ulrich and Amy glance at each other before she offers Sissi her phone. "Here, take my phone. You can be the go-between for Jeremy and us."

She nods with a smile. They get out of the tunnel.

* * *

"Yumi, Aelita, the tower is real close now," Jeremy relays to the girls. They slide down a rock and Yumi looks around warily. The tower is a few feet away from them and Yumi stops Aelita from moving forward.

"No, wait. This is too easy." She opens her fan. "Coming all this way without seeing even one monster? There's gotta be a trap."

And she's right, because there's a sand storm approaching behind them. "A sand storm!" They both gasp.

"It's a tornado!" Yumi says and they start running. "Jeremy, we've got a problem here."

"Make that two, there's a monster behind you!" Jeremy sees a red dot on the screen. Yumi looks behind her, but she can't see it because of the sand. However, the monster can be deduced as a megatank. They get caught in the storm and the megatank's symbols appear on its shell.

* * *

The bus speeds past a police car, and since it's breaking the speed limit, the police car chases after it.

"Calling all cars. All cars, I said calling all cars."

"In ten seconds, the bus should bear left," Jeremy tells Sissi.

"He says we're gonna turn left," Sissi relays to Amy and Ulrich.

"Alright, everyone over here with us!" Amy waves them over and they're moved sharply to the left. The bus careens a guard railing, but continues on its course.

"Maybe we should jump off the bus. What do you think? Might just be the best idea, that way at least we won't go crashing into the petrochemical plant," Jim suggests.

Sissi narrows her eyes. "At that speed, there's no way we could survive."

"We'll be pancakes," Amy retorts to him. "Not to mention that the door is still stuck. My phone." Sissi hands it to her. "Jeremy, how are things going back at Lyoko?"

"Aelita and Yumi are almost at the tower, except that they're caught in a sand storm."

"Okay, we'll wait a little longer," Amy turns to Ulrich, leaning to his ear. "Things aren't good, XANA's pulling out all the stops to distract the girls."

* * *

"_Yumi, be careful at the ridge. If Aelita falls into the digital sea, she'll be lost forever_!"

Aelita and Yumi try to walk in the storm, but they can't see. "_Yumi, careful, in front of you! It's a megatank!" _

The megatank appears in front of them, opening its shell to power up. It fires its circular 360 laser and Yumi pushes Aelita out of the way.

"Hurry!" Yumi starts running, Aelita scrambling to her feet to follow her. The megatank closes itself, rolling after them. Yumi almost falls from cracks in the ground. Aelita joins her to see that the piece of land they're on is splitting from the rest. Yumi moves from cracks underneath her, the storm slowing stopping, but they're separated from the rest of the land. "XANA set a trap for us."

Aelita kneels down and uses her creativity to create a bridge across the fissures. "Good work, Aelita!" Jeremy cheers. They run across the bridge.

Odd catches his breath as he finally arrives at the factory. "Odd, hurry to the scan!" Odd steps into the scanner room.

"I hope Ames is okay...she's all by her lonesome on that bus..." He murmurs, making Jeremy raise an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Odd, she's with Ulrich, she'll be fine...are you worried?"

"What-no! I just worry because she's my friend!" Odd argues, but the genius is called Einstein for a reason. He noticed that stutter. Jeremy looks at the map for the bus.

"_You'll be reaching the complex in 10 minutes. Careful, you're gonna_ _turn left again_."

"Everyone to the right!" Sissi exclaims.

The megatank powers up again as Yumi and Aelita run. The laser hits Yumi and she falls to the ground. She's damaged, but she still has some life points. The blast is fired again and this time, she devirtualizes. Aelita gasps, because she's all alone now.

"Hurry Aelita, and don't move until Odd is there with you, understand?!" Jeremy panics.

"And you say I worry too much," Odd murmurs, stepping into the scanner.

"Transfer Odd." Yumi appears from one of the scanners, groaning as she slams her hand on it. "Scanner. Virtualization."

Odd virtualizes, looking around. "Aelita! Hey, Aelita! Aelita!" She turns around.

The elevator doors open to reveal Yumi.

"Welcome to our world!" Odd turns around to see Aelita waving. "Hey, Odd! Odd!" Cracks starts to appear behind her and he gasps, running over to her. She starts to lean over and he grabs her hand, pulling her safety on top of him.

"Okay, let's go to work, Aelita."

"Thank you, Odd. And make sure not to tell Amy about this. I wouldn't want to stand between you and her, you'd make a cute couple."

"W-What?!" Odd stammers, and if he could, he'd be blushing right now. There's no way...he and Amy are just friends, good friends. Was this a joke?

Aelita giggles with a wink and he's not sure what that was supposed to signify.

* * *

More police cars are following the bus. "Listen, we only have four minutes left before we get to the complex. How are things going on Lyoko?" Ulrich explains.

"Okay, Aelita and Odd are handling it," Jeremy reports to him.

"Could they handle it faster? I don't think you want us to be destroyed before you launch a return to the past, Jeremy!" Amy looks outside the window. And since the return to the past can't reverse death, that help better come soon.

"Careful, there's a ridge," Jeremy warns Odd and Aelita. A ridge forms as two pieces of land split and the sand storm returns, along with the megatank. Odd aims his paw at it.

"I have an idea, follow me." He grabs Aelita's hand, starting to run with her. He turns around and starts running to the ridge. Aelita gasps, realizing where he's going.

"Odd, you're out of your mind!" He places his other hand on top of hers and starts spinning her around. He flings her across the gap before jumping over, hollering. The megatank falls into the digital sea and the sand storm stops. Jeremy whistles in relief.

"_Hurry up now, Aelita_!" Aelita runs to the tower.

Ulrich looks at the pursuing police cars before nodding at Jim. He breaks the emergency hammer. He starts smashing through the windows and the bus swerves, causing Jim to fall out. He's stopped in front of the street as Ulrich and Amy grab him in time.

"What's the matter? Don't you like it here, Jim?"

Sissi turns around as they're in front of the complex. "Oh no, we're gonna crash!"

"It's all over for us. It's too late!" Ulrich says, the bus almost at the gates.

Aelita enters the tower.

The bus crashes through the security gates of the chemical plant.

Aelita starts floating to the top pad.

Sirens are heard from inside the plant.

Jeremy's map shows that they're about to crash into a massive chemical tank!

Aelita makes it to the top.

The bus is almost at the tank.

The interface appears and she presses her hand on it.

_Aelita_

_Code_

Sissi, Amy, and Ulrich scream. Yumi and Jeremy look in panic. "No!"

_Lyoko_

The bus stops just in front of the chemical tank. Yumi sighs in relief. "Well, it was close. But we did it! Now are you ready to go back in time?"

Yumi nods at him and the tower deactivates. Jeremy launches the time reversion and everything is reversed.

* * *

It's now earlier that morning, _before _Sissi found Ulrich's diary. Yumi takes the diary from the water tank in the girl's bathroom.

"Huh?" Ulrich turns to see Yumi. She holds out his diary.

"Here, I didn't read it. I swear, Ulrich."

He takes it, smiling at her. "I'll tell you about it one day, Yumi."

"I'd really like that." She smiles back.

"Uh, I better go." She nods at him. "I wouldn't wanna miss Sissi." He leans forward and leaves. She stares after him before waving.

Sissi is waiting out of Ulrich and Odd's room, looking smug. "Sissi, were you waiting for me? Looking for something?" She can see his diary under his arm.

"Uh, uh, no. I, uh, I was just passing by, so-" she runs off in embarrassment. Ulrich opens the door to his room, holding up his diary. Jeremy claps while Odd and Amy cheer.

"Yes!"


	7. Big Bug

**Angel: *sighs wearily* You know…normally I don't update on a Tuesday, but I'm so tired of people reminding me or just even dropping a hint of stuff I haven't done…that I really don't like repeating myself regarding my opinions, because trust me, I've talked about certain things many times, and I'm still getting requests for this stuff. Sometimes it frustrates me to the point that I want to quit. And I'll tell you why. It's because no matter how many times I've made my answers clear, no one really wants to listen to me. They just keep asking me on all my stories on like where's the 80s TMNT show even though I've already talked about it and it's on my fucking profile? Where's Mao Mao even though I've made this clear on another story that's still going that it's a no? Where's the TMNT 90s movies even though I've never watched them and I wasn't even born yet by the time the trilogy was done? And that's not only slowly losing my respect, but it sometimes also makes me think that… I'm only around to write stories and to have people think that I'll say yes eventually to certain ones just because of I've written some of my favorite tv shows/franchises…Why are people still asking me for stories I won't write even though I keep saying no…even if I repeat myself…it never stops…they just won't listen and I'm not sure how much longer I can take this… *sniffles* Sorry for the mini rant, I…just needed to unwind… I'll still be updating my stories, but…ugh, I dunno…I honestly don't know what to do anymore if people keep asking me for stuff I'll never write…see you Friday…even though my heart probably won't be in it anymore…**

In the school courtyard, Tamiya is telling Milly about her fashion style. "And so my mom says 'I'm not gonna let you go out dressed like that.' And then she says 'Just look at your t-shirt, you see your navel.' Well you know me, I tell her 'Listen mom, everyone dresses like that. It's the latest style.' So then she says-"

"Hold on a second," Milly interrupts. "It's Ulrich." They see him walking with Yumi, Amy, and Odd. "Just look at him. Oh, how can anybody be that handsome?"

Sissi turns around, seeing the two girls staring at Ulrich. She walks up to them. "Hello, little ones. Aren't you a bit wet behind the ears to be looking at boys? I don't believe it, look at yourselves. You've even got a drop of milk from your bottle on your cheek."

Tamiya wipes her chin with her sleeve. Nicolas laughs, "She believed you, Sissi. Not only is she a baby, but she's also dumb."

"Hey Nicolas, you should defend her, not insult her. You dumbbells oughta stick together. Besides, girls, you're setting your sights much too high. Ulrich's way out of your league. Why don't you just go back to your dolls and stop dreaming?"

"Oh, yeah? You think that just because you're a few years and like a snob, all you have to do is snap your fingers and he'll come running, huh?" Milly argues, knowing that Ulrich hates her.

"I don't think, I know. There isn't a boy in school who isn't dying to go out with me. Stick around and learn," they turn to the four walking up to them. "Hi, how are you?"

"Well, what do you know? It's Miss Conceited in person," Odd says, Amy laughing.

"Nobody asked you, creep! So, Ulrich, when are you going to stop being so shy and finally tell me how you feel about me, huh?"

"You're wrong, I'm not shy. Not at all, I'm just allergic to anyone who's stuck up. And in that category, you win hands down." Everyone laughs except for Sissi, who glares at her two friends to stop. She turns back to them.

"I'll bet she's been telling you how nobody can resist her charm. She's right too, just take a look at the two nobodies she's always hanging out with," Odd jokes, Amy giggling as she covers her mouth. Nicolas steps forward, ready to fight him, but Sissi pushes him back.

"Take it easy."

"Wow, you oughta be a dog trainer when you grow up," Ulrich replies.

"Go on, laugh all you want. Show your friends how clever you are. But I see the way you look at me when they're not around." She walks away. Amy turns to the three, gagging as she points to her open tongue, the others laughing.

"I think she's hallucinating," Ulrich deadpans. Yumi looks at him.

"Oh no. Speaking of dogs, I have to go and feed Kiwi," Odd reminds himself.

"I'll go with you. Wanna come, huh, Yumi?" Ulrich offers, turning to the Japanese girl.

"I'll see you later, I promised Jeremy I'd stop by and see him."

"Hey Ames!" Amy turns around to Odd. "Can I feed Kiki? Pleeeease?"

"Okay, okay," She laughs in amusement.

"Kiki?" Ulrich looks in confusion.

"My dog. Odd met her one night, and she just loves meeting new people. I hope you don't mind if she's too friendly with you," she explains, cringing at the thought of Kiki once tackling someone. That was a long day for them...

"As long as she's nothing like Kiwi, I'll take it!" Ulrich jokes.

"Like dog like owner," Odd winks at the brunette.

Amy gives an offended look. "Excuse me?!"

"Uh, wait, that came out wrong. You're not a dog, I mean-!"

She huffs, walking away to the dorms.

"Nice going," Yumi tells him and he rubs his neck before chasing after the brunette.

"Ames, waaaaait!"

* * *

Jeremy types away and Yumi slightly knocks, peeking her head in. "Jeremy?"

"Hi, Yumi. Come in," he greets. She closes the door behind her.

"What are you doing?" She leans against his desk.

"I'm working on a new program, sort of catastrophe alarm system. The idea is to rate non-natural disasters on a scale of one to ten. And once I've got it finished, I'm going to get it onto every website or information network if you like. And any time the system registers a disaster that rates higher than five, it automatically informs me."

"And then what?" Yumi wonders.

"It's the surest way for me to identify a possible XANA attack."

"Wow, that's cool," she comments.

"What's on your mind?" He turns to her with a sly smile.

"Well, it...it's Ulrich. I wonder...do you think he likes Sissi?"

"Sissi?! You're kidding," he places his hands behind his back. "Come on. You know, I never would have believed it, but you're really jealous, aren't you?"

"What? You're kidding. How could you think for a minute that I could be jealous of that dimwit? That is ridiculous!" She argues as he gives her a look.

* * *

Odd and Amy look at their dogs eating. "Hey, eat a little slower, guys, will ya? You look like Nicolas in the lunchroom!" Ulrich laughs.

"Don't insult our dogs, huh? Kiwi's manners are ten times better than that sloppy airhead," Odd chuckles, glancing at Amy as she pets Kiki. "Ames...about what I said, I just meant that you're both cheerful and-"

"Odd...it's okay, really. Just don't call me a dog again," She narrows her eyes lightly.

"Yes, ma'am," he replies and they both laugh. Odd smiles at her and she smiles back, closing her eyes. Ulrich smirks to himself.

"I got a great idea that might be fun. What do you say we take our friend Sissi down a peg or two?" Ulrich suggests.

"There's nothing in the world I would rather do," Odd agrees with him.

"And how. What'd you have in mind?"

Sissi is adjusting her hair when her cell phone beeps. She picks it up. "A message. 'You're the fairest of them all, I can't resist you. Meet me in the garden shed.' Oh, I knew it." She places her phone in her bag, putting on perfume before she leaves.

In the desert sector on Lyoko, a tower is glowing red. Voices can be heard from the pulsations...

* * *

"Do you read me? I repeat, do you read me? What's wrong, I can't contact any engrams."

"Hey, the traffic lights are all blocked. The city's gonna be a total grimlock! The subway trains aren't stopping anywhere. What's going on?"

"I don't know, but I've got a sort of eye on the monitor." People working on the metro have XANA's symbols on the computers. "The train switches aren't responding. The trains are out of control!"

The tracks switch by themselves. "Have you contacted the conductors?"

"Most of them. The problem is that trains 3611 and 9432 are completely automatic. And on a collision course and I can't stop them!"

"They're freight trains, no passengers. How long before they collide?"

"26 minutes, but the 3611 is a special convoy train carrying a load of highly toxic chemicals!"

* * *

Jeremy types away on his computer, still with Yumi. "One last adjustment and the program should be ready. There we go. Now there's nothing left to but wait until XANA rears his evil head." A news report about the two trains appears on his screen.

"A mysterious and powerful virus infected all the country's main computer systems just a few minutes ago," Jeremy and Yumi look at each other, knowing only one computer program that can do such a thing. "The infrastructures affected are very numerous and vital. They include communication, banking, all subway systems, and air traffic control. The most imminent danger, however, is the probability of a major train crash. For more information, here's John Swamp."

"Uh, thank you, Ellen. That's right, two freight trains are on a collision course and one of the trains is carrying highly toxic chemicals, which if spread into the atmosphere, would cause an unprecedented environmental catastrophe."

"John, is there any way of preventing this disaster?"

"None at all, for the simple reason that the trains are both computer operated and therefore impossible to control at this time. It'll take a miracle to stop them. If the authorities are considering an evacuation of the local population-" Jeremy turns off the news report.

"You try to warn Amy, Ulrich, and Odd. I'll head over to the lab to contact Aelita and prepare the transfers," he orders Yumi.

* * *

Ulrich peeks from the bushes, Amy and Odd appearing next to him. They watch as Sissi walks to the garden shed. Ulrich's phone buzzes and he answers it quickly. "Yumi's trying to reach us, she's gonna blow our cover."

"Gotcha. I'll shut off my cell phone," Odd turns off his phone. "You too, Ames."

Amy turns off hers.

Yumi paces in Jeremy's room. "What's going on with them? Come on, one of you has got to be able to answer!"

Sissi arrives at the shed. She looks around for snoops before opening the door. "I'm here, Ulrich!" Her eyes widen as the two dogs come out of the shed, tackling her to the ground. They start licking her face and she wipes it in disgust.

"What is going on here?"

She hears snickering, looking to see the three. "Irresistible Sissi."

"You're right, not even dogs can resist your charms," Ulrich chuckles.

"Except for boys!" Amy laughs, gesturing for Kiki to come to her.

"Hey don't knock it, guys. This is a step up, huh? Because...Herb and Nicolas are no match for Kiwi and Kiki," Odd laughs, patting his knees. "Sorry to drag you away, guys."

Kiwi and Kiki walk over to their owners. "You'll pay for this!" Sissi declares in anger.

"That's okay, as soon as you're all dry, send us the bill. Ciao!" Odd giggles as they leave. Sissi stands up, clenching her fists.

Odd and Amy stop, turning to their dogs. "Kiwi, go home now," Odd points to the dorms. "Come on, go home boy."

"Kiki, back to my room. Go on," Amy orders and Kiki whines, placing her paws on Amy's feet as she wags her tail. "Kiki, go home. I'll be back later." With that, they leave.

"That's it," Odd finishes his command.

"It's a shame we didn't take a picture," Ulrich comments as they walk away.

"Yeah, imagine the headline in Milly and Tamiya's newspaper. 'Sissi and Kiwi, and impossible romance!' " The three giggle, Sissi glaring at them.

"Ugh, I seem to recall a school rule that says 'pets are strictly forbidden on campus.' Rules are made to be obeyed!"

* * *

Jeremy runs down the tunnel from the boiler room. When he gets to the sewers, he grabs his scooter. He rides through the tunnel and gets to the factory elevator, pushing the button to go down. He appears in the lab and the doors close behind him. He gets in his chair, typing away.

"Aelita, do you read me?"

She appears on the screen. "Yes. I was working on your latest materialization program."

"Forget it for now, there's no time. We've got a big problem. XANA has launched an attack. Have you noticed anything?"

"No, but I'll go have a look around," she answers. Jeremy dials Yumi.

"Yumi, were you able to contact them?"

"No, they've shut their mobiles off. I'm out looking for them," she tells him. She opens the door to the boys' room, seeing no one. "Where in the world can they be?" She leaves to go check in Amy's room, Kiwi and Kiki trotting into Odd and Ulrich's room. Sissi follows them, peeking to see him jumping into Odd's drawer. Kiki chases her own tail. Sissi walks up to them and the dogs see her. She closes the drawer on Kiwi, making him whimper.

"That's it, go beddy-bye now, you horrible little mongrel."

Kiki starts barking at her and Sissi grabs the dog, opening the drawer and throwing her inside, closing it. "You too."

* * *

Odd, Amy, and Ulrich are sitting on a bench. Yumi walks up to them.

"Oh, Yumi, you got here too late. You missed a great show," Ulrich comments to her.

"Sissi's got herself a boyfriend, although boy's not exactly the right word. Anyway, they're in love," Odd chuckles.

"Yeah, we laid witness on a budding relationship," Amy giggles at the memory. If she could, she'd make a photo album for the occasion.

"Hey, I've been trying to reach you for 15 minutes. Thanks guys," she retorts. Ulrich looks in confusion. "XANA has just launched an attack."

"Okay, I read you, it's urgent," Ulrich tells her.

"We shut off our phones so Sissi wouldn't hear-"

"Hey, you there!" Ulrich turns around to see Jim holding Kiwi and Kiki...followed by Sissi.

"Oh no, no, no as if we didn't have enough problems," Odd facepalms at this.

"Sissi snitched on us?!" Amy hisses, gritting her teeth.

"So, it seems you two forgot the rules here at school, huh? Pets are not allowed!"

"Yeah, we know that, Jim, but...you're not gonna make a big deal out of little dogs, are you?" Odd asks nervously.

"That's for the principal to decide, follow me!" He grabs Amy by the arm and Odd by the shirt, dragging them away.

"Ow, you're hurting me!" Amy whimpers and he loosens his grip.

Sissi gives a smug look, crossing her arms.

"You're even a worse pain in the neck than I thought!" Ulrich decides, Sissi winking as she walks away. "How could she do such a thing?"

"She got her revenge, but we can't worry about it now, there's no time. Come on, there are too many lives at stake," they walk away.

* * *

Jeremy is watching an update about the trains. "The situation remains unchanged. The two freight trains are completely out of control. Army units have begun to evacuate the people in the immediate area. Now for other news around the country, the capital is in a state of total gridlock. Huge traffic jams are creating chaos and the police are totally swamped and unable to help. And since all alarm systems are down, there's a tremendous amount of polluting."

"Anything new, Aelita?" Jeremy presses a button and she reappears.

"Yes, I do, Jeremy. I've picked up pulsations and it seems that...the activated tower is in the desert. I'm on my way," Jeremy hears the elevator open and turns to see Ulrich and Yumi.

"Hey, where's Amy and Odd?" He asks curiously.

"They're in the principal's office cuz Jim found out about Kiwi and Kiki," Yumi explains and while she's not happy about it, there was nothing they could do to convince Jim to let them out.

"Okay you two, get ready for immediate departure," they leave for the scanners.

* * *

Jim opens the door and Odd lets Amy go in first, followed by their dogs. "Do we really have to stay here? Don't be like that, come on, Jim. At least let Ames go, it's her first offense," Odd gives Jim a pleading look.

"You heard the principal, you've both gotta stay in the study hall until both your parents get here and pick up those mutts!" He looks at the dogs, who scratch behind their ears. He points to the seats and they both sit down next to each other, Amy looking down. The dogs lay underneath them.

"And I'm gonna stay here and keep an eye on you two!"

Jeremy starts the procedure, Ulrich stepping in first. "Transfer Ulrich." Yumi steps in next. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization."

There's a flash before they're both virtualized in the desert sector. They land safely, looking around.

"Everything's cool, Jeremy. The transfer was successful, no problem. And Aelita's here." Aelita is standing a few feet away in front of them.

"Okay, great. And no monsters in sight."

"Any news from Odd or Amy?"

"No, not yet. I'll try to contact them."

* * *

Jim snores as Odd taps his foot impatiently. He taps his fingers on the desk, Amy sulking. Odd leans into her ear.

"I'm so sorry I got you into this mess, Ames," He whispers, wondering why she was sulking so much.

"It's okay. At least you stood up for me with Jim earlier," She smiles slightly.

"Of course! I wouldn't leave my favorite girl hanging," He nudges her arm and she rolls her eyes in amusement. His phone rings and he answers it to see 'S.O.S. XANA, Jeremy.' "Huh? Well, what do you know?"

Amy's phone beeps and she sees the same message.

"Huh? What'd you say?" They turn to see Jim awake.

"Uh, nothing, nothing. We, uh, we have to go outside for a minute. Dogs have, well, they have certain needs, if you know what I mean," Odd tries to use this as a way to get to the factory.

"Hmm. Forget it. What they need is to get some sleep," Jim goes back to sleep, Odd sighing.

"Dang it," Amy murmurs bitterly. "Now what?"

"I'll think of something...hey, something wrong? You've been sulking ever since we've been in here," He looks at her in slight worry. She bites her lip, letting out a huge sigh. She didn't even want to bring this up, but she could tell that Odd genuinely wanted to know...he just has this air around him that tells her she could trust him, confide in him.

"Well...it's just that...Jim doesn't know, but my parents are...divorced."

"What?" His eyes widen as the words register in his mind.

* * *

Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi follow the pulsations and Aelita stops first, pointing. "The tower is there." It's past a field of rocks, however.

"That's too easy," Yumi suspects, looking behind her.

"Yeah, looks like a real XANA trap. Hey Jeremy, do you see anything on your screen?" Ulrich calls out.

"No, nothing. Not even a single monster."

Jim looks from his magazine, raising a warily eyebrow at the two. Odd looks in boredom while Amy sighs, raising a leg to her chest. Odd leans towards the dogs. "Hey, guys, wake up. Want a biscuit?"

The dogs wake up, Kiki's tail wagging at the thought of a biscuit. "A nice big doggie biscuit, huh?"

They start barking, annoying Jim. "Hey, what's the matter with 'em?"

"We warned you if we don't take them out for a walk, you're gonna have some mopping up to do," Odd reminds him.

"You think I'm stupid, huh? Soon as you're outside, you'll take off, right?" He steps up to them.

"Us? We wouldn't do that, Jim," Odd insists, shaking his head.

"Honest," Amy nods rapidly, hoping that he'll buy it.

"Okay now, stop. You can't pull that one on me. I'm gonna take the dogs out myself and you're gonna stay put and not move, you got that? I know you're a good student, Amelia, but this one will try anything. Don't let his 'charms' get to you just because he's your boyfriend." He opens the door, letting the dogs out.

"He's not my-!" He closes the door before she can finish. They glance at each other, looking away awkwardly. She has a blush on her face and a little bit of red is on Odd's checks.

"Heh," He rubs his neck anxiously. The fact that Jim insisted them as such and that she wasn't able to correct him made things suddenly shift. "W-Well...that-I-uh."

"Yeah..." She murmurs, twiddling her feet. "Odd, you're my best friend...I don't know where he got that from."

"And you're mine. Is it wrong for a guy to wanna spend time with his best friend?"

"No..."

"So we're good, right?" He turns to her.

"Yeah, we're good," She winks at him, relieved that the awkward tension was over.

"By the way...I'm sorry about your parents, Ames. I didn't realize you were going through that..." He couldn't even imagine himself or his friends going through what she's gone through.

"Only the principal knows...don't tell anyone, okay?" She turns to him and he nods.

"It'll be our little secret," he grins, holding up his pinky. She stares at it, a little unsure. "Come on, Ames...You can trust me."

She smiles, linking her pinky with his. "Okay. I trust you."

* * *

"14 minutes. Just 14 minutes left before the two trains collide with each other. Remember that one of the-" Jeremy looks at the left screen.

"Careful! You're surrounded by four monsters!"

Ulrich stops Yumi from walking forward, looking around suspiciously. He unsheathes his sword slightly. "Where are they? I don't see any monsters."

Lasers hit all of them before seeing the attackers: four Bloks. Ulrich pulls out his sword and he deflects the lasers from a Blok with his sword. Aelita backs away as they continue firing and Yumi brings out her fan. She throws it at a Blok, but it tilts its head out of the way from the fan.

"Yumi, Ulrich, get out of there now! You're losing too many life points!" Jeremy orders.

"Great idea, only how do you suggest we do it? Sprout wings, huh? If only Amy was here," Ulrich retorts, looking up towards the sky.

"There are a lot of rocks on your right. Try and lose them in there," Jeremy indicates the rock field. Ulrich looks at the Bloks.

"Yumi, take Aelita away with you. I'll handle them."

"But Ulrich-!" Yumi protests, since that would risk his life points.

"Don't argue, run!" He shouts to her. He takes a deep breath and jumps up, two clones of him appearing. "Triplicate!" They land in front of the Bloks. "Go!"

Aelita and Yumi start running, one of the Bloks firing at them. Ulrich turns his attention back to the monsters, rushing forward. He jumps up. "Impact!" He stabs one of them in the eye, jumping back onto the ground as it's destroyed. The rest destroy his clones, however.

* * *

Jim puts the dogs on a leash, walking them to the park. The dogs sniff a tree. "Well? Are you gonna do it or not?"

Kiki walks over to a bush for some privacy to do her business. Milly and Tamiya see them. "How you doing, Jim? Walking your widdle doggies?" They giggle as they walk away.

"Okay, you had your chance, we're going back now." He pulls them away and they struggle, not wanting to go back. Jim opens the door to see an open window. "I don't believe it!" He turns around to see Kiwi peeing on the wall. "Aw no!"

* * *

Odd and Amy get onto their skateboards, riding through the sewers. Odd helps Amy out of the hatch, holding her hand as they run to the entrance. They make it to the lab.

"Hey, did we miss the party?" They lean in to the computer.

"I guess you could say that. Ulrich has the grand total of 10 life points left," Jeremy gives them the lay down.

"And the trains?" Amy asks, biting her lip.

"8 minutes to impact. Better get a move on."

Ulrich runs away from the lasers as they continue to fire. He makes it to the rock field, turning around and jumping out of the way. He runs forward and jumps. "Impact!" He stabs another Blok, jumping off and landing on another one. He hits that one as well, jumping to safety. He brings his sword in front of his face as the last Blok approaches. A blue laser is fired at him and it freezes him. This ends up in him being devirtualized. The Blok crawls over to Yumi and Aelita.

"Run!" They run through the field.

Odd and Amy stand in front of the scanners. They step inside, turning around as the doors close. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Amy. Scanner Odd. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

They virtualize and land on top of a rock. They start running. The Blok is still chasing Yumi and Aelita. It powers up and fires a laser. Yumi pushes Aelita out of the way from one. They look up to see the Blok approaching them. Yumi stands up, pressing her hands to her head.

"Telekinesis." She lifts one of the rocks up, Aelita gasping. Yumi struggles to keep the rock lifting, since using it for too long weakens her. She drops the rock over the Blok, pumping her fist.

"The coast is clear," she's suddenly hit from a circular laser, devirtualizing her in front of Aelita.

"Oh no, oh no!" The megatank rolls in front of her, opening itself up. "Jeremy, help!"

"Hang on, Odd and Amy are on the way."

The megatank closes and she runs, the monster rolling after her. Odd and Amy are perched on a rock above. They see Aelita running and Amy flies above her. Aelita makes it to the tower, panting as she stops in front of it. Amy flies back to Odd. Odd and Amy stare at the megatank, waiting to make a move.

"Welcome back to our world, Yumi," Jeremy calls out as Yumi appears from the elevator.

"I'm sorry, I did what I could," she walks up to the boys.

Odd runs, Amy flying above him. Aelita turns around to the megatank.

"Aelita, you're crazy!" Yumi exclaims as Aelita's card and the megatank's card appear.

"What are you doing, get out of there now!" Ulrich shouts.

Aelita brings her hands together, kneeling down. She uses her creativity to make a ridge. The megatank rolls away from her.

"Yes!" Ulrich cheers.

"I was sure she would do that," Ulrich and Yumi look at Jeremy in a smug way.

Odd and Amy make it to the megatank. Aelita starts running to the tower again. The monster and the two Lyoko warriors stare at each other. It opens up and they glance at Aelita, realizing that the monster is aiming for her! It powers up, but Aelita just keeps on running. Odd runs to her as the laser fires. He jumps behind Aelita, taking the hit for her. He lands on the ground.

"Odd!" Amy shouts and narrows her eyes, holding her arms out the same time Odd raises his fist.

"Laser Arrow!"

"Sand shot!"

Odd's arrow is in front of Amy's sand ball and they both hit the monster, destroying it. The two trains are getting close to hitting each other. Aelita enters the tower as the two high-five each other.

The two trains go faster and Aelita starts floating up to the top.

Jeremy, Ulrich, and Yumi watch intensely as they watch the video feed of the tracks.

Aelita lands on the upper pad, walking up as the interface appears. She presses her hand on it.

_Aelita_

_Code_

The two trains come within sight, the three gasping.

_Lyoko_

The two trains stop in front of each other, just a few inches away from touching.

"Yeah!" Jeremy cheers as they look in relief.

"Yeah, just in time," Ulrich says as the tower is deactivated. A time reversion is launched.

"Return to the past now!"

* * *

Sissi walks to the shed, like last time. She looks around and opens it. "Alone at last, Ulrich. Just the two of us." She opens it fully, finding not the dogs this time, but Herb. He lands on top of her. "Herb, what the-"

"Sissi, I love you too," he leans in to kiss her, but she stops him, confused.

"You what?!"

There's a flash and Odd lowers the camera. This time, everyone is watching the prank.

"Cut it out, are you out of your mind or what?!" She pushes Herb off.

"But I got your text message. 'Meet me at the garden shed. I love you, Sissi.' " he explains.

Odd hands the picture to Ulrich. "We're gonna give Tamiya and Milly a real scoop. Guess who's gonna make the front page of the next school paper."

"Just keep dreaming, you creep!" Sissi warns. "In the meantime, you've got some explaining to do when my father hears about this!" She starts walking away.

"Hey Sissi, wait a second!" He walks after her.

"That's really such a shame, we've just seen the beginning and the end of a beautiful romance!" Yumi jokes and they all laugh. She smiles at Ulrich and he smiles back. How could she ever think he liked Sissi was beyond her.

"Serves her right for telling Jim about our dogs!" Amy high-fives Odd and he smiles at her. She smiles back. Jeremy smiles at them smugly, as do Yumi and Ulrich.

Amy and Odd might not see it, but they do.


	8. Cruel Dilemma

**Angel: Tomorrow is kinda exciting for me because they'll finally be airing some episodes of Rise of TMNT, the first ones in over two months, and I will be off hiatus for that story soon...probably for not that long, though. **

Principal Delmas is showing the students something outside the buildings. Two large bulldozers are parked in front of them. "Dear students, this magnificent stadium is being built in close cooperation with the Board of Education. Soon, you will be enjoying the latest in sports equipment! And I personally am delighted since my duty is to provide you with the finest working conditions possible and in all areas, both intellectual and athletic. Since, as Juvenal said, 'A sound mind in a sound body.' "

"Wow, can he talk. Do we really have to listen to all this?" Odd whispers to the other three, already bored out of his mind.

"Not really, you could have stayed with Jeremy if you wanted to," Ulrich whispers back.

"What's Einstein up to, anyway?" Yumi turns to them.

"The usual, he's glued to his computer screen in a big cyber conversation with his darling Aelita," Odd tells her and she smiles in amusement.

"If he wants to talk to her, let him," Amy shrugs with an amused smile.

* * *

"Just a couple of calculations to go and my devirtualization program will be completed!" Jeremy explains to Aelita on his screen.

"And...do you really think it's going to work, Jeremy? Do I have a chance of finally becoming materialized in your world and becoming somebody...somebody like you?" She asks hopefully. For as long as she knew her friends, that was all she ever wanted, to live like them. They get to learn new things every day, eat yummy food, smell the fresh air.

Jeremy eats a piece of candy. "I sure hope so. Anyway, there's one thing that I'm sure of, I've never been as close to the answer as I am now."

"Oh, honestly, it's so hard to imagine. We can be face to face in the same room, we can touch each other...even kiss!"

"Uh, yeah..." Jeremy blushes at the thought. He hadn't even thought about that. "That'd be, uh...hmm...uh, interesting. I mean, well, uh, I guess. Now, get ready. I'm starting the test program." He presses enter and cringes in anticipation, scratching his head as he waits. The program ends up not working. "Oh, I don't get it!"

"It's not the end of the world. I'm sure, Jeremy, that one day you'll succeed," Aelita tells him.

"Aelita...I'm beginning to wonder if I'm up to the job. If I'm good enough for such a complicated program." He looks up at her. "I'm sorry, I'm just tired and jumpy, that's all. I'd better go and stretch my legs." He stands up. "See you later."

* * *

Odd and Amy walk into the hallway, peeking into Jeremy's room. "Jeremy?" Amy calls out, but he's not there.

"What's this? Another one of Jeremy's materialization programs?" Odd sits down in the chair. "Oh wow, candy!" He throws one into his mouth. "Here, you want one, Ames?"

"Sure," she raises an eyebrow as he holds it out to her mouth.

"Well? What are ya waiting for?"

She looks down at his hand before eating it from his fingers. Odd looks at his fingers, which are warm for some reason...but he liked the feeling.

"Odd!" This startles him, making him drop some over Jeremy's keyboard. Jeremy comes into the room. "How many times have I told you not to touch my computer when I'm not here? There are months of work in there."

"Relax, Max." Odd stands up. "I didn't hurt your little toy."

Jeremy sits down, seeing the candy on his keyboard. "Oh no, you're such a cosmic creep! Now look what you've done. Those keys are incredibly sensitive."

"Okay okay, a little piece of candy's not gonna wreck your keyboard," Odd continues chewing as Amy sits on Jeremy's bed.

"Jeremy, it's just candy. Odd spilled it on accident," Amy points out.

"Huh? That's crazy! This is really mega insane!" Jeremy types away, Odd turning to Amy in confusion. She shrugs sheepishly and Jeremy restarts the testing. This time, the test is positive. "Yes! It works!" He laughs. "Odd, you're a genius, you know that?"

"Make up your mind, am I a genius or a creep?" Odd questions in confusion.

"You're a creepy genius!" Odd gives a blank look, Amy laughing. "You didn't do it on purpose, but by dropping the candies on the keyboard, you modified and relaunched my program! I don't know exactly what happened, but it works. Thanks, Odd!"

"Who's an Einstein now? Are you gonna materialize Aelita?" Odd smiles with a thumbs up.

"Well, yeah. The problem is I only get one try and that's it. But that's because I didn't see what kind of programming the candy typed in," Jeremy explains, glancing at the keyboard.

"Yeah, so? There's only one that hit the keyboard," Amy suggests and he smiles.

"Go and tell the others, I'll announce the good news to Aelita," Jeremy puts on his headset.

* * *

Yumi shakes her head, Jeremy standing up. "Yumi, it's now or never. We may not get a second chance. What if there's some kind of bug? I'll never be able to set up the program again!" He insists, wanting to do this as soon as possible. Between now and later, anything could happen to the program, or Aelita. Why prevent the inevitable?

"Listen, you can't just materialize Aelita like that, without making a lot of preparations," Yumi explains, Amy nodding at him.

"I've boosted the scans, I've got the program going. Everything's ready," he turns to his computer.

"Yeah, in your head. Hey, come back to Earth, Jeremy. Try to be practical for once. Aelita has no parents, and she hasn't got a birth certificate. What's more, she's not enrolled in any school. Okay, that's no biggie, but all that together means she doesn't exist in our world," Ulrich states, trying to make this as rational as possible.

"Imagine 'Hello, I'm Aelita. I just got here from a virtual reality.' That's a one-way ticket to the nuthouse," Odd replies.

"Jeremy...I know you wanna help her, but you need to remember, some things need to be done to make sure that she's not questioned," Amy murmurs, placing a hand on her cheek.

"You know, Jeremy, it doesn't have to be today. I can wait," Aelita explains, agreeing with the others. Jeremy sighs slightly.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"I can put her up at my house. My folks wouldn't mind," Yumi suggests.

"And you can plug into the city hall computers. And create a phony identity for her. Find her a new home, all the stuff she needs," Ulrich starts off.

"Then, you just have to enroll her at our school. And try to put her in our class, that'd be really cool, huh?" Odd continues with a small grin.

"Yeah, I won't have to be the only girl in the group that's in our class," Amy giggles. Jeremy thinks it over before nodding.

"Okay, we'll get started first thing tomorrow."

* * *

Night falls and Jeremy can't sleep, still thinking about Aelita. He looks at his Einstein picture before getting into his chair. "Aelita? Are you asleep?"

"Am I asleep? Come on, Jeremy, you know that virtual beings never sleep!" Aelita replies as she appears on the screen.

"I can't sleep a wink. I can't stop thinking your materialization, that's keeping me up. You can't imagine all the things you're gonna discover in our world!" He tells her.

"You mean like sleeping?" She wonders.

"That's right. That and all kinds of fun things," he smiles at all the experiences for her.

"Tell me more."

Jim snorts in his room, placing his pillow over his head.

Odd snorts in the room he shares with Ulrich.

Amy sleeps peacefully as she rests on her side. A light shines over the inactive bulldozers. The specters enter the bulldozers and they turn on, XANA's symbol shining from one of the lights. They start up, moving on their own.

"When you touch an object with your fingers, you have a sort of sensation. It could be a feeling or softness or of heat. It could be cold," Jeremy is telling Aelita.

"Oh, I see. I thought you only sensed with your brain," Aelita points to the side of her head.

"That's right, but it's a little more complicated. Here on Earth, everyone has five senses. But you Aelita, you only have two of them. Hearing and seeing. You can only see and hear," Aelita lifts her head.

"Speaking of hearing," she starts, but Jeremy doesn't hear it.

"Soon you're gonna be able to touch and to-"

"Jeremy, I think I just heard XANA. He's up to something," she interrupts and Jeremy hears the bulldozers.

"What's all that noise?" He turns to his doors.

"Jeremy, XANA's launched an attack!" Aelita explains.

"Okay, listen Aelita. Go and hide in a deactivated tower. I'll contact you from the factory," he logs off. He opens the door to Odd and Ulrich's room. "Odd, wake up! XANA's attacking! Odd, wake up!"

"W-What was that? What did you say about carp attacking?" He mumbles.

"Ulrich, get up!" Ulrich doesn't respond, however. Jeremy starts shaking him. "It's a XANA alert!"

Ulrich sits up in his bed, taking off the earplugs. "What did you say?"

"I SAID IT'S A XANA ALERT, XANA'S ATTACKING!" Jeremy shouts in panic.

"Hey, you always sleep with those things in your ears?" Odd wonders.

"Yeah, Odd, always. And one of these days, I'll tell you why," Ulrich points to him, making Odd look in confusion. He didn't know about his snoring, it seems.

"Come on, we gotta wake up Amy," Jeremy explains.

Odd knocks on her door. "Ames! Wake up, XANA's attacking!"

Amy groans, placing her pillow over her head. "Leave me alone...read the sign, Odd."

"What si-" Ulrich points to the 'Do Not Disturb' sign around Amy's door handle. Odd gives a blank look.

"AMY, XANA'S ATTACKING!" Jeremy pounds on her door before he opens it. Odd starts shaking her gently.

"Ames, get up, come o-" he suddenly gets punched in the face. "Ow!"

"Hm?" Amy sits up, rubbing her eyes. She sees Odd kneeling over, gasping at what she's done. "Oh my God, Odd! I'm sorry, reflexes!"

"It's fine," he waves it off. He couldn't stay mad at her for a punch to the face. He should've known that she wouldn't have reacted well to waking up early...

And it seems that his hunches were right as she narrows her eyes at them, angry. "Serves you right for waking me up, then. What's going on?"

The bulldozers start moving across the field. The four run outside to see the equipment. "No need to look any further, guys. This time he picked a real winner. He's attacking us with bulldozers. Nice going, XANA, how subtle can you get?" Odd says, Amy snorting.

"Jeremy, rush over to the lab with Amy and call Yumi. Odd and I are gonna try and stop these monsters," the four run off in different directions. Odd and Ulrich run to the bulldozers. "I'll take the first one!"

"Gotcha," Odd jumps into one while Ulrich steps into the first one. He tries pulling the levers, but nothing works. He then tries the steering wheel, but it refuses to move. The bulldozer is approaching a fence and he gasps.

* * *

Yumi's phone rings at 2:30 in the morning and she hits the alarm. She grabs her phone and picks up. "Come on, Yumi, get up. We really need you," Jeremy says as he and Amy are riding in the sewers.

"Do you realize what time it is?" She murmurs tiredly. "Bulldozers? What bulldozers? ...What?!" she sits up.

* * *

Ulrich tries to work the controls as the bulldozers move into the forest. Odd opens the door. "Hey, XANA's controlling the thing. I don't know what to do, Ulrich!"

"That makes two of us. You go and meet the girls and Jeremy at the lab. If I can find out what XANA wants to do with these monsters, that sure would help," Ulrich orders.

"Okay, just be careful," Odd tells him. He gets a thumbs up in response before running off into the forest.

Aelita runs in the forest sector. "Keep your eyes open, Aelita, you never know where XANA's monsters are hiding," Jeremy warns, turning to Amy. "Get to the scanners."

She nods, running off. "Don't worry, Jeremy, no enemy in sight for the moment. But the pulse beats are getting stronger. The activated tower can't be too far away."

"I'm sending Amy as we speak."

Amy steps into the scanner, turning around. "Transfer Amy." The doors close in on her and her hair floats in every direction. "Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

Amy virtualizes in the Forest Sector, near the tree Aelita is hiding behind, and lands safely. She looks around for the pink-haired girl. "Aelita? Aelita?"

"Amy!" She turns around as Aelita comes out of hiding.

Odd climbs down and grabs his skateboard. He starts skating through the sewers. He runs across the bridge and grabs the rope. He lands in front of the elevator and gets in, pressing the button. He gets down to the lab and the doors open. "Amy, Odd should be there soon. And now let's hope that Yumi and Ulrich are on their way."

"Ulrich? He's on the bulldozer, trying to find out what XANA's up to," Odd explains.

"Ulrich, do you read me?" He dials him.

"Bad news, Jeremy. I'm on the riverbank, and I'm afraid XANA's target is the factory," he reports.

"That's gotta be it! If XANA manages to destroy our factory, we can say goodbye to our equipment. No more computer meaning no more communication with Aelita..." Jeremy murmurs in worry. He'd never be able to complete her materialization program if he wasn't able to talk to her anymore...not to mention he liked teaching her about Earth...talking to her at night...and fantasizing about finally getting her here.

"Don't forget about the scans. Without them, no more transfers to Lyoko. And that means total victory for XANA," Odd points out, running to the elevator.

"Ulrich, listen. Odd's just about to join Amy on Lyoko, so if you don't mind, hurry up," Jeremy explains.

"I'll do my best, but I can't promise you a graceful entrance," Ulrich tells him as the bulldozers are already at the factory entrance. Odd steps into the scanner, turning around.

"Transfer Odd. Scanner. Virtualization."

Odd virtualizes and lands, getting his laser arrows ready. He looks around, aiming it at a tree. "Whoa, don't shoot," Amy and Aelita come out from the tree.

"Oh, hello Odd. You're looking stressed," Aelita places her hands on her hips.

"I'm okay, Aelita. It's just that I never know what I'm gonna find whenever I come here. At least it's Odd and Ames again, taking on monsters!" He gives the fairy a wide smile. He secretly loved it when he and Amy were paired up together. They were a good team, like Yumi and Ulrich. The two always knew what to do with their attacks, and they were spontaneous with their strategies.

Amy rolls her eyes. "Come with us, Odd. The activated tower's this way," Aelita starts walking.

"Okay, let's go and check it out." Odd follows the girls.

* * *

The bulldozers enter the factory and the one Ulrich's in is about to crash into a pole. And unfortunately for him, the door locks. He looks back. "Oh no!" He screams as he's driven into the giant pole, breaking the windows and knocking him out. Jeremy looks up, hearing the noise.

"Ulrich, do you read me?" There's no answer.

"Jeremy?" Yumi asks from her phone.

"Yumi, I've lost contact with Ulrich."

"Where was he when you last spoke to him?" She asks.

"He was heading for the factory with the bulldozers."

"Right, I'm almost there! I'll find him," she runs along the river, the factory right across.

* * *

Odd and Aelita run while Amy flies above them. They stop when they reach an intersection. Aelita sees pulsations from the right. "That way!"

Two Kankerlots appear, though, blocking their way. "Talk about a reception," Odd comments.

"Usually roachsters move in groups of five," Aelita turns around to see three more. Amy and Odd look to see they're surrounded.

"Wow, and it looks like the committee's at full strength," Odd says.

"That's just great, they met their criteria for us. I feel so honored," Amy makes her hands glow green.

* * *

Yumi arrives at the main room of the factory. She gasps as she sees the damage. Most of the room is destroyed and she gasps when she sees Ulrich's arm dangling from one of the bulldozers. She jumps down using the rope.

"Hello roachsters. Now which one of you wants to be first?" Odd calls out as he and Amy protect Aelita from opposite sides. The one from Amy's side fires first and she makes a shield, stopping it. Odd jumps up from a laser and gets hit. He pushes himself back up, only for Aelita to get hit in the leg. Odd fires two arrows, missing one, but destroying the other. Another laser is fired and Amy backflips away. She throws her spear, destroying one. She catches it as it moves back to her. Odd lands near her, turning around. They jump up from more lasers and Amy grunts in annoyance.

"Can't even stand for one second to make a move," She mutters to Odd, who gets hit again.

"Hey, would you cool it, Odd? Your mission is to protect Aelita, remember?" Jeremy reminds them.

"You wanna trade places, Jeremy?" Odd retorts, Jeremy cringing. Amy gets hit in the arm.

Yumi runs to the bulldozer, crawling up to the window. "Ulrich! Ulrich, get up. Ulrich! Hurry up!" She tries to pull him out, but he's still unconscious. She gasps and the bulldozer goes faster, its target a wall. She jumps inside the bulldozer and the machine hits the wall, making them crash to the floor. It continues moving and she stands up. She carries Ulrich out, rolling away from falling debris. She drags him away.

"_Odd, you've used up 4 of your 10 arrows_!"

Another laser is fired and Odd flips away. He aims his paw at two of them, jumping from more lasers. "Here comes three more! Laser arrow!" He fires three. Odd gets the last one blocking their path and they start running.

"Ulrich, you've gotta get up," Yumi hears a bulldozer and looks up. She grabs his arm and starts running with a suddenly awake Ulrich. He staggers and the bulldozer comes closer. They manage to fall into a hatch, Yumi turning to Ulrich. "Ulrich," she touches his cheek slightly. She carries him over his shoulder to the lab.

"Hey Jeremy, can you give me a hand?" Yumi calls out and Jeremy looks up, running to the ladder.

"What about the bulldozers?" He starts climbing up the ladder.

"It's a mess up there," She tells him.

"I wish it were only up there." He helps her with Ulrich.

Ulrich lies against the wall. "How are Odd and Amy doing?" Yumi asks as she checks over him.

"_Jeremy, we're starting to get a little lonely out here_!"

"That answer your question?" Jeremy asks her.

"Huh, gotcha!" Yumi starts running for the scanner.

"Okay guys, Yumi's on her way. As for Ulrich, let's just say he's fast asleep."

"_His hearing must be tough. I mean, without his earplugs_."

Jeremy smiles, as Odd still didn't know that Ulrich was referring to him on why he needs earplugs.

The elevator opens in front of Yumi while the bulldozers continue to destroy the factory. A scanner opens up and she steps in. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner. Virtualization."

Yumi virtualizes and lands.

"_Guys, figure out a way to slow down the roachsters! You're way ahead of Yumi_."

"Take care of the tower, we'll take care of the roachsters!" Odd tells Aelita, skidding to a stop. They jump behind a tree. "Let's see what the score is. Three roachsters, three laser arrows left. Odd, this is no time to miss your target."

Odd turns around and fires. He manages to get one and they hide behind trees. Odd and Amy start running, but Odd gets hit from behind. "Jeremy, how many life points have I got left?"

"_Ten! Hang on, Yumi's almost there!"_

Yumi continues running as Odd and Amy hide behind a tree. A Kankerlot appears and Odd whistles, waving his tail. He appears from behind the tree, destroying it. "That's it for you. Where's your buddy hiding?" Suddenly, Odd gets a vision of Yumi falling towards the digital sea!

"Yumi! Ames, you gotta save Yumi from-uh oh." Odd gets hit and then he's devirtualized.

"Odd! ...Save her from what?" She murmurs and shouts in surprise, backflipping away from a laser.

"No!" Yumi throws her fan, destroying the Kankerlot. "Hey, Jeremy, I didn't make it in time. It's game over for Odd. We'll back up Aelita in case she needs help."

Odd pants as he steps out of the scanner.

"I don't wanna stress you out or anything, but if the scans are destroyed, you're on a one-way trip, girls," Jeremy tells them as more debris falls from the ceiling.

"_No problem, we'll hurry. I wouldn't mind a little nap before class_."

Odd walks up to him. "Jeremy, it isn't the scanner she has to worry about. I just had a vision. I saw Yumi falling into the digital void!"

"Devirtualized forever? Hey Yumi!"

"We heard him," Amy says gravely. And it sounds like she wouldn't be able to help Yumi, meaning she can't save her...

"I'll go and help her."

"What?!" They turn around to Ulrich, who is awake.

"Come on, Ulrich, take a look at yourself. The shape you're in, it'd be crazy," Jeremy argues and he stands up anyway.

"Odd, help me." Odd walks over to him, walking him over. He would disagree, but Aelita can't do anything from her end, and he had a bad feeling that something would happen to Amy before it could be prevented.

Aelita runs across a bridge, the tower just ahead. But...there's a megatank. "Jeremy."

"I saw it. Yumi and Amy are on her way to help you. Give me a visual."

He sees the megatank on his screen.

"There it is! That's exactly where I saw Yumi fall!" Odd exclaims as Ulrich is in the scanner.

"Transfer Ulrich. Scanner. Virtualization."

Aelita runs to the left as the megatank powers up. It fires and she ducks out of the way. Yumi and Amy travel as fast as they can. Aelita turns from a tree, seeing the megatank roll.

"Come on, come on," Amy mutters, trying to make her wings fly faster.

Aelita runs, dodging the laser, but barely. The megatank rolls again and she runs. The monster powers up and this time, Aelita is right in front of the laser.

"Nooo!" Yumi comes behind the megatank while Amy flies to Aelita. She grabs her by the hands and flies up, Yumi pushing the megatank away from them. It falls, but so does she.

"Yumi!" Amy shouts and the laser hits her before she could spring into action, devirtualizing the fairy. Aelita safely lands in front of the tower. The megatank is destroyed as it falls into the digital sea, Yumi hanging onto the ground.

"Jeremy, I can't hold on anymore!"

"_Aelita's inside the tower now. Hang on, Yumi_!"

Aelita enters the tower and Yumi starts to slip.

The scanner opens and Amy staggers a bit. "I'm sorry, Jeremy, I got hit before I could save her."

"I can't..." Yumi looks up nervously.

Aelita starts floating and the three look around the lab as more debris falls.

"Yumi, I'm coming!" Ulrich calls out. "Yumi!" He reaches out to grab her hand, but it's too late. "Nooo!"

Jeremy gasps as Yumi falls, Amy next to Odd. She covers her mouth in horror. Aelita walks up to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The bulldozers turn inoperable as the tower deactivates. Time is reset, changing everything back...but not for Yumi. Unfortunately, a return in time wouldn't bring someone back from the Digital Sea. They look solemnly, Amy starting to cry as she covers her eyes.

"I never would have thought it was possible. For one of us to become..." Jeremy starts off, but he couldn't finish his sentence.

"It's all my fault. If I had been faster, she would still be here." Ulrich closes his eyes, feeling guilty.

"How do you think I feel? If I had flown to Yumi in time, I could've saved her," Amy frowns, Odd putting his arm around her shoulder in comfort.

"Come on, Ames. I don't like seeing my favorite girl cry..." He whispers as she sniffles. "Shh." She calms down slowly, resting her head on his shoulder.

"But there is a solution. And Jeremy knows what it is," Aelita points out.

"The materialization program. It's operational, but Aelita has to give up her place to Yumi," Jeremy realizes. The three look at each other and Odd hands Amy a tissue.

"Can you...bring Yumi back here?" Ulrich asks in anticipation.

"Yes, but I can only materialize one person. One and only one," Jeremy reveals gravely. Odd nods as the others think.

"Then choose Yumi. She's part of your world already," Aelita explains. Jeremy stares at her, unsure. "It's okay. I can wait a little longer."

"Okay, Aelita." He starts it up. "But first of all, I need to track down Yumi in the digital void."

* * *

Odd, Amy, and Ulrich wait as the scanner starts up. Amy brings her hands together, holding in a shaky breath. Yumi comes out of the scanner and they gasp. She starts to fall, but they bring their hands together to catch her.

"It's alright, Yumi. You're gonna be okay," Ulrich reassures, glad that it worked.

"Welcome home," Odd tells her.

"But...how did you get me back here?" She wonders, she knew that there was no main program in case that happened. They don't answer, remembering what Aelita had to sacrifice.

"I'm happy, and at the same time, I'm sad," Jeremy admits to Aelita.

"Why? At least you know the program works. You just have to set it back up again," she says, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah, nothing to it."

"I have faith in you, Jeremy."

He smiles at her. "One day, you'll get me there, I'm sure." She leaves the computer and Jeremy takes off his headset. He uses his scooter alone, sulking. The others walk up to him. Ulrich and Amy place their arms around him.

"Hey Jeremy, want some candy?" Odd holds out a piece to him.

"Hey, what are you doing with that? It's mine!"

"Oh yeah, I guess it is."

"Odd," Amy facepalms at this.

"Whaaat? Okay, no problemo. Here you go," Odd holds it out to his mouth.

"Come on, have one," Yumi pats his shoulder. "Candy can fix anything. Even a broken heart," she adjusts his glasses.

"If you say so." Odd throws it in the air and Jeremy catches it in his mouth.

"You'll see, you'll get there one day," Amy replies as they walk back together.


	9. Image Problem

**Angel: So last chapter, I said my Rise of TMNT story would be returning…**

**And then I saw the wiki and it says the episodes will be released this Saturday instead.**

**Why is everything new happening this week? Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure with season 3, and now this. What's next, the Big Hero 6 series?**

In the ice sector on Lyoko, Yumi, Amy, and Aelita run along the path. "_Thirty degrees north." _As usual, a tower had been activated. "You should be able to see it by now."

"No kidding, sticks out like a sore thumb," Yumi comments as they reach the tower. "There's nothing happening, it's awfully calm."

"Well, be careful. You never know," Jeremy says.

"I'll keep a lookout," Amy suggests and Yumi nods. She points to the tower and Aelita walks up to the tower, entering it. Amy flaps her wings, circling the tower to look for anything. Aelita steps up to the platform and floats to the top.

"Yoohoo!" She appears on the supercomputer screen. "Hi Jeremy. I don't see anything out of the ordinary in the tower. Are you sure it's the right one?"

"That was what the scan picked up, at least, for a few seconds," he explains. Outside, Yumi feels like she's being watched. Amy notices her looks, but sees nothing. She shrugs, continuing to fly around the tower.

"And you said you felt pulsations a while ago, didn't you?" Jeremy asks, scratching his head.

"I did. Well, let's say yes and no. I'm not sure I did anymore. I thought I did."

"Okay, then. I'll go and-"

Yumi's screams can be heard outside the tower. "Yumi!" Amy screams in alarm.

"Sounds like Yumi," Aelita stands up.

"What's going on? Can you hear me, Yumi? Answer me. Yumi! Amy, what happened?"

"I-I don't know, I was on look out and the next thing I knew-"

"Jeremy, Yumi's disappeared!" Aelita finishes.

"What? Come on, she couldn't have just vanished."

"Jeremy, I'm telling you, she's not here," Amy insists.

A scanner opens and it shows that she's devirtualized. "Aelita, hold on. I'll get back to you."

"Jeremy? Jeremy, what about Amy?"

Amy sighs at this. "Looks like I'm gonna have to devirtualize myself..." She holds out her hands. "Frosty Vine!" Plants made of ice wrap around Amy, devirtualizing her.

Jeremy walks to the elevator, pressing the button to go down to the scanner room. He sees Yumi laying down in a scanner and an unhappy Amy. "Whoops. Sorry Amy. Hey Yumi. Yumi?"

Yumi looks to be unconscious.

* * *

Odd, Amy, and Ulrich are at the vending machines. Odd's hot chocolate comes out and he tastes it, spitting it out in disgust. "Hey, what's wrong with the hot chocolate today? It tastes like dirty sweat socks and an old pair of sneakers."

"Odd the gourmet!" Ulrich rubs his head.

Amy sighs, "Guys, I have to tell you something about Y-"

"Yoohoo! Hey, Ulrich! Yoohoo! Yoohoo!" They turn to see Sissi running up to them.

"Well, what do you know? Your fan club," Odd shakes his head, throwing out his hot chocolate. Sissi flips her hair.

"I don't believe it. Your darling Yumi's deserted you for once?" She smiles at the thought of having a chance with Ulrich now.

"Like your brain, huh? It deserted you a long time ago!" Odd jokes and Ulrich snickers as Sissi glares at him. Amy giggles under her hand and Ulrich gets a call from Jeremy. Amy decided to not say anything because she knew what Jeremy was calling about.

"Hello? Oh, it's you, Jeremy."

"I'd recommend the hot chocolate. Take my word for it," Odd suggests, Amy smirking at him.

"What?"

* * *

At the infirmary, the boys help carry Yumi to the bed. "Okay, easy does it. That's it," they place Yumi on the bed gently.

"Oh, well then, what happened to her?" The nurse points to Yumi.

"Um...well, she started feeling sick during recess," Jeremy starts.

"It's cuz she's been studying real hard. Our teachers give us way too much homework," Odd thinks and Amy nudges him in the arm slightly.

"Alright, I'll take care of her. Now back to class, all of you." They stand there, not wanting to leave Yumi by herself. She narrows her eyes. "You heard what I said, now go. Go on."

They leave reluctantly, Jeremy closing the door behind her. The nurse checks over Yumi and she wakes up. "Well, feeling better? Hmm?" Yumi grabs her arm back, sitting up. "Hey, no no no. Come on, lie down now, you hear? Please, you need to rest."

The nurse reaches an arm out to her and Yumi grabs it. The nurse gasps.

* * *

The four are sitting outside the cafeteria. "Are you sure she wasn't hit by a laser? Maybe there was a megatank hiding somewhere," Ulrich suggests.

"No no, I would've seen it on the screen," Jeremy explains and Ulrich turns to Amy.

"Amy, you were there with Yumi. Did you see anything?"

"My...my memory isn't clear on what happened to Yumi. All I know is that I was on look-out where Jeremy said the tower was, but I don't remember anything else," she murmurs, holding her head as she closes her eyes.

"Huh? But you told me she had disappeared, now you're saying you can't remember anything?" Jeremy demands.

"Hey, back off, Jeremy," Odd warns, placing a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Are you sure you can't remember anything?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't recall anything regarding what happened to her on Lyoko," Amy murmurs, shaking her head.

"She still had all her life points when she was devirtualized," Jeremy finishes.

"Well, in any case, something abnormal happened," Ulrich scratches his head.

"Yeah, that's for sure. The proof is she passed out in the scanner. Only the return trip's pretty easy," Jeremy says.

"Huh, that's what you think. You oughta try it one of these days. You'll love it," Odd argues. Ulrich has a conflicted look before he looks around the corner, gasping. He sees Yumi just standing there a few feet away from him.

"Huh? Yumi!" She turns around to them, blinking.

"Guess you're feeling better, huh?" Odd asks.

"You had us scared," Ulrich replies.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't help you!" Amy exclaims, Odd placing a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

"Tell us what happened," Jeremy urges.

She doesn't answer, turning to leave, but Ulrich places a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah."

"Really?" He asks skeptically.

"I'm just tired," she holds her temple.

"Yumi, tell us what happened on Lyoko," Jeremy crosses his arms.

"Nothing, ya hear? Come on, let's go over to the factory now," she insists, Amy raising an eyebrow.

"In your condition? That's a pretty crazy idea," Ulrich says.

"Why would you want to go there? There's nothing happening," Amy points out.

"Hey listen. You know, we've got more important things to do. Like eating, for example," Odd smiles.

"I can't take you anywhere, Odd," Amy jokes as Odd laughs, but Yumi doesn't, walking past them.

"Hey..." Odd follows her to the cafeteria, shrugging in confusion to the others.

"It's not like Yumi to be like this..." Amy murmurs in slight worry.

"What about Aelita? Is she safe?" Ulrich wonders.

"I hope so. I told her to stay in the tower," Jeremy answers.

Aelita sits down, looking at the interface and she spots something wrong. She slides the screen away, standing up. "I've got to go and check it out." A strange orange sphere is floating not far off the ground emitting a continuous buzzing sound...

* * *

In the cafeteria, Yumi isn't eating. Odd eats his meatball as Jeremy turns to Yumi. "And you really can't remember what happened?"

"No, nothing," she tells him.

"Do you think it could've come from the scanners? A bug or something like that? Maybe that's what happened to Amy too," Ulrich wonders.

"Unless XANA's trying out a new way of attacking," Odd points out.

"I haven't the slightest idea. I'm wondering if all these transfers aren't becoming a health problem," Jeremy voices in slight concern.

"But if that were the case, Odd and Ulrich would've been affected too at some point, and they're acting like their usual selves...that is, if Odd being a pig is normal," Amy jokes, the others laughing except Yumi and Odd.

"Wha-hey!" He sees Sissi approaching. "Hey, do I smell fish or just cheap perfume?"

"You're such a riot. Oh, Ulrich. What do you say we get together after school, huh?" Sissi gives a hopeful look.

"Get together with you? Very tempting, but uh, not!" The four laugh, but Yumi again does not.

Sissi scoffs, "You're showing off because Yumi's here, huh? Mademoiselle likes to keep the competition as far away as she can!"

"That's not true!" Yumi argues, turning to Ulrich. "Why don't you go out with her? She's really pretty!"

Odd drops his spoon as his eyes widen, both boys dropping their jaws at the same time.

"Huh?"

Amy chokes on her water. "What?!"

"Hey...you wouldn't be...trying to make fun of me, would you?" Sissi demands. Yumi looks up at her and then back down again. "No? Huh, great. Thanks a lot, Yumi. Ulrich, I'll be waiting for you in the park after school. Ciao!" She leaves, Herb giving a jealous look as he turns around.

"What are you trying to pull anyway, huh?" Ulrich asks Yumi.

"Nothing. Go on. Go out with her. She's been waiting for this for ages. Go on." Amy swallows her fork in shock, choking again. Odd gives her the Heimlich maneuver and she coughs up the fork.

"Miss Ishiyama," Principal Delmas places a hand on Yumi's shoulder as Amy rubs her throat. "Come to my office right now."

"You okay, Ames?" Odd asks in concern and she waves a hand.

"I'm fine...thanks Odd," she smiles up at him and he smiles back.

Back on Lyoko, Aelita looks up at the sphere. "But that thing wasn't there before. It looks like a guardian." Aelita can't see what's in it, because she is too far away. She runs up to get closer, only for a laser to be shot from above. She ducks, looking at the lasers. Two Kankerlots are guarding the sphere.

* * *

"What's going on with Yumi? Is she mad at me or what? I've never seen her like that," Ulrich says in confusion.

"She must've had a really serious shock," Jeremy theorizes.

"Ulrich!" They turn around to see an angry Herb, followed by Nicolas. "What's the big idea of having a date with Sissi, huh?!"

Jeremy pushes Ulrich away slightly. "This isn't the time for that, you hear, Herb? If you want an explanation, go and ask Sissi." Herb glares at them and Jeremy places a hand on Ulrich's shoulder. "Okay, I'll leave you to your love stories. I've got a super psychopathic computer to feed."

* * *

"Yumi, this is unspeakable!" Principal Delmas slams his fist on the desk. "Our poor nurse Dorothy is still very upset. How could you have done such a thing? I'm giving you two hours of detention in the library to teach you a lesson." She doesn't move. "Well, go on!" He points to the door. She still doesn't move, or speak. "There's something troubling you, Yumi."

She turns to him before looking away. He steps forward. "Care to tell me about it? Yumi, I'm here to help you, that's part of my job." She still says nothing. "Very well. Keep this up and I'll have to inform your parents about the way you're behaving."

"Not my parents," she turns to him. They stare at each other.

"That's enough now, Miss Ishiyama." He turns to the phone, placing his hand on the receiver. She places her hand over his to stop him. "What?! But-get your hands off the phone right now!"

"Not my parents!" She yells.

"I won't warn you again. Yumi, if you keep this up, I'll suspend you."

"No!" She grabs the receiver, a symbol on her forehead appearing.

XANA's.

He gasps and she hits him in the head with the receiver. Fake Yumi drops it and leaves.

"Hello there, Yumi," Jim greets, laughing, but she walks past him silently. Jim gives an offended look as he stares after her.

* * *

Aelita is telling Jeremy what happened with the guardian in his room. "As soon as I got close to the monsters, they started to shoot."

"You shouldn't have left the tower, Aelita," Jeremy scolds.

"I know. You're not too mad at me, are you?"

"Mad? No. Besides, I think you made an important discovery. This could have something to do with what happened to Yumi," he tells her.

"Should I go back there?" She questions.

"No, hold on. I'll send Amy, Ulrich, and Odd as back-up," he reassures.

"Jeremy...what happened to Yumi might happen to one of your friends or all of them. If they came to Lyoko now, it could be very dangerous for them," she states.

"I guess you're right. Go on then, but promise me you'll be careful." The door opens behind him. "Huh?"

"You know me," Aelita assures and Jeremy turns around to see Fake Yumi.

"Oh, it's you. What did the principal want?"

"We have to go to the factory now," she demands.

"Oh no, forget it. First of all, there's no reason to go like Amy said and second, you have to rest." He turns around as Fake Yumi walks up behind him.

"I have to go to the scanner room," she insists.

"No, nobody's going back to Lyoko until I give the order," he says. "It's too dangerous. I've got some tests I have to run first." She turns his chair around so that he's facing her.

"Hey," she leans closer. "It's important, you hear? I have to go back to the scanner room," she places her hand on his shoulder.

"Uh, duh, Yumi. W-what are you trying to-"

"Shhh," she shushes him and takes off his glasses. "There."

He blushes. "I, uh, I'm not...sure it's a good idea. Y-You should go home and get some rest." He had no idea why he was so flustered. After, it was just Yumi, his friend.

"Come on. Take me to the scanner room," she leans in close to a blushing and sweating Jeremy.

"B-B-B-B-m-m-you should go home and take a bath! No, a cold shower! Very cold! Very, very, very cold! It'll calm you down!" He stutters as she prepares to kiss him. Ulrich opens the door without knocking, followed by Odd and Amy.

"Jeremy, hurry up, we gotta get going..." They see the scene, gasping. Fake Yumi turns around, both of them with their mouths open. Seeing the scene, Ulrich leaves, furious.

"Ulrich! No, wait! I-It's not what you think!" Jeremy walks after him, leaving Odd and Amy with Fake Yumi. "I swear, Ulrich! Wait!"

"Bravo," Odd comments, crossing his arms.

"Yumi, how could you do that to Ulrich?" Amy demands, but gets nothing in response.

"Hmph! Come on, Ames." Odd takes Amy's hand and walks off with her. Fake Yumi chuckles to herself.

"Odd?" Amy murmurs, a bit of red on her face.

"Yeah?" He mutters.

"...You're still holding my hand..."

He blushes, eyes widening in realization. "O-Oh. Sorry," he rubs his head as she looks away bashfully.

"It's okay."

Aelita peeks at the tower from her spot. "Okay, time to go." She runs and immediately one of the Kankerlots fires at her, followed by the other one. She manages to dodge the lasers, running into a cave. She presses her back against the wall, looking to see a ramp. She slowly approaches it, looking up to see a hole, which leads to the guardian.

* * *

The boys and Amy are in their science class. "And we can also observe cases of part genesis among certain insects. This phenomenon is relatively common and comparable to a sort of natural cloning. That is to say, the animal gives birth to a replica of itself. An exact replica with no differences between them," she turns around to write on the chalkboard. "Scientists have succeeded in employing this process with rabbits."

Jeremy turns around to Amy, Odd, and Ulrich. Odd blows a raspberry at him while Amy does nothing. "Alright, we'll continue with the subject tomorrow." The bell rings at 4:30 and they leave.

"Ulrich," Jeremy grabs his arm. "You have to listen."

Ulrich yanks his arm back. "I don't wanna listen to you."

He sighs as Odd and Amy appear. Odd says nothing as Amy clutches her book close to her chest. "Something's not right with Yumi, she's not in her normal state. I don't know what she's been through, but she's traumatized."

Ulrich thinks, turning around. "Okay. Let's go."

Aelita has climbed up the hole, now in front of the guardian. She climbs up and tiptoes, trying not to catch attention to herself from the Kankerlots. She looks inside it. "Oh no!" This makes one of the Kankerlots hear her, firing a laser. Aelita runs away from it.

"What do you think this phenomenon is?" Ulrich asks as they walk back to Jeremy's room.

"I wish I could tell you, but I have no idea. Aelita's checking it out. It could be XANA's doing." He puts his key in the lock. "Oh no, I forgot to lock the door." He opens it and they gasp when they see Jeremy's room trashed, including his computer. "All my equipment!"

"You think Sissi's behind all this?" Ulrich wonders.

"Why would she wanna do it?" Jeremy questions.

"If anything, she'd trash your room, not Jeremy's. Sissi doesn't have a motive," Amy explains.

"Hey, maybe it's Herb. He sure was mad when we saw him today," Odd suggests.

"Again, no. Herb was mad at Ulrich, not Jeremy. Why would he trash Jeremy's room if he wanted to get back at Ulrich?" Amy points out.

"Wait, who was the last one to leave this room?" Jeremy turns to Ulrich.

"Oh no." _Fake Yumi is left alone in Jeremy's room after Ulrich had stormed out. _"No, that's impossible. Not Yumi."

Odd snorts, "You gotta admit, man. She's been acting weird lately."

"Yeah, ever since her 'disappearance' on Lyoko, she's been weird," Amy uses quotation marks on the word disappearance.

"Okay, Yumi hasn't been herself lately, that's right. But still...the enemy's XANA. Jeremy's right. XANA has launched an attack. And I'm sure all this...other stuff is to distract us while he's calmly and quietly getting rid of Aelita," Ulrich explains.

"But that still doesn't explain Yumi..." Amy places a finger to her chin.

"Aelita, she's all alone on Lyoko!" Jeremy realizes. "And we can't get to her!" Fake Yumi appears in the doorway.

"Are we going to the scanner room?"

Jeremy narrows his eyes at her. She looks at Ulrich, who just stares. She glances at Odd, who has his eyes narrowed. Then she looks at Amy, who says nothing. The air was tense.

"...Yeah, let's go," Jeremy finally says.

* * *

The four go down to the scanner room, the air still tense in the elevator. Fake Yumi glances at them, Odd moving Amy away gently from her stares. Jeremy is starting up the procedure. They stand in front of the scanners.

"Go on, do your stuff, Jeremy," Odd calls out. Ulrich looks at Fake Yumi, who has a relaxed look.

"Are you ready? Here we go. Amy, you go first with Odd and Ulrich. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Transfer Amy." The three step in as he says their names. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

The three are virtualized near the cave where Aelita was. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner Yumi." Fake Yumi stops the scanner from closing in on her and she opens it, stepping out. "Virtualization." Fake Yumi looks back at the scanners.

Ulrich looks around in confusion. "Where's Yumi?"

"What? She's not with you?" Jeremy asks.

"No, she wasn't transferred," Ulrich answers.

Amy narrows her eyes. "So all the stuff she's done combined with not being virtualized? This is really weird."

Aelita runs from the Kankerlots and Odd hears the lasers. "Over there!" He points and Aelita jumps in front of them. A laser is fired at Aelita, but Ulrich pulls out his sword and blocks it from hitting her. The laser hits the Kankerlot.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires an arrow and it destroys the Kankerlot.

"Hurry, we've got to go and free Yumi," Aelita explains.

"Yumi? Yumi's not-"

"The real Yumi," Aelita tells Ulrich. "The one who's here on Lyoko." She points to the guardian. "The other one was created by XANA." The real Yumi can be seen inside the sphere, unconscious.

"Wait...I remember..." Amy murmurs in thought. "When I was on look-out, I managed to see that thing take Yumi! But I couldn't stop it, that's where my mind went blank."

"So why didn't you remember it from before? You're not a clone created by XANA," Odd says in confusion.

"XANA must've made me lose a part of my memory of what happened when I had to devirtualize myself," Amy growls. "...And how DO you know I'm not a clone?"

"I just do," Odd winks and she rolls her eyes.

"Jeremy, whatever you do, don't go anywhere near Yumi. Do you hear me, Jeremy?" Aelita warns. "Jeremy?" She doesn't know that Jeremy has gone to confront the clone. But he doesn't know that she's a clone, he's only going down there to see what happened with the transfer.

Fake Yumi starts pulling the cables from one of the scanners to disable them. The elevator doors open, Jeremy narrowing his eyes at the clone. She pulls the cables off. "Yumi! What are you doing?" She gasps, dropping the cables and holding her head. He walks up to her, bending down to the cables. Fake Yumi looks at her fist and Jeremy gasps before he's punched in the face.

"Now!" Ulrich shouts to Odd.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires at one of the Kankerlots, but misses. He backflips away from lasers. Ulrich runs off from them. Amy ducks from them, pressing her back against the ice wall. Fake Yumi laughs evilly as Jeremy is unconscious on the ground.

Ulrich and Amy stand in front of the sphere. The Kankerlot turns to them and Ulrich uses his sword to deflect it. Amy raises her hand. "Shattering Ice!" She spins once and points with her index finger, a blast of icicles releasing at a stone. They hit it and change direction to the Kankerlot, defeating it.

"It's a guardian," Aelita joins them. "A sort of digital jail adapted to the body imprisoned in it."

Ulrich hits it with his sword, but it doesn't work. Amy pulls out her spear and does the same, but nothing happens. "We can't destroy it with our weapons," Ulrich says.

"Hold on, let me try something." Amy closes her eyes, crossing her hands in front of her chest. A bow appears in front of her and she bends the string back. "Sapphire Arrow!" A large ice laser arrow rips from the bow, but nothing happens. "Aw man, not even my nature powers work on this thing?"

Odd smiles at her that she took inspiration from his weapon.

"I can create a clone, a false image of Yumi. We can try to convince the guardian that he's mistaken," Aelita suggests.

"Okay, let's go," Ulrich nods.

Aelita sings as she bends to her knees. An illusion of Yumi appears. The guardian falls for it and it explodes. Odd turns around. "Huh. Oh wow. Piece of cake."

Fake Yumi walks past Jeremy, looking at the second scanner.

Yumi gets her vision back as Ulrich stands over her. "Yumi."

"Oh, what? What happened?"

Odd jumps to them. "Sorry, no time to explain. We've got to deactivate the tower."

"Jeremy's not responding. I don't understand. I have the feeling that something's wrong," Aelita voices in worry.

"He's all alone with the other one. If she destroys the scanner, it's all over," Ulrich looks down solemnly.

"Jeremy's not gonna last long with the other one, we have to do something!" Amy exclaims.

"The other? The other what? Who wants to wreck the scanner?" Yumi is confused.

"...The other...you," Odd reveals and she raises her eyebrow.

Fake Yumi is pulling the cables from the second scanner.

"What if something has happened to Jeremy and what if we don't manage to deactivate the tower in time? This is serious, listen. One of us has to go back to reality right away. We don't have much time!" Yumi tells them.

"Right, I'll go," Ulrich offers.

"No, it's better if I go. I don't know how many life points I have left, Ulrich. And if I only have five or ten, I won't be of much use to you here. And also, I have a little matter to deal with that only I can settle," she explains. "It's between me and myself."

"Then you go. But first, you have to devirtualize yourself. The question is how?" Ulrich says, turning to Amy, who shakes her head.

"Mm mm, uh-uh. I already had to devirtualize myself today, don't make me do it to a friend too," Amy crosses her arms.

"She's right, Ulrich. You're armed, aren't you?" Yumi implores, Ulrich looking down at his sword.

Fake Yumi is pulling the cables off the last scanner, but the real Yumi appears from it before Fake Yumi can disable it. "You know what?" Fake Yumi looks up at her. "You look just like me when I'm having a bad day."

They stare at each other intensely as they take fighting stances. Fake Yumi strikes first, knocking Yumi into the open scanner.

Odd crawls to the edge of the platform, looking down to see three Kankerlots. "Uh oh. We've got company." He sings.

"Odd, watch out. On your right!" Aelita warns. A Kankerlot hits Odd in the chest. Ulrich rolls in front of him.

"How many life points do I have left?" He deflects a laser.

"I don't know, but it's gotta be less than ten by now," Odd guesses as he gets back on his feet.

"I hope Yumi's gotten to Jeremy," Amy murmurs.

Jeremy wakes up to see the Fake Yumi trying to open the hatch. She pulls it open and Yumi jumps into action. Fake Yumi uses the door as a shield, knocking Yumi to the ground.

"Oh, Yumi!" Jeremy calls out.

Odd is hit again and he dodges the rest of the lasers. "I'm still here? Well, I guess I messed up on my calculations."

"You always were a washout in math," Ulrich points out.

"Right, but thanks to you, I can count to three."

"If I had to guess, I'd say one more hit before it's game over for you, Ulrich," Amy guesses.

Yumi gasps as Fake Yumi is about to advance on her. Jeremy pushes Fake Yumi to the open hatch and she screams as she falls. Jeremy looks down, gasping.

"Triplicate!" Ulrich makes two clones of himself, running to the Kankerlots. They destroy one, but Ulric and the other clone jump up. Ulrich destroys one while the clone destroys the other. "Fusion!" The clone fuses with him and he puts the sword away. "Aelita, you're up."

Aelita runs to the tower and goes inside.

A hand appears from the hatch and Yumi gasps as her fake self suddenly comes out of the hatch, grabbing Jeremy by his shirt.

Aelita walks to the middle of the pad.

Fake Yumi tries to pull him, the real Yumi crawling over.

Aelita floats to the top. She walks up and presses her hand on the interface.

_Aelita_

Fake Yumi grabs Jeremy, Yumi almost there. She gasps when Fake Yumi holds Jeremy over her head.

_Code_

Fake Yumi laughs, about to drop Jeremy down the hatch. "Oh noooo!" Yumi realizes her plan.

_Lyoko_

The tower is deactivated. Jeremy falls down the hatch, screaming. Luckily, he set up a time reversion before he left the supercomputer. White light engulfs everything and everything is turned back to normal.

* * *

They all sit in Jeremy's room. "That's fantastic, the fact that XANA was able to materialize another Yumi proves one thing. It proves that materialization is really possible," Aelita points out.

"That's crazy. XANA's helping us with our materialization research!" Yumi comments in disbelief as she and Ulrich sit on Jeremy's bed. Amy sits with Odd on the floor, a leg raised to her chest.

"Back to work then, Einstein."

"No sweat," Jeremy jerks a thumb at his computer. "I'll start programming again right now."

"But why bother? If I were you, I'd go and see XANA. He's got the answer, so ask him!"

"I wouldn't trust him. Look at the Yumi he sent us," Ulrich states.

"Oh yeah, she wasn't that different from the original," Odd says.

"Then how come you didn't say that before?" Amy smirks at him and he huffs slightly, handing her a candy bag.

"Here, take this."

"YAAAY!" Amy cheers, taking it.

"Odd, she's not Kiwi," Yumi replies.

"Then she'd make an adorable puppy," Odd jokes, Amy winking as she chews on her candy.

"She sure was. She didn't fool me. I saw the difference. As soon as she started to flirt with me," Jeremy agrees.

"Really? Are you sure? Do you have any proof that it's the real me you're looking at?" Yumi teases. She stands up and pulls off his glasses.

"W-What are you doing?" Yumi chuckles at him and he blushes.

"Ah no, cut it out. I've had enough of that for one day," Ulrich stops Yumi.

"You're not jealous, are you, Ulrich?"

His mouth drops open and Amy laughs, clutching her stomach.

"Sure looks like it." Odd gives a thumbs up and Yumi laughs, followed by the others as Ulrich glares.


	10. End of Take

In the hall, a movie is playing. A woman backs away to the wall, an alien inching closer to her. She whimpers in fear as the alien bears its teeth. It jumps up, only to be shot in the stomach from behind. The goop hits the woman and her rescuer is revealed to be a man, who looks like he's limping. He smiles and a flash shows slightly. In the next shot, he's holding the woman by the waist and they lean in to kiss, but the film stops there.

"Totally ridiculous," Jeremy comments.

"Wow, that was great," Ulrich smiles.

"I thought the special effects were pretty good, but...well, it wasn't scary enough," Odd says.

"Since when were you a film critic?" Amy asks, smirking.

"You're kidding. How come your teeth were chattering? For the sound effects?" Yumi teases, Jeremy laughing. Odd crosses his arms as the others join in on the laughter. The film stops, the curtains closing as the principal is speaking.

"Dear students, your attention please. I would like you all to give a warm welcome to the director of the film you've just seen. And which we all found very...interesting. And here he is now, James Finson, who is honoring us with his presence today to discuss his work in the fascinating field of cinema," Principal Delmas claps as he backs away from the mic, the students clapping. Finson stands up to the mic.

"Uh, that's right. And I'm also here to look for locations to shoot for my new film. In fact, I heard there's an old factory around here that nobody uses anymore, which I'm very interested in." The students gasp, but Jeremy couldn't help but think he knows which factory he's referring to.

"A factory? Oh no, not ours!"

* * *

Finson is signing autographs for the students later in the cafeteria. "Great, thank you, sir."

"If this Finson guy finds out about our supercomputer, we're in trouble," Jeremy comments as they stand outside the cafeteria.

"And that means we absolutely have to stop him from using it," Yumi points out.

"Yeah, sure we do, but how?" Odd wonders.

"Hmm, nothing to worry about. I got an idea," Ulrich offers.

"Should I be worried?" Amy turns to the others.

Sissi is next in line and the guard lets her through, Ulrich next. "How come every time he says there's nothing to worry about, I get worried?" Odd asks as they listen from outside. "And I mean worried."

"Oh, really? Didn't Amy say something along those lines?" Yumi smirks at her. Amy narrows her eyes, crossing her arms.

"And just what are you implying, Ishiyama?"

"Oh, nothing...just that you and Odd have a LOT of similarities," Jeremy gives a smug smile.

"Okay, so we said similar things and we both have dogs, but that doesn't mean anything," Odd dismisses.

"So stop suggesting things," Amy finishes stubbornly, the others just looking smug.

"Oh, I'm so glad to meet you, Mr. Finson. I just love your films, I'm a big fan of yours," Sissi tries kissing up so she can ask for what she really wants.

"Oh, really? Well, I can't argue with your taste. I like my films too. What's your name?"

"Um, why don't you just write 'To Sissi, a rising star who I'm going to give the leading role to in my next film?' " she suggests.

"Uh, I think I'm going to write 'To Sissi, who's got a lot of nerve.' "

"And a lot of talent," she smiles smugly.

"Well, I'm very sorry, Sissi, but the casting is over. The parts have all been distributed. So, better luck next time, huh?" He offers her an autograph and she snatches it, walking away.

Ulrich clears his throat when he steps up. "Um, hello, sir. The factory you were talking about, I was wondering if, uh, you'd already been there?"

"No, but I'm gonna start my scouting later today," he holds out an autograph to him, but Ulrich raises a hand.

"Well, you see, I know the place inside out and...I really don't think you could find a better guide."

Finson chuckles to himself. "It looks like everyone in this school has a lot of nerve."

Ulrich smiles a little.

* * *

"Fantastic," Finson comments as he tours the factory. "It's even better than I thought."

"Yeah, it looks alright, but the trouble is, it's falling apart. Hopefully the ceiling won't fall on our heads," Ulrich tells him, starting his plan.

"That's great. I love a dangerous shoot. That's what I always look for. An actor is always better under pressure," Finson steps forward as Ulrich facepalms.

"Uh, Mr. Finson, you better watch out for your equipment. It's crawling with rats here," Ulrich catches up with him as the others watch from the ceiling.

"Rats? That's lucky. I've got some big scenes to shoot with rats in them."

"Conclusion: never trust Ulrich when he says there's nothing to worry about," Odd states.

"Yeah, he tried to gross him out. Instead, he's even more excited," Jeremy says.

"Why did we let him do this?" Amy wonders, shaking her head.

"You're right, it's a great set. Too bad about all that uranium they stored here for so many years and years. Maybe one day it won't be radioactive anymore," Ulrich lies even further.

"Uh huh. Do you know where this freight elevator leads to?" He wonders.

"Oh, that old thing? Huh, it stopped working ages ago. Anyway, they say that when it was working, it-"

Banging is suddenly heard along with ghost noises. "What was that noise?"

"That noise? Oh, it's nothing, nothing at all." Amy has Odd's mouth covered as the others shush him. "Well, there is an old rumor that this factory is haunted by ghosts, but I don't believe a word of that. Although-"

Finson just laughs. "This place just keeps getting better and better than I thought."

"Are you kidding me?!" Amy hisses, facepalming.

"And you seem to know every nook and cranny of it. I know," he places his hand on Ulrich's shoulder. "How would you like to work as a technical advisor on the film?"

"Yes, do it. Say yes, say yes, say yes!" Odd whispers as the others close their eyes in anticipation. They wanted him to keep an eye on Finson so he at least doesn't discover the supercomputer.

"Are you serious?" Ulrich asks in disbelief.

"Of course I am," Finson nods.

"Yaaaaay," the others cheer before covering their mouths. They shush each other.

"Um, well, it would be a great honor, sir," Ulrich answers. "The only problem is that the principal would never let me miss my classes."

"Let me talk to him," Finson offers.

* * *

Later, Sissi is staring at her father's office. "Sissi, your father will never let Ulrich miss even one hour of school."

She turns around to them. "Hmm, we'll see about that. Nothing's gonna stop me from becoming a big movie star." They stare at her, unsure. She narrows her eyes slightly, grunting as she dismisses them, leaving for her dad's office.

Finson and Ulrich step out into the hall. "Wow, he said no. Incredible. I even promised to put his name in the credits," Finson rubs the back of his head. Sissi suddenly appears from a door.

"Um, Mr. Finson? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Ulrich and Finson look at her in confusion.

* * *

"I don't believe it!" Jeremy comments as he sits across Odd, Amy, and Ulrich. "Sissi got a part in Finson's film!"

"Yeah, in exchange for convincing her dad to let me skip school," Ulrich explains.

"So she gets to spend time with you AND have a part in the film? The nerve," Amy mutters.

"Ulrich and Sissi, working together on a film. This could be the beginning of a great romance," Odd jokes.

"Yeah, right. She won't leave me alone for one second. And what about Odd and Amy, the great romance that doesn't wanna begin?" Ulrich retorts.

"Wha-there's no romance between us, he's just my best friend! I can't be best friends with a dude?!" Amy argues, blushing in embarrassment.

"Yeah, a guy and girl can't be best friends?" Odd demands.

"Your real job is to be there in the factory making sure that nobody discovers our lab," Jeremy warns, Aelita appearing on his computer screen.

"Come on, it's not going to be as bad as all that," Aelita suggests.

Aelita was definitely wrong as Sissi is standing outside the hatch, looking at Ulrich. "Are you sure it's not too heavy?" Ulrich drags a briefcase. "When I think that I'm about to become a big star, and that you Ulrich, are lucky enough to witness the event live."

"Hmph," he murmurs.

"Oh I envy you, I really do!"

Two guards stand behind a lady sitting at the desk, who was waiting for them. She's the secretary. "Hello. Mr. Finson is expecting us," Sissi explains.

"Do you have cell phones by any chance?" She asks.

"Uh, cell phones? Oh, why of course. How could you think we didn't?"

"Confiscated!" She holds out her hand. "Mr. Finson's orders." They look in surprise.

"During the shooting, it's forbidden to communicate with the outside world without Finson's okay. That's so there are no leaks about the script or newspaper gossip," the producer is explaining to them as he gives Ulrich and Sissi a tour of the set. "That's also why everyone sleeps here with guards at the entrance. Apart from all that, it's a lot of fun."

"Yes, but, what if we have to get in touch with...our parents, for example? In case there's a problem, huh?" Ulrich wonders, because if he doesn't have his phone, he won't know if there's a XANA attack.

"When you shoot with James Finson, there's never a problem!"

"Cut off from the rest of the world," Sissi grabs his arm. "That's so incredibly romantic. It's almost like being alone on a desert island!"

"Fantastic, I can't wait," he deadpans. They all gather around something covered under a curtain.

"Well, it's time for you all to meet the main character of my movie. Prepare yourselves for a big surprise," he takes off the curtain and they gasp when they see a fake alien, tied to a wooden pole and held by wires to keep it up. "Don't be shy, tell me what you think. It's my best monster yet, right? And to top it all off, I've invented a way to make him squirt slimy, disgusting threads of goo. It'll knock your socks off, you'll see."

Ulrich places a finger on his chin, a smug look on his face. "Funny, but it makes me think of the alien in that film, uh...I can't remember the-"

Finson gets in his face. "My creature is unique, young man, and my movie will be like no other ever made," he says defensively, crossing his arms with a pout. He walks away, grumbling to himself. Ulrich's eyes widen at his attitude, two people comforting him.

"Mr. Finson?" Sissi runs after him. "I'm very anxious to get my script if you don't mind. I'd like to start working on my lines. You see, we professionals are very serious."

"Oh, why of course," he takes out a piece of paper and pencil. "One second. Here it comes. There," he holds out the paper to her.

"Thank you," she opens it, her eyes widening in surprise. "Aaaaah!" She screams, but her paper literally says that. Just the word 'Aaaaah.'

"You got it, kid. You'll be the alien's first victim. 20 seconds on the screens. Yes, but 20 seconds of glory." He laughs as he pats a shocked Sissi's cheek. "Gory glory, too!" She watches him leave, flabbergasted before she growls, crumpling up the paper.

* * *

Later, the tents have been set up in the factory. "I think we can shoot that one in no time."

Ulrich was sleeping until he opens his eyes. He looks at Sissi across from him before sitting up. He slips his shoes on, crawling out of their tent. Sissi opens her eyes.

Ulrich rushes past the tents, stopping for a moment as he looks at the cloaked alien. He starts running again, not noticing the fact that Sissi is following him. One of XANA's specters' appears on one of the computers. It emerges from an outlet, entering the green monster and bringing it to life.

"Hey, what are you doing in the lab?" Jeremy demands from his room as he talks to Ulrich. "Anything wrong?"

"They took my cell phone away," Ulrich explains. "Finson's totally paranoid. It won't be easy staying in touch with you."

"Well, well." He turns around, eyes widening in surprise to see Sissi! "What kind of a weird place is this?"

"Hey, Ulrich." Jeremy gives a worried look. "Please tell me that that wasn't Sissi's voice I just heard."

Ulrich doesn't answer, taking off the headset as he steps down from the chair. "Uh, Sissi. Listen, I can't explain this to you, but uh, you can't tell anyone about this or else."

"Or else what? A monster's gonna squirt goopy goop all over my face, huh Ulrich?" That's exactly what happens and she looks up to see the moving alien.

"Jeremy, we've got a BIG problem here," Ulrich says into the headset. The alien squirts goop at Ulrich and he ducks. The chair gets hit by the goop instead.

"Ulrich, what's going on? What's that noise?" Jeremy calls out, but gets nothing as Ulrich grabs Sissi's arm.

"In here, hurry up!"

Sissi whimpers as they run to the elevator. The alien jumps down. "Come on!" They back away to the wall as the alien lunges, but the doors close just in time.

"Ulrich, what is going on? Answer me!" Jeremy demands, but since Ulrich doesn't have his phone and is away from the headset, he can't answer him. The elevator descends down, along with the alien following the two. They drop to the ground, panting. Something bulges in front of Sissi, making her gasp and back away. There's a thud as another bulge appears from the floor. It happens again, along with a roar and Ulrich holds Sissi's arms as they look down. The elevator suddenly stops and they are now stuck. Sissi and Ulrich look at each other before the alien punches through the ground. Sissi backs away to the corner and Ulrich looks up, pointing to a hatch.

"Up there." He cups his hands together. "You gotta climb up. I'll follow you." He hoists her up using his hands as the alien's arms search around. Sissi climbs on top of the elevator and reaches out her hand. She begins to pull him up and the alien manages to get inside the shaft, grabbing Ulrich's shoe. "Let's go, we can't stay here." Ulrich turns around and opens the shaft behind him. "Through here, come on." He starts crawling, Sissi following behind him.

"XANA's up to something. A tower's been activated. I'm launching a scan to localize the tower. I'll wake Odd and Amy, call Yumi, and we'll be on our way," Jeremy runs out of his room as the scan localizes. The sun starts to rise and music plays.

"Who's the moron that-" one of the actors sees Finson standing in front of his tent, the music coming from his radio. "Oh! It's you, boss. I'm sorry, heh heh."

"Not bad, huh? I just composed it for the film," Finson claps. "Okay, all you lazybones, let's go. We got a movie to make," the crew starts to crawl out of the tents, awake. "Go get the alien."

Finson sits in his director chair, waiting for filming to start. "Boss!"

"Huh?" He looks up.

"Better come and take a look. Uh, we've got a little problem here."

They look at the missing alien. "A _little _problem, huh? You call this a _little _problem?! Go and find him, you understand?! He couldn't have walked out on his own. Go find him!"

The secretary walks up to him. "Mister Finson, the two youngsters have both disappeared." Finson grits his teeth at another problem he'd have to deal with.

* * *

Ulrich and Sissi are hiding in a corner of the factory. "Finson's alien monster...it's come alive! How can a machine made of plastic and rubber come alive?! Like-" Ulrich covers her mouth so she doesn't draw too much attention to them. Roaring can be heard and Sissi whimpers under Ulrich's hand. The alien jumps down in front of them a few feet away. Sissi's eyes widen and it starts running towards them. Sissi screams as a roar is heard. He's imprisoned them in strands of glue. Tears appear in Sissi's eyes as the alien licks her cheek. He slips away, strangely not doing any harm to them.

Yumi, Amy, Odd, and Jeremy have gotten to the factory, but there's a guard sitting in front of the factory entrance. Luckily for them, he's asleep, and they tiptoe past him.

"I'm gonna try and find Ulrich and Sissi," Yumi explains. "We'll stay in contact, okay?"

"Right," the three walk away and climb down into the lab. Jeremy gets into his chair. "Aelita? Odd and Amy are about to make the plunge. How do things look?"

Aelita can feel the pulsations in the desert sector. "You were right, Jeremy. XANA is up to no good again."

"I've localized the tower, it's in the polar region."

Yumi goes searching, jumping across a gap in the sewers. She turns the corner and gasps when she sees the secretary and the producer climbing down a ladder. "Do you really think it was those two kids who stole the alien?"

"If it was them, they better hope Finson doesn't find them."

Yumi runs, making a pipe clang against the ground. The two look at her direction, moving forward with flashlights. They don't see Yumi, since she's sitting above. She wipes sweat off her forehead in relief.

"Okay Jeremy, we're in," Odd calls out.

"Aelita's on her way to the polar region. That's where the scan localized the tower," Odd and Amy step in. "I'll launch the transfer. Transfer Amy." The doors close on them. "Transfer Odd. Scanner," he presses enter. They're scanned. "Virtualization!"

They appear in the ice sector, landing safely on the path.

"Odd, Amy," they turn around to see Aelita running up to them.

"Nice little place. What if you use a little heat?"

"Why am I friends with you again?" Amy jokes.

"That's not how we work, Ames," Odd winks. "Since it's Ames and Odd again, we gotta work real hard this time!"

"Oh god," Amy covers her face with both hands.

Aelita points forward. "The tower plateau is in that direction. Let's go, if we run, it'll warm you up."

"But I have wings, luckily," Amy grins, flying above them.

"I need the workout, anyway. How else am I gonna keep up with my favorite girl?" Odd winks at her again and she smirks.

"But you're already falling behind!" She starts flying above the path.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Odd shouts as they both run after her.

* * *

"I don't get this at all. W-Why did he leave us alone when he could've just as easily-" Sissi stops, not wanting to finish that sentence.

"I'm pretty sure he wanted to use us as bait to attract the others," Ulrich explains.

"When you say the others, Ulrich...do you mean that whole gang of yours? But why?" Sissi wonders. Yumi suddenly appears around the corner from the opposite side.

"Ulrich, Sissi!" She runs up to them.

"Ah, Yumi," Ulrich says in relief.

"Whatever you do, don't move a muscle," she jokes.

"Boy aren't you funny?" Ulrich replies, slightly unamused. Yumi pulls out a switchblade and cuts them free.

"Oh Yumi, I never thought I'd be saying this to you one day, but I'm actually very glad to see you for once," Sissi admits as she brushes dried goop off herself.

"You can kiss and make-up later. We've gotta go or XANA's gonna get his way-"

"Come outta there!" Sissi gasps and they turn to Finson, and he did not look happy. "And make it snappy!" He narrows his eyes at them, since he believes that they stole his alien.

* * *

"Amy, Odd, Aelita, watch out. XANA's sent his monsters out," Jeremy warns. "Just behind you, there's a swarm of them, armed with lasers. 20 life points per impact."

Odd and Amy look out the corner of their eyes, seeing five Hornets trailing behind them. "A little battle's bound to keep me warm!" The Hornets start firing lasers as the three continue to run, Amy flying past them.

"Whoa!" She exclaims.

"_Be careful, Amy. I don't know what happens if they hit your wings_," Jeremy tells her.

"Gotcha Jeremy," she nods.

"Talk about a reception committee. Wow!" Odd says as the Hornets fly up and turn around, now in front of them. Aelita stops running while Odd and Amy keep running. Odd runs up a ledge, aiming his fist at one. "Laser Arrow!" He hits the Hornet dead on. Amy spins around while flying, her hands glowing blue.

"Ice Flame!" An energy sphere containing ice and fire is launched at a Hornet, destroying it. Odd rolls on the path, Aelita gasping.

"Odd! Watch out!" Odd turns around, only to get hit in the back.

"Odd!" Amy runs towards him, getting hit in the leg. Aelita walks over to them in concern before they stand up.

"Let's get going!" They start running in the other direction.

"Yumi!" Jeremy calls the Japanese girl. "Yumi, can you hear me? Where are you? Come on, answer me, Yumi. Please answer!"

Yumi's phone buzzes, but she doesn't answer it. Why? Because Finson was interrogating them about the alien, which he's unaware on it becoming alive. "Tell me right now. What have you done with my alien?" They stay silent, not knowing what to tell them. They hear the door creak and they turn to see the alien, who has somehow found them.

"Huh?" Finson's eyes go wide in surprise at the moving alien. "B-But-" Before he can react, he's hit by the tail. He hits the wall, his head dangling.

"Let's go!" Ulrich runs to a door, Yumi and Sissi following him.

"Boss!" The producer and secretary come in. "Did you find the-" They stop short when they see the moving alien.

"Don't let them get away! Get a move on!" Finson orders, holding his head. They rush forward, only to get stuck to the window by the goop. The alien starts to follow the three, but Finson grabs him by the tail. "Stop! I created you! You have to obey me, you hear?" Finson gives a determined look and the alien snarls at him. The next thing he knew, he's stuck to the window as well.

Ulrich barricades the door, backing away. The other door is barricaded as well and the alien tries to break it down. They back away in fear as they hear the slamming. Sissi shakes between Ulrich and Yumi. "Jeremy, it's Yumi. Yeah, I did find them, but XANA's taken possession of a monster who's gonna be here-" she stops as the alien tries harder to break in.

_"Odd, Amy, Yumi and Ulrich are in big trouble. There's not much time!" _Jeremy explains as they run. Odd looks back at the Hornets flying behind them. There's a slide in front of them.

"Wow, that sure is deep." Odd turns around to the Hornets approaching.

"But this is the only way, isn't it?" Amy sighs. "We don't have a choice." They jump off.

"Yaaahooo!" Odd yells as he stakes on the slide. Aelita slides down while sitting and Amy skids down behind them. "Bonzai!" They appear in a tunnel, Odd laughing. "Ames, this is totally cool! Hey, I think I just might set a record here!" Aelita gives worried sounds behind Amy. "By the way, Jeremy, what's at the end of this?"

_"Well, I uh-"_

"Oh, we get the idea. Geronimoooo!" They catapult out of the tunnel, falling onto the ground. Except for Amy, however, as she manages to fly herself down. The two stand up, Amy giggling.

_"At any rate, the tower is pretty close now."_

"Thanks for the info, Jeremy."

"You think he's called it quits?" Ulrich asks Yumi as Sissi is still quivering.

"For once I have a chance to show how talented I am and now that mechanical monster has to go nuts! What's more, he decides to pick on me! I don't understand! What did I ever do to that plastic piece of junk to deserve that, huh?"

Yumi turns to Ulrich. "Hey Ulrich, you think you could get her to keep still for a second?"

Ulrich shushes Sissi and she covers her mouth. The slamming can still be heard.

Odd and Amy back away, on alert. "Well Aelita, any sign of that tower yet?"

"Yes, but I may be seeing double," Aelita looks in surprise. Jeremy turns back to the screen.

"Jeremy, there are two towers," Amy reports.

"How can that be? I only saw one on the holo map," Jeremy explains.

"XANA must have done that to confuse us," Aelita deduces.

"Well, it's definitely working," Amy murmurs. "But we don't have time for this."

"Ames is right. We've gotta choose one and pronto too," they run to the two towers, followed by the three Hornets.

The ceiling starts to crack above them and Sissi whimpers. "Hello, Jeremy? Well, have you got any news for us?" The alien crashes through the ceiling.

"Yumi, what's going on? Answer me, Yumi. Yumi! Yum-" The alien steps on Yumi's dropped cell phone, preventing any more conversation with Jeremy.

"Odd! Amy!"

"We know what you're gonna tell us, hurry up. Well, for your information, we're not exactly having a tea party here!" Odd retorts as he runs across a Hornet, trying to destroy it. He rolls and aims, missing. Odd turns to Amy, who backs away from the two Hornets approaching her. Aelita looks between the two towers before Odd pushes her out of the way. "Get down!" They fly past, firing lasers. Amy backflips away from them.

"Aelita, you've gotta choose one of the towers now. Ames and I can't hold them off much longer," Odd explains seriously. Aelita nods up at him.

"Listen to your instincts, Aelita! I don't think I have the upper hand in this sector!" Amy calls out.

"Okay," Aelita answers and Odd looks up at Amy. The Hornets come around to her again and Aelita takes off. Amy pulls out her spear and throws it, but misses. Odd steps forward, firing his laser arrows.

"Laser Arrow!" He misses, running as he grabs Amy's hand. "Yahoooo!" He screams as Amy shouts in surprise. Aelita stands between the towers, thinking long and hard. Odd fires another laser arrow. "Take that!" He suddenly can't fire anymore. "Oh no, I'm out of arrows."

"Here I go," Aelita lets out a deep breath, walking into the tower on her right. She walks on the pad and it lights up one by one ring. She starts floating up to the top. Odd crouches down on his hands and knees, jumping forward with a Tarzan yell and letting himself get devirtualized.

"Odd," Amy murmurs before she's hit three times, getting devirtualized as well. Aelita continues floating.

Yumi, Sissi, and Ulrich back away to the wall as the alien approaches further. Tears stream down Sissi's face in fear. She watches in horror as Yumi and Ulrich get grabbed by the tentacles. They start choking.

Aelita still hasn't made it.

Yumi and Ulrich struggles as the monster snarls its teeth at them.

Aelita descends onto the top pad, walking up to the middle. "Jeremy, if I happen to choose the wrong tower, it'll be all over. You know that." She presses her hand against the interface.

"I have faith in you, Aelita," Jeremy confesses honestly.

_Aelita _

_Code_

Yumi starts to sweat as they continue to be choked, coughing. The two Hornets fly around the tower.

_Lyoko_

"Ulrich..." Sissi holds out a hand as she cries, Ulrich struggling to keep his breath.

Nothing seems to happen in the tower Aelita's in, which means... "Jeremy, I'm sorry. I chose the wrong one."

Jeremy gives a solemn look at her revelation. Aelita looks around before something happens. "No, wait!" The tower starts to deactivate.

Everything stops with Yumi and Ulrich. Time starts to rewind and Jeremy taps the key. "Return to the Past now!"

* * *

Back at the cafeteria, where Finson was writing autographs, the others watch from outside. "Great idea to use the factory for a movie."

Finson looks up in surprise at Ulrich. "Thanks. I must confess that my ideas are." He holds up an autograph. "I say this with great modesty. Absolutely ingenious. Here."

"It makes a great set," Ulrich holds up his hands, "By the way, you do know that a film was shot here once before?"

"You're kidding," Finson replies in disbelief.

"No, a science fiction movie, with an alien. Heh heh, had a fabulous picture too," Ulrich insists.

The others look up as Finson walks out of the cafeteria, phone in hand. "No no, I've given it some thought and I don't think the factory's a good idea. Besides, it wasn't my idea in the first place. What's that? How dare you accuse me of lying to you? I can find another producer, you know!" Ulrich walks out, giving them a thumbs up.

"Yes!" Odd cheers and they laugh as they walk away.


	11. Satellite

In the ice sector, pulsations go to an activated tower, surrounded by two Hornets...

"Now then, if you provoke a collision between two neutrons, what do you obtain?" Mrs. Hertz asks. "Who would like to answer? Anybody?" She looks around the room. "Nobody?" Herb raises his hand, but she doesn't notice.

"Me, ma'am." Suddenly, all the cell-phones go off and they answer them, but no one's on the other line. Ulrich and Odd turn to each other. Mrs. Hertz taps her foot, unamused.

"Sissi you, the principal's daughter, should know the rule dealing with cell-phones. Now why don't you remind us all what that rule is?" She crosses her arms as she stands in front of the girl.

"All mobile phones have got to be turned off before entering the classroom, under penalty of having them confiscated." Mrs. Hertz holds out her hand.

"Hand it over." Sissi gives it to her. "And that goes for everyone." They all gasp, protesting. Jeremy turns to his friends and Mrs. Hertz taps her foot again. "Quiet down. Put all your cell-phones on my desk right now!" Mrs. Hertz points to her desk as the bell rings. They groan as they do so.

"XANA's gonna be happy about this," Odd murmurs to Ulrich and everyone steps out. Yumi runs up, the four walking out.

"We have this weird problem. This morning, like everyone's cell phones started ringing and-"

"The teacher confiscated them, huh? Us too," Odd interrupts her.

"Crazy, huh? All those calls and no one at the other end. I think I'll contact Aelita. This could be XANA's doing," Jeremy leaves them to go to his room.

"This can't be a coincidence," Amy narrows her eyes in thought.

"We gotta do something. If Jeremy's right and we can't stay in contact, we're in a real jam," Ulrich explains.

"Hey you five!" They turn to Sissi. "I'm organizing a meeting. They've got to give us our mobiles back. Well, are you with us?"

"You bet we are," Yumi speaks to her surprise.

"Huh, no kidding. If you really mean it, we'll see you in the auditorium right after lunch." She walks away, a little surprised at Yumi's tone of determination.

"You were right, we gotta see what's up," Ulrich finishes.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but...Sissi's got a point," Amy murmurs in disbelief. Without their phones, the world was basically doomed the next time XANA attacks.

* * *

"Connection," Jeremy presses enter on the computer keyboard in his room. Aelita is in the way tower in the forest sector. "Aelita, do you read me? Aelita?"

"Oh hello, Jeremy."

"Hi. Tell me, have you noticed anything strange on Lyoko?" He asks curiously.

"No, should I have?" She responds in confusion.

"I don't know, but I'd better launch a scan to check."

"Okay, and I'll see if I can pick up any of XANA's pulsations," she stands up.

"Good, but be careful," he warns her.

"See you later," she logs off and he does a scan of Lyoko.

* * *

In the cafeteria, the four are eating their lunch. "You're gonna take back your cell-phone? That's called stealing, you know that?" Yumi asks Odd.

"No, it's not. Taking back what belongs to you in the first place is not what I would call stealing," Odd argues back.

"Uh, last time I checked, taking something is still stealing!" Amy whispers sternly.

"The students were warned. I'm not going to return their phones that quickly. We need to deactivate the school's antenna." Mrs. Hertz nods in agreement with Principal Delmas. "That way, even with new phones, they won't be able to use them. Can you handle that, Jim?"

"Huh?" Jim looks up from his food and stands up, waving a hand.

"We have no choice, girls," Ulrich states, the two gasping at what they're gonna do. They're basically committing a crime on school grounds.

"Thank you, Charles," the server puts down more food in front of the staff.

"Alright, let's go. Ames, gimme your hair pin," Odd says and she does so. The two turn around before looking to see the two boys gone. Odd and Ulrich break into the lounge.

"The coast is clear." Ulrich stays on look-out while Odd goes inside.

"Here we go," Odd cringes as he uses Amy's butterfly pin. He sweats and smiles as he gets into Ms. Hertz's locker. He opens it with ease. "Now let's see..."

"Oh, hello, Mr. Levron!" Ulrich calls out, Odd closing the locker.

"Oh uh, hello Ulrich." Ulrich walks away, hoping that Odd hide somewhere where the teacher can't see him. Odd is hiding under a desk as the teacher is standing in front of it. A pen drops down, rolling to him. Odd sweats, hiding his face in his knees. The teacher grabs it with his foot and picks it up, luckily not bending down. Odd looks as he turns and leaves, smiling. He opens the locker, the butterfly pin falling to the ground at his feet...

* * *

Yumi stands next to Jeremy, waiting for the scan to finish. Kiwi is lying on his bed and Odd comes in, getting his attention. "Ha ha," Odd throws the phones on the bed. "Mission accomplished!"

"Let's hope that nobody finds out," Yumi says, Kiwi barking as Odd takes his phone.

"I'd rather hope that we're worried over nothing," Odd replies as Ulrich takes his phone back.

"For now, the scan hasn't found an activated tower," Jeremy reports.

"I haven't seen anything either. False alarm," Aelita tells him. Jeremy gasps, standing up and dropping his glasses.

"XANA!" His symbol is on Odd's phone. They look at the phone, worried.

"Why would XANA be interested in mobile phones, huh?" Ulrich wonders.

"That's what I'm hoping to find out by checking out the school's antenna," Jeremy replies, as they all knew that XANA does things for a reason.

"I'm off to the meeting. I promised Sissi," Yumi runs off, the others running to the roof. Jim turns around, seeing them.

"Hey, who let you guys up here? Trying to stop me from disconnecting the antenna?" He demands.

"Oh, us? No, we were just passing by," Ulrich tells him and Jim gets shocked.

"Careful!" Jeremy warns. Jim falls off the roof, but the others manage to grab him. They pull him over, Odd, Amy, and Ulrich walking away.

"We'll take him to the infirmary."

"Okay, I'll try to find out what XANA's done to the antenna," Jeremy looks at the antenna.

* * *

"Hey Jim, can you hear me?" Ulrich calls out as he lies down on a hospital bed.

"Smells like roast chicken, huh?" Odd asks.

"Odd!" Amy elbows him.

"What?"

"Jim! Hey Jim! Yoo-hoo." Dorothy walks past the room, hearing Ulrich's voice.

"Odd, Ulrich, Amelia, what are you doing here?" She walks in. "Jim! What happened to him?"

"Oh, you know how Jim. He's a regular livewire, so-oh, I mean!"

Jeremy uses his device, a finger on his chin as he looks at the city. He gasps, noticing something. "The main television antenna?" He unplugs his device from the school antenna, running off.

* * *

In the auditorium, Milly signs the petition. "There." Yumi walks up.

"Oh, Miss Yumi is gracing us with her presence. Where were you when we wrote the petition?!" Sissi demands to her.

"Just what is going on in here?" They turn to see Ms. Hertz and Principal Delmas.

"Oh dad, uh, I mean." Sissi stands up. "Sir, what is going on here is this." She reveals the petition like a scroll. "You see, we all signed a petition, so you have to give us back our cell phones."

"Oh, really? First, let me remind you that in this establishment, the students do not make the rules. Secondly, Miss Hertz has just learned that someone forced her locker open to get back her cell phone." They gasp, looking at each other.

"It's only normal, sir. How can anyone live without their cell phone?" Sissi argues, Yumi moving her head to see Jeremy gesturing for her to meet him outside.

"I'm sorry, but this theft is another reason for not returning them to you. And we're going to investigate to determine who had the nerve to steal back her own!"

"And I say we don't set foot in the classroom without our mobiles!" Ms. Hertz and the principal look at each other.

"No need to investigate. We know the thief...Amelia Smith," Ms. Hertz holds up Amy's hair pin and they gasp in shock. Amy might be a little out there, but she would never steal. Yumi knew that when she protested against getting the phones back.

"Oh no," Yumi leaves to go talk to Jeremy about this.

* * *

"You see these waves? XANA's using the school antenna unit to try to plug into the main television dish," Jeremy explains in his room.

"That's why all the phones rang?" Yumi asks.

"Right. It jams the frequencies. If XANA manages to take control of the dish, he'll have direct access to the satellite that are now orbiting the Earth."

"And?" Yumi wonders.

"And he'll be able to guide a military satellite."

"Okay, but for what reason?"

"I wish I knew. In peace time, these satellites are used for spying, but if XANA reprograms one, who knows?" Jeremy explains.

"Anything can happen. Jeremy's right, this is serious," Ulrich agrees.

"You better believe it, Ulrich. The scan has detected a tower!" Aelita appears on the screen.

"Jeremy, XANA has activated a tower in the polar region!"

"We're on our way," he pushes up his glasses.

"Better hurry."

"Let's go through the tunnel in the park...by the way, where's Amy?"

"Uhh, I think she's better off staying hidden. Ms. Hertz thinks she's the one who stole the cell phones. She found her hair pin in front of her locker," Yumi explains. "Right now she's in her room feeding Kiki."

"What? But she wasn't even with us," Ulrich protests.

"No...but I must've dropped her hair pin that I borrowed to unlock the locker," Odd groans, holding his head. "This is all my fault." Kiwi barks at them as they leave. "Kiwi, you stay here." He barks and jumps at the door, opening it.

Sissi paces in front of her entourage. They're holding up picket signs in front of the cafeteria. "No more phones, no more school. Perfect."

"I'll stay here in case XANA's got plans to attack the school," Yumi offers as she talks with the others.

"Hey, are you with us or not?" Sissi calls out, Yumi smiling sheepishly as the others leave. "Ever heard of solidarity?"

"Don't worry, Sissi, I'm with you a hundred percent. No more phones, no more school!" She moves past Sissi, cheering.

"No more phones, no more school!" Amy appears near Yumi.

"Amy, what are you doing here?" Yumi turns to her in surprise.

"I'm here to help you! And besides, I'm not leaving a friend alone with Sissi, even if it's to get their phones back."

Yumi smiles gratefully. "Okay, but when I tell you to, hide from the principal and Ms. Hertz."

"Ahh...okay...?" Amy asks in confusion.

"Okay, let's go!" Sissi orders.

* * *

The manhole cover is opened and Kiwi turns up behind Odd. He turns around to see his dog. "Kiwi, what are you doing here?"

"Incredible. For a dog, he's stubborn as a mule," Jeremy comments, climbing down.

"Well, now that you're here, come on," Odd waves him forward and Kiwi jumps into his arms. Odd climbs down with him. The three take off on their skateboards and scooter, Kiwi sitting on Jeremy's scooter. They skate to the ladder, Ulrich jumping over the gap. Odd starts climbing, followed by Jeremy and Ulrich. Kiwi barks as he stands in front of Odd. He runs across the bridge, Kiwi barking as the other boys follow him. They jump down using the ropes while Kiwi goes another way down. Jeremy presses the button and they descend down. Kiwi and Jeremy go into the lab while the doors close on Odd and Ulrich. They both go down into the scanner room and Jeremy turns in his chair.

"Aelita's on her way to the polar region." He reports before putting on his headset. "Aelita?"

"I made it to the ice floe, but I don't see any activated tower," she tells him.

"Okay, wait there for Ulrich and Odd. And watch out for XANA's monsters," he warns.

The two stand in front of the scanners. "Well, are you ready? Here we go." He presses enter. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd." They both step in. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich." He starts the process and they're both scanned. "Virtualization."

Appearing in the ice sector, they land safely. Ulrich looks around for Aelita. "Odd, Ulrich!" She waves at them nearby.

"There she is," Ulrich points and they start running.

"Good news. XANA's still not in control of the TV dish. That gives us a little time. I'll try to find out which satellite XANA might wanna get his hands on, but it won't be easy." Jeremy types away.

"No more phones, no more school! No more phones, no more school!" The protest group is sitting in front of a window at one of the buildings. "No more phones, no more school!"

Yumi and Amy start chanting with them.

"Okay, now let's try the access code. Access code accepted. Yes! Ha ha, bingo," he cheers, Kiwi looking up. "Let's see, U466. Huh? Military satellite, armed with..." He gasps at the weapon listed. "A highly destructive laser beam."

Aelita can feel the pulsations as she runs in front. "Where can that tower be?" Odd asks.

"One thing at a time, Odd. First of all, I figured it out. I know what XANA's after. He wants to gain control of a highly accurate and destructive satellite. If he does, he can destroy whatever he wants."

"The factory's safe. XANA wouldn't fire it himself," Odd deduces.

_"Right. That'll give us time to take care of things on Lyoko."_

"Sounds good. But if XANA decides to destroy the school-" Ulrich starts.

"Remember, Yumi and Amy are there, so that's for sure what he's gonna do. We have to warn them! But without a mobile..." Kiwi barks and Jeremy looks at him, forming a plan as he smiles.

* * *

"No more phones, no more school! No more phones, no more school!" Principal Delmas looks at Sissi and they look at each other. "No more phones, no more school!"

"I demand that you stop this absurd strike now!" He demands and Yumi sees Kiwi walking up to her. He's got a note tied to his collar. Kiki sees him from Amy's window and gets out the same way Kiwi did. The principal sees him as well.

"Kiwi," Yumi tries moving him away.

"Yumi! What is going on?" He picks up the dog.

"Oh, uh, well..."

"This is inadmissible! To my office, immediately!" He orders. Unfortunately for Amy, Kiki just happened to be in his view and she walks up to the bush Amy's hiding behind.

"Kiki, go back home!" She whispers, waving her away.

"Aha!" She gasps, turning around to see Ms. Hertz. "And here's the phone thief herself gracing us with her presence. You are in big trouble, Ms. Smith!"

"Wait, what?!" Amy screeches in shock. There was no way she did this, she didn't even want to steal the phones. In fact, she never stepped into the locker room. So how and why is the teacher accusing her all of a sudden? "But I didn't do anything!"

"Did you see that? We have to save them from the dictator! Free Yumi and Amy!" Sissi shouts, the protesting yelling for him to set them free. They walk off with the principal.

"Apparently I stole a phone? Elaborate," Amy whispers to Yumi.

"Odd dropped your hair pin and Ms. Hertz found it near her locker," she reports and Amy groans.

"Today is not my day..."

* * *

_"According to the holo_ _map, the tower is just across the bridge. But be careful, it's probably guarded by those, uh..."_

"By the waspsters. Thanks, we've noticed," Ulrich interrupts, four Hornets flying across them. He unsheathes his sword.

_"Remember, the poison they're carrying will KILL your life points, so watch out."_

Odd narrows his eyes as he positions his fist. "What are they waiting for?"

"They must just wanna hold you there until XANA's able to control a satellite. You gotta get past them," Jeremy theorizes.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires an arrow, but misses. Ulrich gasps as one flies to Aelita.

"No Aelita, watch out!" The Hornet fires its poison and she moves out of the way, running off.

"_Aelita, don't take any chances. Leave that to Odd and Ulrich_," Jeremy warns as she appears behind them. Odd lowers his fist.

Yumi and Amy sit in front of the principal. "Yumi, Amelia, I don't understand. What's going on? A strike, a dog, stealing a phone! You're both usually so sensible too," Yumi reaches down to try and get the note. Amy glances at her, looking back at the principal. He sees Yumi's not paying attention. "Yumi, will you listen to me?" She manages to get the note.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry sir, but we have to leave right away!" They run off with the dogs before Amy peeks through.

"You too as a matter in fact. Everyone around here has to leave!" She closes the door and they're heard running off.

Jeremy rubs his chin. "We have no choice. One of you has to make the sacrifice."

They look at all the poison. "Listen, I'll attract their attention, so you can get through. I owe Ames one anyway. Here I go!" He starts running.

"Odd, wait!" Ulrich calls out. Odd rushes through the poison, firing three arrows.

"Take that!" He misses again and they chase after him. Aelita and Ulrich gasp.

"He's nuts. Okay, let's go!" He grabs Aelita's hand, running the other way.

"Yeah, take that!" Odd declares as he fires his arrows. He gets hit in the leg. "Ow!" He gets hit again while hopping. "Ow!"

"Odd, between the poison and the arrows, you've already lost 70 life points!"

"You said no choice. There, you horrible beast!" He destroys one and continues running, panting. He gets fired at and slides to the edge. Ulrich and Aelita continue running.

"You've only got 20 life points left, Odd! I'm sorry. Oh no, XANA's taken over the satellite! Yumi, Amy..." He gives a look of worry.

* * *

Amy and Yumi run back to Sissi. "He let you go, guys?"

"We...escaped," Amy pants slowly, hands on her knees as she's bending over in exhaustion.

"Yeah, when he wasn't looking. Because our...our demands are more important than anything for us. In fact, we should increase the strength of our movement and protest in town!" Yumi thinks, since they had to get them to leave before anything happened. Yumi turns to Amy, silently telling her to go with it.

Sissi turns to Nicolas and Herb. "Everyone into town. We've gotta get all the schools on our side!" Amy pumps her fist. Sissi gives a thoughtful look.

"Okay!" She runs past them.

"Yeah!" Yumi pumps her fist.

"Nice plan Yumi," Amy winks at the Japanese girl, who gives her a thumbs up.

"Let's go. Freedom for all our schools! Come on!" Sissi leads the way.

"No more phones, no more school! No more phones, no more school! No more phones, no more school!" Yumi and Amy follow them.

* * *

The satellite starts to lock in on its location. "Wow, what an incredible technological masterpiece!" Jeremy gasps in awe as he watches. It locks on and Jeremy recognizes the area.

"Parameters locked in place. Targets localized."

"Already? We were right. The school's in the satellite line of fire. But...it said targets..." There's a dotted line at the school's entrance.

The students continue to chant, Yumi pushing the last boy. "Come on, faster." They gasp as the principal stands in front of the entrance.

"You will not leave the school grounds."

"You have no right!" Sissi argues to him. Father or not, she was sticking up for her right to have a cell phone in school.

"Hm?" He crosses his arms, Amy and Yumi cringing. They had to get out of here, and fast.

Ulrich and Aelita walk to the edge, but there's nothing. "What's going on? I thought the tower was supposed to be here?" He turns to see Odd running. He gets hit in the back.

_"Ten life points left!"_

Odd fires and misses yet again. He bends down to his knees. "Ulrich...it's...game over for me."

Aelita gasps and Jeremy places his hands on both sides of his head. "Oh no! Ulrich, Aelita, the hornets are after you!" They start flying to their direction and Ulrich places his hand on his sword.

_"The holo_ _map doesn't lie. It's gotta_ _be there somewhere." _

They jump off and land near a cave. The Hornets appear, firing at them. Ulrich blocks them with his sword and Aelita runs off. He follows her, standing in front of the Hornets as he dodges their lasers. He turns around and follows Aelita. He turns around again.

"Triplicate!" His copies appear. "Go on, don't worry about me."

Aelita jumps off plateaus twice, trying to find the tower.

"I wonder how accurate this satellite really is." The satellite locks on its targets...the silhouettes of Yumi and Amy. "I don't believe it."

The satellite lowers the laser and opens up.

Odd appears from the elevator. "The girls are in danger. The laser's aimed right at them!" He gasps in horror.

"Ames is in trouble!" He murmurs in panic.

"You're making a terrible mistake, we beg of you, sir! We've all gotta get out of here!" Yumi insists to the principal, all of them still outside the entrance.

"I have had enough, girls. I'm suspending the both of you for a month, you and your dogs have to leave this campus now! As for the rest of you, back to your classrooms. This strike is over!" He orders them.

"Sir, it's a question of life and death. Let us all leave, please!" Amy tells him.

"Hey, aren't you being a little dramatic, guys?" Sissi wonders, cringing.

"Yumi, Ames!" They turn to see Odd running out of the bushes. "To the factory, hurry! It's you two the satellite's after!"

They gasp and run off, the others confused.

Ulrich's clone gets devirtualized. Ulrich runs up and destroys a Hornet. Aelita walks up to the cave and runs past it. The Hornets fire as she runs past them.

"Laser path locked. Satellite ready to fire." Jeremy cringes.

"It's all over, XANA's gonna fire!" He sees the satellite putting the two in its sight. Odd looks up, cringing as he holds Kiwi. The satellite fires and they see the sky darkening a little. Odd pushes Amy out of the way while Yumi jumps. There's a hole in the ground and Odd rolls with Amy before stopping.

Aelita jumps off a platform. "Where is it?" She runs off.

Ulrich's other clone is devirtualized and Ulrich jumps off the plateau.

Yumi and Amy look at the hole. "Come on, we have to reach the factory. It's the only place that's safe." He grabs Amy's arm and starts running with her. Her leg twists.

"Ow! My ankle!" She falls down and they look back at her.

"Can you walk it off?" Yumi asks her.

"Maybe," Amy stands up, hopping.

"What in the world is happening? Let's get out of here, now!" The principal leads the way.

"Aelita, have you found it yet?" Ulrich calls out. "Time is running out!"

"I'm doing my best, but nothing yet. It's pretty well hidden," Aelita tells him in an apologetic tone.

Ulrich gets hit and wobbles. He manages to destroy a Hornet before falling off. He lands in front of Aelita and she runs to him.

Amy holds onto Odd as the two run. The satellite fires another laser near the science building.

"Ulrich, Aelita, answer me!"

"I'm here Jeremy, but Ulrich's knocked out cold. I still haven't found the tower! Ulrich, can you hear me?" Aelita shakes him and he wakes up.

"Yes, Aelita. H-Have you found the tower yet?" Aelita looks up at the cave, seeing a red tint behind the waterfall...

"I think I have," she stands up.

"Okay, go." Ulrich points and she runs off. She runs into the cave to see the tower.

"Jeremy, I've found it!"

Odd and Yumi look past a tree. "To the boiler room, ready?"

Yumi gives a nervous look at the sky, not knowing where the satellite was at this point. "It's now or never, let's go!" Odd runs off and Amy jumps off his back, running perfectly fine now.

Aelita enters the tower and steps into the middle. She starts floating.

Odd and Amy dash across the stadium.

Aelita continues floating.

Odd and Amy pant as they hold their dogs. They see the laser powering up at Yumi. "Yumi!"

Aelita makes it to the top.

Yumi pants harder.

Aelita walks up to the middle.

Yumi trips and rolls. "Nooo!" The two call out.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

Yumi screams, sweating as the laser fires.

_Lyoko_

The laser stops right in front of Yumi and she gives a look of relief.

The tower deactivates and the return time is set. "Return to the past now!"

* * *

Odd walks up to a window, posting a note outside. Sissi walks out, turning to him. "Invitations to a party?"

"Um, not really," Odd waves his hands sheepishly and she looks at it.

"What is this thing? Official school policy reminder to all students, all mobile phones not turned off before entering the classroom will be immediately confiscated. Huh!" She turns to them and they laugh. "That's incredible! Talk about teachers' pets! Hmph," she lifts her head up high, walking away. "I'd like to see someone trying to confiscate MY mobile."

The others laugh at the irony.

"Ames, I'm really sorry that you got accused of stealing the phones because of me," Odd frowns, hands behind his back. "I never meant for you to get into trouble."

"Oh, that's okay!" She smiles at him. "I'm not mad. Besides, at least this way, I won't have to be accused of anything."

He can't help but smile as he can see she meant every word.


	12. The Girl of the Dreams

Jeremy sits in his room, working on Aelita's materialization program. "Time to launch the program." He does so and watches as he types away, but the program doesn't work. "Oh no, I don't believe it, not again," he slams his fist on his desk. He stands up in frustration. "I...darn it, I'm so useless! I'm never gonna do it."

"And I'm sure you will, Jeremy," Aelita appears on his screen.

"Thanks for the encouragement, but I'm useless, I tell you." He sits down, holding his head.

"Jeremy...do you think we get along well in the real world? I mean, as well as we do now?" She wonders.

"Yeah, of course, why?" He looks up at her.

"Because I'm not so sure...I'd like to have a best friend who's useless. You understand?"

"Ha ha, very funny," he places his hand on his cheek, feeling comforted by her words.

Odd opens the door, Amy placing a hand on her hip. "Hey, get a move on, Jeremy. You're gonna be late for school again."

"I don't think our teacher would like the star student missing class," Amy snorts at the thought. She'd be absolutely shocked.

"Wow, is it that late already? Okay, I'll be right there, guys. Anyhow, useless or not, I'm gonna try one more thing," he types away.

"Okay, we get the picture. See ya later," the two quickly leave and Jeremy presses enter.

In the mountain sector, Aelita is sitting on a platform. She hears crackling behind her and turns around, screaming.

* * *

Yumi and Ulrich push something covered in a red curtain. "This whatever it is of yours weighs at least a ton!"

"It's not a whatever, it's been in my family for hundreds of years," she explains, Milly and Tamiya sneaking to them. They watch as the two push the mysterious object into Yumi's classroom. Ulrich sits on the desk.

"So when are you gonna unveil your thingamabob?" Ulrich wonders and Yumi closes the doors to the cabinet.

"At the very end of my report. You'll see, it's gonna be a smash hit, a real showstopper. Worth an A, I hope," she smiles.

"You sure wouldn't find a thing like that in _my _house. First of all, your whatcamacallit doesn't go with the drapes in the living room," they start to leave.

"Whatcamacallit? Whatever, what I like most about you, Ulrich, is your rich vocabulary," Yumi comments.

"Hmm," Ulrich muses and the two girls look at them leaving.

"Don't look now, Tamiya, but I smell a big, juicy scoop!"

"So do I," they look at each other and Tamiya starts rolling. Milly stands in front of the object. "Okay, rolling. Go ahead."

"Fellow middle-school students. Hello, this is Milly and Tamiya of the seventh grade reporting the school news." Milly moves out of the way so Tamiya can shoot it in full view. "You may not know it, but just behind your backs, something strange is hatching. And this, my friends, is a part of it, in our constant quest to be the first to report the latest news. We are bringing you this exclusive expose of what's hidden under this drape." Milly reveals the samurai armor and Tamiya drops the camera. "Tamiya, listen, is there any reason for your filming your feet? Hey, Tamiya!"

"I'm sorry, it...scares me a little." The bell rings.

"Oh no, time for class already?" Milly closes the doors, but they open a little. The two girls run out of the room. Electricity sparks from the outlet, one of XANA's specters crawling into the armor and possessing it...

* * *

Jeremy yawns in class, sitting next to Ulrich. Odd sits next to Amy in front of the two. "You know Jeremy, most people use the night hours to sleep," Ulrich whispers.

"I was trying a new program for materializing Aelita," he explains. "With the last one I was trying, I almost succeeded. I was nearly there."

Odd turns around. "And what are you gonna say to her when you do succeed? You never knew how to talk to a girl!"

"With Aelita, it's not the same."

"Odd," Amy warns before turning to Jeremy. "Don't listen to him, he doesn't know how to PLEASE a girl."

"You're right, it's not the same," Odd jokes as the principal comes in. "...Hey!" The three snicker as he realizes what Amy said.

"Good morning, everyone. Before the start of your first class this morning, I would like to introduce your new classmate. Come in, Talia. I'm sure your fellow students are anxious to meet you."

"Okay, here's your chance. Imagine she's here in front of you right now in flesh and blood. What are you gonna say?" Odd suggests. Jeremy raises his eyebrows in shock.

"Oh wow...! Ohh..."

"Beep, sorry. Your time is up. You could do with a few pointers in flirting."

"Um, Odd," Amy points to the girl and Odd gasps as they see that the girl looks like Aelita!

"Oh wow, this is...I don't believe it!"

* * *

After class, Jeremy looks across the distance at Talia as she reads a book. "You're right, she sure does look like her, but if it really is her, she ought to be able to recognize us, don't you think?" Yumi wonders.

"Not necessarily. She may have lost her memory when she was materialized," Jeremy explains.

"Well, talk to her. It's the only way you can find out," Odd suggests.

"What if it's not her?" Jeremy asks. Odd glances at Ulrich who walks up to Jeremy. Odd and Amy join him.

"Go on."

"Hey, wait!"

"Watch an expert and learn," Odd tells him. "Hi there, Ae-I mean, Talia. My friends and I were, uh, we thought you looked familiar like we'd seen you before."

She narrows her eyes. "Come on, that's the oldest pick-up line around." She continues reading.

"Huh? Hey, who said that I wanted to pick you up? I was just making conversation," he retorts, Amy bursting out into laughter as she holds her stomach. Odd gives her a slightly annoyed look. "Uh, by the way, do things like the virtual world or crabs or buzzing monsters mean anything to you?"

She stands up. "Uh...well, yeah. It means that I'd better be moving along."

"Wait a minute, don't go! Where are you from? Do you have a family?" Jeremy calls out.

"I'm not in the mood to talk," she leaves.

Yumi walks up to them. "Well?"

"It's not her," Odd confirms.

"He's only saying that because he just got the brush-off big time. Watch an expert and learn, huh?" Ulrich jokes, Amy wiping a tear away from her eye.

"Classic," she breathes out.

"Anyway, if it is Aelita, it's for sure she's got amnesia," Ulrich finishes.

"Wait a second, hold on. Let's say it's her, if it's really her for sure, then...she can't still be on Lyoko!" The bell rings.

"You can check it out later. Right now, we have a date with Mrs. Meyer," Ulrich reminds him.

"Wish me luck for my report, everybody!" They walk past her and she gives them annoyed looks. "Thanks for caring, guys."

"Good luck, Yumi," Amy places a hand on her shoulder before following after the boys.

* * *

Mrs. Meyer writes down a formula on the chalkboard. "Now we have here a simple equation with two..."

"I have to check out Lyoko now, I can't wait any longer," Jeremy says in impatience.

"Okay, we'll go together," Odd offers and Jeremy raises his second finger.

"Uh, Mrs. Meyer? Excuse me," he calls out and she turns to him.

"Yes, what is it?"

"I'm sorry, but I need to go to the infirmary. I don't feel too well. I feel, uh, I feel really sick."

"Oh yes, of course, Jeremy," she answers. "Go ahead."

"Uh, I'll take him there. I mean, uh, you never know huh?" Odd raises his hand. Amy turns around to him and he mouths 'Don't worry, Ames. Your prince will come back.' She rolls her eyes, turning back around in her seat.

Jeremy checks his computer in his room. "Okay, we're just about connected."

"Jim's gonna catch us if you don't hurry up," Odd reminds.

"Aelita? Do you read me? It's Jeremy, Aelita." There's strangely no answer from her.

"She doesn't answer, but she might be in one of XANA's traps, like in a storm or snowbound, so you can't pick her up," Odd suggests as he stands guard.

"One of the last calculations I tried were the right ones," Jeremy thinks.

"You know, you could really use a good night's sleep," Odd places his hands on his hips.

"Odd, it's her," Jeremy places his hands on his shoulders seriously.

"And I say you're nuts!" Odd tells him.

"I'm positive, I did it, I did it! Talia is Aelita!" He exclaims.

* * *

Yumi is just about finished with her report, items from her house shown on the table. "Well, of course it's just a glimpse of my country's culture. To explain it all would take me hours, and I'm not sure you're ready to put up with me for that long, right?" Her classmates giggle at her joke. "To end my report, I'd like to show you something that's been in my family for centuries." She opens the cabinet. "It's a living symbol of Japan and it's a-" She gasps in shock when she sees no armor, just a drape. "A drape?" She sees the fried outlets. "XANA."

The moving armor walks in the dorms. "Hey you!" Jim calls out. "What are you doing here, huh? What kind of a costume is that?" The armor turns around and Jim gasps when he sees that it has no body. "Hey, what's wrong with you, huh?" The armor pulls out a katana, running towards him. "What about your head?" The katana gleams as the living armor raises it in the air.

"Maybe one of the kids took It," Jeremy suggests at lunch. Yumi was telling them what happened during her report.

"Don't forget the electric plugs," Yumi insists.

"Yeah. Look, if XANA is in on this, we better not count on Aelita," Odd picks up a Brussel sprout with his fork. "We can't reach her on Lyoko."

"Odd, we can't reach her on Lyoko cuz she isn't on Lyoko!" Jeremy says in his face.

"Not this again," Amy murmurs as she places a hand on her temple, Odd and Yumi looking at Talia. She looks up at them.

"Sorry you guys, but I can't believe that that girl is Aelita," Yumi states.

"Well, I know somebody who's dying to believe it," Ulrich leans towards Jeremy, who has a determined look.

"I can't say in good faith that she really is Aelita, Jeremy," Amy cringes. "Don't you think she would've remembered _something _about Lyoko by now? Plus, she doesn't even have the same hair color, eye shape, or nose." The doors open.

"Children, please, give me your attention," they turn to the principal, the police behind him. "Several of your fellow students, as well as your own Jim whom you all know and whom you respect, I know."

"Let's not go overboard, huh?" Odd asks with a grin.

"Their attacker was a person who, uh, well a person who was wearing armor. The armor of a samurai," he clears his throat, pushing up his glasses. "And this individual is still at large." Yumi narrows her eyes. "Any information you can contribute to the police would be more than welcome."

"We can't wait any longer," Yumi whispers.

"We have to go to Lyoko, find Aelita, and deactivate the tower," Ulrich tells them.

"When are you gonna get it into your thick heads that if the samurai is controlled by XANA, that he's after Talia? It makes sense, doesn't it, huh? Because Talia is Aelita!" Jeremy insists, groaning as he walks away.

"Wow, he's really flipped his lid, huh?" Odd jokes a police officer walks behind Yumi.

"Aelita is the only one who can deactivate the tower. It's not like her to go MIA like this," Amy thinks. "If we can't find her in time, the whole school is doomed."

"Excuse me, miss. It seems that this armor belongs to you." Yumi gives a slightly shocked look.

* * *

Talia is continuing unpacking when Jeremy bursts into the room. "Aelita! Listen to me, XANA has launched a new virus!" She narrows her eyes. "He's managed to take control of a samurai's armor! You're his sworn enemy, he's after you! You have no choice, you absolutely have to hide!"

"As a pickup line, that's a lot more original than the one your friend tried," she crosses her arms.

"Aelita, please listen to me. It's definitely the materialization that gave you amnesia. The shock made you lose your memory. But you have to trust me," he shakes her. "You have to, Aelita."

"Hey, get your hands off of me," she pushes him away. "I don't trust anyone who's stark raving mad!" They hear a noise behind them and the samurai armor appears at the door. The two gasp and Jeremy stands in front of Talia.

"No, XANA! You won't get her, I won't let you, you hear?!" The armor raises a sword and Jeremy pulls Talia out of the way. They look in shock. "Come on!" They run off. "Hurry, hurry!" The armor lifts the sword, peeking to see them leave. "Faster, Talia!" They run out of the dorms and Talia looks back as the armor chases them. They run as fast as they can, turning the corner. Talia turns around to see the armor still following them and she trails behind Jeremy. They decide to hide in the boiler room and the armor walks in. It turns around, seeing no one before leaving.

"It's not true!" Yumi insists to the officer.

"Anyway, this samurai's armor does belong to you."

"Well yes, to my parents," Yumi confirms.

"And you have no idea who might have stolen it?"

Ulrich, Amy, and Odd wait for Yumi outside the principal's office. "Look, we can't do anything here for Yumi, guys. We have to tell Jeremy to meet us at the factory," Odd explains.

"We have to go to Lyoko," Amy crosses her arms. "I know you care about Yumi, but Odd's right. We can't do anything for her while she's being interrogated by the police." Ulrich stands up, dialing Jeremy.

"Jeremy's voice mail is on," he tells them.

"He better not be doing something stupid," Amy narrows her eyes.

* * *

Jeremy and Talia arrive at the factory. "Wow, this place is weird."

"Follow me," he presses the button. They go down, Jeremy looking down at his watch. Talia stares at him in confusion as he puts in the code. The doors open to the lab and he walks in. "Come on," Talia looks around before following. Jeremy sits in his chair. "That's Lyoko, the virtual world where you once lived. Doesn't that ring a bell at all?"

"And, um, this XANA you talked about, does he also live in the same world?" Talia wonders.

"Yes, he's got total control."

"But if he's so dangerous, why don't you destroy Lyoko?" She places her hands on her hips.

"B-Because you're part of...it's...because you were part of this world," he tells her.

"You're totally crazy!" She insists. "This whole story is crazy! You know what I think? If all this stuff is so dangerous, it's time you destroyed it once and for all," she gestures to the holomap.

"Do you...do you really think so?" He asks, hesitating. She nods in response and his hands hover over the keyboard.

"Jeremy, stop," he turns to the elevator opening to reveal the boys and Amy.

"Have you gone mad or what, Einstein? What if Aelita is still on Lyoko?" Odd demands.

"But she isn't, I tell you! Look, she's there, she's right in front of you!" He points to Talia.

"Jeremy, I know you've dreamt of seeing Aelita in reality for months, but please come down to Earth. You can't be sure. And what if you were mistaken?" Ulrich continues.

"You mean you're ready to take the risk of destroying Aelita by destroying XANA, huh?" Odd asks.

"Aelita could still be there, Jeremy. And if you destroy Lyoko, you'll be taking her with it if she's still there. And what if this is all a trick by XANA?" Amy crosses her arms.

"We've got to make sure. You've got to let us go to Lyoko," Ulrich states.

"And if Aelita's not there, who's going to deactivate the tower?" Jeremy questions.

"We have to take the risk," Ulrich tells him, Talia just spectating, but thinking they're all crazy...

Amy, Odd, and Ulrich descend into the scanner room. They walk up to the pods. "The last time I saw Aelita, she was in the mountain area," Jeremy explains. "Transfer Ulrich." Ulrich steps into his scanner, turning around. "Transfer Odd," Odd walks in. "Transfer Amy," Amy slowly steps in, turning around. Jeremy presses enter and the doors close. "Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Scanner Amy." They're scanned, spinning around slowly. "Virtualization." Their hair flies and they're virtualized into the mountain sector. Amy flies as the boys land safely. "Can you see anything?"

"Yes, Jeremy. Mountains, lots of them," Ulrich tells him.

"I'm starting to scan to trace the tower that XANA activated," Jeremy explains, starting the scan. "You have to understand, Talia, if you're not Aelita, then we've got to-" he sees the girl is no longer there. "Talia?"

Talia runs away from the factory, preparing to tell the police.

Odd and Ulrich run while Amy flies above Ulrich. Odd jumps up rocks. "Boy oh boy, finding someone around here is gonna be harder than finding an idea in Jim's head!" He suddenly gets a Future Flash, seeing Aelita in a guardian. He gasps and Ulrich appears behind him as Amy flies down. "Ulrich, Ames, I just saw Aelita."

"Hm, where?" Ulrich wonders.

"In a kind of flash vision," Odd tells them.

"Aelita," Jeremy murmurs in worry.

* * *

Talia is walking to the principal's office, Yumi walking down the hall as she just got out. They glance at each other, Yumi turning around. She got the sense that Talia really needed to see the principal...and whatever she needed to say seemed pretty important...she calls Jeremy.

"Oh, hi Yumi," Jeremy looks up. "Well? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, they finished questioning me, but I just saw Talia, and she looked like she was in a hurry to go and see the principal," she reports.

"Oh, that can't be, this is awful! Horrible!" Jeremy laments. "Yumi, I took Talia to the factory."

"You what?!" Yumi exclaims in shock. "She's gonna tell the cops everything! Be right there." Jeremy looks at the security cameras of the main area. Then he sees that the tower is in the forest sector.

"Guys, the tower XANA has activated has been localized at 30 degrees north in...in the forest area."

They stop at the edge. "Without Aelita, that's not gonna do us a lot of good," Ulrich explains and Odd walks to the other side. He looks down to see a path leading to the guardian.

"Look there! That ball of fire. That's exactly what I saw before. Aelita's inside it," Odd states.

"You guys want me to fly you dow-"

"Yaaaaa!" Odd jumps, landing on a platform.

"I...guess not," she flies down with Ulrich holding onto her hands and they run to the guardian.

_"Jeremy, we found her!" _Jeremy sighs in relief.

"That ball is what's blocking the communication with Aelita," Odd guesses.

"It's a guardian, the same monster that imprisoned Yumi," Ulrich says.

"Right, and Aelita saved her by convincing the monster he had the wrong prisoner," Odd finishes.

"But without Aelita's help since she's inside the guardian, how are we gonna do that?" Amy murmurs in thought.

"We use force," Ulrich pulls out his sword and hits the guardian, but nothing happens.

Yumi opens the door to the boiler room. The door closes behind her and the lights flicker. She looks up and gasps, feeling a little uneasy..."Is anyone there? I know you're there, show yourself!"

Ulrich continues swinging his sword until he stops. He grunts in frustration and Odd aims his paw at it. "Laser arrow!" His weapon does nothing. Amy throws her spear, but it goes right through the guardian. "Jeremy, nothing's working."

Amy turns to them. "I'm gonna try something," she holds out her hands. "Rock Tomb!" A field of rocks goes right through the guardian like her spear.

_"It's like this machine's invincible."_

_"I can't even use my powers on this thing."_

"Oh, wow, XANA has...XANA must have designed a program. Right, it's a program. And if it's a program, I should be able to-"

"Hey, what are you mumbling about?" Ulrich interrupts. "You've got an idea, I hope."

_"Maybe, but give me a couple of minutes here."_

"Okay, no problem, man. We've got all the time in the world," Odd says sarcastically.

"You better hurry before that samurai attacks someone else," Amy calls out.

Yumi backs away as the samurai advances, stepping on a metal pipe. She picks it up as the samurai comes closer and uses the pipe to block the sword.

Talia walks on the bridge, followed by the police and principal. Jeremy sees them from one of his security cameras. "Already? To think I blew our whole cover by talking to a perfect stranger! That means the samurai wasn't after Talia at all, he was after us. Yumi!"

The samurai steps on Yumi's phone, breaking it. Yumi runs off and he stares at her before they continue their duel.

"Just a little more time," Talia, the principal, and the police are at the elevator.

_"Hey, how about that idea of yours?" _Ulrich asks just as the program finishes.

"It's ready. Here goes," Jeremy presses enter and a hologram of Aelita appears in front of the guardian.

"Making a clone of Aelita? Well, personally, I'm a bit skeptical, Jeremy," Odd states.

_"Patience, Odd." _

"If it worked with Yumi, it'll work with Aelita," Amy gestures to the hologram. And it does, as the guardian swallows up the hologram. It shakes before it's destroyed, the light so bright the three have to cover their eyes.

"A decoy. Jeremy, you're the greatest," Ulrich comments.

_"Get Aelita to a tower. She's got to regenerate herself."_

Yumi runs into the locker room, closing the door behind her. She speeds off and hides behind a locker, waiting as the samurai armor appears.

Aelita opens her eyes, starting to heal. "Everything's okay. Aelita's got her life points back again!" Jeremy says, relieved.

"You found me at last," Aelita sits up, rubbing her head. "What about the guardian?"

"You mean that big fat fire bubble? Ha, he won't bother you anymore!" Odd answers. They walk over to the edge, Amy on the opposite side. They spread their arms. "We're off, Jeremy. Destination, the forest." The four let themselves fall, passing through the bits. They land on the pad.

Yumi could feel her heart beating in fear as she clutches the pipe. She turns around, only to have the sword swung at her. She ducks and jumps onto the bench. She backs away, silently wondering if they found Aelita.

They walk out of the tower and into the forest. "Jeremy, we're here."

"Look guys, you better hurry. I can't reach Yumi. I'm afraid she's having problems with the samurai," Jeremy voices.

"There's no time to lose. Let's go," Ulrich points forward and they start to run.

"While you're at it, you got any other good news?" Odd calls out.

"Oh yeah, plenty. Talia saw me punch in the access code to the lab. And the principal and the police are here. And um, XANA's monsters are around. Three Bloks. Watch out for that laser gel gun or it's game over." The three Bloks appear behind them from the trees and Odd hears them, turning around. They advance as he wiggles his tail.

"Hey Bloks. Cool, my favorite monsters." The others continue running, leaving him to deal with the Bloks. "Laser arrow!" He hits the ground, missing. They fire their ice lasers and Odd jumps, dodging them. The ice hits the trees they pass and Odd runs after them.

The elevator doors open and Jeremy turns around, seeing Talia, the principal, and the police. "There," Talia points to the computer. "It was this computer right here. There was this XANA thing. I don't know how, but it seems he wants to destroy the planet!"

"Jeremy, I think you owe us an explanation," Principal Delmas demands.

"Odd, Amy, take care of Aelita. I'll stay here and cover you, alone. Well, almost alone," Ulrich orders.

"Aww yes, Ames and Odd for the win!" Odd exclaims and Amy groans.

"Do you have to say that every single time we're paired up on Lyoko?"

"Yup!" They follow Aelita and Ulrich stops running, turning around. Ulrich runs around the Blok, making a triangle shape.

"Triangulate!" Two other Ulrichs appear at the corners and the Blok looks around in confusion, trying to figure out which Ulrich was the real one. He hits one and the clone is devirtualized. He hits the other, but this gives Ulrich enough time to jump on top of it. He holds his sword near his forehead. "Impact!" He stabs the eye and jumps down, the Blok destroyed. The second Blok approaches, its ice laser ready. Ulrich is hit from behind and is immediately devirtualized. The scanner opens with him inside.

The three stop in front of the activated tower. "Your turn, princess." Aelita nods at him before closing her eyes, walking forward. Neither Amy or Odd notice the Bloks approaching.

"Come along now," Principal Delmas orders.

"I'm sorry sir, but...my friends are in danger and I can't abandon them." He sees the police coming. "Ah, no don't, stop! You can't do this, let me go!" Talia just watches the display, thinking she did a good thing telling the police.

Yumi runs into the gym and turns around, the armor opening the door. She rushes off, panting.

Aelita looks at the tower as the Bloks stand right behind her. "You always pick the right wrong time, huh?" The Bloks readies the blue laser and Odd points his fist at them. The Bloks turn around and fires at them. They jump out of the way, ice covering where they were. "Now!" Odd fires, but misses by the armor. "Aw, man!"

"I got this," Amy raises her hands. "Green Ivy!" The vines cover the Blok, destroying it. They turn around just as Aelita enters the tower.

Yumi pants as the armor flies above her. She's about to reach the door when the armor lands in front of her. She readies her pipe.

Aelita makes her way to the pad.

The samurai disarms Yumi and she backs away to the rock climbing wall. She sweats as the samurai advances.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface as it appears.

_Aelita_

Yumi gasps as the armor raises the sword above it. She screams in horror.

_Code_

"Oh, no!" She shouts as the samurai lowers the sword.

_Lyoko_

Yumi looks up to see the armor stopping, just as the sword was about to finish her off. The tower deactivates and the time reversion is set.

"Return to the past now!" Jeremy shouts as he's being dragged by the police.

* * *

Time is reset to that morning. Talia walks in.

"And this is Talia, your new classmate. I'm sure your fellow students are anxious to meet you." The students greet her.

"I heard Sissi say that the new girl was an orphan. That's why she didn't wanna talk about her family," Ulrich turns to Jeremy.

"Well, anyway, if you look closely, you can see their eyes aren't the same, the nose is different, and so is the hair. They're not similar at all. How could you have possibly thought she was Aelita?" Jeremy explains, Amy opening her mouth at him in disbelief since she said the exact same genetics earlier that day.

"Did you just say that _we _thought-"

"Sure did," Odd answers.

"You'd have to be blind to think that," Jeremy glances at Talia.

"Hmph," Amy crosses her arms. "Jeremy, think twice before you act. You almost cost us the lab!"

"I know, I know..."

Yumi is giving her report...again. "And now, to finish my report, I'd like to show you something that's been in my family for centuries. It's a living symbol of Japan," she opens the cabinet. "Here." Her classmates comment in awe. But this time, her armor is shackled for the utmost security...


	13. Plagued

In the city sewers, a rat crawls into an intersection. There's a group of rats trying to get a pinecone. They try climbing, but fall down. One rat steps on another to jump, making the second one upset. He tries climbing on a rat, but it hisses at him. The others follow in on the hissing and the lone rat leaves. He scampers down the tunnel, sniffing the air at something dangling from above. He crawls up the roof, appearing in a storage room. He sees apples and scampers past an outlet, one of XANA's specters coming from it. As the rat digs in, the specter advances. The rat looks up, only to be pinned down. He screeches, struggling. The specter enters him and he tries to fight it, but is ultimately possessed. The rat opens his eye to reveal red pupils with the symbol of XANA...

Jim looks through a magazine of buffed people, knowing that he couldn't get muscles like theirs. The class is in the library, reading. Jeremy is sitting in front of his computer, talking to Aelita. "But I can't speak any louder, I'm in a library now."

"What's a library, Jeremy?" Aelita wonders.

"A databank where everything's printed on paper. And where you can't make any noise," he explains.

"Oh, I guess because you need silence to concentrate on what you're studying," she assumes.

"Yes, and so as not to miss the match point," Jeremy glances to the side, where a makeshift foosball table sits between Odd and Ulrich. Yumi sits next to Ulrich while Jeremy is sitting to the right of Odd, Amy to the left of Odd. Amy looks up from her book as Ulrich and Odd stare at each other. Odd holds the crumpled-up ball. He serves and Ulrich hits it back.

"Hey, quiet!" Jim calls out, not even looking up. He then does, seeing Ulrich and Odd's match. Ulrich hits it up in the air and Odd jumps, hitting it hard. Ulrich tries to hit it back, but it falls on Odd's side, but barely.

"Game, set, and match," Yumi declares the end of the game.

"You'll get him the next game," Amy places a hand on Odd's shoulder.

"Yeah!" Ulrich cheers, but falls to the ground. Jim walks up to him.

"Ulrich! Is that what you call studying?" Ulrich laughs sheepishly. "In case no one told you, this is not the school yard! You are here to work, okay? And work means silence!" Yumi snickers into her hands. Amy covers her mouth to hide a grin. "And no more games from now on!"

The principal opens the door, stepping into the library. "Ah, okay. Well, if that's the way you want to play, I can play just as hard as you can, my little friends!" He turns around, grabbing the principal's ear. "You! Two hours detention. I'm-oh, sorry about that, sir. I, uh-"

The five snicker and the principal walks up to them, clearing his throat. "Hello there, Jeremy. Would you come to my office now? I want to talk to you, it's very important."

Amy raises a brow, glancing at the others. Jeremy hadn't done anything to have the principal speak to him all of a sudden...

The rats have managed to grab the pinecone, digging in. They turn around to see the possessed rat, hissing at him. He attacks them, biting one on the arm. The rat falls before he's possessed too. The rats look at the group and they screech as they're being attacked.

* * *

The four wait outside the principal's office, just wondering what the principal would want with Jeremy. They didn't have to wait long as Jeremy opens the door. He walks past them, sulking. "Jeremy?" Odd asks as they look in confusion. They catch up with him.

"What's going on?" Yumi questions.

"Well, you know the principal. He went on and on. He says the school psychologist has been 'observing' me for a long time. And he thinks I'm an...overly gifted student," Jeremy tells them.

"Is that all? But that's nothing. We were scared that the principal had found out about the lab," Odd states. "Big deal."

"It's worse than you think, Odd. The shrink's decided that I have to take all kinds of tests tonight to determine what my IQ is," Jeremy continues.

"Yeah, so?" Ulrich asks.

"If the tests show that I have a really high IQ, the guy is gonna see to it that I get sent to another school." They stop in surprise.

"Are you saying that he's gonna send you to a school for, like, future Einsteins?" Odd wonders.

"Yeah," Jeremy stops sadly.

"That is serious. If you're not here, we can never go to Lyoko again. And XANA will be able to do what he wants," Yumi says.

"Not only that, none of us can work the supercomputer to transport us," Amy sulks.

"It's not just that, guys. I don't wanna leave here because of you all. You're my friends," Jeremy explains.

"Hold on, cool it. Don't panic, okay?" Odd walks up to him. "I mean, he can't force you to change schools," they start walking again.

"It's not all that easy. The psychologist creep couldn't wait to talk to my parents. He told them that at that kind of school, I'd be entitled to a big scholarship. My folks aren't gonna pass up a great chance like that," Jeremy reveals, walking ahead of them.

A rat screeches, surrounded by the other possessed rats. They start swimming to the ladder that leads to the bridge of the factory.

* * *

The bell rings, classes now over. "What's the big problem? You mess up on the test, then they'll think you're a total moron. Nobody will ever know, and you're home free," Odd suggests as they lean against the wall.

"Sure, I thought of that. Only there's a problem because tests like that are full of all kinds of trick questions. And if you really wanna mess up and make mistakes, you've gotta be very clever," Jeremy explains.

"But that's great, since you're the cleverest kid around," Yumi grins.

"Yeah, Einstein! Sure, you'll have to fail a test, but you gotta take one for the team," Amy gives a thumbs up.

"Well, okay. I'll do my best to flunk. But I can't promise anything," he walks away and they stare after him.

"Uh, I'll see you guys later. Keep me posted, okay?" Yumi leaves, since her parents might worry. Odd and Amy glance at each other, worried at the chance of their friend leaving school...if that happens, the world is doomed by XANA, and no one would be able to stop him.

* * *

Jeremy walks up to the psychologist in the library. "Ah, hello there, Jeremy. Do you recognize me? I'm Mr. Simone, the school psychologist."

"Of course I do. Is it really true that you're planning to get me transferred to a school for gifted children? That's great, my parents are gonna be so glad!" Jeremy acts stupid on purpose to try and change Mr. Simone's mind.

"Well, that's what we're here tonight to find out. Now, to start off, I'm going to give you a multiple-choice test. It's a test in which you...well, I'm sorry, I'm sure you already know," he chuckles sheepishly.

"Who, me? No!" Jeremy answers.

"Oh."

* * *

The bell rings for dinner time and the students walk out of the dorm building. "So what's for dinner?" Ulrich asks.

"Oh, I don't know. Some kind of hash. They all taste the same," Odd laments.

"Whatever it is, it won't satisfy the walking stomach over here," Amy jerks a thumb at Odd and he huffs, crossing his arms.

Sissi sneaks back into her room because she forgot something. She turns on the lights and screams when she sees some clothes chewed on. "Oh no, it can't be! My brand-new Gucci dress!" She picks it up and a rat drops to the floor. "Oh, I don't believe it!" She sees the rat. "Ah, so you're the savage who did this!" The possessed rat screeches at her. "Ugh! Here, take that!" She throws her shoe at it and the rat runs behind her wardrobe.

She groans and looks behind to see nothing. She smiles in satisfaction, turning around.

Aelita is lying down on a pad, looking at the interface. She was studying more about the Earth. She's in the desert sector, where there's pulsations...they lead to a red tower not far from Aelita's location. She gasps as she hears the disturbance.

"Jeremy!" She appears on Jeremy's computer in his room. "Jeremy, listen. XANA's woken up, he must be preparing an attack!" Unfortunately, Jeremy's still taking the IQ test in the library. "Jeremy?"

* * *

Jeremy puts down an answer as Mr. Simone tries to solve the Rubik's cube. Jeremy looks up, seeing his frustration. Mr. Simone puts it down on the table, waiting for Jeremy to finish.

Some rats are chewing on wires on the power system near the school. The power goes out in the whole city, including the school. The students shout in surprise in the cafeteria.

"Sir, don't you think we oughta stop?" Jeremy asks, wanting to leave as soon as possible. If he didn't finish the test, he wouldn't have to transfer.

"Uh, but that would be silly, huh? The, uh, tests are almost finished. Besides, the lights are bound to come on again," he shines a flashlight in Jeremy's face before they go down to the paper. "Ah."

Sissi tries to turn on her vanity lights. "Oh, what kind of a two-bit school is this?" She complains, brushing her hair. She hears a rat and turns around. She sits on her vanity, knocking down some hair supplies. She also breaks a perfume bottle and there are more rats, screeching at her. Sissi starts to cry as she leans against the wall. She moves slowly to the left, trying to get to her door. The rats just hiss and she's almost to her door. She quickly steps off and rushes out before they can do anything. "Help!"

"Uh," Jim stares at the students horsing around. "That's enough! Get back to your seats right now and quiet down! Go on now, the lights will come on again soon. Now stop all your playing around, you understand?! Come on now!" Odd bangs his fist against the table while Ulrich stays quiet. He shushes them.

"Quiet down, listen!"

They look in confusion, since they don't hear anything...until there's shuffling from the vents. "What?" Jim opens the shaft and sees the rats there. He screams, falling to the ground. They look up and the rats start falling down from the roof. The students scream, running away.

"We better get out of here," Ulrich tells Odd and Amy, shouting in surprise as a group of rats fall near them. Odd, Amy, and Ulrich run using the tables.

"Don't panic!" Jim calls out as Rosa, the lunch lady, starts hitting rats attacking her with a tray.

"Take that! And that!"

"Move, move!" The students start running.

"Don't panic, said. Just get out of my way!" Jim shouts as he trails behind them. Rosa hits another rat. Ulrich lands at the door and is about to open it...until he sees all the rats outside.

"Oh no!"

"Uh oh," Odd sees them.

"We're trapped!" Ulrich hits the glass slightly.

"Nice going, XANA. The rats all waited for night time and they attacked us as soon as we were all in the cafeteria," Odd comments.

"Guys, how are we gonna get to the factory now?" Amy turns to them, a few students shoving them slightly. Ulrich manages to pull out his phone to call Yumi.

Yumi's reading a magazine as she picks up her phone. "Is that you, Ulrich? Huh? What?!"

Jeremy's phone rings as Amy calls him, but Mr. Simone takes it. "But-"

"After the test, you can make all the calls you want."

* * *

"Aw, what? Jeremy's not answering," Amy reports to the boys, the students using trays as shields.

"The extinguishers, Jim. Hurry up!" Odd shouts as Jim presses his back against the wall. He shakes in fear.

"Don't panic, j-j-just don't p-p-panic, okay?" Christophe runs past him with the fire extinguishers and the students start moving them backwards.

"Pass them down!" Odd tells them.

Sissi closes the door of the dorm building and looks back to see more of them.

"Okay, outside everyone," Odd orders as Ulrich uses the fire extinguishers to fend off the rats. "There are way too many of them. We'll never be able to hold them back all night," Odd says as the three use the extinguishers.

"Help, help! Over here!" Sissi calls out, getting the attention of the rats.

"Sissi! What's she doing here, anyway?" Ulrich asks in annoyance.

"We have to help her or she's gonna be eaten alive!" Odd tells him.

"Or we could just leave her...would save us the trouble of dealing with her dirty tricks," Amy murmurs.

As Jeremy tries to finish, shuffling can be heard at the door. Mr. Simone points his flashlight at it. "That noise is unbearable!" He opens the door. "Listen, this racket has got to-" He sees the rats, backing away. They jump and he closes the door just in time. His hand starts to shake as Jeremy presses himself against the door. "T-They're rats! Like a whole army of them!"

"Oh, XANA," Jeremy guesses. "They're trying to eat through the door. We've gotta barricade it."

The rats look up, hearing a bell. Yumi rides on her bike, using the forest as a path to the school. The other way was covered in rats.

"Ah, here she comes!" Ulrich says in relief. Yumi drives past the rats and skids to a stop in front of Sissi.

"Your carriage, Cinderella!" Sissi gets on and Yumi speeds through the rodents, skidding to the group.

"Welcome to the Rat Pack!" Odd tells them, Amy facepalming.

Jeremy and Mr. Simone look at the barricaded wall. "Okay, keep going along, sir," Jeremy encourages, running to the desk. "Oh, let's hope this will hold them back long enough," he opens his laptop. "Aelita?"

"XANA has activated a tower, Jeremy," Aelita reports as she's lying down on the sand. "I've spotted where it is. I'm on my way there now. I'll try and get a closer look, okay?" She logs off and Jeremy closes his laptop, sighing in worry. He sees his cellphone.

Yumi gets a call as Odd, Amy, and Ulrich fend off the rats. "Hello, Jeremy. Yes, the rats have attacked. Okay, right, we'll meet at the lab." Yumi looks to Odd and Amy. "We have to find a safe place."

"Where, huh? The rats are all over," Ulrich calls out.

"Oh, I know where. The only place with no access to the sewers is the science building, let's go!" Jim explains.

"Better hurry," Yumi tells the others.

Jeremy walks up to the window, looking at the rats. "Oh this time, we're the rats in the trap, and I don't like it at all..."

Jim's hand shakes as he stands in front of the science building.

"Hey, get a move on, huh? The extinguishers are nearly empty!" Odd calls out.

"Come on, easy does it," Yumi guides Jim, smiling. He stares at her before opening the door.

"Faster!" Christophe runs inside, followed by the others. The rats chase after them and Ulrich slides back, shooting a little foam as the extinguisher runs out.

"Oh, what do I do now?" He drops the extinguisher, jumping over the stairs and slamming the door just in time. Ulrich pants, giving a thumbs up.

"Okay, let's go up to the roof. If the rats get in, we'll be safe up there," Yumi orders. They all go up to the roof of the science building. Odd closes the door as Yumi and Ulrich look over the edge. Odd and Amy join them, seeing the rats chewing on a tree. It falls down and Amy's eyes widen as the tree breaks a window, allowing the rats inside. "We have to get to the factory. Jeremy will meet us there, as soon as he can, that is."

"Sounds great, but how do we get there, huh?" Ulrich turns to her.

"It's rat city down there..." Amy says. Odd finds a hose, throwing it over. He holds onto it.

"Here I go," He jumps over.

"Hey, wait, come back! What are you doing?" Jim demands. Ulrich jumps over. "No, come back. You can't-hey, come back!"

"Too late!" He slides down. He moves out of the way as Amy slides down just inches above them. Odd helps her down and they run in the forest. Fortunately, the manhole cover wasn't surrounded...unfortunately, the inside is.

"Ew!" Amy exclaims.

"No choice, we have to go over the wall," Yumi declares.

Mr. Simone flips the flashlight on and off. "Not rats. Anything but rats." Jeremy looks up. "When I was a boy, a rat came up to my...my room." Jeremy notices something as the light turns on and off. He takes the flashlight and looks over the window. He turns the light on and the rats fall down, startled by the light.

"Bingo," he turns around. "You stay here, sir. I gotta get to the photo lab. Be right back," Jeremy runs off, leaving a traumatized Mr. Simone.

Amy, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich run to the bridge of the factory, only to find it blocked by rats. "Oh, XANA's thought of everything!" Ulrich grumbles.

"Come on," Odd runs and jumps over the railing. They run over to the railing to see Odd standing near a raft. "Care for a little cruise? What's that look for, Ames? Worried about little old me?"

"You idiot, don't do that with warning," Amy gives a blank look. One rat looks at them rowing to the other side. He calls his friends over and Yumi turns around.

"Faster!" Ulrich and Odd row as fast as they can. The rats start jumping in the water.

"Move over, you're doing it so slow," Amy stands up and sits in Ulrich's place, stroking faster with the paddle. They make it, jumping off and running. The rats follow after them.

"Hurry up, faster, hurry!" They jump through the basement doors, shutting the rats out just in time.

Mr. Simone still looks scared for his life as Jeremy comes back, holding camera equipment. He looks at a window before flashing the rats. "It worked, great," he's hooked up a camera to a light. He hands it to Mr. Simone. "If they come, use this, it'll chase 'em away." Jeremy runs to the window.

"Stay...please don't go," Mr. Simone begs. Jeremy flashes the ground. "I-I'm afraid of rats. Oh no," Jeremy's gone.

Yumi runs into the lab while the boys and Amy stay in the elevator to go down into the scanner room. She was going to handle the virtualizing since Jeremy was still gone. She looks at the computer in confusion, not knowing what to do. This was usually Jeremy's thing. She dials him. "Hey Jeremy, I'm in the lab. I have to contact Aelita and virtualize Amy, Odd, and Ulrich. Explain to me how to do it."

"Listen up now," Jeremy starts as he walks. Aelita looks up from her hiding spot, hearing something. Three Krabs approach and she stands up, running off from the lasers.

"Okay, that's done. I found the activated tower, and I've located Aelita. She's got a problem. Um, what? Speak louder, I can hardly hear you. I have to type in the coordinates, say that again? 19 degrees west? That's it, isn't it? 19 degrees west?"

"Wait, no, I said 79 degrees west, 79 degrees west! Listen Yumi, the rats have invaded the city, you hear?" Jeremy insists.

"Okay then, I'm ready." Yumi says.

"Yumi, can you hear me?" Jeremy looks at his phone. Yumi types in the coordinates, which are in fact the wrong ones.

The scanners open just as the boys and Amy arrive. They walk up to the scanners. "Transfer Amy." She steps into her scanner, turning around. "Transfer Odd," he steps in. "Transfer Ulrich." Yumi continues to type as their ID cards are scanned. "Scanner Amy. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization," they're virtualized into the desert sector, with no sign of Aelita or an activated tower.

"It's okay, you did it, Yumi," Odd reassures.

_"Do you see Aelita?" _

"No, she should be around here somewhere," Ulrich looks around.

"Well, this is the right sector, but I don't see anything except sand and dust," Amy calls out to Yumi.

"Oh no, I didn't enter the right coordinates. I virtualized you too far away from Aelita."

"That's okay, we could use a little exercise to get warmed up," Odd waves a hand and Amy flaps her wings to make herself fly.

Outside the factory entrance, Jeremy looks at the army of rats that await him. "Smile," he uses his flash equipment.

Ulrich and Odd run as Amy flies above them. They pant as they race to find Aelita. Ulrich skids to a stop and the others stop as well. _"Do you see her now?" _

Looking up ahead, they see Aelita being chased by the Krabs. "Yeah, I see her!" Odd points to her direction. "She's here. The only problem is, she's not alone."

_"Be careful." _Aelita looks behind her before seeing the three, sliding to them. Ulrich bends down to her.

"Hello, princess."

She looks up, "That was close. I just managed to get away."

"Your three knights in armor have come to protect you," Ulrich reassures. The Krabs stop and they step forward. Aelita hangs back as a Krab stomps its two front feet in front of them. They continue walking, but the ground starts to tilt up.

"Hey, you know, this is kind of weird," Odd comments.

"Odd, Ulrich, Amy, what is happening?!" Yumi asks in shock.

"That's a good question," Ulrich answers as they hang onto the moving ground.

"I don't understand, it could have been my mistake, although..." Yumi's hands shake as she starts to panic.

"It's XANA, he's changing the slope of the plateau. Better hang on tight," Aelita explains as they all fall. Aelita presses her hands to her head, using her creativity powers to create a platform underneath them. They land roughly.

"Wow, well done Aelita," Odd comments before a laser is fired right in front of his face. He looks up to see that the Krabs can move just fine, firing lasers at them. Aelita looks up, covering herself. "No!" Ulrich stands in front of her, taking the shots himself. Yumi looks in shock.

"Three Krabs, a battery of lasers, ten life points lost per impact!"

The three press their backs against the wall huddled together to miss the lasers. "Ulrich and Ames, you cover Aelita. She's lost too many life points. I'll try to attract their attention," Odd jumps, landing on a rock. He stands on top of it, looking up at the attackers. He continues to climb, panting as he presses his back against the plateau. He turns to the Krabs and one of them turns to him. "Laser arrow!" He fires three times. The laser destroys two, but the last one destroys the Krab. The other one fires at him and Odd jumps, avoiding several, but one of them hits him in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Odd!" Amy calls out. The Krabs continue to fire as they come closer to Odd. Odd ducks, getting hit again.

"No, Odd. Get out of there, now!" Ulrich shouts, turning to Amy. "Get over there and get him out!"

"No! It's too dangerous, Ames!" Odd yells and Amy gives a conflicted look. If she helps Odd, she could get devirtualized. If she didn't, then it would be him. Odd runs, jumping and holding onto a stone. He avoids the lasers and looks up, jumping. The stone is destroyed and Odd falls.

"Odd!" Amy and Ulrich shout. "No!" Luckily, one of the lasers devirtualizes him before he could fall into the digital sea. Ulrich presses his back against the wall.

"Need any help?" Jeremy places a hand on Yumi's shoulder and she gives a look of relief.

"Oh, Jeremy, you're finally here. Listen, Odd has just been devirtualized and Ulrich has hardly any life points left. I'm surprised Amy is holding up," she reports.

"Well, you know what you gotta do now, Yumi," Jeremy answers.

At the school, everyone is huddled together on the roof as they hear the rats trying to chew through the door. The Krabs continue to fire at the three and Ulrich dodges them all with his sword. Amy holds up her hands, making them sandy.

"Sand Storm!" A sand hurricane is launched at one of the Krabs, destroying it. Ulrich continues to be on defense and Amy stands closer to Aelita. Ulrich gets hit, knocking him to the ground. Amy is hit as well and they look up at the Krab. Ulrich thinks to himself and as the laser fires, he jumps, hitting it right in the eye. The Krab fires another laser, devirtualizing Ulrich.

"Oh no!" Amy shouts and she readies her hands as the Krab looms over her.

"No!" Aelita yells, but a fan destroys the leg. They look up to see Yumi. She jumps down and the Krab looks up as she throws her fan again, destroying it. She lands near the girls, turning to them. Aelita smiles at her.

"Thanks, Yumi!" Amy grins.

The rats start to break through the door.

They arrive at the tower with no problems and Aelita steps in. She walks to the center of the eye and starts floating.

"Go on, Aelita. You're there now, go on," Jeremy encourages as she lands at the top pad.

Mr. Simone backs away as the rats come through the barricaded door. "Say-say cheese," he holds up the flash equipment Jeremy gave him.

Aelita presses her hand to log in.

_Aelita_

An army of rats swarm in, the students, Rosa, and Jim scared.

_Code_

They shake in fear as the rats comes closer.

_Lyoko_

As a rat jumps up, they suddenly stop thanks to Aelita. The tower deactivates and Jeremy starts the time reset. "Return to the past now." Everything is reversed, back to when they're in the library.

"Jeremy," Yumi says, "Hey, did you figure out a way to flunk the test, hm?"

"Well, now that I know all the questions, I shouldn't have any trouble giving all the wrong answers," Jeremy explains.

"Are you sure it's gonna work?" Ulrich wonders.

"Yeah, you never know," Amy points out.

"Anyway, I've got a foolproof way of flunking. I'm gonna get all of my answers from Odd," the three laugh, while Odd is unamused.

"Yeah yeah, go on, laugh your heads off, but who knows? You might be in for a big surprise!"

"Quiet," Jim calls out, looking up.

With Jeremy getting all the answers from Odd, there was no way he would be going to that school now!


	14. Swarming Attack

A bee flies near the stadium outside the school before buzzing near Mrs. Hertz's window. Class hasn't started at this point, so the bee finds itself alone as it soars into the classroom. The bee flies onto the slide from the telescope. Pulsations can be heard in the forest sector on Lyoko, meaning XANA has awoken and he's activated a tower. The computer screen turns on, a XANA specter traveling from the server and to the bee. It examines the insect before possessing it. The bee shakes around, trying to gain control, but is unsuccessful...

Ulrich sits on his bed, reading a book. He scratches the back of his head before a piece of paper appears from outside. He closes his book and opens the door, looking around. "Hello? Is anyone there?" He sees the letter on his floor and picks it up. He opens it, his eyes widening. "What?!"

A bee flies into the courtyard. "Mrs. Hertz caught us red-handed. She made us give up our cell-phones." The bee soars into the forest, flying up to bee hives. The bees come out, a swarm appearing...

Jeremy yawns as he's with Amy, Yumi, and Odd.

"Hey, you really look wiped out. What did you do last night?" Yumi points out knowingly.

"I worked on a little program, an advanced research engine of sorts," Jeremy explains. Yumi smirks at the others.

"It's uh, it's a browser which I'm trying to make to help Aelita look for more info on materialization in the Lyoko towers," Jeremy shrugs slowly after a few seconds.

"Just imagine all the things she's gonna learn when she gets here," Odd says. "She's gonna be amazed!"

"Hmm," Jeremy says in thought, "I think about it all the time. I can't wait for that day to come," he blushes slightly. "Yeah, it's gonna...it's gonna be great."

"We still got a lot to do before that, Jeremy," Amy bumps him slightly on the shoulder. "But I have faith you'll do it someday."

"Hi Ulrich," Yumi sees him approach.

"Hello," he looks uncomfortable around them, especially Yumi. The bell rings for class.

"Okay guys, it's time for us to work up a sweat. So long, Yumi," Odd leaves with Amy and Jeremy. Yumi is about to leave to go to her own class, but Ulrich grabs her arm to stop her.

"Yumi? W-Wait, I..."

"Yes?" She turns around.

"I, um...are you okay?"

"Well, yeah. Why are you asking?" She wonders. It seems like something is bothering Ulrich, which is somehow connected to Yumi.

"I just, uh...just asked. See you later," he leaves so he won't be late.

"Okay," she gives a slightly worried look.

"Ulrich, move it, huh?!" Odd calls out. She walks away to her own class.

* * *

Odd kicks the soccer ball at practice, Jeremy being the goalie. He catches it and Ulrich looks up at the sky. He closes his eyes, thinking of the letter.

_Ulrich, I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm writing it. I've always admired you. I've been wanting to tell you for ages, but I didn't have the nerve. Also, I wasn't a hundred percent sure. But now I am. I love you. Signed, Yumi_

He thinks of her laugh. He didn't know what to think. Yumi was a good friend to him, she'd never let him down...but was she really a friend? Did he even have those kinds of feelings for her?

"Ulrich, watch out!" The ball goes flying onto his face. Odd, Jim, Amy, and Jeremy look down at him in shock. Ulrich was always paying attention in soccer, but today, not so much.

"Ulrich, are you okay?" Jeremy asks him.

"Aw, how could that happen?" Ulrich laments in the boys' locker room. He was fine psychically, but emotionally, he was a wreck.

"Hey Ulrich, don't take this badly, but your playing was kinda weird," Jeremy points out.

"You can say that again. Why, even Jeremy was better than you today!" Odd jokes.

"My mind wasn't on the game. Lay off, huh?" Ulrich stands up, starting to leave.

"No way," Odd grabs him from behind. "I'll lay off as soon as you tell us what's wrong."

"It's just that...well, I got this letter from a girl. The kinda letter a girl sends when she's..." Ulrich starts.

"He's in love!" Odd laughs, clapping. "Ulrich's in love!"

"That's the problem. I'm _not _in love. I-I'm not sure I am. I can't even manage to talk to her," Ulrich admits.

"And can you tell us who the lucky lady is?" Odd wonders.

"You've gotta be kidding. I'm not telling anyone. One more thing, not a word to Yumi. You can tell Amy, but that's it. I don't want this to get around," Ulrich walks away, the two blondes staring after him.

"Uh...hey Odd, did I really play better than him?" Jeremy wonders.

"Hmm?" Odd turns to him. "Well, Ames is a girl, and she can't play that well, so, uh...you did better than Ulrich and her combined!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the bee hive has grown. At lunch, Odd is trying to guess who wrote the letter to Ulrich.

"Milly or Tamiya?"

"No, they're too young," Jeremy dismisses.

"Claire. Sandra?"

"No no, much too young. And they're so...you know, they're...they're too uptight," Jeremy explains.

"And what is _that _supposed to mean?" Amy gives a blank look.

"Uhh, not you, Amy! You're not uptight!" Jeremy sweats a little, not wanting to get beat up. "By the way...did you write that letter?"

"Wha-no! Ulrich's just a friend. Besides, I'm not into...his type. No offense to him, but I don't want someone that serious and moody. I want someone who's like me, funny and outgoing no matter what he looks like. And besides...I'm friends with Sandra and Claire. They're not _that _uptight," Amy eats a carrot.

"Hmm, Emily! Yeah yeah, it's her. Look, I'm an expert with girls. She's pretty, she's the outdoors type. She's the one who flipped for him," Odd says, Amy giving an annoyed look.

"She's not _that _pretty," she huffs before her eyes widen. Why was there a dark feeling in her heart all of a sudden...? And for Emily? She's a nice girl, Amy didn't want to feel that way towards her...

"Oh yeah?" They turn to Yumi. "Who is Emily flipped over?"

The two boys look at each other. "It's Jim! Emily's crazy about Jim!" Odd panics a little and Amy chokes a little.

"Jim?" She mouths to Odd.

"I panicked!" He mouths back.

"Jim? You're kidding. Well, they say that love is blind," Yumi says, Odd snickering as the same man appears behind her. "Oh, I, uh...I'm s-sorry."

"Mm-hmm," he gives her a weird look as Amy giggles.

Kiwi barks as he chases Kiki playfully in the forest, panting. Ulrich re-reads the letter from this morning, the dogs sniffing around so they can pee. They look up, barking. They come back to Ulrich, whimpering. "Kiwi? Kiki?" He sees the bee stings. "Who did that to you?" Ulrich turns and gasps, seeing a swarm of bees. "Come on, run!" Ulrich runs off with the dogs, screaming, the dogs trailing behind. He appears outside the cafeteria, panting. He looks behind, seeing the dogs approach. "Kiwi...Kiki," they fall to the ground, shaking in exhaustion.

* * *

"They don't look well at all. You think it's serious?" Odd asks in their room, petting Kiwi. Amy pets Kiki, a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, guys, they'll be back on their feet in no time. I mean, back on their paws," Jeremy assures before there's a knock at the door. They look up and Jeremy opens it to see Yumi.

"I brought some pills and anti-venom compresses," she holds out a bag.

"Thanks, Yumi. Come in," he lets her inside, taking the bag.

"This will make you feel better," Odd wraps a compress around Kiwi and Amy does the same with her dog.

"Uh, Yumi? Come over here, please," Ulrich leads her to the door. "I wanted to tell you something."

"I do too. They say Emily's in love with Jim!" She says.

"With Jim?" His eyes widen in surprise.

"Odd told me all about it," Yumi turns to Odd, whose eyes widen. "Weird, huh?" He smiles sheepishly. "I've got class now, see ya," she leaves and Ulrich turns to Odd.

"Hey, what's that all about?"

"I don't know," Odd blushes in embarrassment, Amy shaking her head.

"The only thing I know is that if Emily finds out you're the one who spread the rumor, you're dead!"

"Then I heard this buzzing coming from the trees," Ulrich explains to the principal, telling him about the swarm of bees he saw earlier. The principal furrows his eyebrows. "There must be dangerous insects up there."

"Thanks for the information, Ulrich. I'll take care of it," Principal Delmas reassures.

In the garden shed, the groundskeeper comes out, holding a net and having a mask over his mouth. In the courtyard, the students hear screaming, turning to the groundskeeper running away from the bees. He tries spraying them, but it doesn't work. The boys and Amy gasp as he lies down on the ground, the bees stinging him. "Help! Help! Get 'em off!" The bees start flying towards the four.

"We'll try to attract them to us. Let's go!" Ulrich and Amy run to the right while Jeremy and Odd run to the left. The bees follow Ulrich and Amy while the boys drag the groundskeeper to the cafeteria. He's covered in bee stings.

"We've gotta get him to the infirmary," Jeremy explains.

"What about Ulrich and Ames?" Odd wonders, though he sounded slightly more worried for Amy.

"They'll take care of them," Jeremy turns to him.

Ulrich and Amy jump off the steps before Yumi tackles Ulrich to the ground. Amy ducks out of the way, landing safely.

"Hurry!" She tells them as they come back. Yumi pushes Ulrich into the science building, Amy slamming the door shut. The bees fly past them and Yumi turns to Ulrich. She then notices that she has a small bee sting on her hand.

"Hey, you're-you're hurt, Yumi."

She looks back at him as Amy pants. "Oh, that's nothing serious, Ulrich. It's just a scratch," she denies and Ulrich blushes at how close they are, twitching an eyebrow nervously. She notices it but says nothing about the matter, smiling and standing up.

"Uh, I think we can go now," Amy smirks at them as the bees leave, the swarm now bigger than ever...

* * *

"Well?" Yumi asks as they stand in front of the infirmary.

"Mr. Bennett was lucky. One more bite-"

"Yeah, that's right, but he's still not in great shape," Odd finishes as Jeremy frowns.

"The principal's sent for help. They're gonna get rid of the nest. I don't know what you guys think, but I-"

"But, you think it's XANA," Odd gives him a look. "Oh, come on. Cut it out. Hornets' nest have always been around and accidents happen all the time."

"You're right. But _these _hornets, they were after us and nobody else," Ulrich points out.

"And it wouldn't be the first time XANA's used animals to attack us," Amy crosses her arms. "There was the rats, remember?"

"Well, I say we check it out," Yumi offers.

"I'll try to contact Aelita," Jeremy tells them.

"I'm going back to class, but keep me posted," Yumi walks away, Ulrich staring after her.

"Do you realize the damage these bugs can cause? There are thousands of them. If XANA is in on this attack, we can have a very serious problem, huh? Don't you think so?" Odd tells Ulrich, but he's not paying attention to him. "Hello?" He pushes Ulrich slightly.

"Uh, what? Uh, yeah. Right. I mean, I don't know." Odd gives him a smug look, knowing that something was on his mind.

"Ulrich, you wouldn't happen to have a crush on this secret admirer of yours, would you? Hm, Ulrich?" He gives a teasing smile. Ulrich doesn't answer the question, because he still didn't know. "Hmm?"

"Yeah, you could be right," he finally says and Amy grins, clasping her hands.

"Aww, that's sweet!" She giggles at the thought. "You're so lucky, Ulrich. I don't have a secret admir-"

Someone clears their throat, tapping Odd's shoulder. He turns to see an angry Emily. "What's all this about me being in love with Jim?!" He sweats nervously, backing away slightly. Amy, Ulrich, and Jeremy cringe as a slap is heard. Odd has a red mark on his cheek. "Start that rumor again and even your dog won't recognize you!" The three laugh at Odd's misfortune. Serves him right for starting that rumor about Emily and Jim!

* * *

Jeremy types on his computer later in his room, trying to make contact with Aelita. In the desert sector, Aelita is sitting on a plateau, relaxing. "Aelita, do you read me?" Jeremy asks.

"Loud and clear," She appears on the screen. "How are things in the real world?"

"We've got a problem," he states in slight worry. "And we think it might be XANA," he scratches his right cheek. "Have you noticed anything?"

"No," she shakes her head. "At least here in the desert, things are calm. But if you want, I can check out the other regions."

"Good idea. And in the meantime, I'll run a scan to see if there's an activated tower."

Aelita walks into a way tower while Jeremy does the scan. "Hmm," he rubs his chin, leaning back as he waits. He really should update the scan when he has the chance...

Aelita moves to one side of the pad before holding her arms out. She falls with a sigh, traveling through the bits. She lands on the pad of the tower. Jeremy's computer beeps as the activated tower appears from the computer. "There it is." Aelita walks into the forest sector. "Aelita, the scanner spotted an activated tower in the forest."

"Okay, I'm in the forest now. I'll try to find it," she suggests.

"I'll tell the others," Jeremy turns to his phone.

Odd and Amy sit in front of the cafeteria when his phone rings. He answers it, since it's from Jeremy. "Alert! XANA has activated a tower and Aelita's trying to find it, guys." It's a recorded message and Yumi finishes listening to it, hanging up.

"It looks as if something's up. Jeremy wants us to go to the factory right now," she turns to leave, but Ulrich grabs her arm to stop her.

"No no, wait, Yumi."

"What?" She asks in confusion.

"I wanted to, uh...tell you something," he pauses for a second before continuing. "It's about your...about your letter."

Yumi looks confused. "Huh? But-"

"No, let me finish," he interrupts, not noticing her confusion. "You said in the letter that...that you had certain feelings for me and...I wanted you to know that...that I feel the same thing for you. There, I said it."

"But I never sent you any letter, Ulrich," she shakes her head. He hears laughing as he raises his eyebrows and they turn to see Sissi. Of course. He clenches his fist.

"Kind of embarrassing if you ask me," they continue to laugh at them and Ulrich looks angry. Yumi turns to him.

"Forget them. Don't worry," she places her hand on his shoulder.

"I don't care. Leave me alone!" He moves her arm off, upset as he leaves. She stares after him.

"But..." She turns to Sissi, who has a smug look on her face. She snickers, having done all of this so Ulrich could see that she was the ideal girl for him and not Yumi.

* * *

Odd, Amy, and Jeremy ride in the sewers on their respective rides. They stop suddenly, looking in shock. "Oh no!" Jeremy exclaims as they look at the dozen of bee hives. "Oh wow, nice going, XANA."

"Jeremy, any suggestions would be very welcome," Odd offers nervously.

"Uh, get away from here as best as we can?" Jeremy asks.

"RUUUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Amy yells and they speed off in the other direction, the bees chasing after them. A swarm appears in front of them, stopping them in their tracks.

"We're trapped!" Jeremy says nervously.

"Hey, you got any other ideas?" Odd suggests.

"Uh, jump!" Jeremy pulls Odd into the water. They turn to Amy. "Amy, if you don't get in, you'll get stung!"

"But that water's straight-up nasty!" She shouts in disgust as Odd coughs.

"Come on!" Jeremy pulls her in.

"Eww," she says as they hide in a tunnel.

"This is your idea?" Odd asks in disbelief.

"Insects are very sensitive to smells," Jeremy explains.

"They're not the only ones, huh?" Odd replies, sniffing the air. "Ugh!"

"Thanks a lot," Amy deadpans, but the bees fly away.

"Hey, I think it worked!" Odd calls out as Jeremy steps into the water.

"Looks like it." Odd and Amy step out.

"What do you know?"

* * *

Ulrich sulks in his room as footsteps approach. "What's that smell?" Yumi wonders.

"Ask Jeremy," Odd is all he says about the matter before he opens the door.

"All of that perfume and I still can't get it out," Amy mutters, "At least with the return in time, I won't have to shower thoroughly!"

"We left you a message, didn't you get it?" Jeremy wonders.

"What do you think?" Ulrich asks. "I didn't feel like checking my messages." Yumi bends down to him, worried.

"Look, I think we should talk," she offers.

"I know what you're gonna tell me. And I don't wanna hear it," he stands up, facing the wall in shame.

"Ulrich, this is all on account of Sissi," Yumi explains, the others just watching.

"Don't you think I know that? Because of her, I'm confused. Every time I see you, I don't know what to think. So just leave me alone, okay?" Yumi's mouth opens in shock and disbelief. She closes her eyes while Odd is confused.

"He's losing it," Jeremy murmurs to the others.

"Not really. After all, this was all a trick by Sissi," Amy reminds him. The silence is awkward as Jeremy opens his laptop. Aelita appears on his screen.

"Aelita? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I found the activated tower, but it's guarded. I can't access it," she hides behind a rock, looking at four hornets surrounding the red tower.

"Don't worry, help is on the way." Ulrich leaves, not in the mood to help. Yumi stares after him before they take their leave as well.

"Hey guys, hold on a minute," Odd calls out, not wanting their friendship to be like this, but there was the matter of one thing. "The bugs have blocked the factory entrance. And I would rather stay out of that sewer."

"Ditto! I still smell," Amy complains, pouting.

"Don't worry, guys, I'm way ahead of you two on this one," Jeremy answers.

Aelita slightly peeks from her spot, the hornets flying right towards her.

* * *

Jeremy looks at the bee hives in the sewers. "Well? What's the deal?" Odd asks. Jeremy simply gestures to his backpack before using a beeping robot. The robot moves all the way to the ladder, creating a safe path to the ladder. "Bingo!"

"Pretty clever, huh? This thing generates ultrasounds of about 30,000 hertz. Like all insects, hornets are capable of receiving the-"

"Fascinating, but we don't have time, so let's move," Yumi interrupts, moving forward.

Aelita runs from the hornets, tripping and falling onto the ground. She looks up nervously at the monsters as they turn the corner.

The firefighters are looking around the school before seeing a bigger swarm of bees. They all scream and they go flying near them.

"Get inside!" One of the officers gestures to the door of the cafeteria. The students run inside. "Come on, hurry up!" He shuts the door as soon as everyone is inside. They all stare out the window in shock. The bees are right outside.

"Headquarters," one of them uses a walkie-talkie. "We've got a problem. We're at the junior high school. Right."

The robot continues to beep as Ulrich is the last one to climb. He was doing fine until the beeping suddenly stops. Jeremy looks down in confusion and so does Ulrich. "Your thing stopped. How come?"

"Uhh...battery's dead," Jeremy shrugs slowly.

"WHAT?!" Ulrich's eyes widen in shock. The bees start flying to him.

"Hurry up!" Yumi pulls him outside just in time.

"Jeremy, this is why you should always bring extra batteries!" Amy scolds.

Aelita runs through the forest, silently hoping that her friends would get here soon.

The five run across the bridge. Yumi presses the button when they're in the elevator. It goes down to the lab.

Aelita races as fast as she can, the hornets still chasing her.

Yumi and Ulrich are silent around each other, Ulrich still upset about earlier. Jeremy is in the lab while the others are in the scanner room. "Okay, here we go. Aelita, do you read me?" Aelita covers her face with her arm. "We're on our way. Hang in there. No time to lose, to the forest! Amy, you go with Yumi and Odd while Ulrich goes last. Transfer Amy." Amy steps inside with a serious look. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Odd. Hurry, hurry!" He types as fast as he can so they can help Aelita. Their ID cards appear in order except for Ulrich's. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Amy. Scanner Yumi."

They spin around as they're all scanned in the pod. "Virtualization." There's a whoosh and they're virtualized into the forest sector. They land safely. "Come in, Aelita. Aelita, answer me." There's no sign of her or the hornets on his computer. "Oh no, this cannot be happening," he starts to panic. "Virtualization!" Ulrich lands behind them. "Do you see her?"

"No, not yet," Yumi states. Jeremy gives a worried look, hoping that she hasn't been devirtualized...or worse.

Sissi walks with her crew down the hallway. "Oh, and talk about embarrassing situations. I'm sure that Ulrich's not about to forget this for a long time. What a genius I am!" Herb and Nicolas gasp. "You could say something!" Instead of saying anything, they run off screaming. She looks at them in confusion before turning around to the bees. Sissi drops her books in shock, screaming. She speeds past Herb and Nicolas to the cafeteria.

"Wait up!" Herb calls out before the two run inside. Sissi slams the door shut and they pant before seeing everyone else. They look outside in worry.

Four red dots appear on Jeremy's screen in front of the four Lyoko warriors. "Four swarms of hornets converging. Get ready," he warns them. The hornets come flying, one of them shooting a laser. Odd jumps out of the way. Yumi pulls out her fan, throwing it, but she misses it. Amy throws her spear like a boomerang, but she misses as well. A hornet fires another laser, Yumi dodging it with her fan. Ulrich just stands there and does nothing. He was still upset about what happened with the letter.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires an arrow, but the hornet moves out of the way, hitting Yumi in the back.

_"Less than 20 life points left, Yumi. Be careful, Odd and Amy."_

Just as he says that, the aforementioned two are hit with lasers.

_"Odd, 80 life points left. Same goes for you, Amy."_

Yumi looks up at Ulrich, who does not respond or act. "Ulrich, what are you doing? Wake up, will you?!" Jeremy notices his silence as well.

The bees surround the cafeteria, everyone screaming.

_"Odd, Amy, two enemies at three o'clock!" _Odd sees them and pushes Amy out of the way, both of them landing on the ground. Odd looks up, readying his paw.

"Laser arrow!" He misses yet again.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?!" Amy exclaims in annoyance as Odd stands up. Yumi runs, looking for Aelita.

"Aelita!" A Hornet stops her short, firing at her again. Yumi misses using her fan. She turns and sees Aelita climbing up to her. "Aelita!" Since she's distracted, the Hornet hits her again.

"No, Yumi! Aelita! Aelita, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine Jeremy," she says as Yumi holds her sparking arm.

_"Yumi, in front of you!" _A Hornet comes flying and she pulls out her fan, throwing it. She finally destroys it.

"Yeah!" Jeremy exclaims with a smile. Finally, they were having some luck.

Back at the cafeteria, a bee manages to get in through a window.

Odd looks around, no Hornets in side. "Watch it! They're coming back!" Jeremy warns. A Hornet flies behind Yumi, hitting her again. "Yumi, you've only got 20 life points left." Yumi clutches her stomach.

"Ulrich, wake up!" Odd calls out, Ulrich just blinking. Odd stares at him, not knowing if his friend would ever help...

"Dang it, Ulrich!" Amy suddenly shouts, surprising him. She never yelled at anyone like this before. "I don't care what issues you have right now, you have to set them aside and get in the game! Sissi's the one who did all this, not Yumi! Get over it!"

Odd narrows his eyes, turning to a Hornet. He runs forward. "Odd!" The girls shout. The Hornet fires acid, severely taking most of his life points.

"Odd, you hardly have any life points left," Jeremy explains gravely. Odd continues running anyway.

"Now!" As he's devirtualized, he fires an arrow, destroying the second Hornet. Amy sighs in worry. Yumi walks up to Ulrich, who still does nothing.

"Ulrich, are you with us or not?! I know you're unhappy, but there's no reason to be. Our friendship's stronger than that, right? Amy's right, you can't let Sissi's dirty tricks break us up, can you? So forget all about that, please. We need your help!" Yumi says, turning to Ulrich.

"You three head for the tower. I'll take care of them," he runs up to the three Hornets and they charge at him. He destroys one with his sword.

"Well, it's about time," Jeremy comments in satisfaction.

The bees start to come in, everyone yelling in fear.

Aelita, Amy, and Yumi run past Ulrich, who points his sword. A laser is fired and he blocks it. He blocks the next one as the girls have almost reached the tower. A Hornet is following them without their knowledge. Ulrich runs after it, dividing into three. "Triangulate!" His clones make a triangle around the Hornet, who looks around in confusion. It charges at one, devirtualizing the clone. The Hornet turns around just in time to be hit by the real Ulrich. "Impact!"

Aelita looks at the tower, the three girls now noticing the Hornet. Yumi throws her fan, but misses. The Hornet fires at her, devirutalizing her.

"Yumi!" Amy and Aelita shout.

"Oh no," Jeremy's mouth drops open.

"Go on, Aelita," Odd encourages. "Ames, you can do this!"

Amy gives a determined look, holding out her hands. "Green Ivy!" The vines shoot up from the ground, but the Hornet flies past them. "Aw what?!"

Ulrich speeds to them, backflipping. "Impact!" He destroys it.

"Show off," Amy crosses her arms.

_"Ulrich, you're the greatest." _

"And now, you've sealed the nails in your coffins," Amy narrows her eyes, Jeremy and Ulrich looking scared. Aelita walks up the steps.

The bees have grown larger in numbers, the students hiding under the tables.

Aelita walks into the tower. She steps up to the middle, the three components lighting up as she steps on them. She starts flying to the top.

The students scream as they try to protect themselves.

Aelita makes it to the top pad. She steps up to the middle.

Herb and Nicolas look in fear.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface as it appears.

_Aelita_

_Code_

Sissi whimpers, trying to swat them away. "Go away!" She covers herself as the bees come closer to her.

_Lyoko_

The bees suddenly stop and the tower deactivates. The time reversion sets itself as Jeremy presses the enter button. "Return to the past now." Everything is engulfed in white and it's before Sissi gave Ulrich the letter. Before she can even slide it under the door, Ulrich suddenly opens it.

She blushes in embarrassment. "Uh, hi. I was just passing by and, I-" she laughs nervously. Ulrich takes the letter.

"What do you know?" He starts to open it. "Let's see now."

"It's, uh-"

"Well, that's a pretty embarrassing situation, don't you think?" Yumi suddenly asks, leaning against the wall.

"I, uh, this wasn't the right door," she takes the letter back and runs off.

"It sure isn't. Why not give it to Nicolas or to Herb? They'd be delighted!" Both Ulrich and Yumi laugh at her and a bee flies past the students in the sky...


	15. Just in Time

**Angel: I'm still on season three, I haven't written much for Code Lyoko because of one story that I can't find the episodes on (yet). And I just finished the season finale for another one of my stories. Plus, I had to work four days in a row, so I'm a bit tired.**

Once again, Jeremy has spent the night in the lab, working on the materialization program for Aelita. "Interface transfer activated. Virtual memory activated. Codes management configured. Scanners, activated and verified. Targeting, okay...this time it's gonna work. Ready, Aelita?"

"Ready," she answers.

"Here we go," he presses enter, waiting in anticipation as he watches the screen. The program actually works! "It's working."

He steps out of the elevator, walking into the scanner room. The scanner opens as he smiles.

Yumi kicks the air before blocking Ulrich's punch. She blocks his attacks in their spar. She smiles at him and he gives a smug look. "Ready?" He backs away and he dodges her attacks, Odd and Amy playing with their dogs.

"Here, Kiwi. Go on, fetch!" Odd throws the stick and Kiwi goes to catch it.

"Alright, girl. Fetch!" Amy throws the tennis ball and Kiki wags her tail as she chases after it.

"Anyone seen Jeremy this morning?" Yumi wonders.

"I think he spent the night in the laboratory," Odd crosses his arms. "He was working on something really important. Hmm," he smirks because there was only one thing that kept him up at night lately.

"Aelita!" They all guess knowingly. Ulrich rubs his neck before Yumi kicks him down. He lands on the path.

"Hey, I thought it was time out," he places a hand on his cheek.

"Oh, guess I forgot," she answers innocently, Amy giggling to herself.

"Hey guys!" Jeremy runs up to them. "Guess what I did last night?"

"Let's see now," Odd rubs his temples as if he's psychic. "It's got something to do with materializing Aelita?"

"That's right. Hey, how did you guess, Odd? Well guys, I finally did it. I decided to tackle the problem in a different way. You wouldn't believe it."

"Well tell us. Did you do it or not?" Ulrich asks impatiently.

"I sure did," He rummages through his pocket, revealing...a hair? They look in confusion.

"You materialized a test tube," Ulrich deadpans, he'd think that Jeremy would've had something a little more impressive.

"No airhead, look inside, will you?" They look closer to see the strand of pink hair.

"A hair? You mean you materialized one hair?" Odd asks in confusion. "...Are you sure it's not Amy's?"

"Odd," Amy elbows him. "That's not funny!" She hadn't done any tests with Jeremy, even though she won't deny that she and Aelita do share the same shade of pink hair.

"That's right, Odd, both about the one hair and about Amy's being the same shade. To be exact, it's a hair of...Aelita's," he blushes at the thought of having a piece of her. They gasp in shock.

"What? A real hair?" Ulrich asks.

"But how did you manage that?" Yumi wonders.

"Well, I chose a hair because it's a simple anatomical structure, but which contains Aelita's complete genetic computer code. According to a well-known fractal, whose recurrences are comparable to the genetic code of a human. Which enabled me to make a physiological number transfer onto one part of the program already pre-targeted and defragmented. And that's that," Jeremy explains in the lab, but they were just confused the whole time. "Simple enough, right?" Ulrich picks his ear. "Do you follow?" Odd taps his chin.

"No," he simply says.

"No, it's not simple enough or no you don't follow?" Jeremy elaborates.

"Uh, no means we take your word for it," Odd answers sheepishly. Ulrich, Amy, and Yumi nod, not wanting Jeremy to explain further. True, he was their friend and all, but sometimes he just confused them. Aelita giggles, placing a hand on her cheek.

"No problem. It'll become clear when Aelita is here in flesh and blood. Better get ready, Aelita."

"Okay Jeremy," she says with a smile.

"H-Huh? You're gonna materialize her now?" Ulrich asks in surprise.

"Well, what do you think? I'm not gonna wait until next year! The hair was just a test before we do the whole thing," Jeremy explains. Yumi steps up.

"Listen, making a hair appear is one thing. Materializing Aelita is not the same," Yumi shrugs. He turns back to the computer.

"Look, you wanna spend your whole life fighting XANA? Once Aelita has been materialized, we can unplug XANA once and for all and lead normal lives," Jeremy states. "So I say it's worth trying!" He presses enter without another word, but the program doesn't work. "How can that be? I planned everything so perfectly."

"You're almost there, Jeremy," Ulrich says. "In a few days, you'll be all set! You'll see." Jeremy smiles at him gratefully.

"Hey, come on, you guys. If _we _don't materialize in a couple of minutes in the classroom, we're not gonna last a few days!" Odd drags his eye bags dramatically, Amy giggling.

"Wow, Odd wanting to be on time. That's a first!"

"Hey!" He pouts at her. "I can be on time if I want to!"

* * *

The bell rings for class to end and everyone leaves for lunch. Jeremy eats as quickly as he can, the others staring at him. "You know, I'd have sworn it worked this time."

"But, if the computer gene code of the hair gives you enough information to find the parameters for the materialization, well then, what's the problem?" Yumi wonders.

"I wish I knew," Jeremy asks as he eats a Brussel sprout. "I'm doing something wrong. The only way to find out is to start over."

"No, don't do that. You're only a hair's breath away!" Odd giggles and Amy rolls her eyes.

"Whatever, will you be serious, Odd?" Yumi questions.

"I don't know, Yumi. Odd's fine just the way he is," Amy smiles a little. Odd turns to her in surprise, but she just eats a bite of her food with closed eyes. Odd looks towards his feet, smiling to himself. It felt great to hear that from her.

"By the way, Odd, speaking of hair, your dog sheds an awful lot of them. Most of them end up on my bed too," Ulrich suggests.

"What's the big deal about two or three hairs?" Odd picks at his food.

"Two or three?" Ulrich asks in disbelief as the others giggle. "With all the hairs he sheds, I could knit you another Kiwi! Honestly, one day, you should switch dogs with Amy!"

"No way!" Amy laughs. "I'm not letting Kiki stay in that mess you call a room!"

"Oh, did you say dog?" Sissi walks up to their table and they immediately scowl. "Oh, I really adore dogs. Hey, can I sit down?"

"No," Ulrich answers. Sissi chuckles, leaning in closer.

"You know, I'm so crazy about dogs that I'm ready to keep my mouth shut about the ones Amy and Odd are hiding in their rooms. That is, if you promise to be nicer to me, of course," she tells him. Amy glares as she grips her fork.

"Listen, Sissi, I'm warning you," Yumi grips her glass. "If you say anything about Kiwi or Kiki, I'll-" the glass breaks in her hands, everyone around her gasping. Sissi's eye twitches as she looks at Yumi weirdly, walking away without another word.

"You okay, Yumi?" Ulrich asks in concern. He looks over her hand to see three fresh cuts on it.

* * *

At the infirmary, Dorothy opens her cabinet, grabbing some alcohol. She places it on a cotton ball. "There we are," she cleans Yumi's hand and she groans in pain. "It's nothing serious, the cut isn't very deep. Here," she hands Ulrich a bandage. "Put this on it, please."

"It's incredible, I barely squeezed the glass. They're pretty fragile, I guess," Yumi says as the nurse leaves.

"Fragile, huh? We're not talking about Venetian crystal," he places the bandage on her hand carefully. "Lunch room plastics, more like it. Anyway, I know what I'm in for if I get on your nerves." She chuckles slightly and so does he. They look down to see that they're holding hands. They let go of each other, looking away. Ulrich stands up, looking out the window. The air is silent until one of them gets a phone call. Ulrich picks up. "What?" Yumi looks up. "On our way," he hangs up.

"I don't believe it, it's a disaster!" Jeremy exclaims.

"What is?" Ulrich asks.

"I was trying to figure out why the materialization didn't work and I realized that Aelita's program is all full of bugs!" They look in shock as he demonstrates on his computer. "When I materialized the hair, I...I hit a button I shouldn't have. And so, I...I damaged the annex programs."

"Annex? That doesn't sound so bad," Yumi offers in sympathy.

"That's what you think. The part of the program linking Aelita to the towers is screwed up. If Aelita enters the Lyoko code, she'll be completely reformatted!" Jeremy explains.

"Meaning?" Ulrich asks.

"...She'll disappear forever," Jeremy closes her eyes.

"You know, Jeremy, a program can be debugged. We can do it together," Aelita explains and he looks up at her.

"What if XANA attacks before we're done?" Jeremy wonders.

"Hmm, that means you gotta work fast, Jeremy," Odd tells him.

"But I'm sure you'll manage with Aelita's help," Amy gestures to his screen.

"Okay, make up a story to tell to the teachers. I'm not leaving this computer until I've solved the problem," everyone else nods in agreement before leaving his room.

"You think they can do it?" Odd asks as he, Amy, and Ulrich walk down the hall.

"What do you think?" Ulrich responds. "We've got two geniuses at work." They hear barking from their room. "Hey Odd, if you don't get Kiwi to calm down, they're gonna find him." Odd nods before a second dog barks.

"Kiki?!" Amy runs into the room to see the two dogs.

"Hey quiet, Kiwi. You heard me, quiet down, both of you," Odd bends down to his dog, petting his head. Amy picks up her dog, stroking her fur.

"What's the matter? Did you smell something?" As they continue to bark, their window starts to crack. "What's going on?" The window suddenly breaks and Odd shields Amy, Kiki, and Kiwi from the glass.

"Whoa!" Ulrich comments.

"Did you do that?" Odd and Amy look at their dogs.

* * *

Later, Jim is crossing his arms. "Well, maybe it was a ball that did it. And you of course, didn't see anything," he says as Ulrich and Amy clean up the glass.

"I couldn't have seen anything, Jim, because I wasn't here," Odd rubs his neck.

"And yet Ms. Smith was with you and NOT on her floor?" Amy smiles sheepishly. "Maybe so, but since all the rooms are off-limits during the day, how come you knew about the window?" He steps up to the door before stopping. "Ulrich, clean up your bed, there's hair all over it."

Amy snickers before sighing in relief. "Why is he gunning for you?" Ulrich wonders, Amy freezing. He smirks as he looks at Odd, who is blushing as he stares at the door. "It wouldn't have something to do with _Odd, _would it?"

"N-No! Why would you think that?" She stutters, making Ulrich all the more suspicious, but also intrigued.

"I dunno, Amy, you two _did _get in trouble with Jim because of Sissi telling him about your dogs. That was when it all started..." Odd throws a pillow at him. "Hey!"

"What happened?" Yumi asks as Ulrich runs up to her.

"Everything's cool, Jim didn't spot Kiwi or Kiki. But it was close," Amy and Odd walk up to him. "They'll have to stay with Jeremy for a while."

"When did you scan the STR connection blocks?" Aelita asks as the dogs bark.

"I already did," Jeremy answers as he glances to the side. "That's now where I went wrong. Stop chewing my slippers!" Aelita raises her eyebrows. "Oh, sorry Aelita. I was talking to the dogs. When they're around, it's hard to concentrate." He throws the slipper away before seeing something in Kiwi's mouth.

His boxers.

He blushes in embarrassment, hoping Aelita can't see them. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing," he turns the screen before chasing after Kiwi. "Give that back to me! Give it back! Oh!" He turns the screen back. "That dog. He took my-my handkerchief." He hears them bark again, slamming his head on the keyboard. "Oh, take them away, please!"

As Sissi walks down the hall, she hears howling from the dogs. "Those mutts!" As they bark, the ceiling starts to crack and she screams. She runs before the debris can hit her.

* * *

"I was just passing by..." Sissi tells her story to a crowd.

"I always said Sissi was full of plaster!" Odd jokes, the others chuckling.

"I'm heading for the lab," Jeremy states. "With the dogs barking and the school falling apart, I can't work in my room! See ya," he waves, leaving.

"I hope he finds the right solution before XANA attacks again," Ulrich says before Yumi waves.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." She leaves, the others staring at her with a smile, but Ulrich's is different. Odd waves his hand in front of his face.

"Hello, anybody home?"

"Oh...all these things happening are really weird. First Yumi's glass breaks, then the window gets shattered and now, the ceiling. You think it's XANA?" Ulrich points out.

"Maybe it's just coincidence," Odd implores.

"Maybe," Ulrich looks to the ground.

"I don't know, Odd...all of this points to XANA," Amy murmurs, narrowing her eyes.

In the lab, Jeremy continues working on de-bugging the program. He turns to the map before turning back to the computer. "I'm back, Aelita." He presses enter and Aelita feels pulsations in the desert sector.

"Oh no, I don't believe it. Not now."

"Okay, we can get back to work. Aelita? Are you there?"

"It's XANA!" She appears on the screen. "He's launched an attack."

"Oh..." He sits there stiffly for a few seconds. "Are you...are you sure? Oh..." The situation is dramatic. Aelita isn't debugged yet. And if she attempts to deactivate the tower...she'd be risking herself...he starts the scan and to his dismay, there's an activated tower. "Oh no, it can't be!" He slams his fist on the armchair. "Not now..."

* * *

"I've never seen such a thing in my entire career," Principal Delmas says in shock, having heard about what happened to Sissi. They look at the fallen plaster.

"You think humidity could have caused it, sir?" Jim asks as he kicks away a piece.

"I don't know. Doesn't look very damp," he looks up at the hole in the ceiling.

"The dogs. I've been after them for a long time," he clenches his fist before speeding across the hall to hear. "What the?" The wall starts to crack, along with the floor. "Whoa!" He backs away.

"Jim, we have to evacuate the building," the principal orders, Jim nodding in agreement.

* * *

"It's XANA for sure," Ulrich says.

"Oh yeah, it's him. How does he do it?" Odd wonders.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but you heard Sissi. Kiwi and Kiki began barking just before the ceiling fell," he explains.

"That might be a lead. With the window, it was the same!" Amy points out.

"Maybe they can feel the attacks coming," Ulrich theorizes.

"Or maybe they can hear them like a kind of ultrasound," Odd wonders as Amy's phone rings.

"Yes Jeremy?" She asks.

"XANA alert!" He warns her.

"I knew it was too good to be true."

"Warn Yumi!"

"Okay, we'll be there," she hangs up, turning to the boys. "We were right, XANA is attacking!"

The speaker system suddenly comes on. "Your attention, please. Due to a danger of a structural accident, please evacuate the building calmly and leave the immediate area. No one will be permitted to enter the building until further notice."

"Kiwi!"

"Kiki! They're in Jeremy's room! We'll go and get them," Odd and Amy run off.

"See you at the lab," Ulrich nods at them before scoffing. "Lovebirds." He calls Yumi as he leaves.

Yumi has just finished taking a bath, putting on her top. She's still in her underwear as her phone rings. "Hello? Hi, Ulrich. What? Uh, I'm not really ready yet. Okay, I'll hurry," she hangs up, turning to her mirror.

* * *

Odd and Amy jump over the crack in the floor. Odd opens the door to Jeremy's room. "Kiwi, Kiki, where are you, come on." They jump up to their respective owners. They start to leave, but they hear someone in their room, when they're supposed to be outside. Amy opens the door to see Milly and Tamiya, but they're both listening to music so loud, they didn't even hear the announcement.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to knock, huh?" Milly asks in annoyance.

"Didn't you hear the principal? You gotta get out. The whole building may collapse."

"Come on, cut it out," Milly dismisses.

"Milly, he's serious. We swear, we're not joking. Everyone else has already left the building!" She looks at Tamiya before they follow the two older students. The dogs follow them on foot before they start barking.

"Hey, what's wrong with your dogs?" The building starts to shake. Milly and Tamiya hold onto each other. Odd and Amy open their eyes when it stops, seeing the stairs destroyed. They all look in shock, as it was their only way out...

"About face," Odd runs in the other direction. The girls and dogs follow him. "Oh no." The floor has separated into half.

Ulrich enters the lab, running inside. "Ulrich! How are things going over there?"

"There are cracks in the school building. It may cave in," Ulrich reports. "XANA's using some kind of ultrasound system."

"Ultrasound, huh? That's possible. He could be using the electrical sockets," Jeremy guesses.

"Listen, he might attack the factory. Odd and Amy are on their way and I've warned Yumi," Ulrich tells him.

"Let's hope XANA gives me enough time to repair my program," Jeremy turns to the computer. Ulrich's phone rings.

"Yes, guys? Huh?"

"We're stuck, right. With Milly and Tamiya, if you must know," Odd walks forward, Milly and Tamiya confused. "The firefighters will be here any minute, so we can't meet you right now. No, don't wait. Go to Lyoko. Mhm," the dogs bark again, the other side lifting. Kiwi jumps into Odd's arms and he runs off. He sees Amy near the edge and she falls off, along with Odd's phone. "NO!"

"Odd! Odd!" Ulrich hangs up. "No time to lose, Jeremy."

"But I'm not finished fixing the program!" Jeremy insists.

"Odd and Amy are in danger. Transfer me right now!" Jeremy gives a worried look at the computer, knowing the risks. He closes his eyes, deciding he had no choice...while he wanted to help Aelita, he didn't want to risk his friends' lives.

Yumi runs through the street before she hears howling. All the dogs are howling at the sky and Yumi narrows her eyes. "What's going on?" The sidewalk starts to crack in front of her and she gasps. She looks up and sees the power going off. She continues running. She had to get there before the factory was affected. The dogs bark before they run off. The sidewalk starts to crack, cutting the power off on the whole town.

Ulrich steps into the scanner. "Transfer Ulrich," Jeremy presses enter. "Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization." The air lifts up his hair and he's transferred into the forest sector. He looks around before turning, about to pull his sword out on Aelita.

"Ulrich..."

"Aelita!"

"Shh," she puts a finger to her lips. "They're here."

Ulrich whips around, but nothing's there. _"There's nothing on my holomap_ _for now."_

"Things seem pretty calm," Ulrich says.

"That's not what the pulsations say," Aelita points to the ground.

"If we follow them, they're bound to lead us to the tower XANA's activated," Ulrich explains, Aelita nodding. They run off, not noticing Kankerlots following them.

* * *

Yumi runs through the school, stopping in her tracks as the school has gotten worse. Half of it looks like it's about to fall off. Yumi turns to Sissi. "What happened here?"

Sissi looks at her, actually crying. Yumi looks surprised. Sissi never looked this worried for anything. "Odd and Amy...they're stuck inside...with Milly and Tamiya." Yumi grits her teeth because this was XANA's doing. She looks at the building, which starts to shake again.

"Oh, why aren't they here yet?" Milly asks in fear. Odd screams as he looks at the floor below. The shaking stops and he could see Amy lying down there. She lies on her side, her hair covering her face. Odd narrows his eyes, looking up at the girls.

"Look, we can't stay here. We've gotta cross over to the other side and see if Amy's okay!"

"Are you out of your mind, Odd? It's at least a 10 meter drop!" Tamiya says.

"Trust me, okay? I can't tell you how yet, but we're gonna make it! In the meantime, we've gotta get across where we'll be safe and we can help her!" He slides down with Kiwi and Kiki in his arms.

"No!" Tamiya shouts, but he lands safely, putting the dogs down. He waves up to them.

"No problem, your turn now!"

Milly looks in fear, looking at Tamiya. Odd shakes Amy, who doesn't move. "Ames, you gotta wake up. No time to be taking a nap."

Kiki nudges her owner, but she doesn't budge.

"Ames, please!" Odd begs, trying not to cry. He leans his ear towards her mouth and thankfully, she's still breathing.

* * *

Ulrich and Aelita run through the path, following the pulsations. No tower is in sight. "We're coming up to the barrel of paths!" The Kankerlots are still trailing them. Ulrich looks around before the monster fires, hitting his leg. Ulrich rolls to safety, pulling out his sword. "Jeremy, how many life points do I have?"

"Hold on, 70. Uh, no, 60!"

"Make up your mind, Jeremy, I gotta know!" Another laser is fired and they move out of the way. "Take cover, Aelita!"

"I can't do a million things at once. Dodge the lasers and you won't have to keep count!" Jeremy retorts. Ulrich flips from the lasers, blocking one with his sword. He jumps, moving to the tree. He speeds away as a laser hits the tree, creating a hole.

Yumi arrives as the factory starts to be affected by the attack, smoke behind her. She jumps down using the rope, but the floor splits right under her feet. She looks up, running out of the way from a falling piece of debris. She uses the elevator, which thankfully has not been shut down.

"Yumi, immediate departure! Ulrich and Aelita need your help," Jeremy tells her through the speakers. She arrives in the scanner room and Jeremy begins to start the process. "Okay, here we go." Some debris has already fallen in the room. Yumi steps in. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner Yumi." Her card and body are scanned. "Virtualization."

Ulrich and Aelita continue to run, coming to an intersection. "The pulsations are separating in two directions now!"

_"Head east. The monsters you managed to dodge before aren't very far away."_

"Okay Jeremy, we'll try to find another path," Aelita says as Ulrich has his sword ready.

"Too late," Ulrich tells her as a Kankerlot is about to fire. They dodge from the laser before running. Three more block their way. One of them fires and they both dodge. They turn around, only to see another one. They were cornered. Suddenly, one of them is destroyed by a stray fan. They look to see Yumi landing. "Yumi!"

"Need a hand around here?" She throws it again, destroying the two in their way. Ulrich jumps up, jumping from a laser. He jumps again before landing behind it.

"Impact!" He stabs his sword into the eye, destroying it.

"Here we go!" The three start following the pulsations again. They go right and Ulrich sees the tower on his left.

"There!"

* * *

Odd catches Tamiya. "There you go. Okay, your turn, Milly!"

"No, I'll never make it!" She shouts.

"Sure you will, come on." The building rumbles, making her fall. Odd runs up and she lands on the edge. She almost falls, but Odd pulls her to safety. "Good going, girls. Okay, let's get out of here."

"Is Amy…Is Amy gonna be okay?" Milly asks in fear. Odd had no idea what to do for a second.

"She's unconscious, but she'll be okay."

He picks up Amy bridal style, running, but they stop. "I don't believe it." Rocks block their path and the building starts to shake again.

* * *

A Krab runs up to them. "Watch out!" Yumi warns as the girls dodge the laser. Ulrich turns around, letting Yumi and Aelita pass him. They jump across the gap, Aelita sighing in relief. The Krab walks up to Ulrich, who jumps and stabs it in the eye.

"Impact!" He jumps away, the Krab destroyed. He starts running again as another one appears. Ulrich jumps to the other side, hiding with Yumi and Aelita. The Krab jumps as well, hitting against the bark. Yumi moves herself slightly as the Krab fires. Ulrich rolls out of the way. A third Krab approaches. "XANA's pulled out all the stops. We're not gonna last long, Jeremy. Jeremy, do you read me? Oh, Jeremy!" They're surrounded by three Krabs now.

"A little patience, guys. I'm almost done! Okay, Aelita can enter the program now. It's safe," he says as the ceiling starts to crumble. The Krabs fire, trying to hit them. Yumi blocks a laser with her fan, Aelita clutching her arm.

"We're all set. Hang on, Aelita. I'm starting up the repair program," Aelita looks up with a smile.

"Just in time, too. It's getting kinda hot around here," Yumi looks at the monsters as they continue their assault. Yumi ducks and Jeremy looks around the factory nervously.

"Here we go!" He presses enter, but the repair program doesn't work. "No, this can't be!"

A Krab hits against the bark. A laser narrowly misses Aelita as she sighs. She stands up, holding her arm. "Jeremy, I've got to deactivate the tower." Yumi and Ulrich stare at her.

_"No, give me a little more time. I-I'll start over again!"_

"Jeremy, you know there's no choice."

"You'll be reformatted and disappear, Aelita!" Jeremy tells her, panicking. "I-I can't let you do that!"

"Are you ready for one last run?" She asks Yumi and Ulrich, ignoring Jeremy.

"No, Aelita, don't do it!" Jeremy begs. Yumi pulls out her fan, Ulrich pulling out his sword. They believe that it's her choice and that she wants to do it, so they were with her all the way.

"I'll be in front." He runs forward and jumps. "Impact!" He destroys the Krab and lands in front of another one. He gasps as it fires, devirtualizing him.

The dogs bark, and Odd knew what that meant. The girls inch closer to him, Odd tightening his grip on the still unconscious Amy. Her head is buried into his shoulder.

Yumi and Aelita make it to the tower. Aelita waves at Yumi as her last goodbye, running as Yumi pulls out her fan. The Krabs approach and she runs. She jumps from the laser before destroying the first Krab. Aelita enters the tower and Yumi sacrifices herself to be devirtualized. Aelita steps into the middle, flying up to the top.

Debris falls onto the ground, Milly and Tamiya holding onto Odd. He gives a determined look, knowing that Aelita would be deactivating the tower any minute now. He looks down at Amy in worry, slowly stroking her cheek with his finger.

"I miss you…" He murmurs sadly, nuzzling her head with his cheek.

Aelita has made it to the top. _"No, don't do it, Aelita!"_

"Goodbye, Jeremy," she tells him with a smile.

"Nooooo!" He yells in anguish. _"Aelita!" _She presses her hand to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The rumbling at the school stops and the tower is deactivated...but that meant Aelita's demise. The time reversion is reset. "Return to the past now," Jeremy sounded like he was about to cry. Everything is engulfed in white.

* * *

Yumi wipes away tears as they all look in sadness. Amy sniffles, hugging Odd. He hugs her back, soothing her as he rubs her back in smooth circles. Ulrich walks up to Jeremy.

"Jeremy, it wasn't your fault."

"It was, and all that...for a strand of hair," he blows on his glasses.

"Hey, the hair!" Yumi realizes. "Jeremy, didn't you say that the hair contained Aelita's entire genetic code?" He puts his glasses back on.

"Her computer code, yes, but-"

"Is it possible to reverse things and recreate Aelita's code from the strand of her hair?" He gasps in realization. He pulls out the test tube.

Yumi plants the tube in the scanner. "Here we go," Jeremy presses enter. As the scanner starts, the hair is lifted slightly. "It works! The programs are getting restored! Let's hope that-" Aelita reappears on the screen!

"Jeremy," she says. "I'm ready for my materialization now."

"Aelita," Ulrich murmurs.

"Aelita!" Yumi shouts happily, hugging Ulrich.

"Yeah!" Odd cheers, picking Amy up and spinning her around. She laughs at his antics, Jeremy crying happily.

"Jeremy? Did I miss something? Why is there water on your face?" She wonders, her memories of her sacrifice seemingly gone.

"I'll tell you later, Aelita." He lifts his glasses, wiping his face. "This time, we only missed...by a hair." They start laughing, Aelita watching the screen as everything is back to normal...


	16. The Trap

Jeremy stares at his computer, unable to sleep. He decides to talk to Aelita more about Earth, logging on. "Hey, Aelita? Are you connected?"

She soon appears a few seconds later. "Hello, Jeremy. Did you have a good day?"

"Oh, nothing special." He places his hands on his cheeks. She raises her eyebrows, starting to grow curious.

"Which classes do you have tomorrow morning?" She wonders.

"First we've got physics and chemistry with Ms. Hertz, and then a math exam with Mrs. Meyer," he explains.

"What do you do during an exam?" She asks, wanting to know everything.

"You have to show what you know in writing," he tells her.

"What a strange idea," she chuckles.

"Not really," Jim's voice can be heard in the background. "Because we're not like you. Your memory and ours aren't the same, because yours is, well, infinite. Our brains have a limited memory capacity. We can't store as much data as you can. In other words, Aelita, compared to you, our hard disk comes up kinda short!"

"Oh, I get it," she understands as Jim knocks on the door.

"Are you sleeping yet?!" His voice booms from behind the door.

"I'm gonna be in trouble if I stay connected. I'm sorry, Aelita, but...I gotta go," Jeremy stands up. "I don't wanna take the chance of having to introduce you to Jim. I'll connect with you at noon tomorrow, universal time."

* * *

The next morning, the day goes by like it normally does. Students enter, the bell rings, and the four sit in their class. Odd looks out the window in boredom before turning to the chalkboard. Jeremy answers questions, Herb obviously being ignored. Emmanuel and Jeremy yawn, Sissi pays no attention, and Odd just goofs off. Amy takes notes, Odd shrugging at Jeremy. Everyone sits in boredom and Odd gets called out by Ms. Hertz by not paying attention. Herb laughs, Odd blowing a raspberry at him. Finally, the bell rings and they all leave for their next class.

Now, it's time for the math exam with Mrs. Meyer. The teacher walks past the students, looking to see if anyone is cheating. Jeremy is sitting down all relaxed. "Something wrong, Jeremy? A problem?"

"No, no. Um...I finished, ma'am," he explains, everyone turning to him in shock. Mrs. Meyer looks over his work. She nods in approval.

"Why yes, you have. Very good job. It's excellent work, too." He smiles a little. "Alright, the rest of you keep working."

"Oh, her birthday is today!" Jeremy realizes, Herb, Nicolas, and Mrs. Meyer turning around.

"You may go, Jeremy."

"Oh, thanks a million. You could've at least stayed and given me a hand," Odd whispers.

"Aelita, I almost forgot that we met exactly a year ago today," Jeremy explains. He leaves, Odd whispering to Ulrich.

"Hey, it's Aelita's birthday today."

"Yeah, I forgot all about it," Ulrich replies.

"You two are impossible," Amy gives a blank look.

"What's going on?" Sissi whispers to them.

"Mind your own business," Ulrich tells her and she narrows her eyes.

* * *

Ulrich, Odd, Jeremy, and Amy are in the courtyard after their exam, near the vending machine. "Wow, it's already a year since we met Aelita," Ulrich places a coin in the machine.

"And I still haven't managed to materialize her," Jeremy laments. Ulrich sips his drink.

"I know, but we've managed to protect her from XANA," Ulrich states.

"What do you say we use our lunch hour to prepare a little surprise? She'd like that a lot, huh, don't you think?" Odd suggests.

"That's a great idea!" Amy gasps, clasping her hands. "Let's do it! She's gonna love this!"

"What do you think, Jeremy?" Ulrich turns to him.

"Yeah, come on. Let's go to the factory," Jeremy agrees. What they didn't know is that Sissi is listening in.

"You go on ahead. I promised Yumi I'd stop by after class. We'll meet you there," Ulrich explains and the three leave.

"Oh, I thought they would never leave," She walks up to him. "Your friends really stick to you like glue, huh?"

"Not half as much as you do, Sissi," he retorts.

"I'd like to talk to you, Ulrich. Could we have lunch together? I mean, just us two?" She offers, trying to use what she knows to her advantage.

"Uh, sorry. Yumi's waiting for me," he leaves and she clenches her fists.

_Yumi. Always Yumi. It's time he dumped her!_

In Lyoko, pulsations form in the desert sector, meaning XANA has launched a tower. They reach the tower Aelita is in and she looks up in worry.

A sound resonates in the large empty rooms of the factory. The monitors turn on, showing XANA's symbol. Deeper inside, the assembly room starts up by XANA. The machines move by themselves, as part of the attack...

* * *

In the boiler room, Odd opens the door. He's joined by Amy and Jeremy, running down the path. They reach the sewers and jump out. The three grab their respective rides. "Yeah!" Odd throws his skateboard, speeding through the tunnel. Jeremy and Amy follow him. They reach the ladder and Odd holds out a hand to Amy as he's climbing the ladder. She smiles up at him, grabbing his hand. He throws her onto his shoulders and she jumps out. She helps the others to the bridge and they run to the entrance. They slide down using the ropes.

"I'd love to find a nice present for Aelita," Jeremy states as they walk into the elevator.

"No problem. Why don't you program a digital birthday cake?" Odd jokes.

"I was gonna say that!" Amy giggles in amusement.

"Very funny. I swear, it's like you two share a mind."

"We're an awesome team. She's the brains and I'm the stomach," Odd puts his arm around Amy and she chuckles.

"The best of friends..." She frowns to herself at that last word. But the thing that perplexed her is why. It's not like he cared for her like Ulrich does with Yumi...not that she knew of. What's ironic, though, is that Odd was frowning too at her statement. Jeremy presses the button, but nothing happens. He presses it again.

"What's wrong, Einstein?" Odd asks.

"Uh," he tries again. "Power code, I guess. Come on, we'll go check out the fuses in the control room," he jerks a thumb.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Amy murmurs cautiously.

* * *

In the forest, Ulrich is talking to Yumi about their idea. "What do you think?"

"It's a great idea."

"I really wonder what he sees in her," Sissi growls in jealously. How could Ulrich prefer some Japanese girl over her, the prettiest girl in school?

"Okay, let's go," they walk away. Sissi frowns, deciding to spy on them. If anyone was going to spend time with Ulrich, it was gonna be her! They walk to the manhole cover, Ulrich looking around.

"Coast is clear." He proceeds to open it, neither of them aware of Sissi hiding behind a tree. She peeks behind it as Yumi goes down the ladder first. She waits until Ulrich has closed the entrance.

* * *

"Wow," the three have entered the maintenance room. "I forgot what this place looked like. That's really cool."

"You're kidding. A hunk of junk if you ask me," Jeremy comments, he's seen stuff way more impressive and advanced.

"Oh come on, you gotta learn to appreciate the old stuff, Jeremy. After all, this machinery was used back when the factory was built. Imagine all the things they've done in this room," Amy gestures to the machines as they walk past. Some of it starts to move behind them.

* * *

Ulrich slides the door open before helping Yumi up. They run past the bridge. "I'm gonna beat you to the elevator!" Yumi challenges.

"We'll see!" Ulrich jokes and they laugh as they jump down the ropes. Yumi makes it first, laughing. "That's nice, they set it back down."

"Odd and Amy must be in the scanner," Yumi guesses, wiggling her eyebrows. "What's with them, anyway?"

"I don't know, but all I know is, Odd must like her. Sometimes, he can't keep his mouth shut after they hang out together," Ulrich shrugs, grinning. It's true; he couldn't stop talking about her drawings, her strategies on Lyoko, and how well she's adjusted in the past year. Of course, he didn't tell Ulrich about Amy's parents. He swore himself to secrecy, and he didn't break promises.

"Ooo, Romeo and Juliet must not want us to tease them. Too late for that," Yumi laughs before Ulrich presses the button. Unlike last time, the elevator works.

"Well, well, nice little hiding place," Sissi comes in just as the door closes. They look in shock.

"What are you doing here?" Ulrich accuses the girl.

"I should ask you that!" She places her hands on her hips. "I wanna know...are Jeremy and the two lovebirds waiting for you or is this your own private lovenest?"

"Sissi, that is none of your business!" Yumi tells her. They didn't need to explain to her that what they did is serious business, and she didn't need to know a thing about their love lives.

"Yumi's right. So why don't you just leave?" He presses the button again, but the elevator doesn't work again. "What's going on? Something's wrong, it doesn't wanna open." They don't know that XANA is controlling all of the machinery, including the elevator. He makes it move, Yumi and Ulrich getting suspicious. It stops in the middle, the three now stuck. Sissi looks at Ulrich as she holds onto him on instinct. He tries the button again. "It won't start up."

"But what's the matter?" Yumi wonders.

"I don't know, it's blocked." The power goes out and the elevator starts to shake. They all gasp before the ropes snap. Sissi screams as they fall.

* * *

As soon as Jeremy steps on the stairs, one of the machines move and he hears it. He turns around, but nothing happens. He starts again, the others following him. They hear a sort of boom. "What was that?"

"Better check it out," they run down the stairs and back into the room. The assembly line moves along with the robots. They look in confusion before Odd sees the robots. "It's a trap!"

On Lyoko, Aelita stands on a platform, seeing the pulsations. "XANA."

The elevator has stopped falling after three floors, all of them on the floor. Yumi wakes up, crawling to Ulrich. "Ulrich? Ulrich, are you okay? Answer me," she turns him around and he winces.

"I can't seem to move my arm," he holds his left arm. "And you?"

"I was lucky, I-I'm okay," she looks at Sissi who is unconscious. "But not her. She's out cold. I better call Jeremy."

Odd stands ready to fight while Jeremy does not. Amy backs away as Jeremy's phone rings. He picks up. "Yumi, are you alright? In the elevator? So that was the noise we heard? We're stuck in the machine room," Odd looks up to a machine coming right for them.

"Careful!" He pushes both Jeremy and Amy out of the way. He falls to the floor with Amy and they stare at each other, Amy surprised.

"It looks as if we're on our own, Ulrich," Yumi reports as she hangs up.

"You've gotta go back. You have to get to the lab," Ulrich orders.

"And what about you?" She questions in concern, recalling his broken arm.

"With just one arm? Impossible. Besides, we can't leave Sissi all alone," they look at the unconscious girl.

Jeremy and Amy look up at the machines, but Odd yells, hitting it with a crowbar he found. It stops and they look in surprise.

"Jeremy," Aelita calls out. "Jeremy, please answer me, where are you?" She doesn't know that Jeremy is stuck in the machine room. She steps at the edge, closing her eyes before letting herself fall. She lands safely, running off.

Yumi opens the roof of the elevator, climbing out. "Whoa."

"What's the problem?" She looks at the long ladder.

"Uh, I uh, I just remembered I have a slight fear of heights," she tells him. Sissi is on Ulrich's lap.

"Just hang on tight and don't look down," he advises her. "You can do it, Yumi."

Sissi wakes up. "What happened? I can't..."

"The elevator broke down. We're stuck down in the shaft," he explains, leaning against the wall.

"Oh, I'm so cold."

"Don't worry, we'll be out of here real soon," he winces, holding his arm. Sissi notices this.

"Ulrich, what is it?"

"I think I broke my arm..." He groans, he can't move it.

"Let me have a look at it." He stares at her, wondering if this was just another attempt to get close to him. She stares right back at him and he could tell she was being serious.

Yumi climbs up the ladder, slipping a little. She gasps, catching herself. She looks down, the elevator seeming so far away now...she remembers what Ulrich said and continues to climb. Walls above the elevator start to crack, releasing some water.

Jeremy, Amy, and Odd defend themselves from the machinery as best as they can, one of them grabbing Odd's weapon and bending it. Odd looks in panic.

"We've gotta get out of here," Jeremy says.

"No kidding, genius!" One of the machines pushes Jeremy.

"JEREMY!" The two shout, Jeremy falling onto the conveyor belt. They gasp as he's moved. One of the machines grabs Odd and Amy, lifting them up. "Let us go, you horrible-" they fall onto the belt, dodging the machines. Jeremy stays at the corner until he has to move.

"Up there!" Amy points. "Hurry up!" They start to climb up until their weight makes them fall.

"Follow me!" Jeremy runs, the other two following him. They pant as they stop.

"It's too bad this isn't Lyoko. At least I have superpowers there!" Odd comments once they settle their rapid heartbeats.

"I'm pretty sure Aelita is also in danger. And she's gonna need your help," Jeremy catches his breath.

"But how do we reach the lab?" Odd wipes sweat off his forehead.

"Via the boiler room," he explains.

"Oh great," Amy groans at the thought. "More running..."

"Come on," Odd drags her on the floor.

"Noooo," she whines as she lets herself be dragged.

Yumi's phone rings as she continues to climb. She didn't even know how many floors she had gone up. She wraps her arm around one of the bars and answers it.

"Hello Odd, are you alright? Where are you?"

"Heading for the lab. And how are you doing?" He answers, glancing next to him.

"Let's say I'm trying to cope," she suggests before opening her eyes. "You're making Amy run, aren't you? I can hear her whining."

"No, I'm dragging her on the floor," Odd looks down at Amy, who looks exhausted. "No wonder why she hates jogging. But I can handle it," he offers Amy a chocolate bar and her eyes shine. "See? No more whining!"

Aelita dashes across the path, but a Krab keeps watch on her. She stops, feeling that she's being watched. She turns around, the Krab right behind her. She sees the shadow looming over her and turns back, gasping. She screams, dodging the laser. She runs away from the Krab, wondering what happened to Jeremy.

Jeremy walks into the boiler room. "Oh, look at the boiler." There's smoke in the air, which is not normal. "XANA is really after us this time."

"Yumi's on her way to the lab. She's climbing up the shaft," Odd reports, looking down at the brunette. "Get up off the floor, Ames."

"No!" She yells in protest. "My legs are tired."

"Then I guess we'll leave you behind," Odd smirks, winking at Jeremy.

"No you wouldn't. I know you, Odd," Amy closes her eyes with a smug look.

"Darn it," he mutters, picking her up and holding her piggy back style. Jeremy snorts at his failed plan. He could never say no to her, no matter how much he wanted to at times.

"Yay," she cheers as she closes her eyes with a smile.

"Huh?" Jeremy turns to where the smoke is coming from.

"I don't trust that thing. Ready for a 100-yard dash?" Odd suggests.

"I'm better in math than gym," Jeremy recalls.

"Math isn't gonna help you this time. Hold on tight, Ames. Ready?" They prepare themselves, except for Amy, who seems too lazy to run. "Go!" They speed off, running past the smoke. Odd is definitely faster than Jeremy, that's for sure. Amy hugs Odd's neck tightly and the pipe explodes. Odd yells as the place starts to explode behind them, as if they were in an action movie.

Yumi feels the explosion, but manages to get to the elevator. She presses the code to the lab, wiping sweat off her forehead. She enters and water drips onto the elevator.

"Hey, what's that noise?" Sissi asks as she's putting Ulrich's broken arm in a sling.

"Uh, nothing," Ulrich denies, pretty sure that it wasn't that important.

"Don't move, wait," she instructs, finishing her work. "There, okay." She strokes his cheek slightly.

"Thank you. You know, you're a real good nurse," he comments.

"Ah. I'm not just somebody who sticks to you like glue, huh?" She asks, recalling what he said to her before. He smiles a little before noticing the water at his feet.

"Hmm?" Sissi stands up. The water is coming in from the cracked wall, more water than before now.

On Lyoko, Aelita comes across a path of pillars. She jumps onto one, the Krab stepping on two carefully. He sues the narrow pillars to move. It slips, but catches itself. Aelita jumps, looking behind her. The Krab slowly advances. She brings her hands together, using her creativity to get rid of some pillars. The Krab stumbles and she opens her eyes as it cannot move or steady itself. She giggles, waving. "Bye bye," she makes it to safety, and the Krab falls into the pit to its demise.

"Odd? Amy? Jeremy? Odd, Amy, Jeremy, please answer!" Yumi calls out. She hears coughing, turning to see three shadows. "You're here! I was so scared," she hugs Jeremy in relief.

"Yumiii~" Amy leaps forward, hugging her as well. "I heard about the shaft. I hope you're okay."

"I'll live, Amy," Yumi chuckles.

"We pushed the boiler too hard. Guess it just couldn't take it," Odd jokes.

The water has gotten larger, Ulrich pushing against the roof to try and stop it. "Oh, I don't believe it! This is useless."

"Lyoko connection. Please wait," the computer says as Jeremy sits in the chair.

The water continues down into the elevator. "This is absolutely impossible!"

"Here we go," Jeremy pushes enter, doing a scan for an activated tower to see where it is. "I've launched the scan to find the exact position of the activated tower. Aelita. Aelita. Do you read me, Aelita?"

"Oh, I understand, Ulrich. How is Sissi?" Yumi is talking to Ulrich for an update on his situation.

"She's okay," he tells her.

"Hang on, we're off to Lyoko."

"Okay, good luck," Ulrich nods.

"The water is rising and Ulrich can't swim with a broken arm," Yumi reports.

"And I can't contact Aelita," Jeremy explains.

The water rises even more, the water covering their feet. The two look up nervously.

The scan has finished. "Okay, I've got the coordinates of the tower. Now I've gotta-"

Aelita suddenly appears. "Jeremy!"

"Aelita...how are you? Everything okay?" On the inside, he's relieved that she's okay.

"I've been trying to contact you for such a long time," she hides behind a rock, looking behind the activated tower. Three Krabs guard it.

"We had a problem," Jeremy rubs his head. "XANA set a trap for us in the factory. Ulrich is in danger, Yumi, Amy, and Odd are coming to Lyoko. We've gotta hurry."

"I'm just in front of the tower," Aelita explains.

"And to think I've dreamed of being alone with you for such a long time, but this isn't what I had in mind at all!" Sissi holds herself, the water up to their waists.

"I swear, if we get out of here alive, I'll be nicer to you in the future, Sissi," Ulrich turns to her.

"Really?" She sniffles a little. "Jeremy and the others are gonna call for help, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that."

"Well, they'd better hurry up. Otherwise we'll drown before you have a chance to be nicer to me." She looks down and Ulrich walks up to her, comforting the girl. He silently hopes that Odd, Amy, and Yumi are on Lyoko already.

"Okay, Amy, Yumi, and Odd are ready to go. You're off to the desert. Transfer Yumi," Yumi steps into the scanner. "Transfer Amy," Amy steps into her scanner. "Transfer Odd," he starts the transfer just as Ulrich calls.

"Jeremy."

"Hold on, Ulrich. Amy, Odd, and Yumi are gonna be transferred. Hang on for just a second," he explains.

"Hurry, Jeremy. It's getting tough. We can hardly touch bottom anymore," the water has reached their arms.

"Okay now, back to the virtualization." He pushes enter, the three scanned. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

They both land in the desert sector safely, right in front of the tower. A Krab fires a laser and Yumi throws her fan, missing. It fires again and Odd jumps away.

"You missed!"

"Okay Aelita, it's time. You ready?" Yumi calls out as Amy flies away from a laser. Odd jumps onto the rock in front of Aelita.

"Okay guys, we'll burst our way through. You keep running behind us. We've gotta make it to the tower, you understand?" He looks back, jumping away from another laser. "Go!" They all run, another Krab joining the three. "Take that!" Odd fires three arrows. "And that!" He fires another one. He gets hit in the arm.

"40 life points in just two shots. Odd, you're losing life points much too quickly!" Jeremy warns.

"Don't worry, I'll make it!" He continues running and they stop right in front of the Krabs.

"Watch it on your left!" Yumi calls out as she dodges a laser.

"Laser arrow!" Odd destroys one as the other three fire lasers. Yumi gets hit in the arm, kneeling.

"Your point loss rate is too high, Odd. You hear?" Jeremy panics as Amy gets hit in the leg. Odd is hit again before he's devirtualized.

"Odd!" Amy shouts in worry.

Odd pants as he steps outside the scanner.

A Krab steps up to Aelita, hitting her.

"Oh no! Aelita!"

Yumi jumps, absorbing the next laser with her fan. Amy holds out her hands. "Heat wave!" The heat gets hotter, burning two legs off a Krab. Amy throws her spear at it, destroying it.

"Aelita, 80. Yumi, just 10. Amy, 60. You gotta clear the passage!"

Yumi throws her fan, hitting one, but it fires at her just before it's destroyed. Amy and Aelita gasp as Yumi is devirtualized. "Yumi!" Since Amy is distracted, this gives the Krabs time to devirtualize her as well. The Krabs walk up to her. "Noo!" Jeremy shouts.

Aelita stares at it and they fire. She rolls under it, running into the tower. She steps up to the middle. "It's okay, Ulrich. Aelita is in the tower," Jeremy says in relief. "Ulrich?"

The water has gotten too high, Ulrich's phone dropping to the bottom..."Ulrich, do you hear me?"

Ulrich and Sissi struggle to breathe, the water up to their necks.

Aelita starts flying to the top.

Sissi starts to drown.

Aelita lands on the top pad.

Ulrich starts to drown as well, unable to swim because of his arm.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The water stops and Jeremy breathes in relief. The tower deactivates, everything resetting in time. "Return to the past now." The environment is engulfed in white.

* * *

The five are standing in front of Jeremy's computer, Yumi hiding something. "Okay, now."

"Ready, Aelita?" Jeremy asks, though Aelita is confused. "Here we go."

"What's going on? I don't understand," she says, trying to deduce what's going on, but she can't.

"It's something from our world," Odd explains, Sissi and her cronies peeking in. Sissi shushes them.

"Happy birthday, Aelita!" They show a birthday cake.

"Oh!" She gasps at the dessert...but she has no idea what the occasion is. "...I don't get it."

"We're celebrating cuz it's exactly one year ago that we met you," Jeremy replies as Ulrich turns around, seeing Sissi. He gives a small smile.

"Oh, I see. And am I supposed to do something?"

"Yeah, save me a piece of cake!" Odd jokes.

"One track mind."

"Don't listen to that glutton." Sissi looks back, Ulrich winking at her. She smiles back.

"Speak for yourself four-eyes," Odd retorts.

"Both of you stop it," Amy tells them.

"Heh, what a bunch of loonies. They're celebrating their computer's birthday," Herb and Nicolas laugh as Sissi walks up to them.

"Well, I think it's a very trendy thing to do. Buy a cake for tomorrow. To celebrate the birthday of my make-up kit," She smiles.

"Odd, you're eating all the cake, stop!" Yumi scolds.

"I'm hungry!" He whines.

"So is everybody else!"

"Hand it over."

One thing is sure: Ulrich's opinion of Sissi has changed.


	17. Laughing Fit

Laughing is heard as Jeremy twirls his pencil in his hands in their physics class. He leans towards Odd. "I've never seen her laugh so much."

"You're telling me, I've never seen her laugh at all!" Odd glances at Amy out of the corner of his eye. She's just sitting there like the rest of the class. She feels Odd's gaze on her and she smiles softly at him. He smiles back before looking up front. They watch Mrs. Hertz as she laughs for seemingly no reason at all.

"The gas I've just inhaled in this small quantity is called nitrogen oxide N20," she continues laughing. "For those of you interested in chemistry of course. Although it's better known as laughing gas." She laughs, holding her cheeks. "You can see why this gas is sometimes used in hospitals to relax patients who are going to be operated on," she keeps on laughing.

"Not a bad idea. Nothing like a laughing attack after an appendix attack!" Odd jokes, Amy giggling to herself.

"Let's try to stay serious and strongest as this gas can be highly toxic," she explains, continuing her unusual laughter. "And provoking very serious modifications and perception and even lesions in the nervous system. Sometimes even fatal, so one can is the saying goes literally die laughing!" She laughs. "Only one thing can neutralize the gas. Water, all you need is one drop to volatilize it," she giggles, opening her water bottle. She takes a sip, turning back to normal. "Enough of that. Get out a sheet of paper for a surprise quiz."

Amy, Odd, and Jeremy glance at each other, a little uneasy about her explanation of laughing gas.

* * *

In the courtyard, the four watch Yumi as she sits on the bench across, sad. "She's been sulking like that for two days. Nothing seems to cheer her up," Ulrich explains.

"I could try some of my jokes on her. That might do the trick," Odd suggests.

"I'm not saying you don't have a good sense of humor, Odd, but I'd rather go and talk to her," Ulrich tells him, walking up to her.

"You think Ulrich will manage to get her to smile?" Jeremy wonders.

"Yeah, as sure as Julia Roberts is gonna call and invite me out to dinner!"

"Yeah, I think you're right. She's really down," Jeremy agrees.

"The chances of Odd getting invited to dinner are the same chances of him getting an A in any subject," Amy snorts.

"Hey!"

"Hey Amy," she turns to Ulrich. "I could use some...girl help. You mind?"

Amy raises an amused eyebrow. "Alright, fine." She catches up to him.

"Please Ulrich and Amy, leave me alone. I really don't feel like talking," she didn't even turn around.

"But we feel like talking, and with you," Ulrich admits, Amy smirking.

"Yeah, come on, Yumi. Whatever it is, you can tell us." She turns to them before standing up.

"If you like talking so much, talk to yourself, okay?" She storms off.

"Well, that didn't work," Amy murmurs.

"Don't worry, Ulrich," they turn to Sissi. "Not all girls are like Yumi," Sissi swings back and forth, flirting.

"Yeah, that's a shame," he walks away, Amy blowing a raspberry at her. She narrows her eyes.

"Hey wait, Ulrich!" She catches up with them. "Are you coming tomorrow, to the rehearsal? Huh?"

"Yeah, I'll be there, but not for you. It's for Odd," he tells her.

"Buzz off," Amy states, annoyed.

"For your information, it's thanks to me that your boyfriend's playing the music," Sissi reminds them, Amy turning red.

"I don't know where you got that from, but he's not my boyfriend, he's my _best _friend," Amy huffs.

"Why, from Ulrich, of course." Amy glares at Ulrich, ready to kill him.

"I-I didn't tell her, I swear," he holds up his hands in defense.

"And if you wanna be part of the group, the role of Romeo is just ideal for you," Sissi offers.

"And I suppose that you, of course, are Juliet?" Ulrich asks, knowing where this was going.

"Yes, that's perfect casting, don't you think?" Sissi responds, Amy snorting.

"Well, it's a perfect reason for me _not _to play Romeo," she stops walking, crossing her arms in annoyance as Amy laughs.

"Yeah, see you in the funny papers, Sissi!"

In the science room, an outlet sparks, one of XANA's specters appearing in the room. It enters the cylinder of laughing gas. The gas then escapes its cylinder, taking a scary-looking, almost human-like appearance...

* * *

Night falls and Ulrich steps up to Yumi's house, sniffing the pink rose in his hand. He rings the doorbell twice.

"Oh, it's you, darling. I said to myself we couldn't stay angry with each other for-" Mrs. Ishiyama answers the door. "Oh, hello Ulrich."

"Good evening, ma'am," he blushes, since this is the first time meeting Yumi's mother. "I wanted to talk to Yumi."

Ulrich paces around Yumi's room. "What about your dad? Where is he?" Yumi's parents, who are usually so close, have decided to have a trial separation all because of a stupid incident.

"Uh," Yumi sniffs the flower, silently happy that Ulrich gave it to her. "Staying with a friend from work."

"And what was it your parents argued about, huh?" Ulrich places his hands on his hips.

"I have no idea," she admits. "My mother tried to tell me, but I...I didn't understand. And I'm not sure she did either." Ulrich sits next to her.

"Yeah, those arguments are the worst," Ulrich agrees.

"I'm really glad that you came," she confesses. "Thanks Ulrich, you know how to cheer someone up," she smiles. Ulrich places his hand on hers and she looks up in surprise. He smiles back at her.

* * *

"It's strange that they're mad at each other," Aelita comments, Jeremy having heard what happened from Ulrich. "Yumi and Ulrich always get along so well."

"You know, Aelita, very often people get along well have fights," Jeremy answers.

"Really? What about you and I? Why don't we ever fight?" She wonders, since she's close to Jeremy as he said.

"You and I? I don't really know. Even Amy and Odd had a fight. Anyway, XANA has been quiet lately. Too quiet, don't you think?" He points out.

"What I worry most about are the risks you all take. You know, XANA would really love to get rid of you," she states.

"Don't worry, the only one of us who's in real danger today is Odd. He's rehearsing with Sissi, now that's what I call a risk," Jeremy answers, wondering how his friend was doing.

* * *

Odd starts playing the guitar as he sits in the chair. Amy watches him intently, noticing how relaxed he was, despite Sissi being there. "I don't know if she'll appear tonight, but, uh...let's see..." Herb is Romeo. "I know she loves me!" He looks up at Sissi.

"That's awful! That's about as flat as a pancake!" Sissi yells.

"Hmm?" Odd stops playing, looking up. Amy pouts in disappointment. She liked it when Odd played.

"It's not me, it's the lines!" Herb holds up the script.

"What's wrong with the lines, hm?" Nicolas sounds insulted, since he's the one who wrote the script in the first place.

"Well, I, you can't even say them!" Herb gestures to the script.

"There's nothing wrong with them, it's you! You know how long I spent on the text?" Nicolas points a finger at his chest.

"Well, my guess would be about 30 seconds!"

"I dare you to repeat that!" Nicolas makes a fist.

"Look, I'd rather you repeated your lines, Herb, and with feeling! Nicolas, there's no reason for you to be on stage, and Odd, you're playing much too fast!" Sissi points at Odd, Amy narrowing her eyes.

"Lay off, Sissi, he was just fine," she huffs, Odd grinning happily to himself.

"Sure, if I play a little slower, it'll give me more than enough time to take a little nap. And I don't wanna put Ames to sleep," Odd jokes, Amy laughing.

"Hey, keep all your bad jokes for yourself, huh?" Sissi retorts, Amy growling at her.

"Sissi, would you just shut up and start all over?!" She hisses, everyone looking at her in surprise.

"Hmph," Sissi closes her eyes. "Okay now, let's take it again from the top and try to concentrate!" She walks away for the balcony to prepare for her cue. Herb and Nicolas glare at each other before he gets off the stage. Odd plays the music again, Amy smiling as she rests her head on her arms. The laughing gas appears from off the stage.

"I don't know if she'll appear tonight. But I know, but I don't know if she loves me." As Odd is playing, he doesn't notice the gas. "A guard. Oh, a guard!"

Odd starts laughing and they turn to him. "What is going on?!" Sissi runs up to the balcony, seeing Odd laughing. "What is it now, Odd?"

"Come on, it wasn't that bad!" Herb comments, Odd dropping his guitar.

"I don't think he's okay!" Amy runs to him. "Odd! Odd, what is it? Odd!"

"You're not gonna want to laugh when I get through with you," Sissi threatens, grabbing a water bottle.

"Get him, Sissi!" Herb calls out as she gets off the stage. Odd falls to the ground, Amy shaking him.

"ODD!"

Sissi pours water over him, the gas going away. Amy doesn't see it as she checks over Odd. He coughs, Amy sighing in relief. "And don't bother coming tomorrow, Odd. We're performing a tragedy, not a musical comedy!" She storms off, Odd looking up in confusion.

"Hey wait, uh..."

"I'm so glad you're okay, Odd," Amy jumps forward, hugging him. He was partially wet, but she didn't care. She was happy that he didn't die laughing. Odd looks down at her in surprise before hugging her back.

* * *

Yumi rings the doorbell. The friend of her dad's opens the door. "Yumi."

"Good evening, sir. I would like to see my father," she states.

"Just a second, I'll get him." He starts to leave, but turns around. "Uh, would you know why your mother and father aren't talking to each other?" She shakes her head no. "I was afraid of that." She turns around as he leaves, Ulrich giving her a thumbs up.

"Yumi," she turns to Mr. Ishiyama as Ulrich hides. "How nice to see you. Come in," he gestures inside.

"Daddy, I...I, uh, I want you to come home," she looks at him sadly.

"Listen Yumi," he places his hands on her shoulders. "This is between your mother and me. And she and I have got to work it out."

"Oh yeah? And how? You're not even willing to talk to each other!" She starts to cry.

"I think I've got an idea," Ulrich says to himself.

* * *

"It was crazy. I really didn't feel like laughing at all, but it was impossible to stop," Odd explains to Jeremy in his room. "As soon as Sissi poured water on me, that was it, I stopped immediately."

"N20, laughing gas," Jeremy elaborates. "Ms. Hertz said that the only thing that could volatilize it was water."

"You think this could be a XANA thing?" Odd suggests.

"You never know. Aelita, keep looking around."

"Okay, but no pulsations for now," she agrees.

"Let's go and see if the bottle of laughing gas Ms. Hertz used is still in the science room," Jeremy offers.

"Kiwi, you stay here," Odd orders.

"Aren't we forgetting something?" Jeremy jerks a thumb to Amy, who has fallen asleep. Odd chuckles to himself.

"I better put her back in her room before Jim notices." He picks her up bridal style and on instinct, Amy places her head on Odd's chest. He blushes, Jeremy smirking. "Don't you dare tell anyone."

Kiwi looks up before laying his head down on the floor.

* * *

Someone knocks on Sissi's door. "If you've come to apologize Odd, don't bother!" Ulrich opens the door. "Oh...oh it's you, Ulrich." She sits up. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was wondering, Sissi, if there was a part, even a little one that...that Yumi could play," he suggests.

"And why would I want to give Yumi a part?" Sissi raises an eyebrow.

"Forget that I even asked. Goodbye," he closes the door.

"Oh, no, Ulrich wait I-!" She stands up. He opens the door again.

"Hmm?"

"There just might be a solution," she gives a smug look.

* * *

In the science lab, Jeremy is talking to Odd. "Aelita and me, we never fight. You think that's normal?" He picks the lock to the classroom.

"Huh? Uh, yeah, nope. How do I know?" He wonders.

"You think we'd fight if she lived here in our world?" Jeremy asks.

"What I _do _think is we're gonna get caught if you don't hurry up!" Odd tells him. "I wanna check on Ames."

"Uhh, bingo," Jeremy opens the door. He looks at the gas, turning the valve. "It's empty. Guess we ran out of gas, if you pardon the expression."

"Okay, listen. Tomorrow, we'll go to the factory instead of the play and check things out," Odd suggests.

The next day, Jeremy contacts Aelita. "Aelita. Hey, Aelita, can you hear me?"

In the mountain sector, Aelita runs away from two Bloks. They fire at her and she runs past a large boulder. They follow her.

"Communication refused. Communication refused."

"Okay, we're ready to go," Amy and Odd run to the scanner room. Aelita makes it to the edge, looking down nervously. All she could see was fog. She whips around to see the Bloks and decides to go for it, jumping off. Luckily, the digital sea isn't awaiting her, just a hidden platform.

"Thank God, there's a tower just in time," she sees a way tower surrounded by rocks. She runs to it, the Bloks pursuing her. She runs inside just in time. Jeremy is preparing the transfer. The elevator opens to the scanner room.

_"I'll transfer you two to the mountain region. I've spotted some monsters there. The tower can't be far." _Amy and Odd step in. The gas comes into both scanners just before they close. "Transfer Amy." Amy's hair lifts up in all directions. "Transfer Odd." Odd closes his eyes. "Scanner Amy." Jeremy doesn't notice the gas coming in. "Scanner Odd." He turns around, gasping. "Virtualization!" He quickly pushes the button before he could be affected.

"Data transfer problem," Both Amy and Odd's ID cards show red icons.

Amy and Odd are virtualized, but for some reason, they feel weak. "I feel very weak, Jeremy. Did anything happen during the transfer?"

"I feel it too, Jeremy...Jeremy?" Amy calls out.

"Can you hear us, Jeremy?"

Aelita is using the interface in the tower, trying to contact Jeremy as well. "Jeremy? Can you hear me? Jeremy?"

None of them knew it, but Jeremy is running off from the laughing gas. "Jeremy!" Both Lyoko warriors call out, their voices echoing.

* * *

"Well, there we are," Sissi puts up a page of the script. "I've put your lines up everywhere, Ulrich. You'll see, you're like a perfect Romeo!"

"Hey, I'm doing it for you," Ulrich notices Yumi being upset.

"She's right, you know. You do make a perfect Romeo," she retorts.

"Okay Yumi, now come with me so I can show you your costume," Sissi tells her. Yumi reluctantly follows her, Herb angry.

"I can't believe you stole my part!"

"This isn't my fault, Herb, I swear," Ulrich insists.

"Why don't I just slug you?" Herb clenches his fists.

"Fear, maybe?" Ulrich gives a smug look.

"Please tell me I don't look too dumb, huh?" Yumi calls out and he turns to see her in the most ridiculous outfit she could ever wear. Yumi has been cast as a guard.

"Don't be silly, you look really stunning," Sissi says, though she might've done this on purpose.

"I hope we're not doing this for nothing. Did you talk to your folks?"

"Yeah, they're gonna come," Yumi answers.

"Both of them? How'd you do it?" He wonders.

"I lied. I told each one of them that the other wasn't gonna come," she admits.

He chuckles, "Huh, adults can be such children sometimes, huh?" She pouts at that.

* * *

Jeremy dashes into the boiler room as fast as he can, jumping over a pipe. He looks back to see the gas approaching. He sees a door in front of him.

Odd and Amy run as fast as they can, seeing a way tower: the same one Aelita's in. And then there were the Bloks. "Uh oh."

"This is not a good time to desert us, Jeremy. The welcoming committee looks really mean and we're not feeling too good. Jeremy?" Odd says.

"Virtual envelope damaged. Virtual envelope damaged."

The Bloks turn to them, approaching the weak warriors. "Things don't look so good."

Jeremy is in the sewers, the gas hot on his trail. It engulfs him and he falls in the water. The gas escapes him and Jeremy looks to see it disappearing.

* * *

"Good evening," it's the night of the play, and the principal greets parents at the doors. Mrs. Ishiyama approaches, Ulrich and Yumi peeking through the curtains. She's in a black dress, along with a purple purse.

"There's my mother," Yumi whispers.

"Good evening. I suppose your husband is meeting you here tonight?" Principal Delmas suggests.

"Uhhh, no, my husband isn't able to come. He's, uh...not feeling well," she didn't want anyone else to know that. Right after she steps inside, Mr. Ishiyama arrives.

"Oh, Mr. Ishiyama, I'm delighted to see that you're feeling better already," he shakes his hand.

"Feeling better?" He asks in confusion.

"Your wife has just arrived," the principal gestures inside.

"My wife...is here?" He looks inside. Yumi and Ulrich watch as Mr. Ishiyama sits down next to his wife, clearing his throat. She turns to him in surprise, not expecting him to be here. He glances at her and she turns her head away sharply.

"You're not out of the woods yet," Ulrich comments.

* * *

The Bloks walk up to Odd and Amy. "We're too weak to fight them, we'll have to trick them." They jump up. "Here we go!" Odd fires a laser arrow, destroying one. Odd lands, but Amy does not. The Blok prepares to fire and he jumps out of the way, jumping off the edge. The Blok looks around, seeing nothing. Odd crawls on the opposite side, Amy appearing behind the Blok. Odd winks at her.

"Rock dart!" She fires a rock with her hands, but misses. The Blok fires at them and Odd grabs Amy's hand, running. She shouts in surprise. They approach the tower.

"Aelita, are you there?"

She hears him. "Odd?"

They turn around to the Blok, both of them getting hit as they run. Aelita steps out of the tower, seeing the Blok.

"Second time's the charm. Rock dart!" She fires another rock at it.

"Hurry up. XANA might send us more monsters. We'd better not stay here," Aelita warns.

* * *

"Uh, I, um...I...I don't know if she will-she will appear tonight at her balcony," he gestures to the balcony. "I'm..." But he can't read the lines from far away. The parents murmur in confusion. "What does it say? I can't read it!" He sighs, trying to get closer. "Does she...what does it say? Oh, oh right. Does she love me? Anyway, I think she does. Enter guard? Huh?" They laugh since he wasn't supposed to read that. "Oh, guard! Guard!" Yumi's parents laugh along with the crowd. "Hide, hide!"

Yumi steps onto the stage. "Look, it's Yumi." Mrs. Ishiyama glares at him before he stops laughing, crossing his arms.

"Boy, they're tough."

Yumi just stares at the audience before leaving. Sissi appears in her costume on the balcony. "Oh no, where are my next lines?" He looks up at Sissi. "I see 'em." They're all the way across the stage.

Jeremy shivers as he looks at the gas. He swims away, but the gas follows his every move. He splashes it. "Go away!" It approaches him.

* * *

On Lyoko, Amy and Odd walk with Aelita, weakened severely from the transfer. "There must have been a problem during the transfer. I feel weaker and weaker..." Odd murmurs. Amy lands on the ground in front of them, tired from the flying. She groans and stands back up, walking. Odd holds his head, getting a headache.

"Odd, you okay?" Aelita asks.

"Yeah, I'll be just fine. What about you, Ames?"

"I'll be okay...I can't fly anymore, though. My wings are exhausted from when I used up some strength," she holds her head. "Or half of what I have left, anyway..."

Aelita can feel the pulsations in their direction. "You've gotta hang on, guys. You see the pulsations? The tower that XANA activated can't be too far," she points ahead.

"I hope not," Odd falls onto the ground.

"Odd!" Aelita bends down to him as Amy faints a little. "Amy!" Odd notices something up ahead.

"Hey, what's that?"

Aelita gives a worried look. "Oh no, that's all we needed."

They've found the tower...but it's past a labyrinth. "A labyrinth."

"XANA's pulling out all the stops today..." Amy murmurs.

The gas reaches the school, going to the auditorium. "Ah, last you're here, you who is so fair...and fair," Ulrich recites.

Aelita, Amy, and Odd walk into the maze, turning left. Aelita watches the two walk slowly and they start to feel dizzy. They reach a dead end, resting slightly against the wall. Aelita places her hands on their shoulders. They start walking again, but reach the same spot.

"We've been here before. I'm sure," she continues walking, Odd and Amy getting even weaker...they fall to their knees.

"Lost...without Jeremy's help, it's all over..."

"He must've gotten into some trouble..." Amy murmurs, slightly closing her eyes.

* * *

"Well, Jeremy, how do you wanna die? Freezing or laughing? I gotta do something. I can't hang on any longer." He lets himself succumb to the water, the gas not daring to go in. Jeremy swims to avoid being caught.

"You who lights up my days, you who is the sunshine of my nights," Ulrich kneels in front of the balcony. The gas travels through the floor.

"This is awful. He's massacring my text, huh?" Nicolas comments as he and Herb watch from behind the curtain. "Even you were better."

"Oh, my Romeo. You are my beau. Oh, Romeo, carry me, o amor mio..." Sissi says, possibly worse than Ulrich _or _Herb. Ulrich laughs as the gas reaches him, falling to the ground. Everyone else laughs, Sissi looking offended. "What did I say? What's so funny?" The gas reaches Yumi, who is offstage, and she begins laughing. "Everyone is laughing at me now."

Jeremy crawls out of the water, spitting some out in disgust. He walks out and runs, the gas nowhere in sight.

The audience watches Yumi and Ulrich still laughing, having stopped. "It's not normal. They're going to choke!" Mrs. Ishiyama says, worried.

"We've gotta find a way to help," Mr. Ishiyama replies.

"I know what to do," Sissi walks up to them, holding a bottle of water. She pours it over Ulrich and the gas escapes him.

"What happened? It was like I was being controlled!"

"What's he talking about?" Mr. Ishiyama demands. Yumi continues laughing.

"This thing is afraid of water," Ulrich stands up. "Sissi, give me that, fast."

"You could say please," she holds it away.

"Sissi! Give me that bottle, will ya? Hurry up," he holds his hand out. "Come on." She hands it to him and Ulrich sprays Yumi. She gasps as the gas goes away. "Yumi, you okay?"

Her parents walk up to her. "Oh, darling, we were so frightened!" She smiles a little, their quarrel seemingly forgotten in place of worry for their child.

Ulrich is surrounded by the gas again, starting to laugh. "Ulrich!" She starts laughing too, Mrs. Ishiyama gasping.

"What's going on? What's the matter with her?" Principal Delmas walks in.

The gas chases after Jeremy and he's caught by it, laughing.

Aelita turns around, placing a hand on her hip. Amy and Odd are still weak. Odd gets a Future Flash, seeing the path to the tower. "We're almost there, Aelita. I just had a psychic vision. You have to go left, you hear? And don't wait for us, we're too weak to go."

"Okay, guys. I'll get there. Don't worry," she assures.

"Oh, we're not worried. We know you can do it. Now hurry, before it's too late," Amy gestures forward.

Jeremy lies on the floor, weak from the laughter.

Aelita runs to the tower, using the path that Odd told her. She runs across the bridge before entering. She walks to the middle, the eye lighting up. She starts flying.

Yumi is weak as well. "Water! And call for help, please hurry," Mrs. Ishiyama tells the principal. He starts running.

Jeremy makes a fist, trying to hold on for life...

Aelita makes it to the top pad. She walks up, pressing her hand on the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The gas stops before it reaches Yumi and Ulrich. The tower is deactivated, and the time reversion is set. For emergencies like this, Jeremy has it set for whenever Aelita deactivates the tower. "Return to the past now," Everything is engulfed in white.

* * *

"You've gotta be kidding. I won't ever be part of that dumb play again," Yumi states.

"Well, at least now we know how to get your folks together," Odd suggests and she turns around sharply. She notices that Amy is frowning.

"I'm never gonna wear that stupid costume again."

"I agree," Jeremy says, Odd, Amy, and Ulrich turning to him. "I've got a better idea. As for Ulrich, I'm really sorry, but you're going to have to sacrifice yourself one more time."

"At least that way we can finally see him as Romeo!" Odd comments.

"Let's face it, a nice laughing fit is good for you from time to time," Jeremy says, though Ulrich didn't look too happy that he has to be Romeo again.

"Well, you can count me out," they turn to Amy, who's frowning. "I've...got something important to do. Sorry, Yumi." She leaves, to the others' confusion except Odd, who knew what was wrong. The others didn't know about Amy's family situation.

"I don't know if she'll appear tonight on her balcony, but I'm certain...and I'm certain she-she loves me!" Ulrich says confidently, not even reading the script. Both Ishiyamas smile.

"And I know I love her very much," Yumi whispers, helping Ulrich with his lines.

"And I know I love her very much," Ulrich repeats. "Ah, no, a guard!" Ulrich hides behind the fake bush. This time, Herb is the guard, not that he was happy with that. Everyone laughs at him, Odd smirking.

"Where's Yumi?" Mr. Ishiyama asks. "Isn't she supposed to be in the play?"

Jeremy turns around, winking. He pulls the rope, the bush lifting to show Ulrich and Yumi. The crowd laughs, Ulrich and Yumi watching her parents.

"It worked!" Jeremy cheers.

"What's the matter now? What happened? Why are you all laughing? You don't understand drama! This is not a comedy, it's a great tragedy!" Sissi exclaims, annoyed. As Mr and Mrs. Ishiyama laugh, she places her head on his shoulder. Yumi smiles, happy that she was able to reconcile her parents.

* * *

Amy sits on her bed sadly, petting Kiki. She's in her pajamas, as it's late. Kiki whines at her face and Amy sighs. "Sorry, girl. I'm not in the mood to play right now..." She glances at a picture on her desk, which is a framed photo of her parents. Amy wipes her eyes as she tries not to cry. Suddenly, there's a knock on her door and she looks up. She opens it, eyes widening in surprise.

"Odd...?"

He smiles nervously, revealing a box of chocolate. "Chocolates?"

She slowly smiles.

They sit on her bed, eating the yummy chocolates Odd brought. Kiki is asleep in Amy's drawer. Odd didn't know if he should ask, but he felt like he had to. "Yumi's situation reminded you of your parents...didn't it?"

"Yeah..." Amy sighs slowly. "My parents were like that before Mom divorced him...apparently, they just didn't...fit anymore, in her words. I don't know much, she says I'm not old enough to know."

Odd stays silent, not knowing how to relate. "Well...if you wanna talk...I'm here," he places a hand on her shoulder. "You know that, right?"

She smiles a little. "I know...but I don't feel like talking about it. Thanks, Odd." She lays her head on his chest and he smiles, having that warm feeling again. He rubs her back to soothe her and he looks out the window, contemplating whether or not...

Amy was either his best friend...or something more...


	18. Claustrophobia

"Aelita, do you read me?" Jeremy calls out, in his room talking to Aelita...basically, his whole life is in that room nowadays.

"Yes Jeremy, hi. All alone? Where are the others?" She wonders curiously.

"They're out playing soccer. I was feeling tired," Jeremy explains, though he wouldn't say Amy was really 'playing.' While she tolerated sports, Amy didn't really feel like she was the athletic type.

"Tired? That's interesting. Jeremy, how do humans know when they feel tired?" Aelita is sitting on a plateau in the desert sector.

"Well, you feel like you don't have any energy, like having weak batteries, and so we rest a while," Jeremy tells her.

"And is resting something you like doing?" She asks.

"I used to find it really boring, but ever since I met you, Aelita, it's such a pleasure hanging out together," he admits.

"It is for me too, Jeremy."

* * *

Out on the field, a soccer ball sits on the field. Odd kicks it and Sissi watches as Ulrich moves with the ball. "Hey Ulrich, pass it over here!"

"You won't get by me!" Herb stands in Ulrich's way. They stare at each other intensely, Yumi looking up from her book. She was just there to support her friends, along with Amy. The brunette waves her pom poms, doing a cartwheel. Odd looks up at Amy, smiling at her warmly. He waves at her and she smiles back, returning the wave with a pom pom. Ulrich kicks the ball up to his shoulders, rolling it. He kicks the ball up using his knee and then his foot, the ball soaring into the air. Sissi gasps, Herb and Odd staring. Ulrich jumps up, kicking the ball.

"I don't believe it! Ohh!" Sissi exclaims. Odd jumps up, headbutting the ball with his head. It flies all the way to the net, Herb unable to catch it. "Oh, no!"

"Another goal! 7 to 1, this is turning into a rout," Odd cheers, helping Ulrich to his feet.

"It sure is," Ulrich comments.

"You guys did great out there!" Amy smiles as she runs up to them.

"Couldn't have done it without our cheerleader," Odd puts an arm around Amy, laughing. She laughs as well, Ulrich giving them a teasing look.

"Okay guys," Yumi closes her book. "It's getting late. I've gotta head for home."

"Okay, so long, Yumi," Ulrich waves at her. "See you tomorrow." They smile at each other before she leaves. Nicolas kicks the ball dejectedly.

"You guys are so bad!" Sissi scolds. She picks up the ball, throwing it. "What a couple of losers." Someone catches the ball, grabbing their attention.

"You guys need a little help?" A boy with dark brown, light orange shirt, a green sweater, and blue pants asks.

"Who are you, huh?" Nicolas demands.

"Theo, I'm new around here. I just moved into town," he explains, Sissi walking up to him. "Wow, I like this school already." She blinks, blushing. Ulrich, Amy, and Odd give each other teasing looks. Herb looks unhappy.

"Hi, my name is Sissi," Sissi tells him. Theo raises an eyebrow, humming in approval. "And these two friends of mine are Herb and Nicolas, the worst soccer players who ever saw." The two frown as Theo holds out a hand.

"Nice to meet you." They don't respond, so he lowers his hand awkwardly.

"Odd's the name," Odd decides to break the tension. "He's Ulrich," he points to Ulrich.

"Hi Theo, welcome," Ulrich waves. "This is our friend Amy."

"Hey-a Theo!" Amy grins, waving.

"Do you play?" Odd kicks the soccer ball to Theo.

"Sure do, let's go. Which team should I play with?" He kicks the ball with his knee.

"We don't need you, okay?!" Nicolas tells him harshly.

"I thought you were down 7 to 1," he looks at Sissi. "What do you think, Sissi?"

"Why not? Yeah, okay," she agrees, her two cronies slumping. "It sure can't get any worse."

"Amy, you play for our team," Odd waves her over and her eyes widen.

"No ho ho ho, Odd. I'm not a soccer girl," she waves her hands.

"But it's three to two and we need to even the score! I'm sure you'll get the hang of it," he pulls her forward.

"Odd, I-!"

Theo clears his throat and steps back. He prepares himself before kicking the ball.

* * *

On Lyoko, Aelita enters a way tower. She goes to the side and spreads her arms. She lets herself fall, traveling to another tower. She lands safely. "Alright Jeremy, I'm here," she exits into the forest sector.

"Okay, we're looking for the tower where part of the scanner programs are stored," he tells her. "It's at 30 degrees north, Aelita," Jeremy explains.

'I'm on my way," she starts walking.

"As soon as you're connected, I'll download the data that you find. It'll help me understand materialization better."

* * *

Odd kicks the ball to Ulrich. He kicks it back. "Okay guys, we've gotta stop. It's time for dinner," Ulrich starts walking.

"9-10. We beat 'em. What do you think, princess?" Theo brags.

"Hey, he saved you guys from humiliation," Odd jokes, Herb walking past him.

"Who cares about soccer? It's a dumb game," Herb says in resentment. Ulrich raises an eyebrow at him, shrugging at the two.

"If you ask me, Herb's got it in for Theo..." Odd points out.

"Well, I think it's because he likes Sissi. After all, Theo appearing suddenly like that kinda threw him off..." Amy murmurs. Odd smiles at her.

"You did pretty good out there, Ames. You're a good player for someone who insists she's not into sports."

"Thank you, Odd," she smiles softly. Ulrich gives them teasing looks for the second time.

The bell rings for dinner, everyone walking to the cafeteria. "Great, peas and carrots for the umpteenth time," Odd complains.

"Relax, it's good for you," Amy tells him, patting his shoulder.

"Not for my pleasures, it's not!"

She bursts into a fit of giggles.

* * *

Sissi slurps her drink. Herb and Sissi hold hands. "Sissi...uh..." They get closer, but it was just in Herb's head. He laughs nervously. In his dream, they're about to kiss, but Theo shows up.

"Hey!" Herb shakes his head, turning to the boy. He's holding his dinner tray. All of it was just a dream…

"Hey, why don't you eat with us, champ?" Odd offers, sensing the tension between him and Herb. Theo holds the chair next to him away.

"Thanks a lot, but I can't abandon my team." Sissi giggles as he approaches her.

"Hey, stop trying to worm your way in!" Herb stands up, getting in his face. "You're not in our group, so go take a hike!"

"Herb, shut up," Amy hisses to him and he sweats a little.

"Well, yeah, I know Herb, but I'd love to join your group or should I say Sissi's group, is that it?" Theo sits next to Sissi. "Well, what do I have to do?"

"Well, you've gotta pass our initiation test and they're really dangerous and hard!" Amy rolls her eyes as the three watch.

"Hmm," Sissi eyes him.

"Much too hard for you!" Herb finishes harshly.

"Initiation tests?" Theo raises an eyebrow. "Tell me a little about them," he leans towards Sissi. Herb growls at how close they are.

"Test number one! Uh, you have to clean all the toilets with a toothbrush!" Herb declares.

"That sounds like a pretty dumb test. It's like the kind they give to ten-year-olds at summer camp, so I'll pass on that one," Theo shrugs.

"Okay, since you refuse to pass our tests, ciao!" Herb shows him his hand.

"Hey," Sissi speaks up. "Since when do you decide on the tests? I'll tell you what you have to do. You're gonna mummify the skeleton we use in the science room."

"Okay, now that sounds cool!" Theo comments, Nicolas laughing. Herb glares at him and he stops. Herb pouts at him.

* * *

"Jeremy, did you manage to gather all the data?" Aelita wonders. Jeremy didn't go to dinner because he's too focused on gathering some more information on materialization.

"I did, but it won't do any good. Not unless I can pirate the access codes for the scanner program," he answers. Odd and Amy rub their dogs' bellies.

"But that's almost impossible!" Aelita says. Odd and Amy turn to them.

"No, Aelita, I think it can be done," they go back to rubbing their dogs' bellies. Jeremy starts typing as Ulrich looks around. He sees Herb knocking on Nicolas' door. He smirks, hiding as the two leave.

"Okay, they've left their rooms," he reports to Odd and Amy. Odd takes off Jeremy's pillow sheet while Amy takes one out of her pocket.

"We'll tell you all about Operation Theo later!" Odd calls out as he and Amy run out with Kiwi and Kiki. Ulrich closes the door.

"Here I go!"

Aelita giggles as Jeremy turns around to her.

* * *

Theo runs to the science building, paper towels in his arms. Herb and Nicolas peek out, hiding from Jim as he walks by. They check to make sure he's not looking before taking off. Ulrich, Amy, and Odd peek from the cafeteria, the two dogs with them.

Theo starts mummifying the skeleton, Herb and Nicolas watching him. He wanted to get Theo in trouble so he could get as far away from Sissi as possible. "Still a long way to go." Herb and Nicolas snicker, Herb pulling out his phone.

"What are you gonna do, Herb?"

"I'm gonna warn our old friend Jim. They'll kick Theo out of school and we'll be home free!" They suddenly hear howling and Herb drops his phone.

"What was that weird sound?" They turn to the doors, shivering in fear. The sound repeats, but twice. Suddenly, Kiwi and Kiki, dressed as ghosts, run up to them. They scream, running away. The two dogs run back to the doors, the three friends giggling. Ulrich opens the door for the dogs.

"Nice work, little ghosts."

Theo opens the door. "What are you guys doing here?"

"It's okay. We were gonna tell you," Odd starts as Ulrich holds Kiwi. Odd picks up Kiki, Theo looking unamused.

Meanwhile, XANA has woken up and pulsations can be heard in the forest sector. XANA uses one of his specters to infect the school's electricity system. The specter leaves, infecting the cafeteria...

* * *

The next day, the outlets spark. Yumi drops her fork and she picks it up. While she's still near the floor, she sees Theo at Sissi's table. "Hey, things look serious between Sissi and Theo."

"They sure do," Odd comments and Jeremy stands up.

"You finished lunch already?" Ulrich asks in surprise.

"No, but I wanna see Aelita for a while before class," he starts to walk.

"I wouldn't mind either. We'll go together, okay?" Yumi stands up.

"Leave your trays. It's a shame to let good desserts go to waste," Odd requests.

"Odd, don't you ever stop eating, huh?" Jeremy wonders as he and Yumi leave, the outlet behind the counter sparking.

Odd hums happily as he eats his dessert. He takes a big bite out of his, Ulrich and Amy staring at him. "Odd, you're gonna explode if you keep this up," Ulrich jokes. Odd dismisses him, sipping his drink. He wipes his mouth. Amy shakes her head, but both her and Ulrich are surprised when Odd slides the second dessert to her.

"Eat up, Ames. Desserts are good for your taste buds, you know!"

She glances at Ulrich, who shrugs. Odd giving up food was a rare sight, but he did sound serious. Amy takes it and takes a bite, humming in delight at the creamy goodness. The outlets explode and Odd shouts in surprise.

"Hey," Ulrich notices it too and Odd shrugs.

"That was weird," Amy murmurs in confusion.

"Which region are you in now?" Yumi wonders.

"I was just in the forest and I thought I sensed some pulsations, but I'm not sure," Aelita answers hesitantly.

The outlets let out some smoke, Odd staring at them. He turns to Ulrich and Amy. "XANA?"

"I'll call Jeremy," Ulrich dials him.

Jeremy answers his phone. "Jeremy, weird things are happening in the lunchroom. Could be XANA's doing."

"Why? What's the problem?" Jeremy asks.

"There are short circuits everywhere." Jeremy thinks on why XANA would do that before hanging up.

"Aelita, could you check things out on Lyoko?"

"I will," she nods.

"I'll launch a scan to see if XANA has activated a tower," he presses enter, the scan beginning.

The lights short circuit as well, Amy staring up at them. "Let's get out of here," Odd suggests, feeling a little uneasy. He runs to the door, but when he touches it, he receives a powerful electrical charge. "Odd!" Ulrich shouts. He pushes Odd away from the door and he rolls onto the floor, unconscious.

"Odd! Oh no!" Amy bends down to him, Ulrich and Theo looking over her shoulders. She places his head on her knees, giving a worried look.

Aelita walks slowly, hearing the pulsations. "Oh no...I wasn't mistaken."

The scan has finished. "Tower localized." Aelita appears on his screen.

"Jeremy, there are very strong pulsations in the forest," she reports.

"Yeah, the scan confirms it. And Amy, Ulrich, and Odd are trapped in the cafeteria," he turns to Yumi. "Yumi, I'll head for the factory. Warn the principal and then meet me over there." She nods in understanding.

The principal is writing when Yumi knocks on her door. "Come in."

"Uh, can I see you for a minute, sir, please? It's important." He furrows his eyebrows.

Jeremy runs down the tunnel from the boiler room. When he gets to the sewers, he takes his scooter through the tunnels. He climbs up the ladder.

Jim, the principal, and Ms. Hertz run to the cafeteria after Yumi warned them. Jim tries to open it, only to be shocked. Ulrich, Amy, and Odd watch him be flown across. "Did you see that?" Ulrich asks.

"Jim! Are you okay?" Ms. Hertz wonders. "Oh Jim, say something."

"Are you alright?" Principal Delmas questions. "We've got to cut the current now!"

Yumi runs into the park.

Jeremy slides to the computer in his chair.

Ulrich prepares to throw a chair. Sissi is on the phone with her father. "Hello, is that you, Dad? We don't know what happened."

"Move!" Ulrich runs forward.

"There's electricity everywhere. We're trying to break a window to get out." Ulrich throws the chair, but it goes flying onto the table.

"I wanna get out!" Milly cries out. Amy calls Jeremy.

"Amy, what's going on?"

"We're stuck here in the cafeteria, Jeremy. We can't get out," she looks at the electrified walls, a hand on her hip.

"I'll send Yumi to Lyoko," Jeremy tells her.

"We'll do our best over here, but don't hold your breath," she hangs up and Jeremy calls Yumi.

"Yumi, hurry up. We don't have a lot of time," he explains.

"I told the principal. I'm in the passage in the park now," she pants as she reaches the secret entrance. She pulls the manhole cover and slips inside.

"What is this?" Jim returns, the electricity surrounding the place. "I just cut all the power!"

"With no effect at all," Ms. Hertz finishes.

"The firemen are on the way," Principal Delmas says, just getting off the phone with them.

Yumi grabs her skateboard. She runs and throws it, jumping on it and speeding off.

"I have no idea what XANA wants to do this time," Jeremy tells Aelita.

"What about in town? Have any of the other buildings been hit?"

"No, that's why I'm worried," he answers. Aelita nods, equally as worried. Yumi crawls onto the bridge, running across it. She jumps down using the rope and pushes the button. The elevator descends down into the scanner room.

Herb hides under a table, looking afraid. Theo places a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get out of this, don't worry, Herb."

"Let me go, will ya?!" Herb pushes Theo off him, turning away. Tamiya hugs a crying Milly.

"Everything will be okay."

"Help is on the way," Sissi tells them.

"There, you see?"

Amy hugs the two girls close. Odd can't help but smile at this.

"We could try the roof," He suggests.

"It's probably the same," Theo dismisses.

"It's worth trying," Odd grabs a chair.

"Odd, I'm telling you, it won't work," Amy sits on the table, placing a hand on her cheek.

"Out of the way!" He declares, Amy pinching her forehead. He throws the chair, but it comes crashing down on the table, breaking it.

"I told you..." She murmurs.

"It's like a prison!" Theo exclaims, Tamiya looking up nervously.

"But how come XANA set his sights on the cafeteria? It makes no sense at all. He can't gain access to the city through the school..." Jeremy talks to Ulrich.

"He probably has other ideas," Ulrich suggests.

"Wait, I think I understand. It's the five of us he's after," Jeremy theorizes.

"Us? You sure?" Ulrich wonders, looking outside.

"Yumi and I left lunch before dessert. If not, we'd have all been there!" Ulrich touches the window.

"Ow!" He waves his hand.

"He wanted to catch us all together," Jeremy finishes.

"XANA hasn't missed a trick this time. We're never gonna get out of here!"

"You've gotta play for time. Yumi's alone, she's gonna need every second she can to protect Aelita," Jeremy reminds him.

"We'll do the best we can, but like Amy said, I wouldn't count on it." Amy pokes the window.

"OUCH!" She holds her hand, cringing.

* * *

On Lyoko, Aelita walks until she comes to a stop, the pulsations underneath her feet. "Jeremy, the pulsations are really intense here. The tower can't be too far."

_"Stay where you are. I programmed the position. Yumi's on her way."_

The elevator opens to the scanner room. "Transfer Yumi." Jeremy starts up the process. Yumi steps into the scanner. "Scanner Yumi." She closes her eyes to let herself be scanned. "Virtualization." She lands in the forest sector safely, appearing right behind Aelita.

"The pulsations radiate in two directions," she explains.

"Jeremy, any news?" Yumi asks.

_"Give me a little time to analyze the terrain. _I'm getting contradictory signals. Impossible to tell which path is the right one!" He tells her.

_"Well, we have no choice. _Each of us will explore one path. We'll stay in contact via Jeremy. Let's go!" The girls separate, Aelita taking the left path and Yumi taking the right path. Aelita suddenly stops, looking at the wires.

* * *

In the electrified cafeteria, they've made a tower of tables, for more support if the ceiling caves in. "You see? This way, even if the walls cave in, we'll be safe," Tamiya says to Milly. "The roof won't fall on top of us." Something sparks behind the counter, glass breaking and pipes jumping. Some doors open, the wood flying towards Sissi. She gasps in surprise, unable to move due to shock.

"Watch out!" Theo pushes her out of the way, making Sissi drop her phone.

"Sissi, what's going on? Answer me, child! Sissi!" Theo and Sissi stare at each other.

Aelita runs as fast as she can, Yumi turning a corner. "Jeremy, how are things going with Aelita?"

"Nothing to report for now and no monster in sight. It's really strange...it's too easy." Jeremy replies.

Aelita continues running down the path, but stops as there's a hole in front of her. She looks up. "Should I go on?"

_"I'll call you back in 30 seconds." _Jeremy takes a look. "Analysis of the surroundings..."

"I GOTTA GET OUT!" Herb runs around. "I gotta get out!"

"Wait, no, don't Herb! The electricity, it's alive!" Theo grabs Herb's arm before he can touch the door.

"Leave me alone!" Herb snatches his arm back.

"Take it easy, Herb. Calm down," Sissi stands up, walking up to them. Herb just stares at her with clenched fists. "You've got to." Odd and Nicolas watch them. "You understand," Sissi holds his hand, placing her other one on top of his. Herb says nothing, the thought of her and Theo still lingering in his mind...

Yumi continues running before coming to a dead end. "I'm stuck." She turns around, seeing a hollow log. She looks down it. "This tunnel has got to lead somewhere."

"It's gotta lead to the path that Aelita took," Jeremy explains, seeing that the tunnel leads to the hole Aelita's at.

"Here I go," Yumi crawls in.

"Jeremy," Aelita calls out.

"Hold on, Aelita. Aelita, two monsters are on the way. You're surrounded by two Krabs! Run!" Aelita turns around, but sees nothing.

"It's impossible, Jeremy."

"I cut off all the wires, chief," a firefighter reports, but there's no success with cutting the current.

"I doubt that. Nothing's changed."

Sissi looks up at the electricity, turning back to her phone. "Have the firemen really tried everything, Daddy?"

"They're going to keep trying, dear," he assures her. Theo bends down to her.

"We'll be okay, you'll see." He places his hand on top of hers.

"Jeremy, have you got anything new?" Amy asks as she sits next to Ulrich.

"I'm trying, Amy!" She hangs up, Odd bending down to her. She sighs as she shakes her head.

Yumi stops running. "Aelita, can you hear me?" She gets no response, continuing down the path. "Oh no!" A Krab approaches Aelita, blocking her way. Aelita closes her eyes.

"Stay out of sight, Aelita! Yumi's almost there!" Jeremy warns. Aelita uses her creativity power to create a log in the hole. The Krabs approach as Aelita lifts herself onto the log.

"Yumi will get here in time. I know she will. I have faith in you, Jeremy..."

"Oh no!" Jeremy shouts.

"I have faith in you," Aelita repeats, both Krabs firing at the same time. Yumi jumps as she arrives, pushing Aelita out of the way just in time. The two Krabs take each other out. Aelita looks down at Yumi as they landed on a different path.

"That's what I call getting carried away," Yumi jokes, Aelita giggling. Jeremy chuckles lightly, smiling at the fact that Aelita is safe.

"Sissi darling, you mustn't give up hope." The firemen have decided to go with the roof. "The firemen are going to make an opening in the roof." He turns around to see the fireman climbing back down, since the roof is too hot.

The students look up in worry, the ceiling sounding like it was about to cave in.

Yumi and Aelita run, not noticing another Krab approaching. It jumps over the gap, walking down the path. "There's gotta be a passage leading to the path that goes to the tower." Once again, they're faced with two different directions.

"There!" Aelita points to a ramp.

Odd looks up at the roof as everyone else is under the fort of tables. "It's all over now!" Herb leans towards Theo.

"Thanks for what you did before. I was pretty awful to you." Theo gives a little smile.

"Jeremy, this is urgent! Come on!" Ulrich exclaims, starting to panic a little.

"They're almost there," Jeremy reports from his headset. _"Watch it! Third Krab is on the way!"_

"There it is," Yumi stands in front of Aelita, the Krab approaching. Aelita steps forward, but Yumi stops her. "No, leave him." She opens her fan. "Go on now, hurry. Don't worry about me." Aelita turns and runs for the tower. Yumi runs forward and jumps from the laser, throwing her weapon. She hits the armor, but not the eye. She catches her fan, landing on her feet.

_"Good shot, Yumi, but he's only damaged." _The Krab fires again, Yumi absorbing the laser with her fan. _"You took 20 life points from him. One more shot and he'll be done for!"_

She opens her fan again, the Krab stopping right in front of her. Yumi jumps back, flipping to the tree. She hides behind it, Yumi dodging from the laser. She watches Aelita running for the tower. Yumi turns to her right before appearing in front of the Krab. She jumps up from the laser, landing safely. Aelita has almost made it for the tower.

_"Aelita's entering the tower." _Yumi throws her fan at the Krab, destroying it. She catches it.

Aelita starts floating to the top.

Herb shouts as the ceiling shakes, everyone under the tables.

Aelita lands on the top pad, walking up to the interface. She pushes her hand against it.

_Aelita_

_Code_

Herb, Amy, Ulrich, and Odd all cringe as the building approaches total collapse.

_Lyoko_

The building stops shaking and Jeremy breathes out a sigh in relief. The tower is deactivated, time resetting. "Return to the past now." Everything is swallowed by white light, the three friends closing their eyes.

* * *

It's the day when they met Theo, Ulrich kicking the ball. "Hey Ulrich, pass it over here!" Odd calls out, running past Herb.

"You won't get by me!" Herb declares, Amy waving her pom poms like before.

"Go Odd and Ulrich! Whoo!" She does a cartwheel. Ulrich kicks the ball up in the air, Sissi gasping. Ulrich does the move from before.

"I don't believe it!" Sissi exclaims. "Oh!" Odd headbutts the ball into the goal. "Oh, no!"

"Goooal!" Odd laughs.

"Unbelievable!" Sissi picks up the ball. "You losers!" She throws the ball, but Yumi catches it instead.

"Okay guys, I've gotta head for home."

"If you want, I'll walk you back," Ulrich offers, Theo standing in front of him.

"No, I'll go." He walks up to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "So long, Odd. And thanks. So, uh, which way to go, huh?"

Odd turns to Ulrich, who is pouting. Herb and Nicolas snicker. "What's wrong? It's a lot better than having to get up tonight to scare Herb, right? Don't you think? What's wrong, come on, Ulrich."

"You've gone and done it now," Amy murmurs as she walks up to them.

"You're toast, dude," Ulrich says.

"Oh, you're never satisfied. You got a better idea? No? Well, me either," Odd insists as he follows a pouting Ulrich. Amy shakes her head in amusement. While waking up again wasn't up her alley, she didn't think introducing Theo to Yumi was a better solution...


	19. Amnesia

In the ice sector of Lyoko, a tower is activated. In the science room before class, one of XANA's specters activates the computer. The server sparks and the specter crawls through the wires. It enters a high-tech machine borrowed by the school. It allows for work in the field of nanotechnology. The machine creates a bizarre substance...

In Ms. Hertz's class, the students surround the machine. "Here we have the nanosphere that the Nanotech Services company was kind enough to lend us. Who can tell us what nanotechnology is?"

Herb raises a finger enthusiastically, but so does Jeremy. "Jeremy, go on."

"It's microscopic sized technology. There are nano motors, nano circuit boards, and nano gears." Herb pouts at him.

"Exactly. In the medical field for example, scientists are developing nano doctors, tiny machines which will be able to travel through our bodies to combat disease. Scientific research, however, still has a long way to go," Ms. Hertz explains.

"Are these robots capable of fighting pimples, cellulite, and things like that?" Sissi wonders, the whole class laughing, including Ms. Hertz.

"Yes, they can, but the priority is the more serious illnesses."

Sissi crosses her arms, looking annoyed at their laughter. "And nanotechnology can't do a thing about stupidity. Poor Sissi, what a shame!" Odd jokes.

"Alright now, quiet down," Ms. Hertz tells them, Sissi growling. "So, this nano sphere is used to make microscopic devices," she lifts the lid, seeing the substance. "Strange, it hasn't been cleaned properly. There's gelatin inside."

"Looks like the greasy stuff Odd puts on his hair every day," Ulrich comments.

"Well, since you think you're so clever, Ulrich, why don't you take a sample for us to examine?" She smiles smugly, Ulrich taking a swab using the slide. "The gelatin is used as a culture where nano devices can develop."

"It looks an awful lot like jam," Ulrich goes to sniff it, but Odd shoves his nose in it. Everyone laughs, Amy crossing her arms.

"Sorry, but I just couldn't resist!" Odd jokes, Amy hitting him in the back of the head. "Ow!" He rubs his head. No one notices, but the nano bugs enter Ulrich...

"I'll get you for that, Odd."

"This is a science class, children, not a comedy club!" Ms. Hertz places the lid back on. In the courtyard, Jim is watching the students.

"Wow, this nanotechnology is incredible. Now there's a field I'd like to work on in the future," Jeremy comments.

"I have enough trouble with normal-sized technology, much less microscopic," Yumi says. Ulrich opens a chocolate bar.

"Meh, I think it's useful, but not for something I'd wanna do in the future," Amy leans against the tree.

"Hey, that looks good. Can I have some?" Odd eyes it.

"Here," Ulrich shoves it on his forehead. "I warned you!" The four laugh, the bar sliding down slightly.

"Yeah," Odd chuckles as he pulls it off. "But taking advantage of my sweet tooth wasn't fair." Amy offers him a napkin and he wipes his forehead with it.

"I said I-" Ulrich suddenly stops, a sharp pain coming to his head. Odd and Yumi catch him.

"Ulrich! What is it?" Yumi asks in worry. He holds his head.

"It's my head, I-" he falls unconscious, Jim hearing him and running over.

"Ulrich!" Yumi exclaims.

"Hey, Ulrich," Odd tries to wake him up.

"Are you okay?" Amy asks in worry.

"What's going on around here?" Jim stops in front of them.

"Ulrich passed out," Yumi explains, standing up to let Jim pass. He picks up Ulrich up bridal style.

"I'll take him to the infirmary." He walks off with Ulrich, the four staring after them.

"He was just fine this morning," Jeremy thinks.

"Yeah, he was joking around with Odd like usual," Amy shrugs helplessly.

"I know, it's really weird," Odd says. Sissi sees Ulrich leaving, giving a smug look as she glances at the others.

* * *

In the infirmary, Dorothy is checking over Ulrich. "Alright. Get some rest now, Ulrich." She smiles a little and opens the door, Sissi standing there. "What are you doing here?" She gives a nervous look.

"I wanted to find out how Ulrich was," she places her hands behind her back.

"Much better. He's asleep," she starts to close the door.

"Just a second! Can I see him?" Sissi requests, peeking over her shoulder.

"I don't know, I, uh..."

"You see, I'm his best friend," Sissi lies. Dorothy smiles at her, not knowing that she's actually not. "Uh, alright, but not for too long." Sissi smiles nervously as she lets her in. Dorothy closes the door behind her. Sissi watches Ulrich sleep, finding him adorable. She strokes his cheek with her hand. "You're so handsome when you sleep." She strokes his hair and he starts to walk up. She gasps, since she was expecting him to be sleeping. She acts as if she didn't do anything and he sits up.

"Where am I, anyway?" He wonders.

"In the infirmary. You passed out," Sissi informs him.

"Infirmary?" He leans in closer, the girl blushing. "What infirmary?" He stands up, looking at himself in the mirror. "Who am I? What's my name?"

"Uh, Ulrich," Sissi answers, confused.

"Ulrich?" He repeats in confusion.

"You must've hit your head when you fell down," she guesses. He stays silent until he turns to her.

"And who are you?"

"Me? I'm Sissi," she explains and Ulrich looks confused. "Sissi...your sweetheart." As soon as she says that, he holds his head, clutching the sink. He starts to get flashbacks of Sissi annoying him. _"Watch it. Hey Ulrich, when are you gonna admit you're mad about me, huh?" _

"You're kidding...I'm allergic to anyone who's conceited..." He acts as if he was actually saying it to her in the memory. "You're your own favorite fan club." _Everyone around him laughed._

Sissi cringes as he looks at her. "My sweetheart?"

Dorothy walks in. "Well, our patient is awake, I see. Ulrich, how are you?"

He's about to speak up, but Sissi intervenes. "Oh, much much better. I'll take him to his room!" She drags him out of there before Ulrich could say anything.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She calls out.

Jim runs to the infirmary with another passed out student. "What is this, an epidemic?"

"Come on, hurry," Sissi pulls him forward.

* * *

In the courtyard, Sissi holds Ulrich's hand, Ulrich looking confused. "Well, what do you know?" She thinks to herself, pointing to Odd, Amy, Jeremy, and Yumi.

"See those four kids over there? There're your worst enemies!" She explains.

"Well, why?" Ulrich wonders, but she doesn't answer. Odd turns before doing a double take.

"Hey, it's Ulrich!" He runs up to her, but the others do not, suspicious.

"What's going on? Why is he with Sissi?" Yumi wonders. Jeremy hums in agreement.

"Don't tell me this is another blackmail situation," Amy murmurs as they follow Odd. He places a hand on Ulrich's back.

"You feeling better, good buddy?"

"Who are you, huh? Leave me alone, creep!" The four look in surprise.

"Come on, Ulrich. It's me, Odd," the blonde insists, Sissi pulling him away.

"That's enough. Can't you see he doesn't wanna know you, so stay away from us, understand?" She walks away with Ulrich, the four utterly stupefied.

"What's the matter with him?" Odd murmurs.

Ulrich stands in front of Herb and Nicolas. "Ulrich, these are your good friends, Nicolas and Herb." Herb and Nicolas are just as confused as Ulrich. "He forgets things. You'd better remind him," Sissi grins at them, totally taking advantage of Ulrich's situation. Herb and Nicolas nod rapidly.

"I'm, uh, very thirsty," he takes Herb's soda and drinks it.

"You know what would be good for you? A walk in the park," Sissi suggests, thinking it would be romantic. She starts to pull Ulrich away and he gives Herb his soda back.

"Here, thanks." Herb shakes it to see it completely empty. He gives an annoyed look.

"He didn't recognize us, it's crazy!" Jeremy comments as they watch the two leave. "Could be amnesia."

"Let's go see what the nurse says," Yumi suggests.

"Good idea," Jeremy agrees.

"I've gotta bring him back to his senses. Sissi and Ulrich? Can you believe that?" Odd says in disbelief.

"What I can't believe is that she took advantage of his amnesia," Amy huffs, getting an angry look in her eyes. They run off to the infirmary.

* * *

Odd peeks at Sissi and Ulrich from a tree, Sissi getting a cookie from a box. "Here, you need the energy," she hands it to him and he takes a bike. "Ulrich, what do you feel knowing you're with the prettiest girl in school?" She strokes the back of his head.

"Well, to be honest, uh...nothing," he answers.

"What did you say?" She stops her action. He glances at her, standing up.

"What I mean is...you're really not my type." She pouts, crossing her arms.

"Well, at least he's not completely out of his head yet," Odd comments. Unfortunately for him, Ulrich heard him, turning to the spy. Odd looks in shock.

"Hey, what are you doing, spying on me?" Ulrich demands as he jumps over the bench.

"No, I-I was just..."

"You're a liar!" Ulrich accuses.

"Ulrich, cut that out! We're buddies, remember?" Odd backs away, not wanting to start a fight. After all, his own friend doesn't even remember him or the others.

"That's not what she says, so get out of here and make it fast!" Ulrich threatens, clenching his fist.

"Okay, okay, don't get all worked up," Odd holds up his hands in defense, running off. Ulrich starts to get memories of him and Odd hanging out. He also remembers Odd helping him and talking to him about his feelings for Yumi. If he was supposed to be enemies with Odd...how come they seem like such good friends in his memory?

"Ulrich?" Sissi places a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright? Come on," she takes his hand.

_"Ulrich and Sissi, just the two of you. This could be the beginning of a big romance?"_

_"Ha, forget it. She's gonna be a pain in the neck the whole time!"_

"Come sit down, you need to rest," Sissi pulls him, but he grabs his arm back.

"I'm sorry, but...what I need is to be alone," he turns away, Sissi closing her eyes. She bites the cookie.

* * *

Dorothy paces around in the infirmary. "The answer is no. Can't you see I have no time? I don't know what's happening, but it's an epidemic!"

"Yeah," Amy, Yumi, and Jeremy look at Sandra and Jim.

"We can stay and help you if you want," Yumi offers. She turns to them.

"The best way to help is to stay out of my way." Dejected, they leave the infirmary.

"Maybe Odd had more luck," Yumi suggests. Speaking of, Odd runs up to them.

"No doubt about it. Ulrich's got amnesia. I thought he was gonna slug me just now," he pants, Amy handing him some water. "Thank you."

"It's a real epidemic according to the nurse," Yumi jerks a thumb behind her.

"Well, you don't just catch amnesia. It's not contagious," Jeremy thinks. "Something's really weird."

"It had to have come from somewhere," Amy says.

"We'd better ask a doctor about it," Yumi replies.

"Too bad that nano doctors don't exist yet," Odd laments.

"Nano doctor...now I understand!" Jeremy starts running and they stare after him before following. Unfortunately, Ms. Hertz has been affected by the time they reach the science building.

"Ms. Hertz?" Yumi calls out as Jeremy inspects the gelatin. Yumi, Amy, and Odd help Ms. Hertz.

"Where am I?"

"You'll be alright," Amy tells her.

"Look at this," Jeremy has the screen set up to be zoomed in.

"It's the gelatin from this morning," Odd recalls. Jeremy zooms in closer, seeing a XANA symbol. "Uggh, what are those ugly creatures?"

"What I was afraid of. They're nano viruses," Ms. Hertz falls onto the desk. "And XANA must have created them to attack memory cells."

"That means that it is contagious!" Yumi realizes.

"Like all viruses, you can catch it from food, contact, sneezing. Soon the whole school will be infected...including us," Jeremy explains.

"A world without memory..." Odd starts.

"Under XANA's control!" Yumi finishes.

"We've gotta stop this," Amy clenches her fist.

"Let's go to the factory fast! Aelita must be in danger on Lyoko," Jeremy starts walking, Amy and Yumi following.

"And Ulrich!" Odd reminds him. "We're gonna need him!"

"No, Odd, it's Ulrich who needs our help. He'll only get well if we can deactivate the tower," Yumi tells him.

"Yumi's right. Besides, if he can't remember anything, he won't be much good to us," Jeremy says, Odd nodding in understanding. Amy places a hand on Odd's shoulder comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Odd. We'll save him and everyone else," she murmurs. He smiles slightly at her before they take off.

* * *

Ulrich walks through the dorm building, looking in confusion at the trashed hall. A boy runs by and he stops him. "Excuse me, is my room around here?"

"Huh? Has everyone gone crazy around here? Third door on the right," he runs off and Ulrich stares after him, not even able to say thank you. He opens the door to the room he shares with Odd, seeing Kiwi running around chasing his tail.

"I don't know who you are," Ulrich pets him. "But it seems we're friends." Ulrich stands there for a few seconds to take it all in before looking around. He sees a picture of him and the others. He thinks to himself as he sits down. He can hear their laughter in his head...

The four run in the park, Milly and Tamiya walking around, infected. Jeremy gasps at them. "Not a minute to lose," Yumi urges and they run as fast as they can so they won't be affected.

Ulrich holds his head as he walks out into the courtyard, seeing some kids have fallen to the amnesia. "What's going on around here?" The principal walks past him from behind, groaning. Ulrich starts to get more memories, leaning against the pole. He remembers when him and Yumi were attacked by the teddy bear, when she saved him and Amy from the bees, and when he gave her a rose at her home. "_Ulrich, I'm so glad you came. You really know how to cheer someone up."_

He starts to sweat, but continues on.

Odd slides open the manhole cover, letting Amy go first. She smiles up at him as she climbs and he follows. They jump down safely, Amy grabbing her scooter and Odd his skateboard. Odd runs, throwing it with a cheer as he speeds down the sewers. Yumi, Amy, and Jeremy follow him, climbing up the ladder. They run across the bridge, Amy pressing the button. They go down to the scanner room, Jeremy already in the lab.

"Aelita?" She appears on the screen.

"I haven't seen anything to worry about, either in the forest or in the desert area," she reports.

"Okay, beam yourself over to the mountains. I'll send Amy, Yumi, and Odd to the glacier. The activated tower's gotta be somewhere." She nods in understanding.

Ulrich holds his head as he ends up in the park. He looks around, not knowing where to go.

_"Okay, ready for the North Pole?"_ The elevator opens to the scanner room.

_"We're on our way, Aelita."_

_"Okay."_

_"Through the tunnel, in the park."_

Ulrich looks down to see the manhole cover.

Yumi, Amy, and Odd step into the three scanners, turning around. "10 seconds to transfer time."

Ulrich opens the manhole cover, slowly climbing down the ladder.

"Transfer Odd. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Amy." Their ID cards appear on Jeremy's computer. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Amy. Virtualization!"

They virtualize in the ice sector, landing safely. _"Okay, take the axis on your right."_

"Right, boss!" They run down the path in front of them.

"Aelita, anything new?" Jeremy asks, checking up on her.

"No," she shakes her head. "I haven't been all over yet, but still no vibrations."

"Be careful. Yumi, Amy, and Odd are pretty far away."

Ulrich walks in the tunnel, gaining more memories. His knees drop to the ground as he remembers being pulled by Yumi when the rats were attacking. It didn't make sense to him, but he has already arrived at the ladder in the sewers.

Odd runs up in front, getting out of the tunnel. "Watch out!" He sees a Krab, which hits Yumi.

_"Yumi, you just lost 20 life points!"_

She stands up, running as she holds her arm. Odd and Amy peek from their hiding spot. "Jeremy, we've got a welcoming committee..."

"And they don't look very welcoming!" Amy finishes nervously.

_"Don't panic, there's just one Krab, but it means the activated tower can't be far. I'll warn Aelita."_

The Krab walks to Yumi's hiding spot. _"He's coming towards you, Yumi!" _She opens her fan.

"Don't worry, he just wants to play hide and seek. Playful little beast!" She assures as she looks up.

* * *

Ulrich has arrived in front of the elevator. He looks to his right, remembering Odd, Amy, Jeremy, and him going inside with Kiwi and Kiki. He steps inside, looking at the buttons. He presses the top one, watching as the door comes down. He closes his eyes, remembering the code he needed to get in. He presses stop, ending up in the lab. "Wow..."

"Ulrich!" Jeremy looks up.

"What am I doing here? What kinda place is this?" He wonders.

"I can't tell you now, we've got an emergency," Jeremy answers.

"Look, I can't remember anything, but I know I have something important to do here. Tell me what it is," Ulrich explains.

"Well...uh, sure, why not? Once you're on Lyoko, you'll have to do something, amnesia or not." He mostly agreed due to the anxiety that any of the three could get devirtualized. But he did also want to help Ulrich regain his memory.

"What's Lyoko?" Ulrich wonders.

"It's, uh...look. See that pillar behind you?" Jeremy jerks a thumb at the ladder that leads to the scanner room. "You've gotta slide up one level. You'll see a few scanners. Get into one of them and just wait." Ulrich pouts, raising an eyebrow. "You'll get all the answers you want." Ulrich turns around, walking to go to the scanners.

Yumi peeks at the Krab, hiding again. "Yoo-hoo!" She calls out and he looks at the other side, firing. Yumi isn't there, however. "Over here!" He looks around, but still doesn't see her. "Hey Krabby!" He looks up, seeing her at the top. She jumps and throws her fan, destroying it.

_"Target hit."_

She closes her fan, Odd and Amy running up to her. "Nice going, Yumi!"

"Yeah! You did great!" Amy winks.

"Two things, guys. One, Aelita's waiting on the other side of the glacier," Jeremy explains.

"And two?" Odd wonders.

"And two, Ulrich's on the way."

"Ulrich?" Amy, Yumi, and Odd look at each other. "We'll wait for him here, you go and help Aelita, Yumi."

"Better hurry!" Yumi runs through the tunnel, Odd giving a little smile. Jeremy starts the process and Ulrich steps in, confused.

"Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization!"

Like the first time he visited, Ulrich lands on his butt. He rubs it in pain. "Ouch!" He looks at himself, Amy and Odd watching him from behind.

"Welcome to the virtual world, Ulrich." He turns around to them. Odd is standing on the platform while Amy sits on the one above him.

"What is this place? What are we here for?" Ulrich asks.

"To fight, of course," Odd answers.

"Fight? I don't know how to fight!" Ulrich says in shock.

"But of course you do. You just forgot, but we'll refresh your memory!" Amy jumps down gracefully and so does Odd. They land in front of him, Odd knocking Ulrich down with his tail. Odd jumps over him, Amy following him. "Okay, come on!"

Yumi manages to reach the other side, waving. "Hello, Aelita!"

"I found the activated tower, we're almost there!" Aelita starts running with her.

"Lead the way!"

On the other side, Ulrich spars with Amy. "You're just...dodging my blows!" She jumps over his sword. "Don't you have a weapon?" She backflips away.

"I have powers in each sector, and I have a spear," she shows it. "He's got arrows, but he wants to save them," She jerks a thumb at Odd. She backflips over him, landing behind him. "And I wouldn't want to hurt a friend!" She ducks from another blow.

"Oh, yeah? No kidding." He jumps in front of her, but she ducks that too.

"We're almost there!" The two girls could see the tower in front of them.

"Yeah, seems almost too easy. I have a funny feeling about this." And she was right, as two Krabs virtualize right in front of them. "I'm sick of always being right!" Two more Krabs appear behind them, surrounding the two. "That way!" She runs to the edge. "Four against one. Well, it's better than five or six."

"Hang in there, girls. I'll try to send you reinforcements," Jeremy assures.

"First let's get rid of two of them." Aelita uses her creativity power to create an ice wall in front of two of them. They fire at it, trying to break it down. "Hurry, it's not gonna hold for long!" Yumi throws her fan, but misses. They fire at her with lasers.

Amy lands safely. "Hey, you oughta save your strength. You're gonna need it," Odd reminds, not wanting Amy to get hurt accidentally.

"Why, are there other levels?" Amy jumps away as Ulrich is getting excited. "I like it here. It's a video game, but for real!"

"Yeah, but now it's time to stop. Aelita and Yumi need you." Ulrich stops at Jeremy's voice.

"Huh? Who said that?"

"Jeremy. Come on!" Odd and Amy run off.

"Hey, wait! We haven't finished the game!" Ulrich runs after them.

Yumi gets hit by a laser. "Again? Yumi, be careful. _You've only got a few life points left."_

Yumi jumps, hitting the Krab underneath and destroying it. _"Nice going, Yumi."_

"One to go," she gives a thumbs up.

"Hurry Yumi, the walls aren't gonna last!" Aelita looks at the ice wall, which is starting to crack. As they continue to fire, Ulrich tackles Odd to the ground.

"Ha, there! I win the game!" Ulrich holds his swords over him.

"Yeah, but you beat an ally."

"What?" Ulrich stops in his tracks.

"Now that you know who your friends are, it's time to meet your enemies," he gestures to the two Krabs in front of them.

"Enemies? What enemies?"

"They're Krabs," Amy helps Odd to his feet, placing down his sword. "Monsters created by XANA. Listen, we don't have time to explain, Yumi and Aelita need our help!" She points ahead.

"And right now," Odd finishes. Ulrich stands up and they all run forward. The ice wall breaks, Aelita gasping. "To get rid of them, you have to hit the thing on their shell that looks like an eye!"

"Sounds easy enough!" Ulrich jumps, but falls. He dodges from a laser. Odd jumps up. "Laser arrow!" He only damages the Krab, moving away from a laser. Ulrich dashes, Yumi turning around.

"Ulrich!" This allows the Krab to devirtualize her. She lays down in the scanner. Odd and Amy gasp as they run. Ulrich dodges the lasers with his sword.

"What happened to her?"

Amy backflips away from a laser. "Nothing serious. We've gotta protect Aelita!" He fires another laser arrow, missing. Aelita backs away, close to falling into the digital sea. Amy is about to run up to her, but Ulrich spins his sword.

"I'll take care of her. You deal with the other Krab."

Yumi joins Jeremy from the scanner room. "It's good to see Ulrich with his memory back again."

"You're wrong. He's still got amnesia." Yumi looks in confusion before turning to the computer in shock.

Ulrich yells as he runs up to the Krab. He cuts off the legs, the Krab falling down in front of him. Ulrich stabs the eye like he was told and it explodes in front of him, making him stumble.

"Thanks for clearing the passage!" Aelita calls out as she runs to the tower.

"Huh? She's leaving?"

"Uh, not exactly total recall," Jeremy comments.

Odd gets hit from one of the two Krabs. "Jeremy, I'm coming!" Odd flips to his knees.

"No, I'm Odd!" Odd fires a laser arrow, Amy laughing. The arrow flies to the eye, destroying the first one. Amy is crawling underneath the path. She flies up behind the Krab.

"Here we go!" Odd declares as Aelita enters the tower. "Let's work together on this one, Ames...three, two, one, laser arrow!"

"Shattering ice!" Amy spins around, pointing her finger at the eye. A flurry of ice comes from it and together, they destroy the Krab. The three land safely.

"Great, guys, you're one heck of a team!" Jeremy cheers.

Aelita starts floating up to the top. She lands on the top pad, pressing her hand to the interface.

_Aelita_

"Is that it? No other players?" Ulrich wonders.

"No, we can go home. The game's over," Odd tells him.

"Huh? But how?"

"Magic, watch," Amy waves her hands mystically.

_Lyoko_

The tower deactivates and everything starts to reset. "Return to the past now." Everything is engulfed in white, resetting to when they looked at the gelatin. Jeremy had just answered Ms. Hertz's question.

"Exactly. In the medical field, for example, scientists are developing nano doctors. Tiny machines which will be able to travel through our bodies to combat disease. Scientific research, however, still has a long way to go."

"Are these robots capable of fighting pimples, cellulite, and things like that?" Sissi asks again. Ms. Hertz laughs at the question.

"Yes, they can, but the priority is for more serious illnesses," the whole class laughs, Sissi annoyed like before.

"And nanotechnology can't do a thing about stupidity. Poor Sissi, what a shame!" Odd jokes again. Sissi growls in annoyance.

"Alright now, quiet down. This nano sphere is used to make microscopic devices," she lifts the lid, seeing the gelatin. "Strange, it hasn't been cleaned properly. There's gelatin inside."

"Looks like the greasy stuff Odd puts on his hair every day!" Ulrich jokes.

"Since you think you're so clever, Ulrich, why don't you take a sample for us to examine?" Ulrich does so. "It's used as a culture where Nano devices can develop." They look at it closely.

"Anyway, it looks an awful lot like jam. Let's try to cook it." To the other students' surprise, he turns to the burner. "You never can tell." He walks over and takes a pair of pliers. He then burns the gelatin AND the slide. He didn't want to take any chances.

"Ulrich, what are you doing?" He drops the pliers. "How dare you destroy school equipment? I'll have to punish you severely for that. And it's going to be a punishment you won't forget!"

"I hope not, Ms. Hertz. I sure hope not!" She gives a flabbergasted look, never seeing Ulrich like this. They laugh at her expression. Sure, he got in trouble, but it was worth it.

Better than to get amnesia again and be around Sissi!


	20. Killer Music

Odd and Ulrich are in their room. Ulrich is in the middle of studying while Odd dances around the place, headphones over his ears. He's yelling the tune of a new song. Ulrich turns to him. "Hey Odd, if you don't mind, I'm...trying to study!" Ulrich turns back to his work, trying to concentrate. Odd suddenly appears next to him, yelling in his ear. Ulrich gives a frustrated look, standing up. "Cut that out! Maybe you forgot, but we've got a test tomorrow. So stop!"

"I didn't hear what you said, repeat?" Odd takes off the headphones.

"I said I want to study, Odd!" Ulrich shouts, placing his hands on his hips.

"What's the sense of you studying? Whatever you do, you're still gonna get a zero in Physics, so why not listen to what I downloaded from the web?" Ulrich just walks back to his desk. "Come on, listen to it. It sure beats studying like Ames was doing all day!" Ulrich growls slightly. "It's cool music and nobody knows who wrote it either! It's an mp3 file. And it's free, it's a packrat revolution!"

"You want a revolution? Okay, I'll give you one," Ulrich starts to sound annoyed. "You don't think of anyone but yourself! And I'm fed up!" He takes his things and leaves.

"Hey, where are you going?" Odd takes off his headphones.

"To Jeremy's room! At least he knows you need peace and quiet when you're studying! He's not like you, selfish!" He slams the door, Odd staring at it before sitting down on the bed. Kiwi sits on his lap.

"Don't worry, Kiwi. He'll get over it." He scratches Kiwi's belly slightly before laying down on the bed. "So glad when you're bad," he sings, relaxing. He sings to himself.

* * *

In Jeremy's room, he's making adjustments to a robot. He hums to himself before someone knocks on his door. He opens it to see Ulrich. "Ulrich. Uh, what's the matter?"

"Odd and his music are driving me nuts," Ulrich explains.

"You're not into heavy metal, pop, folk?" Jeremy rubs his chin.

"Not while I have to study for an exam. Is it okay if I study in your room? I'd be in big trouble with Jim if I asked Amy, and she's probably asleep. Odd said she was studying all day," Ulrich rubs his neck.

"Sure. I can even give you some help if you want," Jeremy suggests.

"I could sure use some," Jeremy leads him into his room.

Odd continues to dance to the music alone, shaking Kiwi in his hands slightly. He smiles widely before placing Kiwi down. He sings as he jumps onto his bed. Suddenly, he stops, a wide smile on his face. It seemed as if the music was hurting him. He falls onto the bed, unconscious with his eyes wide open...his hand drops and Kiwi barks in worry, trying to wake him up. He starts barking for help.

* * *

The next morning, Ulrich is sleeping on Jeremy's floor. He didn't return to his room last night, so he doesn't know about Odd. "Time to get up Ulrich," Jeremy shakes his shoulder.

"Too tired..."

"Do I have to remind you you have a test this morning?" Jeremy puts on his blue shirt.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep," Ulrich rubs his eye.

"How come?" Jeremy wonders. Ulrich walks over to him, rubbing his head.

"Well, I'll tell you how come. 'Oh, Aelita. Oh Aelita, you're in my dreams. I can't wait until'-"

"Shh, she'll hear you," Jeremy covers his mouth, blushing as he turns to the computer. Luckily for him, Aelita was not there.

"Between you and Odd, I can't study or sleep," Ulrich comments, Jeremy hanging his head in slight embarrassment.

"Hey, you're not gonna...tell anybody, huh?" He wonders, still blushing.

"Promise, Romeo," Ulrich places a hand on his shoulder and the genius smiles gratefully.

"Let's get some breakfast," Jeremy suggests, but Ulrich didn't look too happy to hear that.

"Okay, but not with Odd. He made me so mad last night!"

"Whatever you say. And besides, Amy will be there. If she can't make you happy, she wouldn't be Amy!" Ulrich puts on his jacket and ties his shoes, leaving with Jeremy. He stares at the computer, thinking about what Aelita could be doing. He closes the door. On Lyoko, Aelita is sitting in a way tower, forest sector. She watches the screen in front of her in interest as she learns more about Earth and what it has to offer.

* * *

"Have you finished the layout?" Milly asks Tamiya at breakfast.

"Yeah, sure."

Ulrich sips his drink and Jeremy couldn't help notice that Odd hasn't contacted them or shown up. "How come Odd's still not here?"

"I couldn't care less," Ulrich states, Amy sighing a little.

"Ulrich, he may annoy you, but he's Odd. Aren't you being a little ridiculous over the whole thing?" Amy wonders.

"No."

She huffs, crossing her arms as Herb, Sissi, and Nicolas pass by their table.

"What's the song's name?" Nicolas wonders, Sissi listening to the same music as Odd.

"The title is 'Glad when you're Bad.' I honestly can't believe how unhip you guys are. You're a couple of real losers. You oughta go out once in a while."

"Well, fill us in, Sissi. Is it R&B?" She groans in frustration, walking away.

"Odd oughta be here. Maybe he didn't wake up," Jeremy suggests.

"Forget about it, it's his problem." Ulrich narrows his eyes.

"You need to stop this and chill!" Amy shouts, their eyes widening. "It's just music! He can't miss his exam just because you wanna be a jerk!"

"Yes we can," Ulrich leaves and Amy groans in frustration as Jeremy sulks a little.

"Hey Amy, you wouldn't have happened to heard from Odd this morning, have you?" He wonders.

"No," she shakes her head. "And he hasn't called me back."

* * *

The bell rings for class and Yumi walks onto campus. "Hi," she walks up to them. "Odd isn't here?"

"Hmm," Ulrich turns to Amy and Jeremy.

"No, and I'm beginning to worry," Jeremy explains.

"Me too...it's not like him to be this late," Amy murmurs, Yumi smirking with a raised eyebrow. "I can't worry about my best friend?"

"Did you check in his room?" Yumi suggests.

"Not yet," Amy shakes her head. "But that's where we're headed now. Right, Ulrich?" She narrows her eyes at him.

"No, we'll be late for the exam." Ulrich did not feel like going back to his room at all.

"Not if we hurry," Jeremy says.

"And you _will _come," Amy pulls him by the ear and he shouts in pain, Yumi giggling.

"Keep me posted, okay?" Yumi calls out, Amy and Jeremy humming in agreement.

* * *

"He's sang that dumb song over and over," Ulrich complains, Amy rolling her eyes.

"You mean 'Glad when you're Bad?' Ugh, I can't stand the beat. It's not right," she shakes her head as Ulrich opens the door.

"Look, now he's fast asleep!" They see Odd laying down.

"Let's just wake him up." Jeremy walks up to Odd. "Hey Odd, get up, will you? Hey."

"If this is a joke, it's a bad one. We're gonna be late," Ulrich states as Jeremy shakes Odd.

"Hey, something's wrong!" Amy's eyes widen, bending down to him.

"Odd! Odd! ODD!" She slaps him repeatedly.

"This isn't a joke!" Jeremy tells Ulrich, who closes his eyes.

Amy's started to cry, and she doesn't even know how it happened. Dorothy looks over Odd in the infirmary.

"Odd. Odd, can you hear me?" The principal walks in. "Call the hospital." The three look over Odd, Amy's breath hitching in her throat. "And tell them it's very, very urgent." Dorothy looks over Odd's blood temperature.

"His blood pressure and his heartbeat are slow. I don't understand."

"And if we add up the resistances in a continuous circuit, the intensity of the current diminishes. In a derivative circuit, however, the current produced by the generator is equal to the sum of the intensities in the derivative circuit branches." Yumi gets a message from an upset Amy.

"Odd?"

"This gives us the following equation y equals-"

"Sorry, Ms. Hertz. It's...it's Odd. He..." Yumi opens the door.

"Yumi," she leaves, to the others' confusion. "Alright, settle down."

* * *

They watch as Odd is taken away on a stretcher. Amy holds his hand along the way. "Miss, you can't come." He tries pulling Amy away.

"No!" She protests, holding her ground. Yumi runs up to Ulrich and Jeremy as they watch the scene.

"What's the matter with him? Is it serious? Well, is it?"

"His heart's beating very slowly," Jeremy explains.

"XANA," Yumi says.

"XANA's not capable of attacking human beings directly," Jeremy shakes his head.

"If only I'd stayed with him last night, this wouldn't have happened," Ulrich says in guilt. "We had a big fight and I slept in Jeremy's room."

"How could you have known that?" Yumi places her hands on her shoulders.

"I'm staying with him!" Ulrich runs up to the ambulance as Amy is pulled away.

"I'm sorry Ulrich and Amelia, but I can't permit you to leave the school grounds," the principal stops him.

"I'm staying with Odd!" Amy jumps inside, her face a red swollen mess of tears. She can't remember the last time she was this frightened.

"Ulrich, Amelia, get away from that ambulance! That is not the right way to help him," the principal orders.

"I don't care. I can't let him be taken away like this," Ulrich shakes his head.

"If he wakes up, he shouldn't be alone," Amy sniffles, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. She's so scared that Odd might die. "He should be surrounded by his friends…"

"Alright, you can go," the principal steps away.

"I wanna go with them too," Jeremy voices.

"Are you crazy?" Yumi bends to him. "What if XANA launches an attack?"

"We'll stay in contact. Call me if there's the slightest problem," Jeremy explains, climbing inside. They close the ambulance doors and they leave, Yumi staring after them. She was going to do this for Odd.

* * *

At the hospital, Ulrich is still feeling guilty. Amy has stopped crying as she's trying to ease her mind. She keeps telling herself that Odd will be okay.

"Ulrich, stop. You're not to blame," Jeremy states.

"No, it's all my fault," Ulrich hangs his head.

"No, it's not. Even if you'd been there, you couldn't have changed anything," Jeremy replies.

"How do you know?" They turn to Amy, who has her fists clenched.

"I...I..."

"How do you know?!" She snaps and Jeremy feels awkward.

"I'll go get us a soda," Jeremy sweats nervously, not wanting Amy to be more upset. "It'll do us all good."

"We're gonna go see Odd. We'll see you in his room," Jeremy walks away, Ulrich guiding Amy as Jeremy walks into a janitor's closet. Doctors are talking about two more cases just like Odd's. Jeremy turns on his laptop. He types on his computer to see if Aelita would answer him. "Aelita? Aelita?"

She looks up, standing to her feet. "Jeremy, how's everything going?" She appears on his screen.

"Not good. Odd's in a coma, it's really weird. His heart has almost stopped beating!" He explains.

"Oh no...Amy must be devastated," Aelita says in worry.

"She is...she refused to leave his side, but she had to so they could look over him. No one knows what to do and the weirdest thing of all is that Odd may not be the only one hit by illness," Jeremy tells her, not wanting to mention that Amy literally snapped at him.

"Bizarre...do you think that XANA is capable of creating a disease?" She wonders.

"I can't believe he was actually able to attack humans directly," he voices.

"Looks like he might have found a way," she states.

"Anyway, I'd better warn Ulrich, Amy, and Yumi. Meanwhile, see if you feel any pulsations," he says.

"Okay," she logs off and Jeremy shuts his laptop. Aelita gets right to work, logging off the interface in the tower. In Odd's room, his condition has seemed to get worse. Aelita holds out her arms, letting herself fall to get to the other tower. She lands on the pad, stepping out slowly into the mountains. She starts running for any clues.

At school, Yumi has just finished her class, calling Jeremy for any updates. Sissi walks right past her, but something didn't sit right. "Sissi? Are you okay?" Sissi falls unconscious. "Sissi! Hey, Sissi!" Her face is blank. "Oh no." Yumi eyes the headphones and takes them off Sissi. As soon as she starts listening to it, it makes the Japanese girl feel dizzy. She snaps herself out of it, looking at the headphones. This was definitely XANA...

And she had to call Jeremy. _Now. _

* * *

Ulrich and Amy look down at Odd. She wishes she knew more about him. She wishes they were closer. The only thing she could tell someone about Odd Della Robbia is that he is breathtakingly handsome and when he was being sincere, he meant it. When he spoke to someone, it makes them feel privileged...and make them laugh. It was like she was the most important person in the world to him...that is, if he didn't try to sought out every single girl in school except Yumi. Jeremy walks up to them.

"Ulrich, Amy, I just spoke to Aelita. She's gonna try and see if XANA is the cause of our problem," he explains, putting a hand to their shoulders. "If he did this, I can't figure out how. What I do know is that going to Lyoko is the only way to save him, so let's go."

"No," Amy hugs his unconscious head. "I wanna stay with him."

"But Amy, we could really use your help on Lyoko," Jeremy points out.

"You can manage fine without me. If it was me, Odd would stay for me. I'm his best friend, Jeremy. Don't make me choose between him and XANA," she glances up at him with pleading eyes. "I'm sorry, but I just can't leave him...you'll have to go through my dead body!"

"...Okay," Jeremy nods in understanding. Ulrich rubs Odd's head.

"We'll get you out of this. I swear we will," Ulrich narrows his eyes. "Stay here and keep an eye on him, Amy."

"I will," she sniffles.

* * *

On Lyoko, Aelita feels pulsations as she sits on a rock. "Oh no. XANA's activated a tower."

Ulrich and Jeremy run as Jeremy's phone rings. "Hey Jeremy, how's Odd?" Yumi asks as she drags Sissi to the infirmary.

"His heart's getting weaker and weaker," he reports. "Amy insisted on staying with him in case."

"Sissi's got the same symptoms. It's spreading," she explains.

"And it could be an epidemic started by XANA!" Jeremy finishes.

"Did you reach Aelita?" She wonders.

"Yeah, I did. Get over to the factory, fast!"

Dorothy turns on the radio, smiling to herself. There's suddenly a knock on her door and she opens it. "Oh no, Sissi! This way," she leads Yumi inside. "Here, set here down, gently." XANA starts to infect the radio, playing the music again. Yumi starts to get dizzy, covering her ears.

"Oh no, my head! That horrible song! Dorothy!" She sees the nurse on the floor. "The music, it's definitely the music!"

"Connecting. Connecting," Jeremy and Ulrich have made it to the lab.

"Aelita, we're in the lab," he reports.

"Better hurry, the pulsations are getting stronger. The activated tower can't be too far away," she says.

"Any monsters around?" He questions, because if there was, he would want her to be safe.

"Not yet, no," she shakes her head.

"Ulrich's coming soon, stay where you are," he orders.

"Okay, I'll wait here," she agrees, logging off.

"Yumi," he calls her from the computer.

"Jeremy, it's the song that's causing it!" She explains frantically.

"What do you mean, the song? I don't understand," he says in confusion.

"It is! It's the song, 'Glad When You're Bad,' " she starts heading over to the park.

"Oh no, I think that's the song Odd downloaded from the web yesterday," Ulrich explains to Jeremy.

"XANA is using the media for maximum coverage," Jeremy realizes, worried for Odd.

"He's formatted the song, and now, he's spreading it all over!" She arrives in the park.

"A deadly melody..." Jeremy murmurs.

"Considering what it's done to Odd, we'd better deactivate the tower. Send Yumi as soon as she gets here," Ulrich states. "And we better warn Amy at the hospital."

Yumi runs as fast as she can to the secret entrance.

* * *

Ulrich runs into the scanner room from the elevator, Jeremy starting up the procedure. Ulrich's ID card appears as Jeremy furrows his eyebrows. _"I'll send you north to the mountains." _Ulrich steps into the scanner. "Transfer Ulrich." Ulrich closes his eyes. "Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization."

Ulrich appears in the mountains, landing safely on the plateau. He stands up as he looks around, Aelita running up to him from a pathway. "Ulrich!"

"We've gotta get to the activated tower, fast," he explains and she points forward.

"Look, it's there. You see?" Pulsations lead to the right. Jeremy dials Amy from the computer.

As Amy looks down at Odd, she gets a call from Einstein and she answers it. "Jeremy?"

"Amy, you've gotta be careful. You know that song Glad When You're Bad? It's spreading an epidemic to drop heart rates to anyone who listens to it!"

"You mean that god awful song Odd was listening to? That's what's causing his condition? Man, if I wasn't checking over him, I'd deal with XANA myself," She looks back to Odd.

"How's it going at the hospital?"

"I've heard the reports from inside. More and more people are coming to the hospital with the same conditions as Odd," Amy peeks outside at the approaching patients. "Ulrich better hurry."

* * *

Aelita and Ulrich run together, following the pulsations. He runs in front of her in case any monsters show up. Whenever there's pulsations, monsters were sure to follow. They stop when they're faced with two paths. "Okay."

"We're at the tower. There it is," Aelita points to a straight path, the tower sitting on a rock between a gap.

Yumi bends down to the manhole cover, opening it and climbing down. Jeremy is watching a news report about the epidemic. "This morning we've been swamped with calls warning us of a mysterious epidemic. For an update, let's go to our reporter Bill Amster who's on the scene. Bill?"

"Thank you. As soon as news on the first cases were announced, I went into the neighborhood and things here are dramatic to say the least. For now, it seems that the authorities can't quote a figure on the number of people who have actually been stricken by the illness," the illness has started to spread through the city and not just the school. "The victim seems to be under the spell of the disease whose origins are unknown and whose outcome could be fatal."

"That's what you think!" Jeremy comments.

"Public health officials are presently on the scene."

Yumi grabs her skateboard and throws it, skating down the sewer tunnels.

Ulrich stands guard. "No monsters anywhere, that's suspicious." A Blok is watching them from atop a rock, climbing along the side of the rocks. "Ah, there you are." Ulrich holds his sword.

Yumi crawls out onto the bridge, running across it.

Two more Bloks appear, surrounding the two.

Yumi presses the button to the elevator, going down to the lab.

"Aelita, take cover somewhere," Ulrich orders and she runs, running down the path and jumping down safely. She looks up as she hears the lasers. Ulrich jumps from the lasers, running forward and sprinting, slashing a Blok. Aelita looks up, hearing more lasers. Ulrich skids, but is frozen by a Blok.

"Ulrich!" Aelita calls out.

"Ulrich, you're out of bounds for three minutes," Jeremy reveals. Yumi runs into the lab.

"Everything okay on Lyoko?" She pants.

"Not really. Ulrich's frozen solid and Aelita's alone," he explains.

"I'm ready to go!" She runs to the elevator. Jeremy starts the procedure a second time.

_"To the mountains."_

The doors open to the scanners. "Transfer Yumi." Yumi steps into the scanner. "Here we go. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization."

Yumi is virtualized into the mountain sector and glances to her right, seeing a Blok coming for Aelita.

"Ulrich, 30 seconds to go," Jeremy reports. The Blok fires at the ground, Yumi blocking one with her fan.

"Stay behind me, Aelita. I'll handle them." The other Blok appears, Ulrich unfrozen. He looks around.

"How much longer, Jeremy?" Yumi asks about Ulrich, not sure if she can take them by herself.

_"He's coming."_

"Go!" Ulrich jumps down from the upper platform, stabbing a Blok and jumping up. He lands near Yumi.

"Glad to see ya," Yumi comments.

"Better stay alert! More bloks are on their way," Jeremy warns.

"That one's yours, Yumi," Ulrich stands near Aelita. Yumi blocks another laser with her fan.

"Well done," Jeremy decides to listen to the news for an update.

"According to the Public Health Department, the very first cases were discovered at Kadic Junior High School." XANA starts to infect the screen, playing the awful music. Jeremy turns on his headphone, running to the wires. He unplugs them, since if he was infected, he wouldn't be able to help Ulrich and Yumi on Lyoko. The music starts playing from the ceiling, Jeremy getting dizzy.

"No!" He screams in agony, falling to his knees. He falls to the ground.

_"Jeremy! Do you hear me? Jeremy!"_

Ulrich blocks a laser with his sword. "Yumi, you and Aelita run to the tower."

Yumi is spinning her fan to block the incoming lasers. "You're crazy! You'll never make it all alone!"

"Who said I would be alone?" Ulrich runs to the Blok. "Triangulate!" As he runs, he makes two other clones of himself to make a triangle. The Blok looks around in confusion before its destroyed. Ulrich and his clones run up to the second Blok, Yumi and Aelita running to the tower. "Position! Go!" As they run, one of them is destroyed. Ulrich jumps up, letting the Blok attack the other. Another one approaches, the clone and Ulrich getting devirtualized. As Ulrich comes out of the scanner, the music has spread to the scanner. He sweats, trying to fight it.

"Oh no! What?!" He covers his ears, trying to walk to the elevator. He reaches out to the door.

Yumi and Aelita are almost at the tower, a Blok watching them. Another one approaches from the front. Aelita is hit from behind. "Aelita!" Yumi exclaims. They look to see a Blok coming. Yumi throws her fan, destroying the Blok. They run to the activated tower, which is to their left. They look at the moving stones.

Ulrich lies down on the floor as the music plays. Jeremy crawls slowly to the computer, his head hurting from the music. He reaches out to his chair, managing to reach the arm.

As Amy watches over Odd, the music starts to play. "Huh?! Oh no, not now!" She holds her hands over her ears.

"I've gotta enter the coordinates for the return trip..." Jeremy sweats as he slowly types them in. "Launching! Huh, I did it! I did it!" He falls unconscious in his chair. Aelita jumps across the stones carefully, followed by Yumi. Aelita jumps and runs across the path, but Yumi doesn't make it.

"Oh no, Yumi!" Yumi manages to grab the edge of a rock, but just barely.

"No, Aelita. Don't worry about me. Go on." Aelita does as she says, knowing that the whole world was in danger. She's got one stone and the circling rocks around the towers left. She watches closely for the timing before she makes her move, running and jumping off. Yumi looks up as she backflips, landing on the circling stone for a moment. She jumps again and lands right in front of the tower. She runs inside, walking to the middle. She starts flying to the top.

People in the city and hospital fall under the killer music. Aelita lands on the top pad. She steps up to the interface.

Jeremy lays unmoving in his chair.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

"I'm sorry Odd..." Amy falls to the ground, a blank look on her face as she's fallen to the illness. Odd falls further towards cardiac arrest with the goofy smile still on his lips. His electrocardigram sounds a critical and fatal beep.

_Lyoko_

The beeps still sound as the tower is deactivated. The return to the past engulfs a quiet city, an inanimate school, and a hospital where many bodies lie numb...

* * *

Back to the previous evening, Odd is still listening to music, humming to himself. Ulrich turns the page, Odd appearing next to him. Ulrich points to his head before turning around. "Hey Odd, come on, I'm trying to study."

"What's the sense of studying? You're gonna get a zero!" Odd calls out, Ulrich sighing.

"I've heard that twice already, that's enough."

"Hey, listen to what I downloaded from the web," Ulrich stares at him. "It's outta sight! 'Under my Cover,' by RU Flicknight. It's incredible!" To Ulrich, it sounded just as terrible. Odd offers him his headphones.

"Later, okay? For the time being, I'd like to study. And as for you, I wouldn't say no to you helping me a little. You're so good in physics." Ulrich doesn't seem so mad at Odd anymore because of what he went through before the return in time.

"That's right, and if you want help, the reincarnation of Einstein is willing to give a lesson to a sawdust-filled head!" Odd declares.

"And I'll listen to your song afterwards," Ulrich agrees. Odd stares at him.

"You don't really have to," Odd shrugs. "Actually, it's pretty mainstream. It's something that...what I mean is-"

"It's the kind of song a machine might've have written?" Ulrich guesses.

"Yeah, that's right. Say, you know a lot about music." Odd bends down to help, humming along. Ulrich gives an annoyed look.

"So you're gonna help me or what?"

"Just a second, it's the song!"

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see about that."

Suddenly, the door bursts open, revealing Amy in her pajamas. She pants as she stares at Odd and he gives a confused look. "Uh, Ames, you're not supposed to be-"

She runs up and hugs him. "Odd Della Robbia, don't you ever scare me like that again!"

He smiles softly as he hugs her back. "Relax, I'm not gonna leave my favorite girl out in the dust." She sniffles and he laughs, patting her back to calm her down. "I'm right here, Ames...I'm not going anywhere. I promised you, remember?"

"Yeah..." She rests her head on his shoulder.

Ulrich clears his throat and they turn to him, Odd's hands still around her and her hands still on his shoulders. On the inside, Odd was a little mad that he ruined the moment. "Hello, boy in study crisis over here?"


	21. Frontier

As per the usual, Jeremy is working long and hard on the materialization with Aelita. "It's fine as of now. I'll test this part here again," he's convinced he's made progress, sweating as the test starts. "Come on!" A beep announces that the program did not work. "What do you mean, uh? I don't believe this! Why does it always happen just then? Aelita, did you deactivate the external sinusoidal modules like I told you?"

"Of course," she answers honestly. "And I even defragmented the internal matrix."

"But I already did that!" Jeremy stands up, losing his calm on her. "The system is bound to screw up if it gets the same data twice! If we keep working against each other, we're never gonna succeed, never!"

"I'm sorry." He gives a look of surprise, turning around.

"Uh, no. Well, I'm the one who should be sorry, Aelita. Forgive me. I shouldn't have gotten so angry..."

"It's okay," she replies curtly. "But I think we should stop for tonight. I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, wait Aelita!"

"Goodnight," she logs off. He stares at the screen, feeling sorry and sheepish...

* * *

The next morning, the students are going to breakfast. Yumi walks to the four near the vending machines. Ulrich and Jeremy are standing up while Odd and Amy are sitting down, Odd looking over her shoulder as she sketches. "Hi guys. Well, it looks like I'm not the only one who was up so late. What were you guys doing? Studying, huh?"

"Not exactly," Ulrich reveals a game device from his shirt. "Tetris Annihilator! Till three in the morning."

"I should've guessed it was something like that. Nice going," Yumi comments.

"Thanks! How'd you know I won?"

"Did you sleep, Amy?" Yumi wonders, Amy looking up at her.

"Oh, I did...for five hours," she deadpans. "Odd invited me to play video games with him, so we went out into the park and snuck back in about an hour ago."

"Ooo," Yumi and Ulrich tease.

"What? We didn't wanna get caught by Jim if we were in each other's rooms," Odd argues, Amy rolling her eyes.

Yumi turns to Jeremy, who just grips his cup as he's thinking about his fight with Aelita. "How are you, Jeremy?"

"Me? I didn't sleep even a wink. I've got an awful lot on my mind."

"Oh yeah, the usual worries about materializing Aelita?" Yumi asks, not even noticing that he's so upset. Amy and Ulrich look at him.

"No no, well, yes, actually. There's a lot more to it than that." The bell rings before he can say more. "I'm off," he runs off. "Nothing like a little math class to wake me up!" They stare after him, Yumi and Ulrich glancing at each other.

* * *

"I'll begin again since it's a bit complicated," Mrs. Meyer starts to write a formula on the board. "Now I want everyone to-"

"Hey Jeremy," Ulrich whispers.

"What is it?" Odd is sleeping from his video game battles with Amy, while the brunette herself is rubbing her eyes.

"What's going on with Aelita?" Ulrich wonders, since usually Jeremy wasn't this upset after a talk with her. More like the opposite.

"Well, last night, we...we had a bit of a fight." Amy drops her pencil in shock.

"Yeah, about what?"

"Nothing. It was on account of me. I yelled at her and I think she got mad," Jeremy explains.

"Uh, you don't think, you know, or else you wouldn't be sulking," Amy retorts.

"Ulrich...Amy...I really have to go," he tells them.

"Where to? Boys' room? Cuz I didn't need to know that," Amy scrunches her eyebrows in disgust.

"Of course not, to Lyoko."

"W-What?!" Ulrich exclaims, a little bit too loudly at Jeremy's explanation. Her eyes widen, mouth dropping wide open.

"Ulrich!" Mrs. Meyer turns around to him. "Repeat what I just said." The whole class turns around to stare at him.

"Uhh..."

"Odd, go on, help him," she knows that Odd's been sleeping, the class laughing at him.

* * *

"WHAT?! No way!" Yumi protests, Jeremy having just told her what he told Ulrich and Amy in class.

"Not very long, just for an hour," Jeremy begs. "I could go at lunchtime."

"But that's not the problem, Jeremy. The problem is the super calculator. You're the only one who can use it," Yumi retorts.

"Yeah, but once you get the idea, it's not complicated. I can launch a simplified transfer program and explain the procedures to you!" Jeremy offers.

"It doesn't feel right. I'm sorry, Jeremy," Yumi tells him. Honestly, to Amy, she was being a little stubborn. Yes, Jeremy has the most knowledge on the supercomputer, but that didn't mean they couldn't learn it themselves.

"Yumi, listen. I had an argument with Aelita and I want to ask her to forgive me in person." Ulrich, Amy, and Odd glance at each other.

"What if XANA attacks while you're there?" Yumi turns around to him.

"Then we just have to bring him back immediately and take his place on Lyoko. Anyways, XANA's been pretty quiet lately," Odd answers. Yumi turns away, unsure.

"Yumi, let the dude apologize to Aelita in person. I'm sure we can figure out how to use the supercomputer. Jeremy does this all the time and if there's an emergency in case he can't do it, one of us will have to do it eventually."

* * *

"Now, I've already calculated the variable virtual mass, so you don't have to worry. Since I won't be fighting, I used the default option for the exponential memory transfer, okay? As for the fractal encoding for the blocks, piece of cake," he explains to Amy and Yumi, since he wants them to work together in case Yumi couldn't do it on her own.

"Piece of cake?! Hey, this may be easy for you, but it sure isn't for us. You do all this every time?!" Yumi says in surprise.

"Well, yeah. What do you think, that I take a nap while you're on Lyoko?" Jeremy walks up to an important, but extremely thick book of notes. "Anyway, we'll stay in contact and if you have any trouble, just check my notes." Their eyes widen in surprise, giving surprised noises.

"Jeremy...you're doomed," Amy murmurs.

The elevator doors open, Odd and Ulrich grinning at him when he arrives. "Your scanner is waiting, sir." They move out of the way like they're butlers and Jeremy walks up to the scanner.

"Okay, be brave, Jeremy."

Odd smirks at him. He steps inside, looking around.

"Have a good trip," the doors close in on him.

Amy looks at the notes while Yumi is typing. She has the headphone on. "I'm starting the transfer now."

Jeremy looks around, not believing that this is what his friends experience while going to Lyoko. "Go." Yumi presses enter, Jeremy's body being scanned. At the moment of materialization, an error message appears on the screen. They gasp and the boys turn in alarm as the process is done incorrectly. They gasp and Jeremy is nowhere to be seen.

"I just scanned the data chain. Yumi made a data capture error that blocked the system," Aelita explains as they've explained what happened. Yumi gasps in shock. "Which means that the memory used for transfers was deactivated at the worst time."

"Where is he?" Yumi wonders.

"He wasn't transferred to Lyoko and he didn't come back to you, and so he's...he's out there...blocked somewhere between us." The Brainiac is literally stuck between the two worlds, floating in a yellowish fog. "Don't worry, he's okay." They look in shock. It turns out that Aelita is able to communicate with him.

_Aelita, you have to retrieve memory._

"Are you in contact with him?" Ulrich questions.

"Yes. Well, let's say I think what he thinks. It's as if he were part of my mind."

"And...can we get him back?" Amy asks, though she didn't have a clue on how they would even do that.

"Yes. Jeremy says we have to recover memory in the four passage towers, and redirect to the three scanners to complete the transfer. But it's going to take time."

"That's a hopeful sign, how much time?" Ulrich wonders.

"Well, the time to go to each one of the regions and do all the necessary manipulations that reinitialize the system, according to Jeremy, one of your afternoons," she explains.

"That means there's no time to lose!"

"Okay, I'm off," Aelita logs off, standing up in the ice sector. She runs down the path to a way tower, the others watching the screens.

"Thank you, Aelita," Yumi says gratefully, Amy placing a hand on her head as she closes her eyes.

"Look girls, it wasn't your fault. Jeremy's the only one who can run the computer without it breaking down," Ulrich offers.

"Yes, we know. The big problem is that as long as Jeremy's in limbo, we can't go to Lyoko. And if XANA attacks-"

"Don't sweat it, Yumi," Odd hugs Amy, rubbing her back a little. "Aelita's gonna get Jeremy home soon, I'm positive. XANA won't have time to do anything."

"I hope so..." Amy murmurs.

"You'd better go back to school. If we're all absent, they'll get suspicious. Amy and I will stay here just in case," Yumi suggests.

"You'd better give a good excuse for why I'm not there," Amy glances at Odd and Ulrich.

"Relax, Ames, your knight in shining armor's got it covered. I'll come back and bring you lunch, okay?" She rolls her eyes, but smiles.

"Thanks, Odd."

He smiles back, loving it when she smiled.

* * *

"Herb."

"Present," Herb calls out.

"Valerie."

"Here."

"Jeremy? Jeremy isn't here?" Ms. Hertz looks around. "Come to think of it, neither is Amelia..."

"Uhh," Odd rubs his neck sheepishly. "They're, uh, in the infirmary, ma'am, trying to get unblocked?" Everyone just stares at him before turning around.

"Not surprising, you children eat much too fast. Now for Chemistry."

Sissi eyes them, growing suspicious. Jeremy and Amy would never miss class as far as she knew. "Hey, what kind of no-good are you creeps up to now?"

"None of your business," Ulrich narrows his eyes.

"Well, with that kind of answer, now I'm sure you're up to no good," she gives a smug look.

"Can't fool you, Sissi. Well, actually, Jeremy and Amy are working on a new project for making worms intelligent," Odd starts, preparing for a joke.

"Oh?" Sissi actually looks interested.

"That's right...and they'd like to test it on you!" He grins widely, giggling with Ulrich. She narrows her eyes, turning around while crossing their arms. The two continue to laugh, Ms. Hertz hearing them.

"Alright, alright. Quiet down."

* * *

"Yumi, Amy, I'm coming to the second tower," Aelita is front of the tower in the desert sector. She goes inside, walking to the platform. It lights up after each step and she floats to the top. She lands safely on the top pad, walking up to the interface and signing in. She starts to transfer the memory data and it comes up on the screen.

"Great, Aelita. Memory recovered," Yumi starts sweating. "Two down, two to go."

"Alright, Aelita, head to the next sector and do your thing," Amy says, placing a comforting hand on Yumi's shoulder. The elevator doors open to reveal Odd and Ulrich. They run up to the girls.

"How you doing, girls? Let me see," they look at the screen.

"How's it going?" Odd asks as he hands Amy a lunch bag. "Here, from Rosa herself."

"Sweet!" She opens it up.

"Aelita just left the second tower. Two to go," Yumi reports as Amy licks her lips at her lunch. "Things are going almost too well."

"I'm heading for the forest," Aelita explains, stepping to the edge of the bottom pad. She raises her arms like wings, falling. She floats up to the next tower.

"Hey Yumi, you oughta relax a little bit. Aelita'll be finished soon," Ulrich offers. "Why don't you go back to school? It'll take your mind off it."

"Yeah, we'll take over for you. We're not missing class, we're supposed to be in the library," Odd explains.

"Okay," Yumi stands up, taking her bag and leaving. "I'll see you guys later. Amy, you stay with them since you've got the notes."

"Will do," Amy nods. "I can't really go to class since I'm in the same grade as them."

Amy sits in the chair, putting on the microphone. "Aelita, the boys and I are replacing Yumi. Do you read me?"

"Yes, loud and clear, Amy. I'm almost at the third tower," she walks out of the tower and into the forest. A Kankerlot passes by, but she doesn't see it. Aelita runs across the path.

"Jeremy's okay?" Amy wonders.

"A little worried, but yeah, he's okay." She stops in her tracks when the Kankerlot stops right in front of her. "Uh-oh. Trouble." It fires a laser and she jumps out of the way, hiding behind a tree.

"Boys, we have a problem here," Amy says as she eyes the screen. Ulrich and Odd run up to her. "Aelita, I can see you're not alone in Lyoko."

"You're right, I'm not." Amy sees three more approaching.

"Watch out!" She warns as Odd sweats. "Better run! Get them off your trail, hurry!"

She does and jumps, landing on a lower platform. The Kankerlots crawl over the platform, chasing after her. "Careful, two more in front of you!" She stops short, now surrounded from the front and back. Amy looks in horror, the two boys concerned. "Aelita, there's a platform on your left." She sees it and runs, jumping across as she avoids the lasers. She pulls herself up, avoiding more lasers before running off to the way tower. "Well done. Jeremy would be proud!"

"I'll get you connected," she restores 75 percent of memory.

"That's three down. What do we do now? Should we tell Yumi?" Odd wonders.

"No, let's leave poor Yumi alone. We haven't needed her up till now," Ulrich answers.

"And besides, I have Jeremy's notes. We'll be fine," Amy waves it off.

"By the 1950s, radio and television had become the most important means of spreading culture." Yumi is not paying attention to the lecture as she's drawing a picture of Jeremy, worried for him. After all, he disappeared while she was using the supercomputer. "In addition, the cinema had its role to play and did so very dynamically. In the 1990s, computers entered peoples' homes and by the end of the 20th century, there was a new means of planetary communication with the development of the internet."

Aelita has made it to the mountain sector, exiting out of a way tower. "I'm in the mountain region," she starts running. "Just one more tower to go."

"Why is she stopping?" Odd wonders as Aelita stops. The virtual girl gasps as she sees an activated tower, two Bloks in front of it.

"Amy, I'm at the tower, but it's being guarded by two Bloks. XANA's gotten the message." The three give worried looks, since Aelita had no way to defend herself.

_"There's no way you can get through?"_

"No, and if I can't transfer the memory from the tower, we'll lose Jeremy for good..."

"There has to be something we can do, Aelita," Amy urges.

"Wait...Jeremy says that there may be a way of retrieving memory elsewhere," she explains.

"But where? In another tower, another computer?" Amy wonders.

"Another tower is impossible and Jeremy's convinced that an external computer's power wouldn't be enough to operate the three scanners," she says.

"How about just one?" Amy asks.

"Just one scanner? I'll check with him," she answers.

"But why only one? To bring Jeremy back, all three scanners are needed," Odd reminds.

"Think it over, Odd. If one of us can succeed in getting transferred to Lyoko, Aelita will be able to get into the tower," Ulrich explains.

"Amy," Aelita starts.

"Yeah?" Amy turns to her.

"Ulrich, Odd. I've got a problem. It's becoming harder and harder to contact Jeremy. I'm afraid he's starting to delete himself."

"Huh?" They all look surprised. "What do you mean, Aelita?"

"He's disappearing. The computer is confusing him with an outdated file. You've got to bring him back as soon as possible." Ulrich's mouth opens in shock.

"Okay, we have no choice," Ulrich says in determination.

* * *

"Now, who would like to answer?" The teacher asks as Yumi's phone buzzes. She glances at the front, the teacher not seeming to look in her direction. She picks up her phone.

"Ulrich. How are things going?" She whispers. "Huh? Trapped by some Bloks? Jeremy's computer? Okay, I'll go and get it." She hangs up, raising a finger. "Sir, can I please go to the infirmary?"

She runs across the hall, Jim looking around the courtyard. He sees Yumi and chuckles, following her. Yumi opens the door to Jeremy's room, seeing his laptop right on his head. "There it is," she closes it and takes it, turning around in surprise to see Jim. "Well, um, it's always good to exercise your mind after Phys Ed class, huh Jim?" He narrows his eyes. She whistles as she looks away, knowing she's in trouble as girls are not allowed in boys' rooms, especially when it wasn't time to be in the dorms.

* * *

Odd plays Tetris on his Gameboy Advance, glancing at Ulrich and Amy. "I wish Yumi would hurry up!" Ulrich says impatiently, taking out his phone. "What's taking you so long?"

"Yeah well, I got caught red-handed by Jim," she explains.

"What?!" Ulrich exclaims, Amy and Odd turning to him.

"Uh, look I'm sorry, I can't talk right now," she hangs up.

"Yumi got caught. She's in the principal's office, and she's got the computer with her," Ulrich tells the others.

"We're done for now!" Odd laments.

"We can't help Jeremy without his laptop!" Amy groans, putting her face in her hands as Odd walks up to them.

"There's absolutely nothing we can do!"

"Unless..." Ulrich thinks to himself.

* * *

Later, he's talking with Sissi in the courtyard. "Listen, Sissi, I really need your help this time." Sissi looks unamused and he smiles sheepishly.

"Well well, what do you know?" She retorts, Herb and Nicolas laughing.

"I'm serious, Sissi, come on!" He grabs her arm, pulling her away to her surprise. Herb and Nicolas just watch.

"That's what you've gotta do. It's really important, Sissi, you don't have any..."

"What! You're completely out of your mind. The only way I would do something like that is if you promise to be a little more cool with me!" Herb and Nicolas snicker. "And when I say a little, that means...well, you know."

Ulrich thinks to himself as he stares at her. "Okay, look. I'll, um...I'll go out with you for a...for a week! How's that?" Her eyebrows raise in surprise, turning to him.

"What! A week? To help Yumi, the price is two months minimum."

"One month and a down payment," he offers.

"What kind of...of down payment, huh?" He grabs her waist and places a hand on her cheek, pulling her in for a kiss. Sissi closes her eyes, everyone around them watching in shock.

"I don't understand your story, Ms. Ishiyama. Jeremy couldn't possibly have asked you to get his computer, because he happens not to be in school today. It's noted here," Mr. Delmas holds up Ms. Hertz's attendance record.

"But he is on the school ground, sir, he's in the infirmary with Amelia. In fact, Yumi herself was reported absent for part of the day and as for Ulrich and Odd, they're-"

"Enough of that," Mr. Delmas interrupts. "You and your friends have accumulated a number of reasons for being suspended in just a half day. What do you have to say in your defense?"

"Daddy," Yumi looks in surprise to see Sissi. "I've...I've got to speak to you, it's important." She runs up to his desk.

"Sissi, can't you see I'm busy?"

"I know, Daddy, but it's about Yumi."

Mr. Delmas hands her Jeremy's laptop and ushers her out. "Behave yourself, I won't warn you again." He shuts the door, Ulrich sitting near the secretary.

"You're gonna have to explain to me how you did that," she says.

"I don't wanna talk about it...Yumi, um, you mind if we don't see a lot of each other for about a...month?" She gives him a look.

* * *

Aelita looks at the tower behind a rock, the two Bloks seeing her. _"Watch out, Aelita!" _She gasps and runs away, the Bloks close behind her. She comes across a small gap, but jumps over it. The Bloks do as well and continue crawling after her. Aelita approaches another gap and jumps, landing on the ground. The Bloks bump into each other, one of them falling into the digital sea. Aelita stands up as the other Blok moves around, confused.

"One down. The others are coming. Hang in there, Aelita," Amy says. Yumi and Ulrich are descending down into the lab, the silence tense.

"Listen Yumi, what I did was...I mean-"

"Ulrich, it's your problem."

"But it's not what you think!" He protests. "I swear."

"If that's all you can think of to say, don't say anything! For the time being, I've got a computer to connect, so save it, huh?" She walks away, Ulrich groaning in frustration. Yumi connects the laptop to the supercomputer.

"Well, Amy and Odd, how's Aelita doing?" Ulrich asks.

"Pretty good up till now. Fortunately, she runs a lot faster than you," Odd jokes, Amy slapping his arm.

"Our problem is that she's losing contact with Jeremy!"

Ulrich sighs, having no choice. "I'll head for the scanners," he runs off.

"Ulrich?" Odd calls out, Ulrich running back to him. "I can't believe that you kissed Sissi!"

"Dude," Amy pinches her nose. "I don't understand why Yumi's so mad over that, though. You two are just friends."

"If you tell Yumi, you're dead," Ulrich threatens, Odd smiling as he turns to Yumi.

"Don't," Amy threatens.

"Okay, all we can do now is hope," Yumi explains, still mad at Ulrich. He appears in the scanner room and runs up to the only scanner. "Aelita? Ulrich's gonna try and reach you. The computer's connected, what do we do now?"

"You've got to configure the auxiliary port to transfer the memory. Here's how you do it," Aelita shows her a diagram, Yumi glancing at Amy, who's drawing pictures to help understand Jeremy's notebook on how to work the supercomputer. She laughs a little, typing in what she had to.

"Okay Aelita, I did it. I've just entered all the data," Yumi reports.

"Good, Yumi. You can transfer Ulrich now."

Ulrich steps into the scanner once he's learned he can go in. He turns around, believing that Yumi can do it. Yumi stares down at the keyboard. "Transfer Ulrich," she hesitates. No matter how much she didn't like him right now, she didn't want to make the same mistake again. Jeremy was already gone, what would she do if it happened to Ulrich?

"Well go on, hurry up," Odd tells her.

"Ulrich?" Yumi asks, though she was silently wondering if he wanted to go through with this.

"Do it, Yumi. I have faith in you. And you've got Amy to help you," he answers in determination.

"Go," she presses enter, cringing.

Ulrich braces himself as he closes his eyes. Unfortunately, the virtualization doesn't go through, Ulrich opening his eyes in confusion. "Not enough memory. We came so close, but it's just not enough! We need another 10 bytes!" Yumi explains in lament. Odd's face turns into realization as he looks at his Gameboy. He turns back to the girls with a smile.

The Blok is still trying to steady itself, Aelita peeking from her hiding spot. The Blok sees her and fires three times. Aelita moves out of the way, sighing in relief.

_"Aelita, watch out behind you!"_

Aelita turns around sharply to see another Blok. "Transfer Ulrich." Ulrich is scanned.

The Blok fires at Aelita, hitting her once. "Hurry up!" Yumi murmurs, the Blok walking up to her. The one from the other side backs up. "Scanner Ulrich." The Blok jumps across, the Bloks now surrounding Aelita. She closes her eyes. "Virtualization."

Ulrich is virtualized just as the Bloks prepare their lasers. Ulrich jumps in front of them, dodging them from Aelita. He jumps onto one, hitting the eye. "Impact!" He throws his sword, hitting the other one. It sparks as Ulrich jumps off the other one as it explodes. The first one is destroyed as well and Aelita looks up to see him.

"Ulrich."

"Sorry I'm late, Aelita. Hey Odd, how'd you do it?"

"A lot of the credit should go to Tetrax Annihilator, huh? Hope you weren't planning on playing it!" He sacrificed his Gameboy.

"Don't worry, I got enough to do here without playing other games," Ulrich helps Aelita up. "Okay, it's up to you now. Bring back Jeremy." She nods and heads for the tower, jumping over the gap. Ulrich watches to make sure she got there safely and she steps into the middle of the top pad. She starts floating to the top and lands safely. She steps up to the interface and logs herself in.

"We did it, we retrieved the scanners' memories," Yumi says.

Jeremy floats in the fog. "Jeremy? Jeremy, can you hear me? Jeremy? Wake up." He does so, noticing his surroundings. "Jeremy," Aelita appears in the distance.

"Oh, Aelita!" He reaches a hand out to her. They approach one another to touch fingertips and then there's a flash of white light.

Amy, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich stand in front of the one scanner, waiting patiently. Finally, Jeremy is materialized as the smoke clears. The light is on their faces as he sits there. They all gasp, running up to him.

"Jeremy!"

"Jeremy!"

They all look down at him as he sleeps on his bed. He slowly opens his eyes to see his friends. "How are you feeling?" Ulrich asks. He sits up.

"It was...it was...fantastic!" He sounds giddy and they all cheer, Jim looking around outside in confusion.

"Your crazy idea of going to Lyoko gave us a real scare," Yumi explains.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I gotta go," Ulrich rubs the back of his head. "I promised Sissi."

"What are you, her slave?" Odd narrows his eyes, putting a hand on her hip. "With that down payment you gave her, she should leave you alone tonight."

"Hm?" Jeremy looks confused.

"Let's just say that Ulrich sacrificed a lot," Amy murmurs.

"Down payment?" Yumi stands up, looking angry. "What's all this about, Ulrich?" Odd whistles to himself, Amy hitting his arm.

"That...nothing. See you later!" He runs out of the room.

"Wait, I want an explanation! Ulrich!" Yumi calls out.

"Catch you sometime!" Ulrich yells back.

* * *

"I was afraid you were mad at me," Aelita says to Jeremy when his friends have all left.

"I thought you were mad, Aelita...but I understood how you felt about me when you came...when you came to get me," he gives a bashful look, blushing.

"Jeremy, when you're really in love, does it mean you fight all the time?" She wonders.

"No, not all the time, but it can happen," he explains.

"Really? You oughta tell that to Ulrich and Yumi," she offers.

"Oh, I'd rather stay out of that one!"

"Let me talk!" Ulrich protests outside as he's on the phone.

"There's nothing to talk about. I am fed up with your lying!" She yells.

"But I'm not lying, there's nothing between Sissi and me!"

"Sure, goodnight!" She hangs up.

"Hey wait, Yumi, let me explain. Yumi, are you still there? Yumi!"

"But who we should really be helping are Amy and Odd. They're almost the same person, if it wasn't for the fact that Amy is more well-mannered!" Jeremy laughs.

"Yeah, I'm really rooting for those two!" Aelita explains, smiling.


	22. The Robots

The factory is, once again, the object of XANA's intentions as the controls spark. A specter makes its way inside the assembly line controls.

At Kadic, Ms. Hertz is using a drill against a piece of metal. She wipes the sweat off her forehead before holding it up. "As I'm sure you've noticed, this sheet of titanium is much stronger than steel, which is why it is used by NASA for constructing its space shuttles." Nicolas leans towards Herb.

"You should've used it for your robot!" Herb looks annoyed.

"I'm afraid this alloy would be a bit out of your budget range, Herb," Ms. Hertz interrupts, Nicolas placing his hands on his cheeks in unamusement. "But since your friend brought up the subject, let me remind you that the robot competition is scheduled for this afternoon. I hope you've all finished your models."

"Is yours ready, Jeremy?" Ulrich asks.

"Mhm," Jeremy gives a thumbs up with a smile. He glances at Sissi, who places a hand in front of her cheek.

"And you, Herb?"

"No problem," he shakes his head. "Come and see my masterpiece after school, okay?" She gives a smug smile.

Back at the factory, the assembly line whirs to life and scrap metal is placed on the conveyor belts. Things are built and begin to move, with a disturbing gnashing sound. The machines make a robot, which comes to life and starts to acknowledge its targets.

* * *

Sissi taps her foot expectantly as she and Nicolas are in the boys' room, waiting to see what Herb built for the competition. "Well, let me see it, Herb. I'm waiting," she says a little impatiently.

"Uh...well..." He looks at the sheet-covered robot and unveils it. "Tada!" Sissi screams while Nicolas stares in surprise. The robot is in the likeness of Sissi, and not in a good way.

"What is that-that horror?!" Sissi demands.

"Well, it's...our team's robot," he twiddles his fingers. "Iron Sissi."

"Huh?!" Sissi looks in shock. "WHAT?! How dare you name that hideous monster after me?!"

"But it's a tribute to you," Herb protests. "And besides, it may be ugly. But watch how it works!" He turns on his control panel, making it move. It stops in front of Sissi and she bends down to it, examining the robot. It hits her on the cheek.

"Herb, Herb, do something!" She shouts.

"It's nothing!" He makes the robot move away. "A little more adjustment and it'll be just fine." He places a foot in front of the robot.

"It better be. If not, Jeremy and his pals are gonna humiliate you again. It's gonna win, ugly or not! And if it doesn't, say goodbye to Sissi's gang! That goes for you too, Nicolas!" The boys give shocked looks, especially since Nicolas was just standing there the whole time. She slams the door, Herb cringing at the sound. Nicolas turns to Herb, still in shock. What a great friendship!

"Nothing to worry about. I thought of everything," Herb chuckles.

* * *

A dog robot walks up to Jeremy, who clears his throat. "I'd like you to meet Kiwi 2!" They give impressed looks, since it looks exactly like him. Aelita giggles as she sees it. Kiwi 2 walks up to Kiwi and Kiki. Kiwi just backs away while Kiki trots up to it, wagging her tail. Kiwi growls, looking a little jealous. Amy shakes her head in amusement, making pom poms to cheer for Jeremy.

"That's cool, Kiwi and Kiki have another playmate," Kiwi just hides behind Odd's leg, a little scared.

"He's just as cute as the original!" Aelita comments. "Congratulations!"

"Yeah, how's our nice little robot, huh? You want a bolt or nuts?" Odd asks before looking down. He raises his eyebrow, unamused as Kiwi 2 urinates oil on his leg.

"Sorry. I didn't have the time to take him out. He needs an oil change every day!" Yumi and Ulrich laugh with Jeremy, Amy bursting out into laughter as she lays her back on Jeremy's bed. The bell rings, interrupting.

"Hey, it's time. Here we go! We're bound for glory, guys!" Ulrich encourages. Amy stands up with her pom poms, following Odd.

"Amy, did you have to bring those? I told you, I don't need a cheerleader," Jeremy complains.

"You will take one and like it, Belpois! I'm doing it for Aelita!" She points at Jeremy dramatically, who gives a look to Aelita. She giggles innocently and he picks up the robot dog.

"See you later, Aelita. Call us if you see or hear anything suspicious on Lyoko!" He tells her.

"I promise. But I hope XANA gives you enough time to win the contest!" He nods and leaves, Yumi holding the door open.

"Bye bye!" She closes the door, Aelita logging off.

The robot gets into the computer, the five Lyoko warriors appearing as he puts their photos into its memory.

* * *

In the gym, the students talk excitedly as Jim stands in front of them with a microphone. "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, that's right folks, the grand finale! In this corner, Iron Sissi! And in this corner, Kiwi 2!" They all clap and cheer, Milly recording the whole thing.

"Jeremy versus Herb. Boy, isn't that original?" She comments with a sly eyebrow.

"And the winner will be Jeremy. Boy, what suspense," Tamiya places her fists on her cheeks. For as long as the competition had been going on, Jeremy had always won. The two boys stand across each other.

"Remember, both robots are forbidden to use any physical force. Shake hands now!"

Jeremy offers his hand politely. While he was part of Sissi's gang, Jeremy couldn't let himself be a bad sport. And sometimes Herb wasn't that bad. Herb just stares, looking at a smiling Jeremy. He sweats, knowing the risks if he lost. And because he didn't want to be rude, he shook Jeremy's hand.

"Let's roll!" They back away. "The first to score five baskets is the winner! Go!" Jim throws up the small basketball, the students cheering. Kiwi 2 takes it by the mouth.

In the mountain sector, Aelita stands at the edge, feeling pulsations. Which means that an activated tower wasn't too far. "Hey Jeremy, can you hear me? Jeremy?" She didn't know that the competition was going on right at that moment.

Jeremy makes Kiwi 2 get a point, the students cheering.

"Yeah, great!" Ulrich cheers as Yumi and Odd high five each other. "Kiwi 1, Sissi 0!"

"Go Kiwi 2! Whoo!" Amy shouts as she stands up, waving her pom poms. "And you too, Jeremy!"

Sissi growls, annoyed. Nicolas cringes as he hears it.

The elevator stops in the main area and it opens.

Now, Iron Sissi has gained a point. The two boys concentrate, Iron Sissi running. Herb sweats and glances at Jeremy. He growls, getting another point. Sissi nods at him in approval. Her father is sitting next to her.

"Very good. But I've never seen a robot so ugly!"

"DAD!" Sissi shouts.

"Jeremy!" Aelita calls out. "Jeremy, please answer." She hears something behind her, turning around to see two Bloks approaching her. She shrieks and runs off. She looks behind her and they fire lasers at her. Aelita runs to the right as there's a giant rock in front of her.

It's 2 to 1 as Herb chuckles a little. Jeremy looks nervous as he has the ball. Milly keeps recording, Tamiya not even watching. Kiwi gets in another shot, the students clapping and cheering. His friends cheer for him, Amy backflipping to in front. The students cheer louder as she does some gymnastic skills.

"Jeremy, Jeremy!" She encourages as they clap.

"Jeremy, Jeremy!" They repeat, Jeremy and Herb shocked. Sissi growls in anger as the whole crowd has their attention on Amy. Jeremy smiles sheepishly, giving a little wave as Jim blows his whistle.

"Timeout! One minute for halftime. So Amelia, you can keep going."

"Alright!" She cheers, Jeremy wiping the sweat off his forehead. His friends join him except for Amy, who throws her pom poms in the air. She does a somersault, a backflip, and a split, catching them in her hands. The students whoop and holler, Amy standing up as she pump fists her pom pom in the air. "Yeah-yuh!"

"You're doing great, Jeremy, keep it up," Odd places a comforting hand on his shoulder. He gives a little smile.

"I can't believe how Amy isn't a cheerleader," Jeremy stares at Amy as she keeps pumping up the crowd.

"Or a mascot," Ulrich shakes his head.

"She said she doesn't want to be labeled like that," Odd explains as they stare at her. "But she'd be great as both. She's killing it out there!"

Back on Lyoko, Aelita is still running. They continue to fire at her and she hides.

The ball is thrown up into the air as Milly records Amy's cheerleading moves. Sissi smiles as Iron Sissi has the ball and gets a point. Jim blows the whistle to start the next round, Kiwi also getting a point. His friends cheer Jeremy on, Amy doing backflips. Iron Sissi gets the fourth point first and Kiwi 2 jumps near the basket, getting a fourth point as well. Jeremy pants, pushing up his glasses. He looks at the scoreboard.

"Game ball!" Jim throws up the ball, everyone watching intensely, especially Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich. They knew how much this meant to Jeremy.

Aelita has made it to the edge, looking down. She turns back before jumping. She drops through the fog and lands on the hidden platform.

The robot is traveling through the boiler room.

Iron Sissi jumps to take the ball, but Kiwi 2 snatches it in its mouth. "Oh no!" Sissi exclaims. "I don't believe it!" Kiwi 2 runs to the basket.

"Come on, Kiwi, come on!" Tamiya encourages.

"Yeah!" Milly agrees. The crowd cheers louder as Amy gets them pumped up.

"Ready, set," Herb laughs to himself, pressing a button and Kiwi 2 somehow exploding! Amy stops cheering in surprise, dropping her pom poms. Jeremy gasps in shock, Sissi looking surprised herself. Herb giggles and takes his shot.

"We won, we won!" Sissi hugs Nicolas, who blushes. "Oh, we really did!" She feels Nicolas touching her and she pushes him off.

"Ah...well done and thank you to all our contestants. The robot contest is over for this year. And remember class 9b, you got Phys Ed in five minutes!" The class groans, standing up.

The robot smashes through the door in the boiler room.

Jeremy sits on the arena, looking at a piece of his destroyed robot. "It's okay, Jeremy." He looks up to see the others, who are giving him encouraging smiles. "Don't worry about it."

"You can't win all the time," Yumi sits down, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Amy sits next to him, her pom poms on her skirt. "You win some, you lose some."

"Well, thanks for cheering me on, Amy...But what happened?" Jeremy wonders.

"We could show you." He turns to Milly holding up her camera. "Take a look at this," she gives it to and watches the video. As Kiwi was running, Iron Sissi was close behind. And then Iron Sissi's mouth opened up, a bolt shooting from its mouth and creating a hole in Kiwi 2's mouth, which caused the explosion.

"So that was it. He cheated us!" Jeremy realizes.

"Well, am I still a part of the gang or what, huh?" Herb brags.

"I guess. We did win, but it's still the ugliest robot I've ever seen!" Sissi voices.

"Herb?" He turns to Jeremy. "Can I see you for a minute?" He walks up to him. "I-" There's suddenly a noise and the students scream, running away. The robot appears in the stadium. "Huh?! Where did that come from?" The robot turns to Jeremy and Herb, Jeremy's picture appearing on his screen. It starts running towards them and Sissi screams.

"I'm getting out of here!" Sissi runs away with Herb, the robot grabbing Jeremy by the shirt. The others look in shock, Ulrich running up and grabbing the basketball. He throws it at the robot, making him drop Jeremy. He crashes against the wall.

"Come on!" Ulrich helps him up, the others following them out. Yumi runs into the boys' locker room. "Hey yo, what are you doing in here?" Christophe covers himself, blushing in embarrassment. He sees Amy come in and blushes harder.

"You gotta get out," Ulrich warns them as Yumi crosses her arms with a raised eyebrow. The robot starts to break through the door and the two boys run away, the five barricading against the door. The robot steps back a little.

"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Odd asks.

"XANA," Yumi clarifies.

"If it's true, Aelita's probably been trying to reach us," Jeremy runs to the bench and brings out his laptop. He opens it up, putting on the headphone. "Aelita?"

"Jeremy! At last!"

"Everything okay?" He wonders.

"Well, not really. XANA's activated a tower and the Bloks are after me."

"We've got a humongous robot at school that's causing total panic wherever it goes," Jeremy explains.

"But how could XANA have ever made a thing like that?" Yumi wonders, since it definitely wasn't from Lyoko.

"I wish I knew, but one thing is sure, it's us he's after," Ulrich answers.

"No surprise there!" Amy deadpans.

"Okay, Ulrich and Yumi, you've gotta try neutralizing that thing, while Amy, Odd, and I go to the factory to give Aelita some help." They all nod in understanding.

"You better hurry," Aelita says, logging off. Jeremy shuts his laptop off, looking up to hear more banging. They back away, Yumi gasping.

"Let's go," she turns to the three.

"Good luck you two," Jeremy says, Odd waving. "And stay in contact." They leave and Yumi turns to Ulrich.

"Ready?"

"Ready." They move away from the doors, the robot barging his way inside. Yumi and Ulrich run out of there, the robot turning around to see them getting away. He chases after them.

* * *

Odd opens the door to the boiler room, seeing the damage that the robot did. "Hey, it looks like our visitor has already gone to the factory."

"It might be much worse," Jeremy starts.

"He could've been made there!" They all realize, Amy pointing to the door.

"I think these marks are when he was created, so I think we're safe at the factory...I hope," Amy cringes before they run into the entrance.

With Aelita, she's still running from the Bloks. She sees a gap in front of her and jumps down. She grabs the edge of the other platform, gasping. She looks down at the fog before pulling herself up and turning to the Bloks. She gives a little smile as the jump is too far for them and follows the pulsations. She hoped that her friends would be here soon.

The elevator doors open to the lab and they all gasp. "Look at that!" They see the damage the robot has done.

Ulrich and Yumi run in the park, Ulrich turning around. "He won't quit!"

Jeremy tries to make the computer work, but the robot had attacked the terminal displays before he went to the school. And because of that, everything is turned off. "I can't access anything! All the programs, the scanners, the holomap, nothing! Everything's down." Jeremy sighs, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "That means I can't send you two to Lyoko."

"Got any ideas?" Ulrich asks.

"Not really," she pants. "We should try to find a specialist in robots."

Odd and Amy give Jeremy worried looks as his phone rings. "Hey, Ulrich."

"Jeremy, how are you doing?"

"Not so great. XANA made a robot on the assembly line at the factory. And he messed up all the controls. No way of getting to Lyoko," he explains.

"The time's come to eliminate the robot." They appear in front of the science building. "Jeremy's too busy."

"Jeremy's not the only one who knows about robots," Yumi turns to him.

"Who have you got in mind?" He questions.

"Herb," she simply says.

"We haven't got a choice, I guess," Ulrich rubs the back of his head, the robot appearing at the fence. "Quick, we gotta find him." They run off to the courtyard.

"Odd, plug in the IDE," Jeremy calls out, Odd on the wires. He does so.

"It's done." Jeremy tries again, managing to get in. "Bingo, you're a genius, Jeremy!" Jeremy gives a proud sound.

* * *

"You're coming with us!" Yumi pulls Herb away from Nicolas and Sissi, to their confusion.

"Hey, where are you going? Come back!" She demands, but they don't listen. "The school's being evacuated!" She screams as she sees the robot, running away.

Yumi and Ulrich stop at the hall with Herb. "Herb, we've got a favor to ask you," Yumi starts.

"Will you help us disconnect that robot?" Ulrich finishes.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but you're not in my gang," He shakes his head, about to leave, but Yumi stops him.

"It's a tremendous danger, Herb."

"I said no!" He moves her arm away, starting to walk off.

"I wonder what Sissi would think if she found out you were a cheater," Ulrich calls out, crossing his arms.

"What?" Herb turns to him, silently wondering how he could possibly know that. It was a very small bolt, he was sure of it.

"Milly and Tamiya have it all on tape. Positive proof."

He groans, clenching his fists. If Sissi knew he cheated, he'd be out of the group for sure. "Okay! But if you tell her-" There's a groan and they turn to see the robot.

"You stay with Herb. I'll take care of this guy," Ulrich runs off.

"Come on, Herb!" Yumi takes off with him. Ulrich prepares himself as the robot looms over him. He tries to punch Ulrich, but he rolls under him, running away to distract him from Yumi and Herb. "Hey, you better find a way to eliminate this horror!"

"I may have an idea. But we'll need Ms. Hertz's drill!" He explains.

Ulrich runs into the park, the robot appearing from behind the cafeteria.

* * *

The tower is in Aelita's sight. "Jeremy!" He looks up as she appears. "I finally found the activated tower!"

"You can't go by yourself," he tells her.

"We'll go," Odd and Amy stand up.

"Okay, but I don't know if the scanner management program is operational," he voices in concern.

"It's too late to test it," Odd shrugs, taking Amy's hand and walking away with her.

"Wait, what?!" Amy exclaims nervously.

"Let's give it a try!"

"Noooo," Amy laments as he drags her across the floor. "Help me..."

"Sorry Amy," Jeremy shrugs sheepishly. "Please don't kill me for this."

The elevator doors close in on them as Jeremy starts the process. "The mountain region's where you two are headed, Odd and Amy." The doors open and Jeremy looks up at the computer. The two stand in front of opposite scanners. They step in slowly, turning around to face each other. "Transfer Odd," Jeremy presses enter. "Transfer Amy." They both close their eyes, hair flying. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Amy. Virtualization." They could feel the wind as there's a flash of light.

They virtualize into the mountain sector, landing safely next to each other.

"Amy, Odd, are you two okay?" Jeremy asks.

"Fine. We made it, Jeremy," he looks around for Aelita.

"Yeah, every body part and weapons work," Amy gives a thumbs up.

"That's great. Aelita's just a little further north."

Herb works on a tiny robot using Ms. Hertz's drill. Yumi watches him. "There we are. Let's hope the robot's not made of titanium," he holds up an airplane robot.

Ulrich hides behind a tree, catching his breath. He looks around to see nothing before he moves away.

Odd and Amy run across the path, Amy flying to a platform above. Odd climbs up using his cat skills before they see Aelita emerging from a large rock. "Aelita!"

"There," she points left, both of them seeing the tower.

"We better make a little detour," Odd sees the Bloks jumping onto the path, now in front of the tower. They run around, going the other way.

Ulrich continues running, panting as the robot appears right in front of him. He gives a shout of surprise, getting hit into a tree. He falls onto the grass.

"XANA," he turns around to see nothing. "No." Yumi appears from behind a tree. "No, don't hurt him." She's hiding the robot that Herb made behind her back. He runs up to her and she throws it. Herb, hiding behind a bush, controls the robot so that it pierces the shell and crawls inside. Yumi helps Ulrich up, the robot turning around. Yumi breaks the door to the garden shed open, closing it with her foot. The robot looks around for them, seeing their infrared signatures from inside the shed. Yumi holds her breath as she holds the unconscious Ulrich. The robot starts to try to break in and it does, grabbing her by the throat. He starts to choke her and she struggles before it shuts down, thanks to Herb's robot. Yumi manages to free herself, the robot dropping to the ground.

"Hey, Ulrich!" He slowly gains consciousness. "We got him."

_"Behind you!" _Jeremy warns, all three of them ducking from the laser. Odd runs up to them, backflipping. He jumps from another laser, Amy running after him. Odd appears behind the Blok.

"Laser arrow!" He fires one arrow, destroying it.

"Oh, watch out, Amy!" Aelita calls out, Amy getting hit with a laser.

"Ames!" Odd shouts, getting hit himself.

"Odd, only 50 life points left. Amy, you have 80," Jeremy reports.

"Thanks Jeremy, but who's counting?" Odd stands up.

"Uh, him?" Amy retorts, Aelita bending down to him.

"Are you alright?"

_"The second one's coming!" _They run off, but Amy stays behind. She aims her hands in front of the Blok. "Rock tomb!" A flurry of rocks appear, hitting the Blok and destroying it. She takes off after Aelita and Odd.

"Herb, I've gotta hand it to you. Your droid worked miracles," Yumi winks at him.

"Thank you," he blushes slightly.

"Well, I've gotta go now. There are a couple of things I've gotta do," they walk off, Herb giving a little smile, proud of what he'd done.

Ulrich opens the manhole cover, Yumi climbing down first. Ulrich closes it once he's down.

"Hey, this isn't exactly summer camp here! Tell Ulrich and Yumi to move it!" Odd calls out as they're almost at the tower.

_"They'll be there soon."_

Aelita jumps, landing on the circle platform. Odd and Amy are behind, the Blok still following them. They jump across, the Blok hitting Odd with a laser. Aelita gasps, but Amy opens her wings and grabs him, landing on the platform.

"Thanks Ames!" Odd winks at her and she chuckles.

"Hey, it won't be the last time I save you!"

Ulrich and Yumi runs across the bridge. They use the ropes to land in front of the elevator. "I don't believe this!" Ulrich exclaims as they look in the distance.

"It's a nightmare!" Yumi says as the robot watches over them.

"We've gotta go to Lyoko," Ulrich runs off to face with the robot by himself.

"Jeremy," Amy helps Odd to the ground. "How many points?"

"Only ten left for you. _Odd, you've gotta_ _jump." _The three stand in front of the tower, which is surrounded by a circling path. The elevator opens and Jeremy looks up to see Yumi.

"Okay Jeremy, what's up?"

He turns to her, her face in his glasses. "Odd's losing all his life points. Head for the scanner."

"Right," she nods, running for the scanner room.

Ulrich runs down the stairs and into the assembly line room. The machines come to life and he gasps. "It's never gonna stop." The machines are creating weapons for the robot, which aims them at Ulrich.

Jeremy starts the transfer. "Get in." Yumi steps inside, turning around. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization."

Ulrich shouts, running for the stairs.

"Okay, concentrate on the rotation speed," Odd encourages.

"It's too risky to fly you over, so you're gonna have to jump," Amy explains.

_"Here come more monsters!" _Two Kankerlots fire at them from the other side, devirtualizing Odd.

"Oh no!" Amy shouts.

Odd pants as he steps out of the scanner.

Ulrich stops when bolts are fired in front of him. He runs down another path, only to find himself at a dead end. The two Kankerlots appear from the other side, surrounding the two. One of them is about to fire when a fan destroys it. They turn around to see Yumi landing near them.

"Go ahead. Amy, help me take care of the last one. I'll go from the front while you go from the back!"

"Okay!" Amy and Yumi run in opposite directions, Aelita following after Amy until she jumps onto the moving platform.

Ulrich backs away, looking fear.

Aelita goes inside as Amy pulls out her spear.

Ulrich growls, sitting on the floor.

Aelita starts floating to the top.

The robot points his weapons at Ulrich.

Aelita lands on the top pad, walking up to the interface. She logs herself in as she presses her hand against it.

_Aelita_

_Code_

The robot fires more bolts, Ulrich yelling and shielding himself.

_Lyoko_

Everything suddenly stops, Aelita looking at the tower deactivating. The time reversion starts and Jeremy presses enter. "Return to the past now!" The factory and the school are engulfed in white light, everything resetting to before Herb cheated. But this time, Jeremy was prepared for that. Jim blows the whistle and the competition starts. The students cheer the two on, Iron Sissi making the game into a 4 point tie. The students clap, Sissi nodding in approval as Amy gets the crowd pumped up for Jeremy. Jim blows the whistle again, holding up the basketball.

"Game ball!" He throws it up into the air as Amy backflips, catching her pom poms again. Kiwi 2 catches the ball in his mouth.

"Go on, Kiwi 2!" Odd cheers. Iron Sissi chases after Kiwi 2 as he jumps up to the basket.

"Oh no!" Sissi yells.

"Ready, set," Herb laughs evilly, Jeremy watching him closely. He makes Kiwi 2 move away from the bolt just in time, winning the competition. Herb narrows his eyes, the students cheering.

"I now declare Jeremy the winner of this year's robot contest!" Jim shouts.

"Yeah!" Odd and Yumi high-five each other, Amy doing a split kick in the air for his win.

"Okay, you two, I want both of you to shake hands, come on." Jeremy offers his hand, Herb looking down at it.

"No way!" He runs off, Jim confused.

"What a sore loser," Odd crosses his arms, not knowing the real reason why Herb wanted to win.

"I forgive him," Yumi states. "He's nice every now and then."

"Huh?" Odd looks confused. "You mind explaining?"

Ulrich glances at Yumi before they both laugh, Odd rubbing the back of his head. "Come on, we'll tell you all about it." Odd thinks to himself.

"I knew it!" Sissi shakes her fist at Herb. "You're a loser and so is your robot! It's exactly as you are!"


	23. Zero Gravity Zone

**Angel: Some people are talking to me about having XANA talk and/or making a physical appearance. *takes a deep breath* ...I'm on episode 62, so even if I wanted to do it in season 1 or 2, those episodes are already done, and they have been for a year. Maybe I'll try the idea at the end of season 3, since I can't go back and edit what I've already finished. That would take time that I already dedicate to my other stories.**

**Sorry for not updating yesterday, I was going to do it when I got back from work last night, but then I fell asleep XD**

A soccer ball is on the floor before it is kicked. The soccer team are practicing out on the field. "Okay, pass it!"

"Come on, guys! You haven't even worked up a sweat! Let's go, go, go!" Jim orders, Ulrich standing in front of the net. The goalie cracks his knuckles, holding out his arms.

"Ready!"

Ulrich narrows his eyes in determination before Jim blows the whistle. The ball is rolled in front of him and he kicks it, getting a goal. The goalie slams the ground in frustration. One of his teammates passes another ball and Ulrich kicks it. He kicks all of the balls into the net, Jim looking at his watch. One time, the goalie just lets him! All of the teammates watch as Ulrich kicks a ball, the goalie catching it. He smiles smugly at Ulrich, who indicates to have another ball thrown to him. The goalie stares at him and Ulrich kicks the ball up. The goalie's face turns into surprised as Ulrich jumps up from behind the ball, kicking it so that the ball passes right by the goalie and into the net. He stares in surprise, the other players clapping for Ulrich.

"Okay guys, good warm-up session. Play like that and you'll whip Lincoln Junior High with no problem in this afternoon's final. I'll see you all at the stadium after lunch for a final briefing and always remember, a soccer team is like an army!" Jim announces, Amy, Odd, and Jeremy having watched the practice. "It needs a good general who can lead it! Right? And now, break ranks!" He laughs as he walks up to Ulrich.

"Hey, Ulrich!" He turns to Jim as he's stretching his leg. "Working out to stay in shape? Hey listen, kid," Jim bends down to him. "I'm gonna be honest with ya. You're my key to winning this afternoon's game. I know we've got a good team but Lincoln's got this striker. His name is Matt."

"Yeah, he's nasty, I know," Ulrich answers, standing up. "But don't worry, Jim, I won't disappoint you."

"I'm counting on you, kid. We're gonna pulverize 'em! Massacre 'em! We're gonna make mincemeat out of them! We're gonna gobble 'em up and spit 'em out, baby!" Ulrich walks up to his friends while he's going on.

"Hey there, champion. If Lincoln never gets the ball, we're gonna be bored out there!" Odd throws Ulrich a towel.

"It was nice of you to come," Ulrich deadpans.

"You were here this morning. Man, we'll be here this afternoon. Not for you, of course, we can't wait to see Sissi cheerleading with her baton and all! That's why we're coming!" Odd teases.

"I can't believe I have to share my spot with her," Amy mutters in disbelief.

"I can't believe that you're doing it at all! I thought you didn't wanna be labeled!" Jeremy laughs.

"Jim begged me to because he's seen my moves. I couldn't say no to him," Amy shakes her head.

Sissi practices in the park with her baton. "One, two, three, four, come on team, give us more! Five, six, seven, eight, Lincoln we're gonna seal your fate! Ta da!" She spins her baton and throws it in the air. She reaches her hand out to catch it, but it doesn't come back, to her confusion. She looks up to see her baton, which doesn't come down...

Sissi just stares as a light flickers behind her.

Later, Yumi is walking through the same path that Sissi was on earlier. The lights turn on behind her, her hair lifting. She's lifted up in the air to her surprise. The lights turn off and she lands on the path. She looks around at the lampposts, running off.

* * *

Sissi is explaining her situation to her friends. "Yes, it disappeared, I tell you, it never came down! It just...just flew away!"

"Yeah, sure. It's up in the sky somewhere, right?" A girl named Caroline asks. "Or maybe it came down and landed on someone's head." Her friend circles her finger near her head.

"But it's true, I tell you. I swear, my baton just disappeared into thin air!" Sissi insists as the two girls walk away. Herb and Nicolas appear behind her.

"We believe you, Sissi," they say in unison.

"Even if scientifically, it's impossible!" Herb adds, Sissi putting her foot underneath his chin.

"Listen, if I said that a supernatural thing happened to me, it's because it's true! You hear me, knucklehead? A baton that flies up _has _to come down and if it doesn't, there's something wrong! Something seriously wrong! And I wanna know exactly what it is!" Sissi yells, several students hearing her. This includes Amy, Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremy. Ulrich turns to the others, who look at each other, wondering if this had to do with XANA...

* * *

In the cafeteria, it's lunch time. Sissi gets her lunch, walking to her table. "Hmm, look, it's the mysterious baton twirler. Hey Sissi, eat your steak and French fries fast, before they fly away!" Some people laugh at her, but she doesn't say a word, especially when she walks past the four Lyoko warriors.

"Please don't tell me she accused you of stealing it," Odd turns to Amy. "That'd be the last thing you'd want before this dreadful game!" He places a hand on his head dramatically. Amy rolls her eyes.

"She approached me and saw my baton in my hands, but she walked away when she saw I tied a bow to mine so they wouldn't look similar," Amy shakes her head. "But she did insist that it didn't come back."

Jeremy sees Yumi walk in and stands up. "We gotta talk right now!" They both say at the same time.

* * *

Later, they're talking to Aelita in Jeremy's room. "Yes, Jeremy. I've just spotted an activated tower in the mountain region. Why? Have you noticed anything strange going on in your world?"

"Oh, just your usual things. Batons that fly into the air and don't come back, and Yumi is suddenly airborne!" Odd answers.

"It was so weird. The lights all started to blink and a second later, I was floating in the air. I couldn't believe it," Yumi clarifies.

"But XANA can't modify gravity directly, so how do you explain you floating up in the air and Sissi's baton?" Amy points out.

"A break in the field of gravity, causing spontaneous and localized weightlessness," Jeremy elaborates.

"What's the connection between electricity and weightlessness?" Ulrich wonders.

"The magnetic field. It could be the effect of a very powerful electromagnet that XANA's using to offset the magnetic attraction of the Earth, you see?" Jeremy explains.

"Which could explain why Sissi's baton didn't come back, it's made of metal!" Amy adds.

"How dangerous is it?" Yumi asks.

"It's not, if it's within the limits of space and time. But if it's on a larger scale, look what happened to Sissi. Like Amy said, her baton never came back!" In fact, it's floating out into space right now.

"We can't afford to take the risk, we have to go to Lyoko and deactivate the tower!" Yumi explains.

"Well, count me out." Her eyes widen in surprise and they all turn to Ulrich.

"You've gotta be kidding," Jeremy says in disbelief.

"No, I said count me out. I'll go when the game's over," Ulrich tells him.

"You're gonna abandon the ship...for a soccer game?" Jeremy asks, exasperated.

"Jeremy," Amy warns.

"No! I don't believe it! Wake up, Ulrich, this is about saving the world, not to mention Aelita who's surely in danger! But you would rather kick a-a-a ball around?!"

"Jeremy!" Amy says, a little louder.

"You heard what I said. I can't go and that's that, okay?!" Ulrich answers, starting to leave.

"Somebody else say something, will you?" He turns to the others. "He's dropping us like a smelly sock!"

"...You don't understand, Jeremy," Amy starts.

"No, don't bother," Ulrich warns her. "Look, I'm really sorry."

"That's all you can say? You're sorry? You'd rather please the crowd, huh?! All those admiring fans are more important than your friends!" Ulrich sulks as he walks away, but his decision was final...no matter what he was risking.

"You don't get it," Amy tries again, narrowing her eyes.

"Leave him alone, he's got his reasons," Odd continues. "His parents are coming to the game this afternoon. Have you ever met Ulrich's dad? If you're not first in everything, then you're nothing in his book. And since Ulrich's report cards are kind of disastrous, the only way to make his dad happy is..."

"When he plays soccer," Jeremy shakes his head in understanding. He never knew anything about this...but he did sense that Amy had been through a similar family situation when he sees her uncomfortable with the current topic.

"That's why I tried to stop you," Amy explains. "Ulrich doesn't talk much about his dad, but Odd told me his situation once."

"Yeah, exactly," Odd confirms. "That's why he's been training so hard for weeks now. He's gonna play today's game as if his life depended on it."

Aelita looks at Jeremy, giving a solemn look as she nods in understanding.

"...Is it the same with you?" Jeremy asks, turning to Amy. "Are you gonna go to the game too?"

"No," she shakes her head. "And besides, there'll be other games...but that's not the problem."

"Ames..." She looks at Odd. "You don't have to say it if you don't want to."

"It's okay, Odd," she murmurs. "I might as well..."

"Tell us what?" Yumi raises an eyebrow.

"My parents are divorced."

"Oh...oh wow..." Jeremy murmurs, feeling bad more than ever.

"I'm so sorry, Amy," Yumi says, the brunette looking up with a little smile.

"Thanks."

Ulrich sulks near the gym.

"Why couldn't he have just told us the reason?" Jeremy wonders as they walk to the secret entrance in the park.

"Ulrich? Give away a secret?" Yumi asks in disbelief.

"Anyway, why worry? Ulrich's gonna win the game and in the meantime, we're gonna save the world. We just have to do without him this time," Odd bends down to the cover. "And besides, you got me, don't you?" Jeremy, Amy, and Yumi all give a little smile.

* * *

Ulrich sits on the bench in the boys' locker room, sulking for what happened. He's still sulking when the other players and Jim arrive. "Alright guys, the big day's here!" Ulrich hears someone coming and looks up to see Matt. He says nothing to Ulrich, just walking away.

Amy jumps down into the sewers, followed by Odd. They grab their rides, Odd throwing his skateboard with a "Yeah!" He skates off, followed by Yumi and Amy.

"Testing, one two. Testing, one two, here we go. Hello everyone, this is Milly and Tamiya reporting to you live from the stadium. It's a big day today, the 9th grade inter school final is about to begin. Although our school is favored to win, a lot is going to depend on Kadic's striker, our own, Ulrich. We're really counting on him today." Ulrich's parents are in the audience, smiling at him. "And now, everybody, it's soccer time!"

Odd, Amy, Jeremy, and Yumi run across the bridge to the factory entrance. Yumi presses the button and they go down to both rooms.

Jim blows the whistle and the game starts. Ulrich runs, focusing as he's open. One of his teammates passes the ball to him and he kicks it.

On Lyoko, Aelita is meditating at the edge of the sector. _"Aelita, do you read me? Aelita?" _She opens her eyes.

"I'm here, Jeremy."

"Aelita, it's XANA. He's attacking. He's trying to take over the city's electrical network," he explains.

"But why?" She wonders.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna try to find out." He types away. "I'll get the spy program started." He scans the area. "With the data flows of dents, there oughta be traces of it on the network. Bingo! That's XANA, alright. Heavy and predictable."

The students cheer as Ulrich runs with the ball, but a rival player runs up to him and tries to steal it. Ulrich kicks it over his leg, continuing to the net. Matt appears behind him, one of Ulrich's teammates open.

"Incredible! We knew that Ulrich was in great form," Milly announces as Ulrich passes the ball. "But what he's showing us today is beyond even our wildest dreams." Matt takes the ball from Ulrich's teammate, which appears right in front of Ulrich. He kicks it sharply into the net, the students cheering for him. "A fantastic goal and the Kadic team makes it one to nothing after only three minutes of play! Lincoln's going to have to find a way to stop Ulrich if they're going to win this game!" Ulrich's parents smile at each other.

"Heavy, but very fast. We don't have much time," Jeremy looks to his right screen. "Ready to go?"

Odd, Amy, and Yumi stand in front of the three scanners. "No problemo!"

"Gotta hurry up, because if we don't...XANA will be able to create much more powerful magnetic fields," the three step into the scanners and turn around, being closed in. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Amy. Transfer Odd. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Amy. Scanner Odd. Virtualization!"

They are all virtualized into the mountain sector, landing safely. _"The tower is situated at 30 degrees west. Hurry up, huh?"_

"We got it the first time," Amy deadpans.

"I see it, Jeremy," Aelita logs off before waving over the three. "Over here!"

The ball flies across into the net, the students cheering on their team. Ulrich looks around for his parents before he sees them.

"Kadic, Kadic!" Sissi cheers, silently happy that she's got the spotlight now.

"There's no stopping Ulrich, he's amazing to watch! It's two-nothing and the score may get out of hand if he keeps this up!" Milly says.

"He's so handsome when he runs," Tamiya says as she records Ulrich. Milly blocks the camera in her view.

"Well, thanks Tamiya, for that expert commentary on the game!" Milly retorts, Tamiya innocently hiding the camera behind her back.

"Oh no, he's ready to attack the school!" Jeremy realizes when the scan was finished. "Now I understand."

"Fill us in, Einstein!" Odd calls out as he jumps on rocks.

"If not for what happened today with Yumi and Sissi, we'd have all gone to the game. And that's where XANA wanted to trap us. Because it was his plan, to concentrate all of the energy on the science lab. And if we don't make it fast, there's a good chance Ulrich's gonna finish the game outside of the stratosphere!" Jeremy explains as Odd lands on a platform, followed by the girls.

"I'm almost glad that I gave the top spot to Sissi, then," Amy shakes her head.

"No monsters for the time being, but we're still far from the tower," Yumi reports.

"Oh, this is awful!" Jeremy laments. "I gotta find a way to gain some time."

The lights in the park flicker, and Jeremy sees it on his computer. "You asked for it, XANA. I can hack a network. You're not the only one."

"Go on now, stop Matt! He's getting away!" Jim calls out as Matt has the ball. Two other Kadic players run up to him, but he jumps between them. Ulrich steals the ball from him and kick it to another teammate.

"Fantastic! Ulrich's good on defense as he is on the attack!" Milly exclaims.

"Go Ulrich, go go!" Jim encourages.

The girls and Odd run, jumping off a platform. "This program will help me counter any of XANA's attacks on the science lab," Jeremy leans back in his chair before gasping. "Ulrich, do you copy?" He calls Ulrich's cell, just as they're taking a break.

"That's the end of the first half. Kadic has a commanding two-nothing lead. Let's see if we can get some comments firsthand. Ulrich?" The two 8th graders run up to him before he can even notice his phone is ringing. "I can imagine you're confident after dominating Lincoln for the past 45 minutes. What do you think?"

"Uh, Lincoln's in the finals, that means they're a good team. In the words of our coach, Jim, it's our motivation that will make us winners and I honestly think that-" he stops when he sees his parents, his father looking with pride. "I've gotta go now, talk to ya after the game. I better relax a bit before the second half," he walks away. "And see what Jim has to-" he sees his phone vibrating on the bench. He stares at it, thinking to himself that it's probably Jeremy.

"Answer your phone, Ulrich, please!" He answers, to Jeremy's relief.

"What do you want?"

"Ulrich...I've been trying to reach you for a quarter of an hour!" Jeremy says.

"I can't play with a cell phone in my hand, sorry," Ulrich retorts. He looks back at Jim.

"Listen, I know all about it. Odd and Amy told me why this match is so important to you, but there's an enormous and serious problem. I can't go into all the details, there's not enough time. But...XANA's gonna put the school into orbit."

"What was that?" Ulrich asks.

"It's true, I swear. He doesn't have enough power yet-"

"But-" Ulrich interrupts.

"He's gonna try and get it from the science lab's generator. You gotta make sure that nobody's in the building," Jeremy tells him, Jim turning around.

"Hey, Ulrich, second half's starting!"

"Be right there," Ulrich calls out, turning back to his phone. "No problem. Everyone's at the game."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Ulrich closes his eyes before putting on a headphone connected to his phone, running back into the game supposedly. He scans the audience, coming to a stop to the others' confusion.

"Ms. Hertz isn't here," he reports.

"Oh no. She's probably in the chemistry lab. You've gotta go and get her out!" Ulrich stares at the building behind the students, conflicted. If he left, Kadic would have no chance at winning, therefore disappointing his father. The whole school was counting on him. But this was Ms. Hertz's life at stake, he couldn't just leave her inside, even if he was failing her class. He growls as he looks at the ground, the whistle blowing. Jeremy notices his hesitation, knowing the risk as well.

"Ulrich!"

"Don't ask me to do that," Ulrich simply says as the ball is kicked to him. "Jeremy, anything, but not that!" Matt steals the ball from him, as Ulrich is too conflicted to pay attention to the game.

"Oh! What's wrong, what's wrong?" Milly asks in disbelief.

"Look, I'm sorry, Ulrich. You've got to leave the game. You're the only one who can do it. You've gotta save her," Jeremy insists. His parents stare at Ulrich, noticing his non-movement.

"Oh, everyone is just numb. The crowd including yours truly simply doesn't understand. Why has Ulrich just stopped?" Milly says into the camera.

"It must be the pressure," Tamiya suggests. All the students and Jim stare. Ulrich's mother gives a pleading look, worried for her son.

"It's a matter of life and death, Ulrich!" Ulrich lets a tear drop, seeing Matt gain a point for his team.

"Oh, it's unbelievable! Lincoln's team has just caught our lead in half! Matt himself can hardly believe that Ulrich let him score!" Both teams have stopped now, staring at the un-moving boy.

"Ulrich, please!"

"Shut up, Jeremy, just shut up," Ulrich hangs up after silence, Jeremy hanging his head. He didn't want to do this to Ulrich, but his other friends are on Lyoko.

Ulrich runs up to Matt as he has the ball. "I'm gonna stop you!"

"We'll see about that!" Ulrich tries to steal the ball, but trips onto the ground.

"Oh no, it can't be! What awful luck for the Kadic team! Ulrich looks hurt after that violent tackle by Matt!"

"Come on, I didn't even touch him!" Matt protests as Ulrich holds his leg. No one knew, but he was just pretending so he could go save Ms. Hertz.

"Yes, it's true," Sissi places her hands on her hips, not buying it as Ulrich walks away.

"Ulrich! Oh no! I don't believe it! You-you can't do this!" Jim panics.

"Leave me alone, Jim," Ulrich says.

"Oh wow, absolutely incredible! Our superstar striker is leaving the field with a knee injury!" Milly exclaims as they all stare in shock. He doesn't dare meet his parents' eyes in the audience watching him closely.

"Our one irreplaceable player is out of the game," Tamiya laments.

_I don't believe it for a minute. And I'm gonna check this out, _Sissi stares at Ulrich suspiciously before bending down to Herb and Nicolas. "I'm leaving as well. Tell me everything that happened while I'm gone."

"Sissi, you're a cheerleader," Nicolas reminds.

"There's not gonna be a lot of cheering without Ulrich. And if we do score a goal, you can replace me. The crowd will love it. Just dance your head off!"

Ulrich sits in the locker room, holding his head as he thinks about what he just did.

* * *

Back on Lyoko, the tower is a few feet away from the Lyoko Warriors as they hide behind rocks. "Jeremy, objective in sight. The welcome committee looks manageable. I'll take care of them in no time at all."

"Hold on, by yourself? No way!" Amy protests.

"Amy's got a point. I should be able to neutralize XANA. But only for a few minutes. So you gotta work fast," Jeremy explains.

"We gotta move," Odd turns to the girls.

"Ten seconds to attack time," Yumi says.

"Okay girls, go!" Odd orders and they run off. As soon as the Hornets see them, they fly over and start firing lasers. Odd runs next to Amy as she's between him and Yumi. They look back before jumping, throwing their weapons. They all destroy the three, but another shows up as Yumi catches her fan. The Hornet knocks them down. "Pretty sharp mosquitoes. Since when did they grow brains?"

"But there's only one left," Yumi replies.

"Negative. A new swarm of Hornets is on the way," Jeremy contradicts.

"Okay, change of tactics. This time, we'll try diversion," Yumi tells the two.

_"Odd, I reloaded 20 arrows for you, but that may not be enough," _Jeremy explains as Odd fires arrows, destroying one of the Hornets.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires another one, but gets hit twice, falling to the ground. Aelita gasps as Amy turns around. "Your turn, Yumi."

Yumi walks as she uses her telekinesis, moving rocks around her, Amy, and Odd. Odd looks up as he fires arrows.

"Laser arrow!" The swarm attacks the rocks. "They just keep coming! There's no way around them!" Aelita looks at the ground in dismay.

"Jeremy?" He gasps at Ulrich's voice. "I just left the stadium."

"Oh, thanks Ulrich," Jeremy sighs in relief, but he still felt bad. "What you're doing is-"

"Yeah, I know. I'm on my way to the chemistry lab," he runs across the field, Sissi peeking at him from behind a tree. Her face is shocked as she sees Ulrich running perfectly fine.

Aelita gasps as the Hornets continue to attack their friends. Odd backs away to Yumi. Amy throws her spear, but it's fired at until it falls out of her reach, falling into the digital sea.

"Oh no!" She shouts.

"What do we do now?" Odd asks them.

"The best defense is an offense, right?" Yumi responds.

"Right," the two nod their heads. "But it depends on the number of enemies."

"It's okay, Ulrich. I made my own electric field to create a short circuit," Jeremy explains. "But XANA is bound to get ahead of me again soon, so be very careful. I don't know how long it's gonna last." Ulrich carefully walks into the building.

"I just walked in, there's nothing at all happening," Ulrich says, but the lights start to blink, making him raise his eyebrows. He shouts in surprise as he's lifted off of the ground. Ms. Hertz experiences this as well and Sissi stares as she sees Ulrich floating in the air. "Looks like I spoke too soon." He's thrown to the wall and Ms. Hertz is as well.

"You have to hang on for just a few seconds. As soon as you've secured Ms. Hertz, I can move into action," Then he turns his attention to the others. "_You've gotta hang on now until Aelita can get through. Yumi, Amy, Odd, are you okay?"_

Yumi walks along the path as Odd and Amy attack. "Yeah yeah, we're cool," Odd barely manages to miss a laser. Yumi gets hit, almost dropping the rocks. She focuses again, continuing to walk.

Ulrich runs up the stars, the lights blinking again. Ulrich is flown out of the staircase, hanging onto a pole. He peeks in a door and sees Ms. Hertz, who is unconscious as she's against the wall. Ulrich jumps onto a desk, using them to get to her.

"Jeremy, it's okay. I got Ms. Hertz. Go on, do your stuff."

"Here we go," Jeremy presses enter. "The reverse circuit is working!"

Sissi peeks into the building as the lights continue blinking. She steps inside. "Ulrich?"

"I'm sorry to be so familiar with you, Ms. Hertz," Ulrich says as he pulls her out of the room.

"Yoo hoo, Ulrich?" Sissi appears in front of the door that Ulrich was thrust into. He sees the lights blinking again.

"Jeremy, what's happening?"

"I don't know, everything's becoming impossible to control. Be careful!" Jeremy warns and Ulrich is flown across the hall. He hits a pole. "Ulrich! Where are you?"

Sissi's scream can be heard as Ulrich wakes up. He catches her hand. "I've gotcha!" He pulls her to safety.

"Ulrich, what's happening? What's going on?" She questions before she looks at Ms. Hertz.

"It's too complicated. Jeremy, where are you at now?"

"Okay, I'm back in control," Jeremy answers.

"Ready," Ulrich reports.

"Let's go to rock!" Jeremy presses enter as the lights go out, Ulrich screaming in surprise. He and Sissi cover themselves from being hit by the glass.

"Hey, do me a favor, okay Jeremy? Tell me it's gonna calm down!"

"Not for the time being, it may get worse," Jeremy tells him. "So hang on tight any way you can. Odd, Amy, Yumi, what's happening?"

"It's horrible! I'm almost out of arrows, the telekinesis has exhausted Yumi, and the more Hornets I kill, the more there're are! Oh, and Ames lost her spear, so now she doesn't have a weapon!" Odd reports.

"Here I go," Aelita runs off.

"Ulrich, do you mind telling me exactly what's going on?" Sissi asks as she helps Ulrich carry Ms. Hertz.

"Yeah I do mind, so keep quiet," Ulrich answers. He looks up as he hears a noise. "Oh hey Jeremy, what's that sound?"

"Um, I don't know," Jeremy replies nervously as he looks at the blueprint. "Oh no! XANA has managed to take over 50 power stations! Ulrich, whatever you do, don't leave the building. You understand? Stay inside." Ulrich looks out the window, which shows the game right outside. Ulrich walks up to the window, seeing the lights blink...

Aelita runs to the edge of a platform, the others almost at the tower. "Hang in there, Yumi. We're almost there!" Odd says as he tries to fight off the Hornets to the best of his ability. Amy has a rock shield around her arms. "No, not now. Concentrate. Give us just a few more seconds!" He encourages Yumi, but she gives out, falling to the ground.

"I can't do it, guys. I'm sorry..."

They turn around to the Hornets before seeing Aelita using her creativity to get to the tower. "Aelita! It's too soon!" She doesn't respond as Amy waves her hands.

"Aelita, stop!"

"Well Matt has a chance to tie the score with his penalty shot," Milly reports and as Matt runs up to kick the ball, he's lifted in the air. The goalie is as well, Ulrich seeing the whole thing.

"The stadium!" He shouts nervously as the players are lifted from the ground, along with the audience. Some try to hang on while others are lifted into the sky.

"Hey Aelita, you're crazy!" Odd yells as she continues, still not answering. The Hornets see her and fly over, firing lasers at her.

"Aelita, no!" Amy shouts.

"Ulrich, what are you doing?" Sissi asks as he jumps out of the window, hanging onto a pole.

"Oh no no no!" Jeremy exclaims as he sees Aelita.

"I don't believe this!" Odd cries out.

"Aelita, are you listening?!" Amy exclaims.

The students struggle to hold on, Ulrich's parents hanging onto each other. Ulrich crawls over to them.

One of the Hornets hits Aelita in the back, making her fall. "NOOOOO!" All three shout as she falls into the digital sea, the Hornets still firing.

"Aelita!" Jeremy yells in lament. They give looks of sadness, Amy in guilt.

"As soon as you're finished crying, just let me know," they turn to see the real Aelita, the other one was just a delusion! They gasp in shock.

"Aelita...oh no!" Jeremy hangs his head in relief.

"You were just luring them!" Yumi figures out.

"Of course!" Aelita answers.

"AELITA, YOU ARE THE GREATEST!" Jeremy exclaims happily.

"But it would've been nicer to know that earlier," Amy grins.

Mr. Stern struggles to hold onto the seat and he lets go, Ulrich grabbing his hand just in time. "Ulrich?!" He hangs onto the seat with all of his strength.

The four run to the tower, Aelita running inside.

Ulrich struggles to hold onto them, but the weight is making his hand slip. "Goodbye, Ulrich. I'm proud of you. Really, I am."

Aelita steps into the middle, letting herself fly to the top.

"Nooo!" Ulrich shouts as his parents fly to the sky.

Aelita steps onto the top pad and walks up to the interface, pressing her hand against it to log in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

Ulrich shouts as he's flying as well, the tower deactivating. The return to the past starts, Jeremy pressing the button. "Return to the past now!" It engulfs the factory, the school, and a screaming Ulrich. Time is reset to before the game.

"It's a big day today. The 9th grade inter-school final is about to begin. Although our school is favored to win, a lot is going to depend on Kadic's striker, our own Ulrich. We're really counting on him today." Everyone is watching the game, including Ulrich's friends. But this time, Amy is cheering for him, wearing her purple shirt, white boots, and white skirt as a purple bow holds up a part of her hair.

"Let's rock, Ulrich! Come on, world champion!" Odd cheers.

"Yeah, but which world?" Jeremy wonders.

"Why both of them, Jeremy! Both of them!" Odd answers. Amy stands up and throws her baton in the air. She does a cartwheel before catching it.

"Come on, Kadic!" She shouts, whooping and hollering. Ulrich gives her a thumbs up. Sissi gives a jealous look at the pumped up crowd. Jim blows the whistle and the game starts, Ulrich kicking the ball. With him on their side, they'll surely win the game!


	24. Routine

There's an activated tower on Lyoko, in the forest sector, defended by a Megatank and three Bloks. _"It's now or never," _Jeremy says from the microphone. Ulrich points to his right as he looks at the others. Amy, Odd, and Yumi nod from behind the trees, Aelita staying in her spot. Ulrich jerks a thumb behind him and she nods, running off. The Bloks walk up to the Megatank as Ulrich stays where he is. Odd runs right while the girls run on the left path. Yumi and Amy hide behind a tree, peeking to see the Bloks moving around like guards. The two turn to Odd, who waves at them. Yumi pulls out her fan and jumps out of hiding, throwing her weapon. One Blok gets destroyed. The second Blok focuses on the girls, Ulrich sliding in front of Yumi and blocking the lasers.

"Go on, Aelita. Go!" Ulrich orders and she runs off. Ulrich jumps up as Aelita continues running.

_"Odd's on his way, Aelita," _Jeremy reports. Ulrich readies his katana.

"Impact!" He stabs the Blok with his sword, destroying it. He doesn't see the third Blok behind him, but Amy does.

"Ulrich!" She holds out her arms. "Venus Gobbler!" A Venus flytrap swallows up the Blok, eating it whole. Odd and Aelita run together, Odd panting.

_"Megatank approaching!" _The Megatank stops in front of them, blocking their way from the tower.

"Hold it!" Odd places an arm in front of Aelita. "Come and get me, you bowling ball!" He aims his paw. The Megatank readies its circular laser and fires. Odd is catapulted in the air due to the blast, but he lands on the Megatank, rolling the symbol in front of him. "Laser arrow!" He hits it dead on and it's destroyed. Aelita blocks her face away from the smoke.

Jeremy sighs in relief as he presses his back against the chair. Honestly, if he didn't have his friends to protect Aelita, he didn't know what he would do! Odd gives a thumbs up as Aelita runs to the tower.

"It's okay. Aelita is in the tower," Ulrich reports to Jeremy as the others watch her. She steps inside and floats to the top.

_"_As usual, guys, great job!" Jeremy says with a smile as Aelita puts in the code to deactivate the tower.

"That's right, another XANA attacked chopped off, another tower gone!" Odd comments.

_"Okay, get ready for the return trip to the past."_

* * *

The return trip has happened, which means science with Ms. Hertz...again. "And so, this equation, which you weren't able to solve, would have enabled you to-" the bell rings for the end of class and the students stand up. "Class dismissed and don't forget your chemistry exercise for tomorrow!" They step out of class, going out into the courtyard.

"Actually, I prefer Odd. He's funny too," a girl with blonde hair says to an older girl with glasses and dark hair.

"I got bonus points for making level 5."

Yumi sits on a bench by herself, waiting for her friends to get out of class. Sometimes being older than your friends was a small disadvantage...she sees the boys and Amy walking up to her. "Well, guys. How was class today with Ms. Hertz? Was it fun?"

"Oh, the same exact thing lesson is before the XANA attack, so it was twice as boring!" Ulrich answers, Jeremy smiling.

"Once, twice. It doesn't matter. You'll never be any good in Physics anyway!" He jokes, sitting next to Yumi.

"Well, if it isn't Sissi," Odd sees her walking up to them.

"Oh no," Amy groans, sitting next to Jeremy, since they already knew what she was gonna say.

" 'Hello Ulrich dear. Can we talk for a minute?' " Odd mimics Sissi, Amy giggling under her hand.

"Hello Ulrich dear. Can we talk for a minute?" Sissi asks, Odd giggling to her confusion.

"First of all, I'm not your 'Ulrich dear.' Second of all, I will not go to your room to explain exercise B page 52," he deadpans to her shock.

"But...how did you know that I..." Ulrich looks at her blankly, Yumi smirking with a raised eyebrow. Jeremy and Amy have the same looks. She blushes in embarrassment before storming off. The return trip was worth her reaction.

"A Sissi attack is almost as bad as a XANA attack," Yumi comments. "And ten times more boring."

"That's for sure," Ulrich agrees with her.

"What she lacks in excitement, she makes up for in drama," Amy shakes her head with a sigh.

"So, anyone feel like sneaking out and going into town for a while?" Ulrich offers as they walk Yumi to the entrance.

"Count me out. I've got a heavy date with my pillow!" Odd snorts, but in reality, he was planning on sneaking out with Amy later on that night. He didn't want the others to know about it because they would just tease them. And well, he'd rather keep his secret night out with only Amy.

"Sorry Ulrich. I've got some homework that I need to catch up on tonight," Amy tells him regretfully. "But I'll definitely owe you next time!"

"And I'm gonna work on my program for materializing Aelita!" Jeremy rubs his neck bashfully just from mentioning her. "One of these days, I'm gonna do it!"

"How bout you, Yumi? Wanna go into town and have an ice cream?" Ulrich questions.

"No, not tonight. I've got to do a little studying. I'm way behind thanks to all these XANA attacks. See you tomorrow," she walks off, waving.

"Ciao Yumi, see you tomorrow!" Jeremy calls out.

"Bye!" Amy waves at her.

"What an exciting evening," Ulrich deadpans.

"Ciao!" Odd says, leaving with Jeremy and Amy. Ulrich sighs as he watches Yumi leave. Right now, his morale is very low. He was getting sick of reliving the same days over and over, the same classes, the same stupid remarks and tricks from Sissi...and he was also disappointed that his friends refused to leave the school grounds for a breath of fresh air!

* * *

Ulrich has returned to the dorms, sitting on his bed as he pets Kiwi. "Ahhh," Odd steps in, having just gotten out of the showers. "Hey, you oughta take a shower. It really relaxes you," he flops onto his bed with a relaxed sigh. Ulrich didn't do like feeling any of the sort.

"Tell me what your day was like," Ulrich sighs, expecting to hear the same routine.

"Nothing special. Let's see now...oh, I had the embarrassment of my life in gym class. My shorts tore. Guess where? Then I lost my pencil case in the library and to finish the day, I had a fight with Marcy. And that's what my day was like," Odd lies back down in his bed.

"No, what I mean Odd is, don't you feel you've already had the same exact kind of day?" Ulrich wonders, Odd sitting back up.

"Well yeah, but that's normal," Odd yawns. "Don't forget we had the same French, English, and Physics class twice and on Lyoko, it was 'yoo hoo, it's us,' for the seventh time...Ames is so good in French, maybe I should ask her to tutor me," Odd looks at Ulrich.

" 'Yoo hoo, it's us? ' " Ulrich asks, not familiar with the term.

"That's what I call our game plan. You know, the one we used to help Aelita to reach the tower safe and sound. Why all these questions, hmm?" Odd crosses his arms, a curious look on his face.

"No reason, I've...I'm fed up with all this school, Lyoko, back to school, back to Lyoko and uh...this is XANA's fifth attack in a week." Odd closes his eyes, a little tired as well. "I'm also fed up with what's happening to Yumi and me. Once in a while, I get the feeling that..." He sighs, looking out the window. "That she doesn't really like me...that she doesn't have...any feelings for me." He turns back to Odd, only to find that the mischievous blond is gone. "Huh? Where could he have gone at this hour...?"

Odd sneaks into the girls' hall, knocking on Amy's door. She opens the door and smiles at him. He smiles back and they sneak out into the forest.

Ulrich takes a shower to Odd's suggestion, but on the inside, he was still thinking about how weary it was...the shower didn't really help calm him down and neither did wandering the corridors. Nonetheless, a girl walks across from him. He looks up and sees her. "Oh, hi Emily."

"Hello Ulrich," she turns to him. "I'm looking for Jim. Have you seen him?" She readjusts her left sleeve from her robe.

"No, sorry."

"Ah," she gives a little smile. "That's okay. Good night," she walks away and he walks to the other side of the door. Both had seemed to take an interest in one another...Ulrich looks back to see her staring at him.

"I don't believe it. Does she have a thing for me?" He finds himself blushing. He turns back around to see the doors closing. He bumps into Jim.

"Ulrich, if you're gonna sleep walk, do it in your room!"

"Oh, hi Jim. By the way, Emily's looking for ya," he points in the direction that she left, Jim staring after Ulrich in confusion as he leaves.

Nocturnal noises are heard at the factory, one of XANA's specters seeping out of the supercomputer in as the power source in the supercomputer room turns on by itself. It enters the terminal...

* * *

The next day, Yumi is walking to the cafeteria for breakfast. She sees something out of the corner of her eye: Ulrich and Emily. They were both laughing. _Ulrich? What's he doing with Emily? _As far as she knew, none of her friends mentioned anything about him hanging out with her..._They sure don't look bored. _She walks up to Jeremy, Amy, and Odd sitting on the bench. "Hello." She turns to the two. "What kind of game does he think he's playing?"

"He's just talking to her. What are you, jealous?" Odd says.

"What?" She turns to him. "Me, jealous of Emily? You've gotta be kidding." Jeremy, Amy, and Odd give each other smug looks. "Besides, she's a year older than him, and that's a lot." She huffs, opening her backpack to get a pencil.

"Guess what, you're also a year older than him. I guess you just forgot," Jeremy reminds, turning around to her.

"Yeah? Well, it's not the same thing! I'm Ulrich's girlfriend! I-I mean, I'm his good friend," she blushes at her mistake.

"Yumi, when you put it like that, it sounds like the same thing to me!" Amy comments, sipping her hot chocolate.

"You know, Ulrich's been kind of down in the dumps. So if he wants to talk to another girl, don't make a big deal out of it," Jeremy explains.

"Who says that I am?!" She exclaims, Amy backing away slightly.

"Being overdramatic, Yumi," she sings as she looks away.

Nicolas punches against the drink machine. "Oh, this machine's gonna drive me bananas!" He kicks it, having lost his money and drink. Herb sees Ulrich and Emily together.

"Hey, that's double big news! Ulrich without Yumi, and Ulrich _with _Emily!" Herb points out, the other two looking past him.

"Emily?!" Sissi's eyes widen in shock. "How dare she?! The nerve of her going after him if Yumi's out of the picture! I'm next on the list!" Sissi notices Yumi not looking happy about it either. "Speaking of Yumi...she's not taking it too well." She grits her teeth, just as jealous as Yumi.

"Neither are you, Sissi," Herb tells her from behind.

"Shut up!" She snaps. "I just got a really great idea that's bound to make Ulrich all mine," she smirks to herself before leaning towards Yumi. "Quite a romance going on there..." She looks at the two seeming to get along well. "Two months already, that's not bad."

"What?" Yumi whispers in disbelief. Two months and Ulrich _didn't _tell her?

"Oh, I thought you knew!" Sissi looks guilty, but really, she was fanning the fire. "Doesn't Ulrich tell you everything? I mean, you two are so close. I've decided to give up on him, there's no hope, I'll have to do my best to forget him. And if I were you, I would do the same," Sissi looks away, giving a smug look to herself.

"You're not me, Sissi, so save your advice if you don't mind," Yumi stomps away from her. "What a pest..." But the more she looked at them, the more she was starting to believe it...

"Sissi, do you mind explaining your strategy?" Herb wonders. She doesn't answer and simply walks away, humming to herself.

"Jeremy," Aelita comes onto the computer, in the desert sector as she feels pulsations. "XANA's launched another attack."

"Are you feeling pulsations?" Jeremy questions, on his laptop.

"Yes, in the desert region. They're really strong," she explains.

"I've never seen him so active as he is now. Sorry guys, you gotta go back. And right away too." Odd, Amy, and Yumi are standing behind him, Yumi still thinking about _Ulrich and Emily. _

"Well, as they say, when you gotta go, you gotta go," Odd says.

"Okay, you really didn't have to do that joke," Amy looks away in disgust, placing a hand in front of his face. Jeremy dials Ulrich, but gets nothing.

"Hmm, Ulrich has shut off his cell phone."

Yumi feels like she's on the brink of exploding. "Yeah, he's much too busy with Emily! Hang on, I'll go and get 'im," she runs down the path in the park.

"Yumi, no wait!" Jeremy warns, knowing that with Yumi's emotions, she might snap...Amy glances at Jeremy, looking a little worried.

Ulrich leaves the cafeteria with a small smile on his face. "Wanna go for a walk, Ulrich?" Emily walks up to him and he joins her. Yumi sees them walking together, watching them intensely.

"It's nice to relax and not think of-"

"Hey Ulrich!" Yumi calls out, her anger boiling slowly inside her. He turns to her. "Come here for a second."

"Hello Yumi," he greets, turning to Emily. "I'll be right back, okay?" She grabs his arm, leading him away.

"I hate to disturb you, Romeo, but Jeremy's been trying to reach you. XANA's just woken up," she reports, silently hoping that he would leave Emily and go off with her...

"XANA? Again? Go on, I'll be right there," he walks off to come up with an excuse for Emily, but she stops him, angry.

"What do you mean, 'go on?' " she snaps.

"Cool it, huh Yumi?" He asks, confused on why she was so mad at him.

"Okay, I'll cool it," she says in an angry tone. "First tell me what's going on with you and Emily."

"Nothing's going on," he takes his jacket back from her grip. "I like her. We get along really well." Emily stares after the two in worry, knowing that Ulrich and Yumi are really close. She didn't want to get in the way of that. "I don't understand the problem. Unless that bothers you," he gets into Yumi's face, having a little smug smile on her face. He could tell she was jealous.

"Bothers me? No, it's just that..." She looks away, clenching her fists. "That you could've told me about it. Like a buddy, huh?!"

"Oh, I get it. You think of us as buddies! I wondered what you thought of us and now I know," he retorts, no longer smug. It was like it was just the two of them around as they argue.

"That's right, a couple of pals, and nothing more. And besides, that's the way you want it! Not like Emily, huh?! Oh, Ulrich!" She closes her eyes, biting her lip in anger.

"Okay, what do I really mean to you? And be honest, huh?" He crosses his arms.

"Me be honest? You and Emily have been together for two months without a word, and you tell me to be honest?" She reveals.

"Where did you get that idea? Emily and I are not..." He sighs. "Oh forget it, I'm not gonna defend myself to you. Ciao!" He walks back to Emily, holding her hand as they walk away.

"Yeah right, ciao. That's all you can think of to say," Yumi shakes a little after what just happened, tears in her eyes. Yumi stops in front of the park gates, wondering if Ulrich and Emily really were a couple...her phone rings and she picks it up immediately. "Ulrich?" Her face turns into disappointment. "Oh, Jeremy. Yeah, I told him. He's on his way there. Me too, yeah. I'll be right there." She hangs up, silently walking off.

"Now that Act Two is over, the final act is all mine!" Sissi and Herb see Yumi leaving.

"All yours? But what about Emily?" Herb questions.

"Oh, for a pro like me, Emily is no problem," she says to his confusion. "In exactly 30 seconds, Ulrich will be in my arms."

Ulrich looks at Emily as she stands on the stairs, having just escorted her to her building. He smiles at waves at her.

"See ya later," she returns the wave, walking up the stairs. She stares after him as he leaves. Sissi waits out in the courtyard for Ulrich to come out.

"Ulrich dear, I have to tell you something," she walks up to a confused Ulrich. "It can't wait any longer!"

"Sissi dear," he retorts. "Under normal conditions, I would take the time to tell you to go fly a kite, but this time, I'll be less polite and just ignore you," he walks away, Herb snickering.

"Well, your 30 seconds are up," he says to her annoyance.

* * *

"No, everything's quiet here. No short circuits, no giant bug invasion, no earthquakes. How bout you?" Jeremy explains to a worried Aelita.

"Well, I'm almost at the activated tower, but none of XANA's monsters have appeared yet." Ulrich and Yumi carefully avoid one another's eyes. "If not for the pulsations, there's no other sign that XANA's woken up," she logs off.

"I wonder if this isn't a new tactic of his..." Jeremy says.

"What if the attack is aimed at us directly?" Odd asks. "For example, this argument between Yumi and Ulrich. Suppose that XANA is just using Emily to mess with our heads."

"I don't know about that...nothing's really happened at school, though, and Emily seems normal to me," Amy shakes her head.

"I got a better idea. He's using your ridiculous theories to distract us!" Ulrich snaps.

"Hey, cool it, would ya?" Amy snaps back as she turns to him.

"What's the matter with you? I was just trying to help!" Odd shrugs.

"Give us a break guys, will you? Stay out of this," Yumi tells them. Odd stares at them, a little confused and hurt by their cold and scathing remarks. Amy places a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, stay calm. I think one of you should do a little reconnaissance on Lyoko...or maybe two," he turns to them. "Well, who wants to be first?" The angry kids say nothing, refusing to go.

"OH, the heck with this! I'm going to the scanner room as a volunteer!" Amy snaps, a little frustrated herself as she leaves. Odd stares after her.

"Don't all of you answer at once," he says seriously.

"Send Ulrich, Jeremy. He needs to be entertained. He'd love to go to Lyoko with Amy!" Yumi retorts.

"Ladies first, get her out of our hair," Ulrich murmurs.

Jeremy slams his fist on his chair. "Look, Amy is right! Even I'm getting tired of all this quarreling. Aelita needs us, and that is what I call an emergency!" They all look at him, surprised by his authoritative tone and not daring to talk back. "So head for the scanners, all three of you are going with Amy, and I'm sending her first! Hmph...Aelita," she appears on screen. "Help is on the way." The doors close behind him. "I better warn you, Yumi and Ulrich are a bit...well, you might say, buggy."

"You mean to say, that they've been fighting, don't you?" Aelita guesses.

"You guessed it, Aelita. Transfer Amy," Amy closes her eyes just as the others step into the scanner room. "Scanner Amy. Virtualization. I'm gonna transfer you to the desert region. Don't forget, you have to protect Aelita, all four of you." He presses enter, Yumi and Ulrich glaring as the scanners close them in. "Okay, here we go. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd." All three are spun around. "Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Odd. Virtualization." All three are scanned and virtualized, but something happens when it goes through. He gasps, seeing the same thing for Amy as well.

The three land one by one in front of Amy. They look around, Yumi looking away from Ulrich. Amy sighs wearily, clearing her throat as Aelita is next to her.

"Hi," she waves politely.

"Hello Aelita," Odd waves back.

"Hey Aelita." She raises an eyebrow as Jeremy calls out to her. "There was a bug at the moment of transfer. Are they all-"

"Don't worry, everyone is accounted for. Safe and sound and ready to go," she interrupts.

"I don't know about the safe and sound part," Amy murmurs, as Yumi and Ulrich are on opposite sides, backs to each other.

"I don't know what it was. I'll scan the program, we'll see what happened," Jeremy takes a moment to scan the transfer program. "What is this mess? Aelita, I think the super calculator's been infected with a virus." Everyone stops in their tracks. _"So that's the XANA attack."_

"But that's crazy," Odd points to his head. "Why would XANA want to infect himself?"

"Well, you never know what XANA's got in his head until it's done," Jeremy answers.

"And if the supercomputer's involved, you know that it means more trouble for us," Amy looks at Odd.

"Unless, he's using it to modify a program that he doesn't have access to. Yeah, but which one?" Aelita wonders.

_"I don't know, but it looks like he wants to change the rules on Lyoko."_

"I got a funny feeling about this," Ulrich voices.

"We've gotta take a closer look into this. There has to be a deactivated tower not far from you," Jeremy looks at his map.

"Okay, I'm off," Aelita logs off with Jeremy.

* * *

They've found a deactivated tower and Aelita turns around to them. "I hope you're not gonna kill each other if I leave you two alone," she winks. They don't respond and she steps inside the tower. She walks into the middle of the pad.

The four sit near the tower, Yumi and Ulrich still avoiding each other. Aelita floats up to the top as a Kankerlot approaches the four. Odd looks up to see it.

"Jeremy," Aelita lands on the top pad. "Okay, I'm here. I have access to the transfer program. This is very strange...usually the program doesn't include any of XANA's creatures. It's really weird."

"You go, you're the closest," Ulrich tells Odd.

"Oh yes, because that's fair," Amy deadpans, Odd standing up.

"Now I understand, Jeremy. It's a trap!" Aelita explains as Odd points his paw at the Kankerlot. "XANA's sabotaged the devirtualization program."

"Huh?!" Jeremy asks in surprise. _"Odd, watch out for lasers. This monster can kill you for good!"_

"Laser arrow!" Odd destroys the Kankerlot, but is hit regardless, falling to the ground.

"What's going on?!" Ulrich exclaims.

"Odd!" Amy bends down to him and he looks up at her, his eyes widening as the light brought out her features. "Odd, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," he stutters, looking away sheepishly. He didn't even know why he was stuttering...but what was really weird is...he's never seen any girl like that before...not even ones he's dated.

_"XANA's monsters can prove fatal to you. You can't be devirtualized or you'll disappear forever!" _Jeremy explains, looking at Odd's ID card. "Oh no! Odd's lost 50 life points already!"

"_Calm down, Jeremy. Odd's still here with us_," Ulrich points out.

"You don't understand. He just got hit by a laser. That means he's only got-"

"Listen, Jeremy. Aelita takes the same risks all the time. Nothing's changed for us," Ulrich interrupts, trying to calm him down. "We have to be more careful, that's all."

"All he did was switch roles for us. Sure, we could disappear, but if we don't get hit again, we'll be able to protect Aelita," Amy adds.

"One thing is sure. XANA's really trapped us, and we'd better not make a mistake this time," Yumi walks up to Odd, checking over him. He lifts his head up.

"It'll make the fight a lot more exciting," he says.

"I don't know about you, but not dying doesn't sound that exciting to me," Amy helps Odd up as Aelita comes out of the tower. She runs up to them.

"I've got to deactivate the tower fast, before XANA has a chance to concentrate all of his strength on," she explains.

"That's the safest solution. _Hurry, but watch out for monsters!" _The four run off after Aelita. "Meanwhile, I'll try to get rid of the virus...Listen, XANA, if you think you can impress me with your cheap, two-bit virus, you are mistaken!" Jeremy puts in a CD, typing away.

The others trail behind Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich still not talking to each other.

"I'm never gonna get it to work!" Jeremy laments, sighing as he hangs his head. "XANA has completely wrecked the circuits! There's only one possible solution," he takes off the headphone. "Work directly on the hardware," he steps out of his chair and enters the elevator, pressing the button. He goes down to the scanner room, running inside.

_There's gotta be an access around here somewhere...all I gotta do now is find it. _He lifts one of the panels, closing it. _Here? _He lifts another panel, closing that as well. _Nope. Must be in the super calculator room. _He looks at another box. _Oh, no way. _"On this floor, everything's locked up tight. Now what?" He stands back up, the elevator doors closing him in the room. "Oh no! XANA, you're even more evil than I thought!"

They continue to follow Aelita. "Jeremy, how are you doing? Jeremy?" None of them know that he's left the room.

_The access space! If I adjust it the winch, I should be able to get down. _Jeremy hesitantly walks up to it, not knowing where exactly it leads.

Aelita stops running, pointing up ahead. "The tower! It's there!"

In the supercomputer room, Jeremy is using the rope to lower himself down. He's using a button his belt to do so, doing it slowly and carefully. He turns around as he continues to lower himself, landing in front of the control panel. Jeremy straightens himself up, pressing his foot against the surface. "You don't scare me, XANA! Just gotta replace the circuits you messed up, and you'll fail again like all the other times!" He pushes himself so that he swings back and forth to grab the circuit boards.

"It's all over. If we try to get through all this, we're done for!" Yumi tells the others as they hide behind a rock. Of course, XANA never makes things easy: there's two Megatanks and two Krabs guarding the tower.

"You never know. We just have to hang on until Aelita enters the code," Ulrich sits back down with the others.

"It's 'yoo hoo, it's us' time!" Odd exclaims, Ulrich nodding with a small smile.

"Yumi, you and Amy take the Krabs. Odd and I will take on the Megatanks," Ulrich orders. "Aelita, go on, run!"

"Uh, Ulrich?" He turns to Yumi. "I, uh..."

He understood what she was trying to say. "Be careful, Yumi."

"You too, Ulrich," they run off in the opposite direction, Amy following after Yumi. Ulrich runs with Odd and Aelita. One of the Megatanks opens up and Ulrich jumps up, avoiding the laser. He stabs the symbol, jumping out of the way to avoid the blast. Amy and Yumi hide, but the Krabs see them. Odd runs up to a platform above the Megatank and jumps as the monster fires it's large laser at Aelita. Odd lands, spinning the symbol in front of them.

"Keep rolling! Laser arrow!" He hits the symbol and it rolls away, causing an explosion that doesn't allow Odd to see the Krabs, and one of them fires a laser at his torso. He ducks his head as the Krabs walk above him. "Yumi! Amy!"

"We're coming!" They get up and run.

Jeremy's sweat falls onto his glasses as he moves the circuit boards. "Bingo! You have just-" the board shocks him and the rope lifts him up. It drops him before lifting him, the shock having knocked him out.

The Krabs fire at Aelita as she tries to reach the tower. Yumi and Amy run onto a platform, jumping up. Yumi fires at one, but the explosion knocks her back. "Yumi, no!" Ulrich shouts as Amy makes her hands glow sandy.

"Sand shot!" A ball of sand hits the Krab on the symbol, destroying it. She lands safely, turning around as Yumi is about to fall in the digital sea! Ulrich grabs her just in time.

"It's okay, I got you," he reassures.

"You need any help?" Amy calls out.

"No, I got it!" He helps Yumi up just as Aelita enters the tower.

"Ulrich, you-" she's pulled up to his face and they look away shyly with also embarrassment.

Aelita lands on the top pad, walking up to the interface.

Ulrich and Yumi look back at each other, still so close.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface to log in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

The young couple close their eyes as their lips grow closer.

_Lyoko_

But unfortunately, that kiss would never come, as the return to the past is launched...it engulfs the factory, city, and school...

"Actually, I prefer Odd. He's funny too."

"I got bonus points for making level 5."

Yumi leans against the bench, smiling to herself as she sees Ulrich and Emily laughing. She didn't feel jealous of them anymore now that she knew they weren't together.

"Quite a romance, don't you think? Two months already, huh?" Sissi leans in towards her.

"Really? Two months?" Sissi turns to Yumi, confused. "That long?"

Ulrich sees Yumi. "There's Yumi. So long now, Emily," he walks away.

"So long. Ain't love grand?" She smiles at them, walking away.

"Hi. I was waiting for you," Ulrich smiles at Yumi, both of them having reconciled.

"So was I. Two months is a pretty long time. But Sissi was here to keep me company."

"Huh?" Sissi looks in confusion at the two.

"Thanks."

"Hmph. Bunch of creeps," Sissi walks off and they stare after her.

"Yumi?" The older girl turns to him.

"Hm?"

"You know, about what happened on Lyoko, uh...I mean...what uh, nearly happened?" He blushes, chuckling nervously.

"Um, now that you mention it, um..." She blushes, smiling. "I'd rather you didn't talk about it to Odd, Amy, and Jeremy. At least, not right away."

"Yeah...I agree, not a word." They smile each other.

"Come on, Ulrich," the others appear next to them. "Don't forget, we have Ms. Hertz's class to go to one more time!"

"Well, it wasn't all that boring on Lyoko, was it, Ulrich?" Odd wonders, the four sitting at their class.

"You're right, Odd. And I learned something too. Something super important..."

As he remembers what nearly happened, he learned that maybe going through the same day over and over wasn't so bad after all...and that...

There was a chance that Yumi saw him as more than a friend, as well.


	25. Rock Bottom

Odd, Amy, Yumi, Ulrich, and Jeremy stand near the principal's office. "Huh, three-day weekend, that's fantastic, isn't it?!" Ulrich cheers.

"With a little luck, I just may have the house to myself," Yumi grins. She's supposed to be going out of town with her parents, but if she could convince them to let her stay home, she could be able to throw their party.

"Yeah, but knowing your parents, it's not gonna be easy!" Jeremy points out.

"I'm betting on Yumi," Odd starts walking, the others following him.

"Yeah, I have faith in my friends," Amy grins and Yumi grins back.

* * *

The evening passes and it's the next day as Yumi approaches her parents. "I didn't tell you, but I've got a lot of homework this weekend. Of course, I'll stay home and look after things. And if you've nothing against it, I'd like to have a little gathering," Yumi leans on her father's shoulders.

"Gathering to do homework together? Or to wreck the living room?" Mr. Ishiyama asks skeptically.

"Well, uh..."

"Go on, answer your father," Mrs. Ishiyama crosses her arms.

"Well, I thought I'd invite my friends over for a quiet evening at home," she explains herself.

"You mean those three clowns?" Mr. Ishiyama assumes. "I don't know why a nice girl like Amelia hangs out with them."

"Perhaps because of her boyfriend Odd," Mrs. Ishiyama murmurs.

"But Daddy, you hardly even know them!" Yumi protests. "And they're just friends...for now," She winks at her parents.

"They seem nice enough," Mrs. Ishiyama sounds like she's starting to agree with Yumi.

"I wish you'd trust me a little more!" Yumi argues. Her parents stare at each other, Mrs. Ishiyama giving a smug look.

"Alright," Mr. Ishiyama stands up. "They can come."

"That is so great! You won't regret it, you'll see!" Yumi exclaims happily, kissing her father's cheek. "Thanks, Mom. You are the greatest! Have a nice weekend!" She giggles as she runs off to school, her parents smiling at each other.

* * *

At school, Yumi hums as she approaches her friends at the drink machine. "Hey, I've got great news, guys. Tonight we have the house all to ourselves!"

"You did it," Ulrich smiles at her, Jeremy looking upset.

"We'd better get organized," she says.

"No problem," Ulrich agrees.

"Anything wrong, Jeremy?" Yumi notices Jeremy's sour look.

"I'm trying to localize Lyoko. Shouldn't take this much time," he looks away.

"Don't worry, if there's a problem, Aelita will contact you," Yumi suggests.

"Yeah well, we can always hope..." The bell rings and they all look up. "Time for Physics!" He grabs his back bag and runs off.

Class ends at noon and the students stand up. "Class dismissed. And don't forget Monday's quiz on classic phenomena, better known as earthquakes!" Ms. Hertz calls out as everyone else leaves.

The five walk in the park after class. "Theo and Benjamin said they would come, but what are we gonna do about Sissi?" Ulrich wonders and they don't answer. "Wouldn't break my heart if she didn't come! She and that horrible music she'd bring with her!"

"Hey, leave the music to me. Wait till you see the surprise I've got in store for you. We're gonna have a real DJ, guys! You'll see, no dumb music for us. We're gonna rock!" Odd explains, Ulrich smiling at the fact there's gonna be good music. Amy frowns at Odd's explanation, not knowing what he meant by that.

"Speaking of real, you better bring real good food, Amy," Ulrich turns to the brunette, who waves it off.

"Relax, I know what everyone likes when it comes to parties," she dismisses. "I have a grocery list."

"Great, see you later. We'll go shopping after class to help Amy," Yumi says enthusiastically.

"Okay, in the meantime, I'll try and contact Aelita and warn her to be careful tonight. You never know," Jeremy explains.

* * *

The whole school is empty, no one in sight. Everyone has gone off with their plans for the weekend...except for four boarders, of course. "And it's time for Ulrich to get ready and enter the starting block!" Odd announces to Yumi on the phone. He, Amy, and Jeremy stand across a few feet away from Ulrich as he stands ready in front of the double doors. His shoes are off, leaving only his socks. "Tensions are high, ladies and gentlemen, as he zeroes in on his objective. The timekeeper's about to signal the departure."

Jeremy holds up a finger, imitating a gun going off. "Bang!"

"And he's off and running! What grace, what agility, and what great speed he's got!" Odd exclaims as Ulrich runs. "And here we go." He slides when he reaches his shoe. "He's ready for the slamming days! What perfect feet coordination! Ready? Stop!" Ulrich stops right in front of the doors. "Whoa...he beat me."

"Really? Ulrich went farther than you?" Yumi asks playfully.

"Well, then. How did I make out?" Ulrich questions. Jeremy bends down, marking his spot with chalk.

"A new door record!" He congratulates. "Amy's turn now!"

"Alright boys, time for a true champion to shed some light on this race," Amy takes her boots off, standing at the door.

"Let's see if the ever graceful Ames will beat Ulrich's record! And mine..." Odd sulks a little.

"Ever graceful?" Amy snorts, trying to hide her blush. "Odd, sometimes I really don't understand you..." She shakes her head.

"Bang!" Jeremy calls out and Amy runs.

"And she's off like a rocket! What elegance and speed! Here it is!" Amy slides when she reaches Ulrich's shoe. "What perfect take off! Ready? Stop!" Amy presses her feet against the ground and slides out the doors, whooping as their eyes widen.

"Well?" Yumi asks.

"...Wow...she catapulted right out the doors..." Odd blinks, suddenly amazed by her all of a sudden.

"Really?!" Yumi questions in shock.

"...Is she okay?" Jeremy wonders and they look out the doors to see her sliding to the stairs. The speed makes her fly over the steps and then she's gone.

"...She'll come back, right?" Ulrich asks in awe, blinking.

"Well...no need for me to go out and mark it..." Jeremy murmurs, still in shock.

"What's all this racket about?" They turn to see Jim running up to them, growling.

"Gotta hang up. Secret code: big fat clown," Odd tells Yumi.

"Gotcha. Okay, talk to you later," Yumi hangs up and Odd hides his phone behind his back.

"Come on, Jim, we're just a little bored," Ulrich protests. "There's nothing to do here."

"I really don't understand. Every long weekend, you kids stay in school. You never go anywhere! If for once you guys took a vacation, I'd have some peace and quiet!" Jim argues. "And where's the fourth? She's usually with you!"

"That just goes to show you how much we love this place!" Odd smiles.

"Oh yeah? No, but that's because at home, your parents are sick of ya! I sympathize with them. Hmm, and now let's go. I want all of you to go back to your rooms on the double!" He orders.

"Aww," they whine and Odd's phone rings again.

"Right away, Jim," Ulrich picks up his shoe and he walks away. Odd picks up his phone as he leaves.

"I got all the way outside!" Amy yells, out of breath.

"Well, it'll be pretty hard to beat that...but Jim caught us, he said to go back to our rooms," Odd explains.

"Aww," she whines. "...But we're still doing your turn, right?"

"Of course! Hurry up, will ya?" He tells her, hanging up.

"Your turn, Odd," Ulrich looks at Odd, who looks at his watch.

"We'd better hurry, huh?" He replies, Amy running into the hall.

"Bang!" Jeremy imitates a gun, Odd running. He slides, but falls to the ground. The others wince as he landed against the wall. "You okay, Odd?" Jeremy and Ulrich smile smugly.

"Hey, didn't I beat the record?" He jokes.

"No, the new record is Amy's, and there's no way you could beat that!" Jeremy laughs.

"It's all in the socks," Amy lifts up her leg to show her knee socks, grabbing her boots. As Odd fell, a picture fell out of his pocket. A picture of a girl. Amy sees it and frowns. The girl has some of her hair red, with dark skin and a grey t-shirt.

"Is this your surprise disc jockey, huh?" Ulrich picks it up.

"Yeah, you-you mean you don't recognize her? She goes to school here," Odd takes the photo, Amy clenching her fists. She didn't even know it was a girl..."Her name's Samantha. Uh, see you later, I've got some work to do," he starts to leave.

"You're not gonna introduce us to her?" Ulrich calls out. Odd looks back, before his face turns into confusion.

"Where'd Ames go?" Jeremy and Ulrich look to see that she's not there. They turn around to the double doors, which close...

* * *

Odd sits in front of the cafeteria by himself, wondering why Amy suddenly left during his explanation of Samantha. He hoped that nothing was wrong...she would've told him if that was the case. He couldn't help but worry that maybe something he said upset her. But what he had no clue about. His phone rings. "That must be her." He picks up and answers it. "Hello?"

Jeremy sits in his room, still unable to contact Aelita. "I don't believe it. That's the fifth time I've launched the localization program. The network must really be blocked. I can't get into contact with Lyoko."

Amy looks behind some golden gates near the science building. She saw a girl that looks just like Odd's picture. Along with the t-shirt, she also has a plaid skirt and dark pants. Odd sees Sam as well. "Uh, hello?"

She turns around to him. "Hi."

"How are you?" He asks casually, clearing his throat. He blushes at her and she looks in confusion. He leans in and kisses her. Amy's mouth opens in shock and she leaves, upset. The thing that was most confusing to her was why...her eyes widen before she puts a hand to her mouth.

Does she...really have...a thing for Odd? Her best friend?

Sam looks in shock from the kiss as Odd clears his throat again. "Did you have any trouble getting in?"

"No, no trouble," she's blushing too. "The gates were really easy to climb."

"When can you show me what you're gonna do?" He wonders.

"When I'm finished. I wanna add a little more stuff, but I haven't found anything I like yet," she answers.

"You should try the old vinyl records. There's lots of really great stuff on vinyl. I showed Ames some and she loves this one song I recommended. If you wanna lend yourself some-"

"Can we stop talking about music? And who's this 'Ames,' anyway?" Sam interrupts.

"Oh, she's my best friend. She's really cool, one day I'll introduce you to her," Odd smiles.

"Uh huh...we got better things to do, don't you think? Ready for a big thrill session?" She smirks, Odd finding himself lost from looking at her lips.

"Uhh, yeah, I guess," he answers nervously.

"Well then take me to the computer room, Odd," she suggests, walking into the science building. Odd follows her inside.

* * *

Jeremy goes through another localization program, leaning back before shouting in surprise. "I think this time I've got it! One more operation. Aelita? Aelita, it's Jeremy. Do you read me, Aelita? Hey, Aelita!" To his relief, she appears on his screen.

"Hello Jeremy," she smiles. "How are you?"

"So-so," he answers.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"I had such a tough time with contact to Lyoko!" He explains, his screen going static for a minute.

"That's nothing new. Lyoko is constantly changing its access points on the network," she elaborates. Ulrich opens the door.

"Hey, you feel like playing some chess?" He offers.

"Be right there," Jeremy says, turning to him. "Hey, where's Amy?"

"I tried calling, but she won't answer. I wonder what's got her so upset," Ulrich says and they both give smug looks.

"Jealous!"

Amy paces around her room, anger seeping through every part of her. Odd was always the person that Amy turned to when she needed to forget everything. He always came up with fun things to do; things that wouldn't be fun if Amy wasn't with him. Amy just likes being with him. She feels safe, like she can be herself. But right now she feels something different about him. She feels what Ulrich feels for Yumi. That look in his eyes that makes her stomach flutter. His touch that makes her melt. His jokes that almost always made her laugh.

Amy's eyes widen as she sits on her bed slowly, sweating.

She's scared of her feelings now. She has to bear Odd possibly being in an relationship with another girl.

And now she's falling in love with her best friend.

* * *

"Wow, what kind of power's this one got?" Sam asks as they're in the computer room.

"Oh, I don't know. Two gigas?" Odd guesses and Sam closes, grabbing it.

"Hey, cut that out!" He warns. "Put that down, you hear? What are you doing?"

"If I'm gonna make music, I need a powerful computer. But I'm broke, so I have no choice but to rip this one off," she reveals her intentions, Odd giving a sound of shock. "Your school's insured, so everybody's happy, right?"

"Wrong," he narrows his eyes. "Insurance or not, stealing's a crime. And besides, nobody...does that around here!"

"Hey, did your 'Ames' say-" he covers her mouth, shushing her as he hears someone coming. Jim opens the door, his eyes widening in shock as he sees Odd, and only Odd, holding the laptop.

"I would never believe that of you, Odd," Jim narrows his eyes.

"I wasn't gonna steal it Jim, I swear!" Odd protests, Sam hiding near him.

"Huh...what _were _you gonna do with it, then?" He demands.

"Uhh..." Odd looks down, not saying anything.

"You've got some explaining to do. Follow me," Odd steps out, Jim following him. Jim locks the door behind him, Odd's eyes widening. Sam looks up, having being left ashamed and trapped inside the room.

* * *

"Checkmate," Jeremy wins.

"Can I maybe try beating you at like...karate?" Ulrich wonders before seeing Odd being escorted by Jim.

"Come on, keep moving," Jim orders.

"Hey guys, who's win-" Amy's eyes widen as she sees Odd and Jim. Jeremy looks in shock at them.

"Looks like trouble," Ulrich says, Amy's look softening.

"I'm gonna see what's up," she sneaks after the two.

"Well Odd, this time, you are in one heck of a jam, that's for sure, kid," Jim starts, Amy pressing her ear to the door. "Caught in the act stealing a computer that is school property isn't not like doing your homework-"

Amy gasps and Jeremy steps in behind her, having heard as well. "Listen, Jim."

"What the?!"

"This is crazy! Whenever Odd needs a computer, I lend him mine. I've done it lots of times!" Jeremy explains, trying to get Odd out of trouble. He knew the risks of stealing from school.

"Yeah! Sometimes he even goes to my room when he's not supposed to! Surely you can't punish him for this!" Amy argues. "Go on and tell him the truth, Odd," she looks down at him, pleading with her eyes.

He looks away, not wanting to see her look. He couldn't say why to her, even if Jim was right in front of him. Amy deserved to know the truth, but...he didn't want to get Sam in trouble. He felt bad, but Sam didn't actually go to their school. She goes to a neighboring one, meaning she was never even supposed to be on school grounds. As much as he hated lying, he couldn't implicate her in this. "Yeah, although...this time I needed a really powerful laptop...and that one was just perfect."

"And why didn't you ask permission to borrow it? It seems to me that would have been a lot more simple," Jim suggests.

"Well, I was afraid that you...would say no," Odd murmurs.

Jim slams down his fist. "Huh...what do you think I am, an idiot? I want the truth right now!" He stands up, Odd staying silent.

"Odd...please don't do this. You could get suspended!" Amy whispers, but he still doesn't answer.

"You stole it, didn't you? This time it's the school disciplinary council, and you might just get expelled!" Jim explains, Odd and Amy looking in shock.

"No wait, you can't do that to me Jim!" His phone rings and Jim stares at him.

"The use of cell phones is strictly forbidden on school grounds." Odd answers it, since it could be an emergency. "Hand it over!" He snatches it to Odd's shock. "Confiscated!"

On Lyoko, in the mountain sector, a tower activates...Aelita sees it and stands up. "Jeremy, Jeremy! I just spotted an activated tower! Jeremy, XANA's launched an attack! Jeremy, answer me!"

The grass lights blink as a specter enters the ground, the ground sizzling...in the computer room, Sam tries to unlock the door. "I gotta get out of here." She hears noises, looking outside.

Odd, Amy, Ulrich, and Jeremy stop in the stadium, Odd with his eyes shut. He couldn't believe that he might get expelled...not only that, he lied to his best friend, Amy...

"Okay, tell us what happened. Come on, Odd," Jeremy demands.

"I've got nothing else to say. See you later, I've got things to do," he walks off. "Alone." Then he sees the ground, eyes widening. "Do you see what I see?"

"See what?" Amy steps forward and sees the ground, eyes widening.

"XANA..." Odd murmurs.

"Hey, they're getting really deep. Everything's gonna be swallowed up!" Jeremy exclaims as Ulrich pulls out his phone.

Yumi's phone rings and she answers it. "Okay, I'll see you at the factory."

Sam covers her ears as the ground starts to sink as if it was quicksand! The captive watches in shock as she sees the ground rise above the window.

"Hold it!" Odd calls out, the others stopping. "Look, I can't go with you now. Samantha's locked in the science building's computer room."

"Okay, let's go back to the beginning, cuz I think you lost us, Odd," Jeremy says in confusion.

"But he could only know this because she was with you...right?" Amy asks, narrowing her eyes.

"...Yeah..." he nods.

"And Sam was the one who wanted the computer, wasn't she?" Amy questions, Odd nodding again slowly. "So you lied when you said that you wanted to steal it because you didn't want to get her in trouble," she deduces, getting angry. "You were facing expulsion because of her! How could you lie to my face just like that?!"

"Yeah, I did...I tried to stop her, but well...she's already got a lot of problems at her school, so I didn't tell Jim. I'm really sorry I lied, Ames. I didn't want to-"

"No, don't even try to explain why you thought you couldn't tell me! I thought you trusted me, but clearly you don't. Save it, Odd. Jeremy and I will go meet Yumi at the lab. You go do your secret stuff with Sam!" Amy waves him off, walking towards the building. Jeremy shrugs at Odd, running after her.

"Ames, wait, I-!" Odd sighs, feeling terrible.

"Okay, stepping aside from trouble in paradise, step number one, we pay a little visit to the gymnasium. Let's hope we're the only ones at school," Ulrich tells Odd, who sulks.

Jim is lifting weights as he sweats, doing some exercise in his room. He doesn't realize the ground is sinking, as he has music turned up loud.

Jeremy and Amy run through the boiler room. They grab their respective vehicles and Amy runs before throwing her skateboard. She speeds down the tunnel, Jeremy following after her. She jumps over a gap and when they've reached the elevator, Amy pushes the button. They descend into the lab, Amy being left behind as Jeremy stays in the lab. He steps into his chair, sighing in worry. Amy hadn't said a word during the whole trip, and he could understand why she was upset.

* * *

"Must be in here," Ulrich opens a closet. "Bingo."

"So which way do we go now?" Odd asks as he sulks a little. The two are standing back outside the building.

"There," Ulrich points across the field and they run off, the computer room almost in darkness. Sam looks in shock, trying to open the door.

"Oh no, I don't believe it! I'm never gonna get out of here!"

"It's at least a 20 meter drop down there!" Odd says.

"Well, make sure the rope is attached securely," Ulrich says. "And you _really _messed things up with Amy. Good luck getting her to trust you again."

"I know...she probably hates me..." Odd sighs.

Yumi is near the school as she sees the buildings sink. She looks in shock. "What's going on?" She turns right.

"Connection," Jeremy presses enter.

"Connecting to Lyoko."

Jeremy types to contact Aelita and she appears on the screen. "Jeremy! You're there at last! XANA's activated a tower!"

"That's what we thought. We've already been affected," Jeremy explains. "I'm sending Amy right now."

Amy steps into the scanner while Yumi runs across the bridge. She turns around and the scanner closes her in as Yumi jumps using the rope. She lands in front of the elevator and closes the button. "Be careful, Amy...Transfer Amy." Amy closes her eyes. "Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

Amy is virtualized and she lands in the mountain sector. "Amy!" She turns to Aelita, who waves. Amy returns it.

"Hi Aelita."

"Is everything okay? You don't seem like yourself."

"Just Odd being stupid," Amy mutters, crossing her arms.

_"They're not on the best of terms right now." _

"Enough with the gossip. Lead the way, Aelita."

Ulrich has attached an arrow to the rope and throws like a javelin. It doesn't work as it falls and sinks into the quicksand.

"Take your time and concentrate," Odd encourages. "Do it like Ames would with her spear on Lyoko..."

Ulrich follows his advice and throws it again. "Go!" This time the arrow hits the window. Ulrich pulls it so that it's secure against the inside of the window. "Okay, here we go," Ulrich attaches a ring around the rope, having created a makeshift zipline. He slides across to the window, followed by Odd.

"Hurry, the stairs!" They run off.

Yumi has made it to the lab, and descends down into the scanner room. The doors open. "Yumi, you're off to the mountain region. I've got problems connecting to Lyoko and I've already sent Amy there. The landing could be rough," he starts up the process. "So be careful." Yumi heeds his warning and steps inside. "Transfer Yumi." Her ID card appears. "Scanner Yumi. Virtualization."

Yumi is virtualized, but falls. She grabs the edge of a moving rock.

* * *

"Help!" Sam cries out. "Get me out of here! Get me out of here!"

Odd and Ulrich run down the stairs. "Let's hope we don't get there too late!"

Sam tries again to shimmy the lock open as she sweats, feeling scared. "I've gotta get out! I've gotta get out of here!"

"Samantha! Sam, we're on our way!" Odd calls out. She gasps as she hears him. "Don't worry Sam, we're gonna get you out!"

Ulrich uses his karate skills to open the door.

"Are you okay? It's over now, Sam," Odd hugs her, but he couldn't help but feel that he was betraying Amy by hugging her...not because he lied, but because Amy was the closest to him...every time she smiled, it made his insides tingle.

"Oh Odd, I'm sorry!" Sam sobs.

"Uh, I hate to bother you guys, but we gotta get out of here, and fast too!" Ulrich reminds.

* * *

Amy opens her wings, flying over. "Yumi, give me your hand!" She does, both Amy and Aelita helping her up.

"Thank you, girls. You got here just in time."

"Now we've got to hurry. XANA's monsters aren't here yet, but they're bound to come," the tower is across the moving rocks. "The tower's not far from here, in that direction."

"Well, this promises to be a charming stroll," Yumi comments.

"It's not as hard as all that...if you jump at the right time or have wings like Amy," Aelita answers.

"I see what you mean, but I think I'll jump."

Amy nods at her. "I get it, Yumi. I'd rather relax my wings. Ready girls?" They jump across the rocks slowly and at the right time.

Back at school, at least half of the buildings have sunk to the ground. Jim is doing push-ups, his window almost covered up by dirt. He notices the darkness and stops. "What's going on?" The window breaks and he shouts in surprise.

The girls land on the platform. "We're almost there," Aelita says, now having to go through the moving rocks.

"You were right, Aelita. It wasn't all that hard."

_"Watch out. Three Hornets approaching fast."_

"Hornets, huh? Hornets fly, don't they?" Amy smirks, pulling out her spear as Yumi pulls out her fan.

"Stay behind us," Amy and Yumi steps in front of Aelita. As they come closer, they fire at the three, Yumi blocking one with her fan. They circle back, Yumi throwing her fan, but nothing happens.

_"They've disappeared from my holo screen!"_

"Where did they go?" Yumi wonders.

"I'd keep an eye out if I were you," Amy looks around.

"I don't know. In this territory, they have the advantage," Aelita explains.

"So do I, Aelita. So do I," Amy smirks.

"Wait, you're not serious, are y-" Amy flies off to find the Hornets.

"Can you hear me?" Jim is on the phone with the police. "Listen, I'm calling you from the Junior High School. I work here at the school and I need your help! Listen, it's a real emergency! I'm stuck in a closet with tons of mud, so get here fast! No lady, this is not a practical joke! No, I can't wait any longer! Help me!" He's in the closet as mud starts to engulf the room.

_"Yumi, the Hornets are coming straight at you!" _She looks up at them as they fire lasers, Amy flying after them. She dodges two of them, but the last one hits her.

"Back off, pest!" Amy holds her arms out. "Igneous Protection!" Rocks cover Yumi and Aelita from the lasers.

"Jeremy, I'm caught in a crossfire. I can't hold out much longer!" Yumi calls out.

"The rocks won't last long!" Amy says, using a shield to block the lasers.

"Hang on, Odd and Ulrich are on the way! Well, I hope so anyway..."

Amy growls to herself before she's hit once. She's not devirtualized, but has lost some life points. The Hornets continue their assault on Yumi and Aelita, the rocks starting to break. One of the rocks breaks behind Aelita, a Hornet ready to aim at her. Yumi gets hit. "Aelita..." She's slowly devirtualized.

"Yumi, no!" Jeremy panics. Aelita looks up at the Hornets, who break Amy's rocks. "Try using your creativity, Aelita, we need a little time!" Amy flies down to Aelita, protecting her as a cocoon of stone appears around them. They look up as the Hornets continue their assault once more.

Sam, Odd, and Ulrich appear in the lab. "Wow, this place is wild. What is it?"

"Huh, you're finally here," Jeremy peeks his head out from the computer. "Yumi's been devirtualized, and Amy's close to being devirtualized as well! She can't fight off three Hornets on her own!"

"Odd, I don't understand any of this. What's going on, huh?" Sam demands.

"Sorry, there's no time to explain. You keep Jeremy company, and I'll see you later," he explains.

"What?" She asks in confusion as Ulrich and Odd step into the elevator.

"Oh, girls..." Odd murmurs, thinking of Amy.

"No time to lose," Jeremy starts up the process as the two boys arrive in the factory. "Destination, the mountains." They both step inside. "Transfer Ulrich." Both of the scanners close them in. "Transfer Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

They're both virtualized, landing one by one. "We made it, Einstein."

_"Great. The path in front of you leads to the platform where you'll find Amy and Aelita." _

The cocoon breaks and Aelita gasps, Amy stepping in front of her. "Get out of here, you monster!" Ulrich and Odd run up behind them.

"Sorry we're late, Aelita and Ames," Odd says, Amy huffing as she crosses her arms. "Ames, I said I was sorry!"

Ulrich runs up to the Hornets.

"This will convince you to forgive us!" Odd steps in front of Amy, firing his arrows. "Laser arrow!" The arrow flies underneath the Hornet.

_"You missed the target, Odd. Ulrich, careful!" _

Ulrich jumps away from the lasers, using his sword to block them. They start flying towards Odd. "Watch out, Odd!" Aelita warns and they fire lasers. Odd bends down, holding his arm.

"So, you wanna play, huh? Laser arrow!" He misses again. "Hey, what's my problem today, huh?"

"First you lie to your best friend and now you miss. Seems you can't win anywhere!" Amy retorts, stepping forward and holding out an arm. "Rock dart!" A rock shaped like an arrow flies towards one of the Hornets, destroying it.

_"They're coming back!" _They circle back and Ulrich jumps, getting hit. "

"Laser arrow!" Odd finally hits one.

_"Nice going, Odd."_

"It's about time!" He glances at Amy, who turns her head away. Ulrich looks up at the last one, running.

"Triplicate!" He makes three clones of himself, the Hornet firing and destroying one. It fires again, destroying the other clone. "It's just us now." Ulrich jumps up and slices the Hornet as he's devirtualized by the laser.

Yumi and Jeremy gasp.

"Hey! Help! Where are they?" Jim bangs against the door. Another Hornet arrives.

"Odd, Amy!" She points to it.

_"Hurry Aelita, let Odd and Amy handle it!"_

She does so, jumping and spinning. She lands one of the spinning rocks before backflipping to the tower. She runs inside, walking onto the path. She makes it to the middle of the eye and starts flying. The Hornet flies to Amy and she backs away slightly. Odd jumps in front of it, firing an arrow. It manages to hit him at the last second.

"Odd! ...You saved me..." Amy bends down to him.

"Of course I did...I really am sorry, Ames..." He tells her as he's slowly devirtualized.

"Odd..." She murmurs softly before he's gone. Aelita makes it to the top, landing on the pad. She walks up to the middle.

"Help me! I don't wanna die!" Jim begs as he looks out the space.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code _

_Lyoko_

The mud stops and the tower is deactivated, setting the return in time. "Return to the past now!" It engulfs the factory, stadium, cafeteria, and Jim's room.

* * *

Before everyone has left for the weekend, Jeremy opens the door to his room. "Psst! Okay, he's gone."

"Where are they? They should be here by now."

Odd knocks a secret knock and Jeremy opens the door to Odd and Sam. She peeks in, confused. "Hey, I thought you said no one else knew."

"It's okay, they're my pals. This is Ulrich, and this is Jeremy, the genius who's gonna help you rock." Both boys smile.

"And you're Amy, right?" Sam turns to the brunette. "Odd talks a lot about you."

"Oh, really?" Amy smirks in amusement. "Well, he is my best friend."

"Have a seat, Sam. I'll show you what you can when you've got great equipment," he turns on his computer, Odd smiling gratefully at Amy. Sam smiles at him too.

"Thanks, Odd."

"Now if you don't mind, let's focus, okay?" Jeremy asks, all of them laughing. Amy frowns when they're not looking at her. Part of her still didn't like Sam, but...

She was sure of her feelings...she really did like Odd...

* * *

After she went back to her dorm, she was left alone with Kiki, stroking her back. Looking out her window with a sigh, she thought back to seeing that kiss...and how much it hurt her. She now gets why Ulrich has such a hard time with _his _feelings. And she thought he was bad, but now it might've just gotten worse...

Odd didn't have feelings for her. He was trying to date every single girl on campus. But Sam...Sam felt different. She's definitely never seen Odd...fluster like that. With Sam, it might be...something more...

Thank goodness she doesn't go to their school.

Now, she wasn't the type to wish ill of someone else...besides Sissi and XANA, but Sam was probably an exception now. And...

She can't risk her friendship with him. Seeing how he already did that by lying. But if she expressed her feelings...it would be a big change. And the last thing she would want is to stand in Odd's quest for love. As much as it would hurt her...she'd say nothing.

She couldn't.

A knock at her door interrupts her train of thought. She really didn't want to see anyone right now...

The knocks persist and she stands up, ready to tell that person off. If it was Jim, he could wait until tomorrow.

She opens her mouth as she opens the door wide open, closing it as she sees Odd standing there.

"Uh...hey Ames," He rubs his neck, looking nervous.

"Oh...hi Odd," She greets politely, trying not to seem flustered.

"I came by to say that I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth about Sam. I upset you and the last thing I wanted was to hurt you."

Surprised by his genuine words, she blinks twice. "You...didn't want to hurt me?"

"Of course not! But I should've been honest, or even talked to you about it," Odd frowns, crossing his arms. "If I knew how much it would impact my best friend, I would've never done it. I just...didn't want to get Sam in trouble."

"Odd...you really had me thinking that you didn't trust me," She closes her eyes. "It's nice to know that you do, but the next time you decide to do something like that, talk to someone, much less me. I don't want you to do something you'll regret..."

"I didn't regret it," He says immediately, "But I did regret lying. I couldn't let Sam get in trouble. She's been through enough."

_Like I haven't? _Amy thought bitterly, but she didn't let it show.

"I promise, no more secrets."

"I promise too..." They hug each other and Odd waves to her.

"See you tomorrow."

"Bye..." She watches him leave, hitting her head against the door when she closes it. For now, she'd say nothing about her feelings...and wait until she was ready.

She'd wait forever if she had to...


	26. Ghost Channel

**Angel: To be honest, I forgot about uploading today because I'm working on a presentation with my partner, and it's an important part of my grade. Right now this week, I have crucial stuff to finish with some schoolwork, so if I don't upload early morning on Monday, you know why.**

A large-scale battle is happening in the ice sector of Lyoko. A number of Bloks are guarding an activated tower. The Lyoko Warriors fight with rare passion and execute perfectly coordinated attacks. Ulrich dodges lasers with his swords and stabs the Blok in the eye. "Impact!" He moves away so he doesn't get hit by the explosion. Yumi absorbs lasers with her fan. "Odd, take Aelita to the tower! Yumi's in trouble!" Odd and Amy are dealing with the other two Bloks, dodging lasers. He destroys one.

"Okay, here we go! Ames, you take it from here, okay?"

"Alright, Odd!" She calls out, throwing her spear and destroying a Blok.

"Hang on, Yumi. You can do it," Ulrich murmurs to himself. Odd lands and fires an arrow, hitting a Blok. "Aelita!" She appears from her hiding spot and starts running. "Okay princess, the homestretch!" Odd runs with her, but there's two Bloks in the way. Jeremy sweats as he watches, getting worried. His eyebrows go up in surprise.

"Odd, two more Bloks are coming at you!"

"No sweat, be back in a second, Aelita!" Odd jumps up, avoiding the lasers. "Laser arrow!" He hits one, but misses the other. "Oh man!" He lands safely and suddenly a flurry of icicles hit the other one, destroying it. He looks up to see Amy flying above him.

"Need a hand?" She winks and he smiles at her.

"Yeah!" He cheers. "He is amazing, how does he do it? The crowd is going wild!" Odd cheers, Jeremy seeing a Blok appear behind Odd.

"Odd! Odd, cut it out, will you? There's a third Blok!" Jeremy tries to warn him, but Odd is too busy cheering for himself. Amy looks down and sees it, gasping. Odd gets hit before she can do anything, landing on the ground.

"Odd!" Yumi calls out. Jeremy sweats even more.

"Oh no! _Odd, you've lost too many life points_." Odd stands up and Jeremy sees his arrow running off. "Odd, what are you doing?! _Take cover! It's too risky!"_

"Odd," Amy murmurs and he just keeps running.

_"Odd, one impact and it's game over! You've only got ten_ _life points left, that's all!" _The Blok fires a laser and Odd slides, ducking.

"That's more than enough! Here we go!" He fires three lasers, destroying the last Blok. "You see? What did I tell you?" He calls out as the others run up to him.

"Great, Odd!" Ulrich cheers.

"Congratulations!" Aelita laughs.

"You did awesome, Odd!" Amy hugs him and he chuckles sheepishly, hugging her back.

_"Hey Jeremy, next time, just enjoy the show and let the real pros get the job done, okay?" _Jeremy opens his mouth, shocked.

Odd laughs and Amy pulls away from him, crossing her arms. He stops as the others don't look so amused either.

"I'll go and take care of the tower," Aelita leaves, not happy either.

"Hey, take it easy, I was just kidding! I didn't mean it! Hey Einstein, you hear me, it was a joke!" Odd defends.

"You idiot," Amy deadpans, walking towards the tower with Aelita.

Jeremy remains stunned and a little hurt by the comment.

Aelita steps into the tower to deactivate it and Jeremy presses the button. "Return to the past now..." The time reversion is reset.

* * *

"Bellary?" Ms. Hertz is taking role.

"Present."

"Benjamin?"

"Present."

"Herb?"

"Present, ma'am."

"Nicolas?"

"Here."

"Sissi?"

"Present," Sissi is looking through a pony magazine, Herb raising an eyebrow at her.

"Jeremy?"

"Present.," he leans back towards the others. "Hey, great work guys. You were better than ever. No hard feelings, Odd. It was-"

"Odd?" Jeremy gives a sound of surprise, turning around to see that neither of the boys are in their seats. He looks next to his seat to see that Amy isn't next to him. "Odd? Odd? Odd's absent? Well, and so are Ulrich and Amelia." Jeremy is dumbfounded. He could've sworn that the others were there...

_There's suddenly static and Ms. Hertz is taking role. "Herb?"_

_"Present, ma'am."_

_"Nicolas?"_

_"Here?"_

_"Uh, Sissi?"_

_"Present."_

_"Jeremy?"_

_"Present."_

_"Dillion?"_

_"Present."_

_This time, Odd, Amy, and Ulrich are in class. Odd leans towards Jeremy. "Hey, that was great work, Einstein. You were never better. No hard feelings, huh?"_

_Jeremy doesn't answer him._

_"Carolyn?"_

_"Present."_

_Amy turns around, shrugging helplessly at Odd._

_"After what you said to him before, it's no wonder he's sulking," Ulrich explains._

_"Yeah, you shouldn't have said that, Odd."_

_"Odd, Ulrich, Amelia."_

_"Here, ma'am," they stammer._

_"I know that you're here. What I do not know is what you have to say to each other that's so interesting." Odd sits back down in his seat._

_"They'd asked me if I noticed, that with all due respect, ma'am the Brower_ _equation you wrote on the blackboard is wrong," Jeremy speaks up._

_"What?" Her eyes widen in surprise._

_"It's not wrong from a mathematical point of view, but it fails to take into account Bronski's_ _theories on the phenomenon of compared masses. You should treat the second unknown element as a squared mass, not a factorial."_

_Odd and Ulrich turn to each other, Amy dumbfounded. Ms. Hertz turns around. "Mm...why_ _yes, y-you're absolutely right. I'm sorry about that." Odd jerks a thumb at Ulrich in confusion._

"Jeremy, would you know where Amelia, Ulrich, and Odd are?" Ms. Hertz questions. Jeremy just opens the door and runs off, Ms. Hertz confused. Jeremy runs to Yumi's class, only to see her space empty.

"This is weird. I don't believe it! Yumi's gone too..." Jeremy runs into the dorm building and into Odd and Ulrich's room. "Nobody here?" He closes the door before going to Amy's room. "Not here either!" He runs into his room, logging into his computer.

"Aelita." She appears on his screen. "Aelita, Amy, Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi...tell me that they're with you," he starts sweating.

"Why? Didn't they come back from Lyoko?" She wonders.

"No, Aelita, I've lost them! Something must've gone wrong in the return trip!"

"Calm down, Jeremy. They couldn't have just vanished. Go and check the scanners while I look around Lyoko," she suggests, Jeremy not seeing Jim standing in his doorway.

"Good idea. I'll go and see!" Jim clears his throat and he turns around, sweating. Aelita gasps, quickly getting off.

"You mind telling me what you're doing here?" Jim demands. Jeremy sweats, looking at him.

_The students are gathered around the courtyard, the four around a tree. "You guys okay?" Yumi asks._

_"As okay as three students can be with two hours of bio ahead of them," Odd comments._

_"Hmm," they notice Jeremy has been very distant with them. "Anyone know_ _why he's sulking?"_

_"He's angry at Odd," Ulrich explains as he reads a paper, Amy rolling her eyes._

_"Story of our lives," Amy mutters, Odd giving her a confused look. She's still a bit sour about the whole Sam ordeal and her having...feelings for him..._

_"Listen, uh, something really strange happened in English class," Yumi confesses, remembering her previous class. She doodles as the teacher went on._

_"All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their entrances and..." She suddenly started to crackle and Yumi looked up at her, giving a confused look. "And all the men and women merely players." Yumi blinked slowly. "They have their entrances and..."_

_"Like a broken record, but it only lasted a second," Yumi finishes._

_"And what, you're thinking that it could be XANA?" Ulrich suggests._

_"I really don't know, Ulrich," Yumi shakes her head, worried. "But it sure wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on things." Jeremy stares at them, raising an eyebrow._

Aelita stands on a rock as she looks around for any signs. "Nobody." But she does feel something. "Pulsations. XANA!"

She travels through a way tower, entering the mountain sector. She runs as fast as she can, slowly coming to a stop. She looks around, but nothing happens. She gives a confused look.

* * *

"Jeremy, this is serious." Jeremy sits in front of the principal, being interrogated about his friends. "Everyone is very concerned. Now for the last time, do you know where Yumi, Amelia, Odd, and Ulrich are?"

"No, sir. I..." Jeremy falls silent, stuttering to himself. He didn't know what to think.

"I'm sure you can imagine their parents are worried sick!" The principal stands in front of him.

"But I told you, I don't know where they are!" Jeremy says truthfully. The principal sighs, placing his hands on his desk.

Aelita sits on top of a rock, legs crossed. "Jeremy..." She opens her eyes.

"Think about it, please. The smallest clue could prove to be a great help. You five are always together," Mr. Delmas places a hand behind his head.

"Alright sir, I'll think about it," Jeremy picks up his laptop. "But I need to be alone."

Mr. Delmas turns to him. "You have an awful lot of nerve, young man. However, if it's the only way to bring you to your senses, I'll give you three minutes."

Jeremy stands up. "Thank you, sir."

"I felt your message," Jeremy says to Aelita outside Mr. Delmas's office. "What's new?"

"I'm sorry, Jeremy, but they're not on Lyoko," Aelita reports. "There's an activated tower, though. Only I can't seem to locate it. I need your help. Go to the factory."

"Impossible, I'm stuck in the principal's office," Jeremy explains.

"You are? Don't worry, I'll help you get out of there," she forms a plan to Jeremy's confusion. "Yes Jeremy, just like XANA, I can operate on the school's network as well. Listen closely now."

"I'm sure Jeremy knows more than he's saying," Mr. Delmas walks up to Jim.

"Should we call the police?" Jim suggests as they're standing in front of Jeremy.

"I've thought it over. I'll tell you where they are," Jeremy tells them.

_"That's a piece."_

_"No, you can reach it yourself."_

_The students are having lunch, Jeremy once again_ _nowhere near the group. "Didn't I tell you?" Odd asks._

_"No, go on," Ulrich tells him._

_"Well, I needed new wheels because I broke them on a ramp. So_ _I call over the guy selling them. Oh, hey Sissi. Did you use canary feathers in the washing machine instead of soap?" Odd jokes as Sissi is wearing a yellow shirt._

_"That is so dumb. I'll have you know that yellow is the in color this year," She huffs as she walks off, Amy and Odd laughing._

_"No, you can reach it yourself."_

_"Did you hear Rock Out's new single?" They stop as they hear the same lines from before. They look around in confusion._

_"Hey, did you hear that?" Yumi questions._

_"I sure did," Odd comments._

_"That is so dumb," they turn to Sissi. "I'll have you know that yellow is the in color_ _this year," she walks off yet again._

_"I didn't say anything that time," Odd says in confusion._

_"Is the whole world on repeat or something?" Amy asks in disbelief._

_"We've got a problem, guys." They turn to Jeremy, who just stares at his computer. He looks at them, growling._

"But there's nobody here," Jim, Jeremy, and Mr. Delmas are in the boiler room.

"We have to wait a little while," Jeremy tells them. They look at him in confusion and he just gives a little smile. "They'll be here any minute now." The pipes start to burst in the factory and Mr. Delmas looks at his watch. He raises an eyebrow, looking around.

"Well, where are they?" The pipes explode and the door bursts out of the hinges, Jim and Mr. Delmas running away. They cough as they kneel on the grass outside, Jeremy nowhere to be seen.

"Jeremy," they say in realization. Jeremy is already in the sewers as he takes his scooter. The two authority figures run back into the boiler room.

"He's gone. He couldn't have just disappeared!"

Jeremy presses the button to the elevator, turning around. "Aelita?"

"Yes Jeremy?" He smiles in relief.

"Thanks for giving me a hand!"

"I hope you realize that if...that if you don't detect anything alive on the scanners, it'll mean that-"

"Yes, I know," he interrupts, sweating. He hoped that the situation wasn't the case. "We'll find out soon enough." The elevator stops at the scanner room and the doors open. He looks at the middle scanner and then at the other ones. "Empty." He rubs his head.

"They aren't there," Jeremy explains to Aelita in the computer room. "I don't get it. If they're not here and they're not on Lyoko either, where are they?"

"Jeremy, just before you got here, I captured this soundbite. A sort of...radio or TV station transmission. But be careful, Jeremy. It was really bizarre," Aelita warns him. "Let me show you," she brings up a video.

_"Alright, let's go." _Jim leads gym class...which consists of Odd, Ulrich, and Amy. Jeremy gives a shout of surprise, his eyebrows raised. _"Let me show you a little stretching." _Odd laughs as he walks with Ulrich and Amy.

"Hey, that's crazy."

_"And one, and two. And one, and two. And one, and two." Yumi is watching them from the bleachers, since she didn't have class. That's it."_

_"Hey, watch what you're doing, huh? You did that on purpose, I saw you," Herb accuses Nicolas before they crackle. "Hey, watch what you're doing, huh? You did that on purpose, I saw you."_

_"It happened again!" Yumi sits up. "And it's happening all the time!" She glances at Jeremy, who is sitting far away on the bleachers. "Jeremy?"_

"What am I looking at?" Jeremy demands. "They didn't come back to Earth, did they?"

"What if what we're seeing is a recording?" Aelita wonders as Yumi stands in front of 'Jeremy.'

"But how can that be, Aelita? I'm in the picture!" He sees himself typing.

_"There are weird things happening. Any news from Aelita?" Yumi explains._

_"I'm having difficulty contacting her. I have no idea if there's an activated tower or not, but at the slightest alert, we'll have to move in," Jeremy tells her and Yumi then notices something weird._

_"Hey, how come you're not doing Phys Ed, Jeremy?" Even though Jeremy didn't mix with Phys Ed, Jim wasn't the type to just let him off. _

_"Jim agreed to excuse me," Jeremy states._

_"He did?" Yumi raises her eyebrows. Jim would never do that for someone as...not athletically_ _challenged as Jeremy. "That's weird. You're not exactly his star athlete."_

_"You've gotta_ _know how to handle him," Jeremy looks at Odd and Ulrich doing push-ups. "Not like them."_

_"Huh?" Yumi turns to him. "Incredible..." She walks away._

"It sure isn't a tape. It's happening somewhere right now," Jeremy explains to a confused Aelita. "They're neither in Lyoko nor in the real world. They're somewhere else..."

"Yes, I know, but...I checked all the transfer protocol data and unless a sort of...parallel world exists somewhere, there's no such thing as an intermediate space," she thinks to herself.

"Unless XANA has manufactured one!" Jeremy realizes. "That's it! A world parallel to Lyoko! And he must've modeled it after the school. He couldn't have made a better trap. Yumi and the others think they're in reality, but it's only an illusion. They're living under XANA's control completely at his mercy! We've gotta rescue them. Find out where the signal is coming from."

"I've been trying to, but it's been masked. The signal is scrambled. All we have is a sound wave and not the signal itself," she replies.

"That's what we'll have to use. We've gotta program it to guide the scanner and dive towards the source using a trial-and-error system!" Jeremy theorizes.

"But that's crazy and you know it," Aelita denies. "And besides, who could do it? We're all alone, Jeremy."

"It's gonna have to be me. If you take over the controls, then I'll be able to go," Jeremy decides in determination.

"It's too dangerous," she points out.

"But we can't leave Ulrich, and Yumi and Amy and Odd at the mercy of XANA! Think about it. If I'm here in front of you...who's the other Jeremy? _Aelita, there's something I wanna_ _tell you. I'd much rather be entering a virtual world...to find you waiting there for me."_

She smiles slightly, opening her eyes. "So would I."

Jeremy takes off his headphone and steps down. "Here we go." He walks to the elevator and closes it by pressing the button. Aelita hears him leave.

_"It's okay Jeremy, I prepared the transfer procedure," _Aelita explains from above. _"You_ _can get into the scanner."_

He slowly steps inside, wondering how his friends do this on a daily basis as the doors close in on. "Scanner Jeremy." Aelita scans him from the computer. "Virtualization."

He cringes as he's sent to the virtual reality, landing roughly in the park. He lowers his glasses, looking around. "Aelita, can you hear me? Of course not, that would be too easy." He stands up, heading for the school. One of the roses behind him turns into a XANA symbol, watching Jeremy...the fake Jeremy scoffs as he watches the computer.

"Oh, there he is at last." The real Jeremy runs through the park, Jim stepping into the room. "We've got a visitor, Jim."

A XANAified Jim growls softly behind him...

* * *

Aelita stands on top of a glacier in the ice sector. "That's gotta be it." She sees a red barrier covering a hole, assuming that's where her friends are held. "I'd better go now and have a closer look." She runs off towards it, hoping not to encounter any monsters. She was by herself with no attacks or weapons of any kind like her friends.

_"Yeah, Yumi's what you might call intuitive, but she can be wrong sometimes. And let's face it, Ulrich, any girl with a crush on you can't be what I'd call absolutely normal," Odd points out as he reads a magazine._

_"I guess Sissi can go in that category then," Amy snorts as she pets Kiki._

_"Well, what about Jeremy? Don't tell me you don't find him a bit strange," Ulrich replies._

_"Definitely. He didn't participate in gym, and I don't think Jim would just let that go," Amy crosses her arms._

_"Oh yeah, he has been acting a bit weird lately, but to think that he's been hiding a huge secret-" Odd picks up his ringing phone. "Yeah, hello? Yumi, is that you? What the-"_

_"It started again!" Yumi interrupts. "But this time it's a lot worse than ever. This time it's at my own home!"_

_"What's going on, Yumi?" Ulrich at this point has snatched the phone from Odd._

_"It's my parents, they're acting so, uh, I don't know, so strangely. They keep making the same gestures," This is proven as Mrs. Ishiyama keeps sipping tea the exact same way. "And they act as if I'm not even there! It's as if they were phony imitations of my real mom and dad, we've gotta_ _do something!"_

_"You better not stay there," Ulrich warns. "I'll see you in the park, okay? We'll go to the factory, I'll warn Jeremy."_

_"No, not Jeremy," Ulrich gives a look of confusion. "Just Odd, Amy, you, and me, okay? Let's leave Jeremy out of it this time. I-I have my doubts. See ya."_

_Ulrich turns to Amy and Odd, who just shrug._

_Real Jeremy looks down the hall from around the corner, having arrived at the dorm building. "Let's hope they're in their room, and that Amy is with them." A shadow walks_ _over to him and Jeremy turns around to see the fake Jim. He reaches out and grabs Jeremy by the shirt, throwing him away from the hall. He looks up at a growling fake Jim, running away. Fake Jim chases after him, the fake Jeremy watching the boys and Amy from his computer. _

_"I've got you."_

_He watches Real Jeremy run into the forest, XANA Jim running after him. "Soon I won't have any more obstacles." He chuckles slightly._

Aelita stands in the middle of the path. "I only hope it's not too late." She runs forward.

_"What about Jeremy?" Yumi asks as the four are in the park. _

_"We didn't tell him," Ulrich reports. "But, you know, once we're at the factory, we can't get to Lyoko_ _without him."_

_"Ulrich has a point, are you sure you don't want Jeremy to know?" Amy brings up skeptically, raising an eyebrow._

_"We'll see when we get there, but I'm afraid he can't be trusted."_

_"But it's Jeremy," Amy frowns before they hear a rustle from the bushes. They turn to see nothing._

_"Must've_ _been a squirrel or something," Ulrich dismisses, Odd opening the manhole cover. _

_"Come on, let's go," he says, Amy jumping down first. 'Herb' and 'Nicholas' move away from their hiding spot. Not too far away, Jeremy runs by, coming back to see his friends._

_"Oh no, too late!" He turns to see Jim looking for him and when he sees him, Jeremy shouts in surprise and runs. Fake Herb and Nicholas slide in front of him, their eyes white. Jeremy cringes at his predicament, pushing past them and running for it. Fake Herb and Nicholas transform into monster versions of themselves like Fake Jim, chasing after him. Fake Jim follows after them, having heard the encounter._

Aelita continues running for the dome, having finally reached it.

_Jeremy runs for his life as Fake Herb and Nicholas tail him._

_"Out of my way!" Fake Jim runs past them, taking the lead. Jeremy runs down the path as fast as he can._

_"For a program, you're a pretty good imitation!" Jeremy yells in panic._

_Day turns into night as Jeremy jumps over a ledge, running into the city under the full moon, which itself starts to flicker._

_"I don't understand, there's no link. It's like Lyoko_ _didn't exist anymore," Yumi says in bewilderment, the others still in the factory. They've been trying to access Lyoko_ _ever since they arrived._

_"By now, there should be something, but...nothing. No link, no access, nothing," Amy shakes her head._

_"And that might be exactly what has happened."_

_They all look in surprise to see Fake Jeremy._

_"Jeremy!" Ulrich exclaims, all four running to him._

_"Jeremy. But what are you doing here?" Yumi asks in confusion, as no one told him they were there._

_"I got a message from Aelita that a tower's just been activated. She said something about a program to erase Lyoko. I haven't heard from her since."_

_"Okay, we gotta_ _check this out, Yumi," Ulrich says, buying into the story, but the girls don't._

_"Hey, wait a minute, if the link has been cut, how do you intend to send us there?" She crosses her arms._

_"And why did you decide to show up just now without calling?" Amy narrows her eyes, as Jeremy would've called to notify and not just show up._

_"I've created a new access protocol. All we need now are the scanners," Fake Jeremy explains._

_"So_ _what are we waiting for?" Odd asks Amy and Yumi. They stare down a smug Fake Jeremy._

_"Hold it, Odd," Yumi starts suspiciously._

_"No one's going anywhere," Amy glares at Fake Jeremy._

_"We're not too sure of this."_

_Fake Jeremy gives a surprised look. "What's wrong with you? Look, it's Jeremy, Yumi."_

_"We've gotta_ _get moving. What if Lyoko_ _goes get erased, huh? Have you thought about Aelita?" Ulrich tries to reason with the girls, to no avail._

_"And I say we ain't_ _moving," Amy points a finger at his chest. "So_ _shut up and stay there before I kick your butt to New Jersey!"_

_Ulrich's eyes widen, holding up his hands in defense as he moves back slightly._

_"Look, you've gotta_ _believe me, but if you have any doubt, let Ulrich, Odd, and Amy be transferred before you."_

_Suddenly, the elevator doors open to reveal the real Jeremy. "Yumi, Amy, you're both right, it's a trap!" They all look at Fake Jeremy, who glares_ _at_ _the real_ _Jeremy. The four look_ _at the real Jeremy again. "Don't go."_

_"XANA, is that the best you can do? A cheap imitation to delay us?" Fake Jeremy crosses his arms._

_"He's lying, the phony is there, it's him!" Jeremy accuses, pointing a finger. "Everything here is phony!" They give a look of confusion. "You never came back from your last trip. You're in a virtual world created by XANA!"_

_"That would explain all the inconsistencies," Yumi says in understanding._

_"Of course_ _it would, XANA can make mistakes too. He only has theoretical knowledge of the real world. What he wants is to get you into the scanner to get rid of you once and for all!" Their eyes widen in shock._

_"That's totally absurd, XANA," Fake Jeremy argues and they turn to him._

_"It's true, we have no proof_ _that he's not the one who's lying to us, right? He could've created the inconsistencies_ _too," Ulrich points out._

_"Exactly, to hold us up while Aelita and Lyoko_ _are being erased forever!" Odd agrees._

_"But what if they're not and both of them are trying to jerk us around?" Amy scratches her head in confusion._

_"The only proof is the fact that I'm here with you," Jeremy gestures to himself. "You have to decide which one of us is lying."_

_"And it's not me, assuming as you claim that this world is virtual. You mind telling us how you got here?" Fake Jeremy argues. "We're listening, XANA."_

_"I got in here via the scanner, I'm here in virtual form," Jeremy explains, starting to sweat. The possibilities of his friends choosing the Fake Jeremy would be catastrophic._

_"You gave yourself away. Everybody knows that the real Jeremy wouldn't step FOOT in the scanner. He'd be much too frightened!" Fake Jeremy deduces, Jeremy giving a shout of surprise. He didn't think of that. Fake Jeremy looks on with a smug smile. The four look_ _between them._

_"And I'm sure he would go into the scanner," Odd points out, "If his friends were in danger."_

_"No doubt about it," Ulrich agrees._

_"Absolutely none," Yumi replies._

_"I don't doubt Jeremy when it comes to his friends. He wouldn't just let us suffer, the real Jeremy would do something about it!" Amy declares._

_"But it's not logical. Don't you see?" Fake Jeremy tries to persuade them. "He's much too scared to even try. I'm much too scared. If not, then why haven't I already done it?" _

_"I told you why, because he's not infallible. XANA's knowledge of people is only approximative," Jeremy says._

_"That's right, and as far as friendship goes, it's not approximative, it's double zero! Good to see you again, Einstein," Odd argues, Jeremy smiling._

_"No, it's not logical! Nooo!" Fake Jeremy starts to glow, everyone looking in shock as Fake Jeremy loses his restraint_ _and reveals himself as XANA. "No, not logicaaaaaaaal!" They look in utter surprise as this is the first_ _time XANA's been shown as human, even if it was a fake Jeremy. He holds out his hand, making his minions appear and grab the four from behind. He twists his arm to make cracks appear to Jeremy, trapping him in wires._

_Jeremy screams as the wires tighten at every second. "You are going to die!" He laughs evilly._

_"AELITA!" Jeremy utters a shrill scream of her name._

Close to the bubble, Aelita is knocked back from the shout. She gasps as she heard his cry.

_"NO!" Jeremy yells, the others trying to get out of their hold. Jeremy starts to sweat from the tight wires._

Aelita runs up to the bubble, having recovered from the blast. She kneels down and presses her hands against it, putting her power to use. She sings as she uses it more intensely than ever. The bubble finally breaks in the most formidable explosion ever to hit Lyoko, XANA sent to who knows where. The minions disappear too, Jeremy being released from the wires and floating in the air.

"Jeremy! No!" Yumi shouts as he's gone, the explosion shaking the entire sector with its intensity, cracking ice sheets. Jeremy yells as he's sent back home on Earth, falling to the ground. He snaps out of it as he rushes to the elevator, going to the computer and logging back in with Aelita.

"Aelita, here I am. Are you okay?"

"Yes, fine. Don't worry." He sighs in relief, sagging back in his chair. "I got them back, all of them, safe and sound. The parallel world bubble has disappeared." Odd flips onto the ground, seeming normal enough.

"I don't remember anything, but I feel just great!"

"Same here. I feel wonderful!" Amy stretches her arms.

"Aelita, what happened to us?" Ulrich wonders, Odd and Amy joining them.

"XANA created a replica of where you live so you'd think it was reality," Aelita explains.

"He locked us up in a virtual prison," Yumi says in understanding.

"But Jeremy and I did all we could to set you free," Aelita finishes.

"What?! Jeremy came to Lyoko?" Odd asks in surprise.

"Mmhm," Aelita nods.

"Wow! And after his first experience was so bad," Amy murmurs in surprise.

"Fantastic, Einstein! Join the daredevil heroes club!"

Jeremy smiles at that. "Thanks, Odd. No hard feelings, huh?" It turns into surprise as he sees a bunch of red dots approaching them. "Look, it's XANA's welcoming committee!" A bunch of Bloks approach.

"No need to worry, Jeremy, we're used to this," Ulrich dismisses it. "It's a piece of cake! Here we go!" He charges forward.

"I'm with you!" Odd agrees, the others following with a war cry as they attack with no hesitation.


	27. Code: Earth

That night, Jeremy is staring at his computer in anticipation. He's waiting for none other than his materialization program for Aelita to work. "I'm sure it's gonna work this time. Time for Plan Alpha," He clicks his mouse button, the program starting up. He dials Yumi from his computer and she picks up.

"Yumi? Yumi, it's me. Okay, I just launched Plan Alpha," he reports. "My five dry runs have all worked!"

"Okay, tomorrow I'll talk to my parents," she tells him.

"That's great. I'll tell Odd, Amy, and Ulrich," he replies.

"See you tomorrow," Yumi hangs up and looks in the mirror, unsure of the program would really work. In the past, it has been known to have its difficulties.

Jeremy decides to go to sleep, planning on checking the program in the morning. If Jim was doing his night checks right now, he would be caught. Jeremy dreams of her, remembering what happened when they touched each other for the first time...

_"Jeremy. Can you hear me, Jeremy? Jeremy, wake up."_

_He wakes up to see a cloudy environment. Aelita appears in the distance._

_"Aelita!" He holds out a hand to her and as they get closer, they touch fingers._

Now, he knew it was only their fingers...but it was pretty close as they ever got.

* * *

The next morning, Mr. Ishiyama is throwing noodles into his mouth. He chews quickly, throwing more noodles at a fast pace, finishing the whole bowl. Mrs. Ishiyama just looks at him in amusement as Yumi arrives into the kitchen.

"Uh, mom and dad, can I talk to you for a second?" She leans closer to her dad. "It's about my pen pal. Uh, um, you haven't changed your mind about her living here for a while?"

"No, but tell us a little bit about her, Yumi. Why, we don't even know her name," Mr. Ishiyama replies.

"Aelita," she says without hesitation.

"Aelita what?" Mrs. Ishiyama crosses her arms, growing suspicious already.

"It's Aelita, uh, um...Lyoko!" It was all she could come up with on short notice.

"Is she Japanese?" Mr. Ishiyama wonders.

"Well, uh...yes, she is!" Yumi says, though Aelita didn't really sound or look Japanese. Hopefully her family would look past it.

"What do her parents do, dear?" Mrs. Ishiyama wonders.

"Uh, they uh, they work with computers," she stammers. Her parents give intrigued looks, Mr. Ishiyama placing his hands on the table.

"Well, alright then. She's welcome to stay with us."

"That's fantastic! I adore you!" She kisses her father on the cheek happily. "You won't regret it!" She hugs her mother. "She's really so nice! Bye now, see you tonight!" She runs off in excitement, her parents smiling as they hear the door open.

* * *

The principal looks over the paperwork at his desk, Amy, Ulrich, and Odd standing in front of him. "Very well then. What is your cousin's name, Odd?"

"Aelita," he says. It was decided that Aelita would pass off as Odd's cousin. It would make sense because they both have unique choices for hair color and she didn't look Japanese. There was also the fact that Jeremy was an only child along with Ulrich and Yumi only had a brother. As for Amy, she was an only child as well, and she'd prefer it to stay that way…she couldn't have a child go through what she endured.

"Hm, Aelita. And uh, where does she come from?" Principal Delmas asks curiously.

"She's from, uh, Holland," Odd looks down, avoiding his look.

"Hmm..." He looks down at the paperwork. "Well, her papers are in order and your parents have recommended her highly, so I see no reason why she can't attend school here. Let me know when she arrives," he signs off on it, the three smiling at each other.

"And one more thing." They glance at him again. "Amelia, you have a room for two girls, correct?"

"Um, yes sir," she nods. "I wasn't assigned a roommate when I started."

"Well, it seems logical enough to pair her up with you. That is, if you don't mind. If I were you, I would be very helpful showing Aelita around."

"Oh!" Amy smiles, nodding happily. "Yes, I'll help her out as much as I can!"

"Yes!" The three high five each other, laughing at their success.

"Fantastic!" Odd cheers, placing an arm around his friends' shoulders. When he touches Amy, though, he recoils back his hand slightly, looking at it in confusion. If he wasn't mistaken, her shoulder felt...warm and soft. He shakes it off, grinning widely at the two. They stop in their tracks when Jim stops them.

"Okay, what are you three up to, huh?"

Odd smiles sheepishly, none of them saying anything. "You know this building is off-limits to students, especially at 8 in the morning!"

"We had an appointment with the principal, Jim," Ulrich jerks a thumb behind him. "About Odd's cousin attending school."

"Oh, what a lame excuse!" Jim laughs this off. "What do you think I am, huh, an idiot?"

"No," Amy shakes her head.

"Well," Odd places a hand behind his hair, Amy elbowing him slightly.

"Quiet! Yeah, and I'll bet you think I'm not onto your pranks with Jeremy and Yumi!" He looks them in the eye, Amy backing away slightly. "You disappear in the park like some sort of magic, you plot in your rooms."

"Hey, it's not a crime," Odd points out.

"We're only just hanging out," Amy waves it off.

"With your boyfriend," Jim gives Odd a look.

"Pfft," Amy and Odd start laughing, Ulrich glancing at them.

"Jim, you are so wrong!" Amy wipes away a tear. "Odd's just my best friend. We're not interested in each other like that."

"Yeah..." Odd looks at his hand where he touched her shoulder, silently wondering why he was feeling this way... _Why am I feeling so sad? Like we've said before, we're just best friends..._

Amy didn't look so sure of her statement either, but Jim doesn't seem to notice, or care. "Maybe not. Now you listen up. One of these days, I'm gonna find out what the five of you are hiding! And now, to the cafeteria, hurry up!"

They walk off without another word, Odd giving a small smile to Ulrich. Jim narrows his eyes suspiciously.

* * *

Out in the courtyard, Odd, Amy, and Ulrich are still walking together, far away from Jim now. "You know what I think? We better be careful about Jim. If he keeps playing detective, he's gonna find our secret passage," Ulrich warns.

"Hey!"

They turn to see Yumi approaching. "Hey guys! Great news. My parents said okay."

"So did the principal," Ulrich smiles. "Odd, that was a pretty good letter you faked from your parents."

"I can't say I'm proud of what I did," he looks down at the ground. "But it was for a good cause."

"I did the signatures," Amy points out. "Odd's cursive just kept getting messy."

"Hey, sometimes things just need a feminine touch," Odd winks at her. Amy smiles slightly, trying to ignore her beating heart...

Ulrich's phone rings and he picks it up. "Jeremy, what's up? Okay, be right there."

The four run off together, Sissi and her minions watching them closely.

In Jeremy's room, the program is being tested yet again. He couldn't stop typing as the others watch in silence. They wait patiently until finally...it works. "That's it, we've got it this time! It works! It works! I can hardly believe it."

"Yeah!" They all hug Jeremy in excitement.

Jim walks around the courtyard, not seeing the five anywhere. He grunts slightly before approaching Sissi. "Hey, Sissi, have you seen Ulrich and his gang this morning?"

"Well yeah."

"Where, in the cafeteria?"

She gives a little smile. "No, I saw them going to their rooms, Jim."

"Yeah? Thanks for the tip," he says, intrigued.

"It is pretty strange to go to the rooms at this hour. I said to myself, 'Now why would they be in their rooms now with someone who isn't even a boarder?' And why did Amy and Odd give each other those looks..." She lies through her teeth.

"You mean Yumi Ishiyama is with them?" He asks curiously.

"Mmhm."

Jim pushes past them, running towards the dorm buildings. Herb readjusts his glasses. "You're meaner than I thought," Nicholas comments, to which Sissi takes with a smile.

"Okay, tell me what the good news is," Aelita says curiously, as she notices her friends' smiling faces.

"Aelita, I don't know how to tell you this, but believe it or not...we're waiting for you here," Jeremy reveals with a happy smile.

"Really?!"

"Really!" The others exclaim.

"The materialization's gonna work?!"

"Yep, and it's all in here," Jeremy holds up a disc. "And I can tell you it was really complicated. Defragmenting the inertial matrix wasn't enough, and so I had to start to recompile all of the DNA-"

"Time out Einstein," Odd interrupts. Jeremy gives an annoyed look as he glances at Odd. Ulrich yawns slightly as Amy looks away, whistling as she puts away her phone.

"To make a long story short, it works," he dumbs it down.

"Oh Jeremy, that's so great! I can't believe it's true!" Aelita says in disbelief, but also excited.

"Better get used to it fast, because it's time to take the big jump! And then it's bye bye XANA and hello Amy's roommate!" Odd says, thinking that if Aelita is on Earth, then they could get rid of XANA and all of their troubles would be over.

"Odd!" Amy exclaims in slight anger.

"What, she was gonna know eventually!"

Amy slaps her forehead.

"Really?! I'm gonna be Amy's roommate?" Aelita says happily.

"Hold on," Jeremy interrupts the conversation, the others looking at him in confusion. "It's not that simple. First I've gotta set up the program in the super calculator. Then Aelita will have to get to the passage tower in Lyoko's forest region. That's where she's gonna get virtualized. Before she appears in the flesh for the first time, inside one of the scanners."

"In that case, I'm off to the forest right now!" She could barely keep in her excitement.

"Okay, and we'll go to class in the meantime. And afterwards, the factory," Jeremy glances at the others.

"I'll see you later, my friends," she gives a two finger salute.

"We'll be six for dinner tonight," Jeremy says happily, Aelita logging off. She then holds out her arms to balance herself and falls through, traveling to the forest via way tower. She lands safely on the pad and walks out into the forest to find the tower.

Jim sneakily appears near the staircase, the four waiting for Jeremy. Jim rubs his hands, wanting to catch them in the act. Jeremy runs out of the room, followed by Yumi. Jim appears right in their path, making them crash into each other.

"What's wrong? Up to no good again, aren't ya?" He accuses.

"No, we were just studying together," Odd replies.

"Oh," he chuckles slyly, dragging a bag from underneath his eye. "My foot. I've had enough of your lies, ya hear?! We're gonna stay right here until you guys tell me the truth!" He crosses his arms.

"Jim?"

"Hm?" He looks to see Principal Delmas approaching.

"What is going on here?" He demands, putting his hands behind his back.

"I'm glad you're here, sir. I don't know what's going on, but...these little devils are up to no good and I intend to find out what it is!" He insists.

"Yes, Jim, another one of your absurd stories about secret plots and passages?" Principal Delmas deadpans, having heard this conversation before.

"What do you mean, absurd?" Jim asks in confusion.

"You heard what I said, absurd, Jim!"

Jim sags slightly. "But..." He stammers, not knowing what to say.

"Now listen. Your paranoid behavior and your one-track mind concerning these children are getting on my nerves. You're a physical education teacher, not a detective, Jim," the principal reprimands. He walks away, going through the double doors. Jim growls at this humiliation, Odd glancing at Amy.

"What are you waiting for?" He turns to them sharply, pointing at the doors. "You have class now, so get going!"

Aelita runs as fast as she can to the way tower, not wanting to wait another moment. "There it is!" She sees it in her sights.

* * *

In science class, Ms. Hertz is giving a lecture. "Animals live in all land, air, and sea regions, thanks to their varied respiratory organs."

"It won't be long now," Odd whispers to Jeremy next to him, Amy sitting across to Odd's right. She's seated next to Ulrich. Odd pouts at the fact that she's not sitting next to him, as she usually helps him with notes.

Yumi stares down at her notebook. "And so in Italian, the noun citta, which of course means city, is invariable. Who can give me another example?"

Aelita is almost at the tower as she goes through a branch structure, but of course, it's guarded by Bloks. Four of them to be exact. Luckily, she's unseen as she's hiding within the structure. "Jeremy, I'm gonna need help."

Jeremy looks down at his laptop beeps. "When animals in humans breathe, they take in oxygen and emit carbon dioxide." Odd, Amy, and Ulrich glance at Jeremy as he pulls out his laptop, looking at the alert from Lyoko. "Living beings with aquatic life..."

"What are you doing?" Odd whispers.

"It's Aelita, she's in danger!" Jeremy whispers back, Amy and Ulrich turning to them.

"Obviously, this phenomenon depends on certain factors. Who can tell us which ones? Jeremy?" Ms. Hertz points her stick at him, his eyes widening. "Go ahead, we're listening."

"Uh...uh, the frog!" Everyone else laughs as Ms. Hertz looks in surprise. Luckily, the bell rings to leave class and they all step out, Odd rushing past them, holding onto Amy.

"Excuse me, sorry, excuse me!"

"Odd!" Amy calls out as she bumps into someone.

"Don't wanna lose ya!" Odd winks at her.

"Well, who would like to answer?" Yumi looks down at her phone, glancing at the teacher before answering her phone. "Anybody?"

"Yumi?"

"Yes Ulrich? What's new?" She wonders.

"Yumi, come to the park, it's urgent," Ulrich says into the phone as he runs through the hall.

"Okay, be right there." She turns to her teacher. "Sir, can I please go to the infirmary?"

Jim is leaning against the door when Ulrich, Jeremy, Odd, and Amy run past him, heading towards the park. Jim smirks at this opportunity, as he could finally catch them in the act once and for all!

Once they reach the park, they head for the manhole cover, Jim following after them. Yumi joins them as they run. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

"XANA's at it again," Jeremy tells her, Odd appearing next to Jeremy.

"He knows the end is near and he's not going down without a fight!"

"Or maybe," Amy runs next to Odd. "It's just beginning for him."

Jim hides behind a tree as the five walk in the bushes. He lands like a ninja and looks behind the bushes as they stand there, looking around. Jim crawls past and gets closer...but sees that they're gone. He looks in utter bewilderment as he looks around, no sign of them.

"Where'd they go?" He murmurs to himself.

Yumi throws her skateboard and skates through the tunnels first. Odd, Amy, Jeremy, and Ulrich grab their gear, following after her. Odd jumps over a gap, cheering. Ulrich does the same and they all run onto the bridge. Yumi presses the button and they descend down.

They gather around the computer for possibly the last time. "Aelita, can you hear me?" Jeremy says into the headset.

"It took you such a long time. I'm at the passage tower, but 4 Bloks won't even let me get close," she explains, peeking at the monsters.

Jeremy sighs slightly. "Okay, I've got you localized. Don't worry. Help is on the way!" The four Lyoko warriors rush towards the elevators.

"Better hurry up."

"Once the coast is clear, go to the center of the tower, and I'll launch the program."

Aelita nods at him as Amy, Yumi, and Ulrich stand in front of the scanners. "I'm transferring you to the forest region, a little south of where Aelita is now." The three step into the scanners, turning around. "Here we go. I'm counting on you." Jeremy starts the transfer and the doors close in on them, Odd waving to Amy. She smiles and waves back. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Amy. Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Amy. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization!"

The three are virtualized and land safely, Odd landing behind Amy. She jumps up and opens her wings, flying above her friends as they run. They see Aelita hiding ahead.

"Okay Jeremy, we're here."

"That's great. Get ready guys, I'm launching the materialization program immediately," Jeremy holds up the disc and places it inside...but gets the wrong CD as Odd is singing 'Break, Break, Break Dance.' Jeremy gasps in utter shock as he could see himself, Sissi, Herb, and others before it's just Odd with sunglasses, Amy plastered on the screen next. "Oh no, what have I done?!"

"Problem, Jeremy?" Yumi asks.

"I inserted the wrong CD!" Jeremy exclaims in lament, placing his head on the keyboard. "I grabbed Odd's dumb video instead of the program!" He continues to stare at the video in embarrassment. "Stop!" He stops the video. "I gotta go back to the dorm!"

"Okay, but hurry!" Yumi urges and Jeremy takes off the headset, groaning as he walks to the elevator.

"You made a video?" Ulrich asks in disbelief.

"Well yeah. It's pretty good too," Odd comments, Amy groaning in realization.

"Oh noooo...Don't make him say it."

"Break break break dance!" Odd sings, Amy slapping her forehead.

"I hate you," Amy deadpans to Ulrich, who holds up his hands in defense.

Jeremy presses the button and descends down.

Yumi walks up to the boys, Amy putting a hand on her hip. "Okay, that's enough fooling around. We've got some cleaning up to do!"

"We might as well do it while Jeremy's gone, so get to work, boys!" Amy points at the Bloks.

"Sirs yes sirs!" Ulrich and Odd recite, all four of them running towards the Bloks.

Meanwhile, Jim is teaching his class, outside the stadium with a soccer ball. "Okay, let's get started." He clears his throat and is about to blow his whistle until he notices Jeremy coming from the park. "This time I've got him." He kicks the ball towards the students. "Go!"

The girls are on one side, the boys on the other. Two Bloks fire and the boys jump over them. Odd jumps up, Yumi doing the same. They fire their weapons, each of them destroying a Blok. Ulrich super speeds to one, destroying it swiftly while Amy's Green Luxuriant Ivy wraps around one. She throws it into the digital sea and the four join each other.

"This is too easy!" Odd brags.

"Aelita, the passage is clear, you can go," Yumi waves her forward and Aelita steps out slowly.

"Wow, just think, this could be the last tower," Odd says in disbelief. They look on as their lives on Lyoko would be over...

Jeremy runs into the dorms and turns the corner, emerging into his room. He grabs the right CD, checking it first, and smiles. He closes the door to his room and turns around, only to be stopped by Jim. Jeremy narrows his eyes, as he had to get back to Aelita so she could finally be a part of Earth today.

"Playing hooky, huh?"

"Uh, no. I, uh, left something in my room, I..." Jeremy stammers as he backs away, Jim inching closer. "Uh, I-I-I gotta go, back to class now, Jim."

"Not till you tell me what you've been plotting since the beginning of the year!" Jim insists, "And this time, the principal's not here to come to your rescue!"

Jeremy looks annoyed, as he doesn't have time for this. They stare each other down, Jeremy tilting up his glasses. Jeremy moves back and forth before running past Jim.

"Oh you miserable little brat!" Jim chases after the boy, who turns the corner. "Get back here! Oh, wait till I get my hands on you! Jeremy, stop! That's an order! Hey!"

Unfortunately, Jeremy trips and falls down the stairs, crashing at the bottom and unable to get up. "Jeremy," Jim whispers in shock. "No!" He rushes to help him and as Jeremy tries to get up, he trips again.

"Oh, my ankle!" Three other students see his state, Jim turning pale at Jeremy's screams of pain.

"Are you crazy, Jim?" A student accuses.

"This is your fault!"

"Please, my ankle!" Jeremy cringes, and Jim could only stare at what he's done.

"_Jeremy, can you hear us_?" Aelita asks in concern. _"Jeremy? _We're in the tower. Jeremy? Where can he be?"

"45 minutes is a long time to go pick up a CD," Ulrich points out.

"I sure hope nothing happened to him," Yumi says in worry.

"Oh come on, stop being so gloom and doom," Odd waves it off. "Don't panic. I'm sure everything's cool."

"After 45 minutes? Something had to have happened," Amy shakes her head as she walks around them.

A Megatank approaches the tower and opens up.

Dorothy bandages up Jeremy's ankle. "And now, does it still hurt?"

"No, it's okay now. I can-I can walk fine, Dorothy," he dismisses.

"If there's one thing you'd better not do yet, it's walk. You'll have to wait a week before putting that foot on the ground," she says honestly.

"A week?!" He exclaims in shock.

"And if you complain, I won't give you crutches to get around with," she threatens, Jeremy crossing his arms with a frown.

"Jim," They hear the principal's voice from outside the door. "This time you've gone too far. Don't say I didn't warn you. This time, your paranoia has caused an accident."

"I'm...I'm sorry, sir, I really am," Jim hangs his head.

"So am I, Jim," Principal Delmas starts to walk away. "I'm going to have to let you go."

_Let you go..._

Jim feels like he's being sucked into the ground as soon as he registered the words.

The Megatank attacks the tower, knocking them around. "What was that?" Yumi turns to the others.

The four run out of the tower, stopping when they see the monster. Ulrich places a hand on his sword.

* * *

Dorothy opens her cabinet, organizing her things. Jeremy looks out the window, thinking about his friends. Not only can't he move, but he can't even warn his friends about what's happened.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Maybe he could escape that way! After all, he's done it before.

She turns to him curtly. "Sorry, the doctor insists you stay off your feet. I'll go and get you a basin," she starts to leave the room, Jeremy crossing his arms with a pout. Jim walks in, clearing his throat.

He approaches and kneels down. "Jeremy, listen, I...I want to say I'm sorry. I was so sure that you guys were up to something." Jeremy looks up at the ceiling, smiling to himself as he gets an idea. "I guess I got carried away a little." He stands and Jeremy stares after him as Jim places his hands behind his back. "I deserve to get fired. I went a little crazy because I thought you and your friends had a lot of secrets that you were hiding." Jim walks back to Jeremy. "Anyway..." He starts to leave. "I'm gonna miss you guys."

"Hold on a second, Jim," Jeremy calls out. "You're, um, not as crazy as you think." He had no other choice and if his friends were here, they'd agree it was the only thing he could do.

Jim turns to him in confusion.

"My friends and I...we do have a secret."

Jim leans forward, eager to hear more. "But that means I was right after all! Let's hear it."

"Look Jim, if you help me, I'll tell the principal everything. You'll be off the hook and he's bound to give you your job back, right?"

Jim narrows his eyes in thought. "Great!" He offers his hand. "Shake on it."

Jeremy smiles slightly and shakes hands with Jim.

The megatank opens up again and fires the circular laser, Odd jumping up in the air. "Go!" He misses as the tank closes up, blocking the shot. Odd lands in front of Amy, Yumi, and Ulrich. It prepares the laser again.

Dorothy returns with the basin in hand. "I've got your basin." She gives a shout of shock as all she finds is an open window and no Jeremy.

Jim carries Jeremy on his back as he runs through the park. "Over there, behind the oak tree!" Jeremy leads him. "Stop!" Jim looks to Jeremy in confusion. "In front of you."

"Oh." Jim sees the manhole cover just a few feet away. He walks up to it, laughing. "I was right, I was right!"

He opens it up and chuckles. "I was right, I was right!"

* * *

Back in Lyoko, the four are having trouble getting rid of the megatank. Odd runs up to it as it fires and he flips, firing a laser arrow. "Take that!" It closes up again, making him miss. "Oh no!"

Jim points a fake finger gun around as Jeremy leans against the elevator. "And this super powerful virtual thing called XANA wants to destroy us. Only Aelita can deactivate the towers, and our job is to help her as much as we can," Jeremy pushes the button.

"And she's on this place called, uh, Loko?" Jim asks.

"No, it's Lyoko," Jeremy corrects, Jim turning to him in interest. The elevator starts to go down. "The only way to destroy XANA is to unplug him. But first, we have to materialize Aelita, and that's what we're gonna do today."

"So, about Amelia and Odd...they're not...?"

"Oh, no," Jeremy confirms, shaking his head. "Though, I can see why you would assume that. They're in denial, but I've got bets that Odd will jump the gun first. I've seen the way he reacts every time he's near her."

"Oh, a bet? Can I get in on this?" Jim asks curiously.

"Absolutely!" Jeremy chirps, pressing the button to stop the elevator. "Here we are," he puts in the code and the doors slowly open to reveal the lab.

"Whoa," Jim murmurs in awe. "Huh...well, what do you know? Who'd have believed it?"

The megatank fires up its laser, Odd getting hit in the process.

"Aelita," Jeremy finally connects with them. "Is everything okay?"

"Jeremy, at last!" Aelita says in relief. "What happened to you?"

"_It's a long story, too long, but I've got the program_. Now let's cross our fingers and hope it works okay." He holds up the disc and inserts it. "I'm launching it," he presses enter.

"Follow me, Odd," Yumi runs forward, Odd close behind. Unfortunately, Yumi gets hit by the laser and is devirtualized. Yumi kneels in her scanner, slamming her fist against it. "Oh no!"

"Change of plans!" Amy runs with Odd and he jumps, yelling as he lands in front of the target.

"Take that!" Before he could get a hit, he's taken out by the megatank. Odd gasps as he steps out, helped by Yumi.

"Okay Ulrich and Amy, it's up to you."

All three cards appear on screen, both Ulrich and Amy's and the monster's. "Hey, you piece of junk! Nobody messes with our friends! Triangulate!" Ulrich surrounds the megatank, two other clones appearing.

"Alright Ulrich and Amelia, get 'em! Gotta show this XANA thing who's the boss!" Jim cheers, Yumi and Odd running into the lab.

"Jeremy, Ulrich and Ames are-" they then notice Jim.

"Jim?" Yumi asks in confusion.

"Yes, Jim. Don't worry, he's one of the gang now!"

They both give a look of shock, as he was against them earlier. Amy flies above the megatank, but it fires the laser, hitting Ulrich's clones. Amy manages to narrowly miss the laser, spinning up in the air and landing, slamming her hands against the ground. "Venus Gobbler!" A Venus plant emerges from the ground, trapping the megatank in its mouth. Ulrich speeds around and runs up a tree, flying towards the target. "Impact!" He lands safely his sword goes flying in the air and he catches it.

"Ulrich, Amy, watch out behind you!" Jeremy warns, and they look around, gasping as they see another megatank. "_You've both gotta protect the tower."_

The megatank hits the tower once more. "The tower's not gonna hold much longer!" Aelita says in worry.

"_Leave it to Amy and Ulrich!"_

As the megatank fires the laser, Ulrich and Amy try to push it back with their weapons. "Hold on Amy and Ulrich. Just a few more seconds!" Jeremy urges. "I'm almost ready, Aelita. Get into position on the platform."

Aelita slowly does so, slightly worried about the tower and her friends outside. "Okay, well, ready to take the big jump?"

Ulrich and Amy get slightly pushed back.

"Ready."

"Here we go." Jeremy can hear their struggle as the two couldn't hold it much longer. "Code: Earth." Aelita is lifted up in the air, Ulrich and Amy getting devirtualized. She could feel the hit of the tower as she holds out her arms, the four in the lab watching in anticipation. Aelita is virtualized, the data on the walls moving in an abnormal fashion.

Everyone in the room waits impatiently in the scanner room, awaiting the verdict. The cabin opens and they can make out a young girl with pink hair, apparently asleep. She has a black skirt, brown boots, and a dark red jacket. "She's here at last," Jeremy looks very excited as he admires her. She opens her eyes and smiles.

"Welcome to Earth..." He whispers shyly.

"YEAH!" The others cheer in triumph for her arrival.


	28. False Start

_"Tell me what the good news is, I can't wait!" Aelita exclaimed from the computer._

_"We're waiting for you here," Jeremy revealed in excitement._

_"I don't know what those kids are hiding, sir, but I intend to find out!" Jim said in determination to Principal Delmas. _

_"Me and my friends...we do have a secret," Jeremy said to Jim in the infirmary._

_"Your paranoia is beginning to get on my nerves," Principal Delmas reprimanded._

_Jim snuck around the bushes to try and find out what the Lyoko Warriors were up to. "I'm sorry Jim, but I'm going to have to let you go."_

_"Look Jim, if you help me, I'll tell the principal everything."_

_"Shake on it," Jim and Jeremy shook hands._

_"I'm ready for the big jump, Jeremy!" Aelita said happily._

_"Okay Aelita, I'm launching the program for your materialization. Code: Earth."_

_Aelita was materialized and she was now a human on Earth. She looked up with a smile as they all gasped._

The next morning, the bell rings, Aelita's first day of school starting. "Come on, let's go." The five younger students of the Lyoko group walk in happily, though Aelita looks a little nervous.

"Hey relax, Aelita," Jeremy sees her look. "Don't worry, it's just a history class."

"I'd feel a lot better if it were a class in computers. I don't know anything about history!" Aelita reveals, Ulrich putting a hand on her shoulder.

"That's just it. You're here to learn," Ulrich reminds her. "If it were a computer class, you could be the teacher!"

Sissi glances at Aelita, narrowing her eyes.

"And besides, if you need anything, remember, _I'm _your roommate when you move to Kadic," Amy puts her hand around Aelita's shoulders and she smiles at the brunette.

"Take your seats so we can begin," the teacher calls out. Herb and Nicholas couldn't stop staring at Aelita and Amy.

"Hmph!" Sissi turns to Aelita in annoyance, as her flunkies were supposed to be having eyes on her only. "Who does that new girl think she is?" Odd, Amy, and Aelita smile to each other. "All she cares about is having boys around her."

"Actually, I think she looks worried," Nicholas points out.

"Obviously Nicholas, you don't know the first thing about girls. Huh, acting frail and helpless will work every time. Boys love that, it's the best way to attract them," Sissi sits down, giving a disgusted look.

"We have a new student in our class. I'll let her introduce herself," the teacher announces, the whole class glancing at Aelita.

"Um...my, uh...I, uh-"

Odd and Amy stand up. "Aelita's her name. She's my cousin and Amy's roommate," Odd starts.

"Yes, and she's been known to be a little shy. Heck, it took her a while to get used to little old me," Amy jokes with a wink, the class laughing. Aelita smiles at Amy gratefully for breaking the tension.

"Hmm, well Aelita, we welcome you to Kadic Junior High. We all hope that you're going to like it here very much."

Aelita smiles at him, the others smiling widely.

* * *

The five all gather around the bench. "Did you see, everything's cool. There was no reason to worry," Jeremy points out as he sits next to Aelita.

"I guess not. And besides, I really like history. But you've gotta admit, you fight a lot here. There are wars all the time," she explains, Jeremy turning to her with a strained smile.

Odd smiles sheepishly as Ulrich rubs the back of his neck. Amy whistles lowly as she looks away, as they felt that Aelita wasn't ready to know the real history of the wars.

Luckily, to break the silence, Yumi walks up. "Hey guys. Well how's our new earthling doing?" She stops in front of Aelita.

"Oh," Aelita chuckles as she realizes Yumi meant her, "I'm fine. I'm trying to adapt to so many new sensations. Like the air that you breathe here, all the colors and the smells. But I'm fine."

"It's about time we deactivated the supercomputer," Jeremy stands up in determination, wanting to put an end to XANA before it decides to send an invitation. "Don't you think?"

"Well I wouldn't wait for XANA to send us an invitation," Ulrich points out.

"And who feels like going back to Lyoko now that Aelita's here with us?" Odd asks, putting a hand on his hip.

"There's really no reason to go back...we can finally be rid of XANA," Amy smiles at the thought.

"You'll think this is silly," Aelita opens her eyes, "But...it scares me a little. Lyoko, after all, was my home. And I'm not really sure what effect destroying it might have for me."

Odd raises an eyebrow as the others stare at her in concern.

"There's nothing to worry about," Jeremy assures. "I'm sure." He takes her hand, rubbing it with the other. He walks away with her.

* * *

At the factory, Jim has already settled in on the main floor, snoring as he has a newspaper in hand. The six slide down the ropes.

"Hi Jim!" He wakes up at Ulrich's voice, seeing the gang. Odd helps Amy down from her rope. "Well, did you have a good sleep?"

Jim cringes in embarrassment before chuckling nervously. "Oh, yeah. Great. And I really appreciate everything you've done for me. But I was getting a little bored, I have to admit." He walks up to them.

"How'd you like to watch us deactivate XANA?" Odd offers.

Jim chuckles, "I wouldn't miss that for the world! You haven't forgotten your promise, Jeremy?" Jim points to him.

"I haven't, Jim. As soon as XANA's deactivated, I'll tell the whole story to the principal and you'll get your job back!" Jeremy replies happily.

"And then we can put this whole thing behind us," Amy chirps, pressing her hands together in glee.

"That's great! I can't wait till all this is settled!" The seven of them walk to the elevator. "I honestly never imagined that I would miss being your PE teacher so much! Uh, from now on, call me Jimbo, huh?"

"Thanks. So are you ready to go, Jimbo?" Jeremy offers, pressing the button. They go down to the third floor into the dark super computer room. "Here we are." The core starts to lift from the floor, lighting up the room. Aelita gasps as she backs away slightly. "Are you okay, Aelita?"

"Uh..." Aelita stammers, Jeremy placing a hand on her shoulder.

"If you want, we can wait a day or two."

Aelita turns to Jeremy, seeing his look of concern. "No, the sooner the better."

He smiles slightly, nodding. "Okay. I think you should have the honor."

"No," the others turn to her. "I'd rather you did it."

"Sure Aelita," Jeremy gladly does this request as he steps up to the core, the others watching him. The panel opens up, revealing the lever. Aelita gasps as she sweats nervously and Jeremy places his hand on the lever. "XANA, you gave us a lot of grief, but thanks to you, we met Aelita. So goodbye and good riddance." He pulls the lever...but then Aelita holds her head and then she passes out, Jim and Ulrich helping her.

"Aelita!" Yumi says in worry. "Put the power back on, Aelita's not well, hurry up!" Jeremy quickly does so.

"What's wrong with her?" Jeremy asks in concern as Jim picks up Aelita.

"Let's hope XANA doesn't rear his ugly head," Odd replies, and as soon as he says that, a tower is activated in the ice sector.

* * *

Day turns into night, bugs surrounding a lantern as Aelita has yet to wake up. Jim checks her pulse down in the main floor, Jeremy staying with her. The others have gone home since Yumi's parents would worry. Jim checks his watch.

"Her pulse seems back to normal again."

She starts to wake up. "I don't know...what happened, I..."

"You passed out, Aelita," Jeremy explains to her. "It's a little bit like sleeping, a really deep sleep."

Aelita sits up, smiling. "Oh, I like the way it felt."

"Maybe you did, but you passed out, and that's not normal," Jim points out.

"I modified the scanners program while you slept," Jeremy explains, Aelita turning to him. "Do you mind if I examine you?"

"Uh, no." Aelita smiles at him, trusting him.

"Launching program," Jeremy presses enter and Aelita is scanned. "Data recovery."

Jim looks at the screen in confusion, not making sense of all the data and writing. "Oh, don't tell me you really understand all that?"

"It's not very complicated," Jeremy comments before thinking. "Well...when I showed this screen to Amy once, her brain got fried and Odd had to give her chocolate to snap her out of it."

"Mmm," Jim gives a bored frown at the computer.

"We're ready to begin the analysis," Jeremy starts the process. "That's fine, Aelita, you can come back now. Okay, let's try to see what the trouble is..."

Aelita comes back as he's waiting and she joins him at the computer as he gasps. "That's just what I was afraid of."

"It looks like XANA infected me with a virus," Aelita deduces, Jim giving a confused look. He stares at the screen, as it didn't look like that to him.

"That's it!"

Jim turns to Jeremy, more confused than ever. He wasn't really suited for computers. "He must've done it during the transfer. There was a sudden drop in the voltage for a very short time."

"I remember that! Because I had a strange feeling at that moment, for a few seconds I felt XANA's presence, as if he was trying to hold me back," Aelita explains to a pacing Jeremy.

"And that's probably the reason why you fainted a while ago. XANA implanted a virus inside you because he wanted you to be linked to him and if we kill XANA..."

"Then I get destroyed as well," Aelita finishes for him, Jeremy gasping in shock. So...there wasn't a way they could deactivate him now...because then it would affect Aelita and she just got here on Earth.

Jeremy sighs slightly as he walks to his computer.

"Uh, is there anything we can do?" Jim wonders.

"Yeah, try to find an antivirus, but it could take a long time," Jeremy says in worry, typing away. "I'm starting up an analysis program. The computer will work autonomously on it until tomorrow morning." Jeremy turns to Aelita, smiling slightly. "I'll take you back to Yumi's. It's kind of late and the principal's still trying to finish your paperwork so you can stay with Amy."

Aelita nods with a small smile. Jim smirks in amusement, looking away.

"What a strange sensation," Aelita hugs herself as she felt something. They're outside the factory now, starting to walk.

"You shivered, that's all. It's a reaction you get on account of the cold," Jeremy explains.

"I like the feeling of being a little chilly," she confides, rubbing her arms. "And the sounds and the smells are all different at night."

"Yeah, it's quiet and peaceful and the plants, they breathe differently," he gestures to the trees as they walk.

Jeremy picks up a flower and hands it to Aelita. "Here, smell this."

She sniffs it slightly, finding it fragrant. "Mm. Oh, it's wonderful to be alive."

Aelita stands on the sidewalk, holding Jeremy's hand. She could feel the warmth of his hand as they smile at each other. "And it's thanks to you that I'm here."

"Well, I, uh-" He stammers, blushing. "I didn't, uh, do it alone." He shouts in surprise as Aelita pulls him forward, exploring the city together.

"What's that?" She points to a photo booth. "A scanner?"

"No, not exactly. Follow me!" They both laugh as they run into it, taking pictures and Aelita having fun with Jeremy's glasses.

They both stand in front of Yumi's, Jeremy bowing. "Well, your castle awaits you, princess. Hmm."

"Thanks for walking me back," Aelita tells him thankfully. "In spite of the virus, I still had the most wonderful night of my life. Good night," she kisses him on the cheek and he freezes before smiling to himself. He watches Aelita go inside. "See you tomorrow!"

He gives a happy sigh. "Aelita's...oh!" He exclaims, whistling happily on the way back to Kadic.

* * *

"So, do you have any idea how to get rid of this miserable virus?" Ulrich wonders the next morning. Yumi and Aelita haven't arrived yet.

"No, not yet. I hope the calculations my computer made will help me," Jeremy says in slight worry.

"Here come the girls," Odd points out, Amy grunting to herself. Odd glances at her, holding up his hands in defense. "Not that you're not a girl! You're totally feminine!"

Amy rolls her eyes as they meet up with Aelita and Yumi. "Well, how was your first night on Earth?" Ulrich asks.

Aelita stretches slightly. "Sleeping is really wonderful."

"She would've slept all day if I hadn't shaken her a little," Yumi smiles a little, all of them laughing. "Be careful with her, Amy."

"Oh, I will. I'll show her all the ropes and she'll be just fine," Amy winks as the bell rings.

"You're just like me, Aelita. And you'll see sleeping in class isn't too bad either," Odd comments as the other students run to class.

"The first thing to learn from me: Don't listen to Odd," Amy deadpans, Odd pouting.

The red tower in the sector starts the attack: something opens up from the scanner. Jim hears a noise, waking him up. "Huh? What's going on?!"

"Who can give us the definition of a pair of prime numbers?" The math teachers turns to the class. "Hmm? Uh, Sissi?"

"Uh, hm," Sissi looks around nervously. "Well, uh...a pair of prime numbers is uh...two numbers that are about the same."

Everyone laughs at her explanation. "Thank you, Sissi," the teacher deadpans. "Well, can one of you give us a less harebrained answer? Aelita."

"A pair of prime numbers occurs when their highest common denominator is 1," she explains without no hesitation.

"Very good, although-"

"In a principal ring, it's equivalent to the fact that their direct sum is equal to 1, but of course, with a non principal factorial, that is not the case." The teacher drags his chalk down the board, bewildered as everyone else stares at her. "That is, according to the theory of Bezout, you see!"

Suddenly, they hear screaming and they stand up in confusion. "Calm down, children." The teacher opens the door to see a boy running through the doors in fear. Ulrich peeks out and looks towards the doors, everyone confused to see a Kankerlot moving through the hall! Ulrich gasps, moving the others back inside.

"Take cover!" Odd warns everyone.

"XANA's changed tactics. He sent one of his monsters to Earth for the first time! How did he manage that?" Jeremy wonders.

"Who cares? The problem is...how do you suggest getting rid of him?" Odd points outside.

"Like we always do, we fight them. You four head for Lyoko and deactivate the tower. Yumi and I will stay here and defend the homefront," Ulrich starts to call her.

"Oh no, that's crazy Ulrich," Aelita places a finger on her mouth in thought.

"You know very well that if there's a victim, that going back in time won't bring 'em back to life. Yumi? Yeah, we already know. We've gotta find weapons. Okay, I'll meet you outside of the math class," he hangs up.

"Well, let's go guys," Jeremy glances at the hiding class at the opposite corner. Luckily, they're too far away to hear anything they just said. A screaming student runs past them as the Kankerlot emerges, turning to the five.

"I'll handle him," Ulrich takes a fighting stance. "Get going!"

They run off, the eye staring Ulrich down. "Let's see how good you are," Ulrich runs towards it, jumping over the laser and head. Ulrich runs down the stairs, only to be hit in the shoulder. He climbs down as quickly as possible. More Kankerlots are outside the building.

"A few more seconds and the coast will be clear," Odd is keeping watch, Amy, Aelita, and Jeremy hiding at the stairs. He waves them forward and Jeremy pulls Aelita with him outside.

The Kankerlot continues to chase Ulrich, preparing another laser. He ducks as a javelin hits the monster right in the eye. Ulrich stands up to see Yumi.

"What would you do without me?" She asks as he pants, holding his shoulder. "Oh! Hurry up!" She pulls him along with her as another Kankerlot chases after them. They emerge at the entrance to the park, the three Kankerlots approaching.

"Come on!" Ulrich leads Yumi into the park.

The other four slide down the ropes in the factory, seeing the main room damaged, especially Jim's area. "Wow, Jim gave them a good run of their money." Destroyed Kankerlots are on the floor. "Jim! Jim!"

"That way!" Jeremy points forward and Odd looks down in confusion to see a dropped nail gun.

Ulrich and Yumi are hiding out in the garden shed. "It looks like they got their sights set on us," Ulrich deduces as they look at gardening tools on the wall. Ulrich sees a saw and picks it up while Yumi has an axe.

"Okay, let's show them what we can do."

There are several Kankerlots outside, looking for the two. "Hey, over here!" One turns around to be attacked by Yumi and Ulrich.

Jim growls as he holds a pipe, attacking a Kankerlot in the scanner room. "Come on, you little monster! I'll make you think twice before you leave your world again!"

"Oh no!" The others appear from the elevator, Odd running forward.

"Hang on, Jim!" Odd fires the nail gun, but misses. He continues firing until Jim stabs it through the head.

"I told you to call me Jimbo, remember?" He reminds, throwing the monster into a pile of destroyed ones.

"Jeremy, you have to transfer me to Lyoko," Aelita insists.

"What?" Jeremy asks in confusion, as he doesn't know what sending her to Lyoko would do. Aelita places a hand on his shoulder.

"Have you forgotten XANA's virus, Aelita? What if XANA stops you from deactivating the tower, or from returning to Earth?" He asks in concern, Odd, Jim, and Amy glancing at each other.

"But Jeremy...she's the only one who _can _deactivate the tower," Amy says gravely, as she didn't want to make him feel upset.

"That's a risk we've got to take. The priority is to stop XANA," she reminds him. "You know as well as I do that we have no choice, Jeremy. Think of all the other monsters XANA could materialize." Jeremy gasps in shock, as he didn't want to imagine a Krab on Earth. Jeremy glances at the scanner in worry, taking in Aelita's arguments.

"Okay, get into the scanner. I'll send you to Lyoko," he walks to the elevator as Aelita gets into the scanner. Odd and Amy glance at the other ones. Jeremy slowly gets into his computer chair. "I'm deactivating the infected scanner. Get ready, Odd."

A Kankerlor emerges from the scanner and stares up at Odd, who simply points the nail gun and destroys it.

"Nice going, kid," Jim replies as Amy stomps on it with her foot.

_"I've located the activated tower. It's in the glacier region. That's where I'm sending you." _The doors close in on Aelita as Amy and Odd step up to the other scanners.

"By the way, where are Ulrich and Yumi?" Jim wonders.

"At school, fighting monsters," Odd jerks a thumb at the doors.

"I hope they're okay," Amy says in slight worry. "I don't know how much longer they can hold them off."

"I'm off! I'll be a lot more useful there," Jim offers, since the scanner's already been deactivated from XANA sending more.

"Here," Odd tosses the nail gun to him. "It's like a Swiss Army knife," he steps into the scanner.

_"Okay Amy, the other scanner should be okay for use," _Jeremy reports and Amy nods, walking in with two steps.

"See you later," Jim calls out as the doors close in on the two.

"Transfer Odd. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy." To Aelita, it feels very strange to be in the scanner for the first time, but she liked it. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

They're virtualized and they land, Aelita landing on her bottom. "It's strange being virtualized," she comments, standing up.

"Yeah, but you get used to it," Odd tells her.

"'We did," Amy shrugs.

"No air to breathe, no smells, no warmth, nothing. I miss the real world already," Aelita says in slight regret.

Odd looks down at his hand, remembering when he touched Amy's shoulders. He kinda missed that. _Yeah...warmth..._

"It'll always be waiting for you when you return," Amy places a hand on Aelita's shoulder.

"Let's go, girls," They run down the path in front of them.

* * *

A Kankerlot advances on Yumi and Ulrich. "Ulrich, we're never gonna make it!"

"Bonzai!" Nails are suddenly fired, destroying one. Jim runs forward, laughing in excitement. "Take that, you cockroach!" He destroys another. "Yeah! Got one!" He fires at one who keeps moving to the left. "Say your prayers!" He gets rid of it, to the relief of Ulrich and Yumi.

"There's something I gotta admit, Jim. This is the first time I'm glad you caught us by surprise," Ulrich tells him and Jim smiles before it turns into a stubborn look.

"My friends call me Jimbo, got it?"

* * *

_"There's a squadron approaching at nine o'clock! Three Hornets. Here they come now," _Jeremy reports.

"Watch out!" Odd pushes Aelita and Amy out of the way from a stray laser.

_"They're coming back!"_

One Hornet fires and they jump out of the way. "Head for the tower, you two!" Odd tells her, bending down. "I'll hold them off!"

"But Odd, I wanna help you," Amy protests as she stands there.

"Don't worry about me," he turns around to her. "You have to protect Aelita."

"But-"

"Go!"

She pauses and nods at the urgency in his voice, running off. Amy catches up to Aelita and Odd gets hit by the lasers, Amy getting hit as well.

"_You've got three life points left, Odd." _Not soon after, Ulrich calls.

"Jeremy!"

"What is it, Ulrich? Where are you? Odd, Amy, and Aelita really need your help!" Jeremy says in panic as Odd's almost down.

"We haven't finished the job here yet," Ulrich says, Yumi and Jim staring at him.

"Odd's only got 40 life points left and Amy has 50. If Aelita's left all alone, she's headed for disaster!" Jeremy says urgently.

"Okay, we'll hurry up," he says to reassure him, hanging up.

* * *

More Kankerlots emerge in the park. "You two had better hightail it to Lyoko. I can handle these bugs on my own," Jim orders them. "Am I right to say that the sooner you deactivate the tower, the safer the world's gonna be? Is that it?"

They both nod with small smiles.

"Well what are you waiting for? Go on now and get the job done! It takes a lot more than a few ugly monsters to beat your friend Jimbo!"

* * *

The Hornets continue their assault on Odd as he runs. He turns around and jumps. "Take that!" He destroys one, but gets hit in the process.

"_You're losing too many life points, Odd!"_

Yumi and Ulrich rush down the bridge to the factory, panting as they try to hurry. They jump down the ropes, landing in front of the elevator.

"You gotta hang in there!" Jeremy says to Odd and Amy.

"_Jeremy!" _

"Yumi," Jeremy says into the headset. "It's about time. Odd's only got 20 life points left!"

"We're heading for the scanner," Yumi tells him as she and Ulrich are already descending down in the elevator. "Don't worry about Odd, he can hold on a while with Amy. 20 points is enough for him."

"Laser arrow!" Odd destroys the 2nd Hornet. Amy looks back in worry. "Come on, I'm waiting for you!" He tries to aim, but is out of arrows. "Oh, I don't believe it! I'm out of arrows!" He gets hit and is devirtualized. "Bye bye," He waves as he disappears. Aelita is almost at the tower, looking up.

"There it is!"

"_Watch out, girls! Aelita!"_

Amy turns around and sees the Hornet, pushing Aelita out of the way. She gets hit once in the process, but isn't out of the game yet. Aelita looks around as Amy steps up, pulling out her spear. Luckily, Ulrich and Yumi are virtualized to help. Aelita slides down a path, hiding from the Hornet as Amy throws her spear at it. She misses and Aelita uses her creativity to create an ice wall, blocking the Hornet. Amy jumps away from the laser, making a bow in her hands. The string starts to light up as she pulls it.

"Sapphire Arrow!" She fires it, but all of the high speed arrows miss. "Oh come on..."

Jim continues firing at the Kankerlot, missing. "So, still haven't had enough, huh? Ha ha!" He starts to get tired, the Kankerlot preparing its shot. It fires and two students gasp as the nail gun is dropped. Jim holds his shoulder, gritting his teeth. The Kankerlots turn their attention to the students and they look in panic.

"Hey you creeps! Over here! I'm ready! Come on!" He destroys them with the nail gun.

"_Aelita's taking cover in a cave back there. Amy's holding on, but hurry!" _

Yumi and Ulrich run over as fast as they can. "Give me your best shot," Amy eggs on, preparing to fire another arrow. Unfortunately, she gets devirtualized. "Oh no!" Aelita goes down the tunnel. Yumi throws her fan, but breaks the wall.

"You can do better than that," Ulrich deadpans.

"Sorry," she tells him, the Hornet going through the wall. Aelita skates down the tunnel as fast as she can. Yumi jumps inside the hole and picks up her fan, pointing.

"That way!"

"Uh huh," Ulrich jumps in after her.

Aelita continues skating, turning a sharp left, seeing the Hornet catch up to her. She gasps, dodging the laser. She skids to the left again, Yumi sliding after the Hornet.

_"Now Yumi!"_

"Yah!" Yumi throws her fan, finally getting rid of the pesky Hornet.

"There, that's more like it!" Ulrich tells her.

"It's all in the wrist," she twists her arm. "I'm a great frisbee player."

"That was close!" Aelita slides to a stop in front of them.

"Come on, Aelita. You know we would never let you go it alone," Ulrich assures her.

"Hey, we can't let the school go it alone either," Yumi reminds them as she runs forward.

"Right!" Ulrich and Aelita follow her.

"Yeah, take that! And that!" Jim looks back at the students, only to be hit in the leg. He kneels down, turning to the boy and girl. "Well don't just stand there, go on, run!" They run off and he stands up, pointing the nail gun.

"Leave those kids alone!" He growls.

Aelita reaches the tower and slowly steps inside, surrounded by data and codes once more. She steps up to the platform, letting herself fly to the top.

"Come on, you bedbugs! Give me all you got! Come on!" Jim eggs as he's on the floor, at the mercy of the Kankerlots who keep getting closer. "Huh! Is that all you got!" The laser fires, shooting the nail gun out of his hand and he falls to the ground.

Aelita reaches the top and steps up to the middle.

Jim clenches his fist. "What are you waiting for? Come on, you think I'm all washed up!" The Kankerlot steps up to his face and he just chuckles.

Aelita presses her hand against the interface, logging in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

Sweat drips down Jim's face as the Kankerlot prepares to fire...

_Lyoko_

Luckily, the Kankerlot powers down before it could take the shot.

The data falls down the walls and the reset in time is started. "Return to the past now." Everything, including Jim, is engulfed in white.

* * *

"Aelita, we're restarting the materialization program immediately. We've gotta wipeout XANA before he launches another attack," Jeremy explains in his room, surrounded by the others. She hasn't been brought to Earth at this point, as Code Earth had been entered late in the day.

"Jeremy," Aelita stops him before he could press the button. "It's impossible, the virus is still in me, I can feel it."

"We've still gotta try it. Maybe you can be treated here on Earth," he insists.

"No Jeremy, you know that as well as I do...as long as this virus is inside of me, you can't destroy XANA without destroying me at the same time," she says gravely, Yumi putting a hand on Jeremy's shoulder.

"We could materialize you for an hour or two, so you could pay us a little visit, huh?" Yumi offers with a small smile.

"Why not? But the rest of the time, I'll have to stay here on Lyoko to fight XANA. Until the day you find an anti-virus," she had to do it...because it was her mission.

"Aelita..." Jeremy starts to cry, as he wanted her to stay...with him. "I..." He falls silent, hanging his head. Amy hugs him from behind.

Jim chuckles as he sneaks into the dorms. Kiwi and Kiki look up from their spot on Jeremy's bed. "Jim," Yumi looks towards the door. "We forgot all about him."

He opens the door to see them. "So, you kids are at it again." Obviously, he has no memory of Lyoko since that day was wiped.

"No Jim, we were studying," Odd lies like last time. The principal just so happens to pass by the doors, hearing Jim.

"Studying my eye. I've had enough of your lies! You're gonna stay right here until you tell me everything! Including why you have so much interest in Odd, Amelia."

"Wha-Since when did I have to tell you that?" Amy narrows her eyes and her eyes widen as she didn't deny it. Odd didn't seem fazed by it at all when she glances at him.

"Jim," He turns to see the principal. "What is going on here?"

"Ah, you came by just the right time, sir. I was just about to find out exactly what these children were up to again," He looks at the five.

"Oh, another one of your absurd stories about mysterious meetings and secret passages, eh? I've had about enough of this Jim and I'm going to have to-"

"He's right sir," Ulrich interrupts. "We really were plotting." They feel that after all he's done before his memory was wiped of all things Lyoko and everything else, it was the least they could do. After all, they didn't think he deserved to lose his job over them.

"We were. We were going to play a little joke on Nicholas and Herb," Jeremy chuckles slightly. Jim cringes while Principal Delmas stares at them.

"In fact, sir, if Jim hadn't caught us, we would've been late for school for sure," Yumi smiles at him.

"You should give him a raise," Amy winks at Principal Delmas, who turns to Jim.

"Well then, I'll look the other way this time since you admitted what you've done. Now, uh, off to class, children. Go on," he walks away, Jim utterly confused.

"Well, you made up one heck of a story, kids, but why did you get me off the hook?"

"Well, it's just that...you never know, maybe one day you'll do the same for us," Jeremy starts, walking away.

"And you know, we never get the time to thank you for all you've done for us. So thanks a lot, Jimbo," Ulrich follows after Jeremy.

"Yeah, thanks," Odd rushes after the two boys. Yumi gives him a kiss on the cheek.

"You're a hero. And a fantastic PE teacher, Jimbo!" Yumi rushes after her friends.

"And you're pretty loyal to us students," Amy winks at him. "See ya later in class, Jimbo!"

"Oh well, uh, you oughta tell the principal that! Okay now, go to class! A hero...wow..."

Jeremy looks at the heart-soothing photo of him and Aelita, laughing along with the others. They wrap their arms around themselves, laughing. No doubt about it, they were gonna continue to help Aelita and their quest to stop XANA once and for all.

They're Lyoko Warriors until that's done!


	29. New Order

**Angel: Season 2! I really gotta continue season 3 whenever I have the time XD Last time I remember, I was on episode 62...Anyway. Since next week is Thanksgiving week, I will continue updating since it's not gonna interfere with this story's current schedule. Some of the future updates might be late though, since I'm nearing the end of the school semester and I have a bunch of stuff to do.**

In the desert region, nothing can be heard. That is, until Ulrich passes by on a bike. Odd follows after on a board. Ulrich revs up his bike, going faster than before.

"You really did a great job, Jeremy! XANA better behave himself now that we've got these things! Whoaaaaa!" Odd exclaims, as they're trying out their new vehicles that Jeremy had made. Yumi, Aelita, and Amy aren't there. Odd laughs as Ulrich approaches a path with rocks as lanes.

"Be careful all the same," Jeremy warns.

"Don't worry, Einstein, I know how to ride. No way am I letting Ulrich beat me!" Odd brags, appearing above Ulrich. "Yahoo!"

Ulrich glances back to see him. "Oh no you don't," he revs up the bike, speeding up. Odd flies after him and they approach two cliffs close together as a path. Ulrich speeds by as Odd follows after him. Odd jumps from the two walls, speeding up to Ulrich, laughing.

"Hmph." Odd is in the lead.

"Odd, I didn't have time to perfect the program that calculates trajectory!" Jeremy calls out. Odd emerges from the two cliffs and uses a rock as a ramp, flying in the air and bumping into a pillar, falling to the ground. He lands safely, Ulrich smiling as he beat Odd.

"Odd!" Yumi comes over with a flying Overwing. Aelita jumps down to them as Amy speeds over with a large race car.

"Are you okay?" Aelita asks as Odd stands up, dusting himself off.

"Oh yeah. There's still some work to do on the overboard, Jeremy," Odd complains.

"Maybe it's the rider who needs the work," Jeremy points out.

"So what's it like having a race car, Amy?" Ulrich turns to her.

"Eh, it's okay. I know it's cool to have one, but I already fly. I'm only gonna use it when my wings don't work," Amy points out. "Which would be a waste."

_"It doesn't hurt to be prepared," _Jeremy points out.

"What happened, Odd?" Ulrich walks over to the group as Amy stands up from her car. "You miss a step?" He laughs as Odd places his hands on his hips.

"Very funny. I'd like to see you on an Overboard," Odd eggs on.

"I guess swerving's not my thing," Ulrich waves his hand.

_"Uh, sorry to interrupt your fascinating conversation, but it looks like XANA has spotted you. _There's something coming your way," Jeremy looks at the screen, but he doesn't recognize the monster approaching them. "That's really weird. I...I can't tell what it is."

"Hey," Yumi notices something. "What's that?" She points at a spider looking monster crawling towards them.

"I don't know, but it looks like trouble, big time," Ulrich comments.

"I've never seen a monster like that one before. XANA must've just created it," Aelita deduces.

"In any case, it says here that it's got more life points than the others," Jeremy explains as it has around 125.

They all gasp as the new monster steps in front of them, pointing its arms at them as it kneels.

"Jeremy, how about reprogramming our vehicles?" Yumi asks.

"I'm on it already. But it's gonna take time," Jeremy is typing away. Aelita runs off to hide.

"On my signal," Ulrich tells the others.

"I'll go first," Yumi offers.

"And Ames and I are gonna keep it busy," Odd agrees.

"Now!"

Ulrich runs forward, holding out his sword. He blocks the incoming lasers, Yumi front flipping and jumping over the monster's head. She lands behind it and the monster turns around to her. Yumi flips again and grabs her fan, throwing it with a yell. The monster shoots at it, making it fly away.

"Aelita, there's a deactivated tower not far away. Direction north by northwest. Get out of there and come and meet me, but hurry up!" Jeremy exclaims urgently.

"Hey, you over grown spider, looking for us?" The monster turns to Odd and Amy, who jump away. Odd climbs up a rock while Amy flies above the monster. It fires at Odd and he climbs with his claws to avoid them. He gets to the top and the monster hits the boulder on top of the pillar. It tilts down and Odd jumps up, only to get hit in the chest. He rolls to the floor safely and Amy flies around to avoid the lasers.

"Odd, you just lost 20 life points! It's got a powerful laser!" Jeremy says in shock. Amy gets hit too and she holds her stomach.

"Ya think?" She mutters under her breath.

"What does it take to destroy this thing?" Odd says to himself as Aelita rushes to the nearest tower up ahead.

Ulrich and the monster's card appear on Jeremy's screen. Ulrich pulls out his sword and the monster immediately start firing. Ulrich blocks them all effortlessly, turning to see Aelita running towards the tower. Distracted, he ultimately gets hit by the monster three times and is devirtualized.

"Vehicles ready," Jeremy presses enter.

"_Well, it's about time_," Odd retorts.

"Come on, I'm doing my best," Jeremy retorts back with a small frown.

Yumi backflips to her Overwing. Amy jumps into her OverRunner as Odd gets onto his Overboard.

"Let me go first," Odd says to the girls, who nod.

"Go on, we'll be watching you," Yumi tells him.

"Just be careful and don't overdo it," Amy says in slight worry.

"No need to worry, Ames! I'll be back," he winks at her and she rolls her eyes, giving a small smile as he speeds off. The monster fires at him and Odd hands upside down, spinning in a spiral. "Laser Arrow!" He fires from both his paws, flying over the monster's head as Aelita reaches the tower.

"This thing is really unbeatable!"

Yumi and Amy appear on both sides of him. "Need a hand?"

"Looks like this thing has more durability than the others," Amy calls out and it fires two lasers, hitting Yumi's Overwing and she lands in front of the monster. She jumps and throws her fan, backflipping until she gets hit and devirtualized.

"Yumi!" Amy calls out as Odd continues firing. He maneuvers past more lasers, flipping himself and the Overboard over one. Amy swerves back and forth until one of the lasers hits her OverRunner, causing it to go out of control. She goes tumbling down the sand.

"Ames!" Odd yells in panic, "Laser Arrows!" He fires at the monster before flying over to check on her. "Are you okay?" He gets hit from behind and devirtualized. Amy looks up, only to be devirtualized as well. The monster sits there, triumphant as XANA has won this time.

* * *

"If XANA's gonna start programming new monsters, it means our troubles, guys, have only just begun," Jeremy taps his fingers against the arm of his chair.

"Anyway Einstein, one thing is sure. You're gonna have to program our vehicles faster. Otherwise, we don't stand a chance against those Tarantulas!" Odd wiggles his fingers as he faces them.

"Tarant-what?" Yumi asks in confusion. Aelita has a new outfit as she has a dark pink jumper dress over a light pink hooded long sleeve shirt with two pink fuzzy pull strings and pink knee boots.

"Tarantulas, the new monsters. I like to give my enemies a name!" Odd replies, Amy rolling her eyes as she hugs her knee to her chest.

"What worries me is that our friend XANA has obviously found a way to increase his power," Jeremy points out, getting Ulrich's attention.

"You think he's still evolving?" He wonders.

"Maybe so," Jeremy murmurs to himself. "In any case, from now on, we have to be ready for anything and everything."

Aelita stands up. "Maybe I'd better get back to Lyoko. If XANA activates a tower, I'd better be there," Aelita glances at the computer.

"Umm, should we tell her?" Jeremy asks the others to her confusion.

"Well, of course we should tell her! Why keep good news like that a secret?" Yumi replies.

"Can't really keep something like this a secret, Einstein," Amy glances at Jeremy.

"Keep what a secret? Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Aelita asks them, but only gets smiles.

"Over the past few weeks, I've spent all of my time developing the vehicles and an anti-virus to free you from XANA," Jeremy explains. "And I also perfected a whole new program for detecting activated towers."

"A super scanner, much more accurate than the old one," Odd continues, smiling.

"With instant detection. Meaning, you don't have to stay on Lyoko all the time!" Jeremy finishes happily.

"So I'm gonna live..." Aelita asks in shock.

"Here, with us," Ulrich finishes for her. "We've already enrolled you as a boarder at the school." Aelita gasps in utter shock, as she didn't think it was possible before.

"And you're still my roommate," Amy closes her eyes with a smile. "I put in a request with the principal."

"Everything's all set up. We wanted to surprise you," Yumi places a hand on Aelita's shoulder.

"I...I...this is so wonderful. I can't believe it!" She gasps out.

* * *

Jim opens the door to Amy's room as Aelita steps in. "And this is your room. Or rather, yours and Amelia's. There's not that much space for you, but you'll like it here, Miss...um..."

"Stones," Aelita tells him, Odd glancing at the others. "Aelita Stones. Like the rock group. I'm Odd's cousin from Canada."

"Oh. So Aelita, breakfast starts at 7 am and dinner's at 7 pm. It's against the rules to be in your room between 8 am and 4:30 pm. You can ask your friends, Della Robbia, Stern, and Belpois or your roommate Smith to fill you in on the rest of the rules, that is if they can remember them!" He gives them a look and they say nothing as he leaves. The boys grin at Amy and Aelita, Jeremy laughing in glee.

"I don't want to hear another word about the school newspaper. This excursion is for 8th and 9th graders only, is that clear?" Ms. Hertz says to Milly and Tamiya, who wanted to get the news about the school trip today.

"Oh," Tamiya complains, walking away. Since they're only in 7th grade, they weren't allowed to attend.

"Oh rats," Milly complains as she follows her friend.

Odd is trying to make Kiwi sit still in his backpack. "Kiwi, stop wiggling around! Five more minutes and you can run around all you want to!"

Amy can't help but laugh at the display as she and Aelita arrive, Kiki already in her bag.

"Hey, is everything okay, Aelita? Are you all settled in?" Jeremy asks.

"Yes, I am, and I love our room. Hey, what's this field trip everybody's talking about?" She wonders, glancing at the 8th and 9th graders.

"You didn't tell her?" Odd glances at Amy.

"I was too busy helping Aelita settle in to remember," Amy deadpans at him.

"We're gonna make a biodiversity scrapbook. Ms. Hertz wants us to take pictures and to draw plants and flowers. That kind of thing. You and I have been paired up to work together," Jeremy smiles.

"Great," she agrees, "What about you, Amy, do you have a partner?"

"You're looking right at him," Odd jerks a thumb at himself, Jeremy and Aelita glancing at each other with a smirk.

Amy shrugs slowly. "What can I say? He's my best friend, after all, and our dogs haven't had a playdate in a while."

"Anyone seen Ulrich?" Odd looks around.

"He's under the arches," Aelita points forward. "I think he's waiting for Yumi."

Ulrich paces around, trying to figure out what to say. He really wanted Yumi to be his partner for this field trip. Maybe then they could get closer and...something could happen.

"Okay, Yumi, there's something I have to tell you. No, that doesn't sound right. Umm, Yumi, there's something serious you and I have to talk about. Nah, she'll freak out if I say that! Right. Yumi!" He turns around, only to see the one and only. "You and I have to-Yumi! I have something to tell you."

"Yo Yumi!"

He looks up to see a boy with black hair, jeans, a red sweater, and a black t-shirt. "Ms. Hertz said okay. We can work together on the field trip."

"Great," Yumi gives a thumbs up while Ulrich glares. "William, do you know Ulrich?"

"Huh. Oh, you're Ulrich Stern. Yumi mentioned you," he says stiffly, as if he didn't want to be friendly. "You ready to go?"

"Coming," she calls out. "Didn't you have something to tell me?"

"I'll tell you later," Ulrich says grumpily.

"See you later," She leaves with William, Ulrich growing upset.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Odd and Amy appear suddenly. "Everyone's leaving. We have to be back by 6."

"Who is that guy?" Ulrich stares at William.

"Oh who, him? That's William. He's a new guy. He got kicked out of his last school. He's totally cool," Odd explains, but Ulrich doesn't seem to think so. He narrows his eyes as he's way cooler than William...

"Why'd you have to go and tell him that?" Amy hits Odd in the arm.

"Ow!"

"Come on Ulrich, I'll just tell Ms. Hertz that you couldn't find a partner and we can be a group," Amy offers as the two start to leave.

* * *

They arrive at the park, Jeremy and Aelita lagging behind. "Did you know the trees grow new branches from one year to the next according to an exponential ratio of 1.6?" Jeremy asks her, trying to impress her. Sissi looks annoyed as she and her flunkies walk behind them.

"1.618, to be exact. It's the golden ratio. Say, do you think nature obeys nonlinear equation systems?" She replies back.

"Can you believe those two? Who do they think they are anyway?" Sissi asks, further annoyed. "Mr. and Mrs. Einstein?"

"Uh, hm?" Nicholas inquires in confusion as he wasn't paying attention. Sissi walks away from the park and into the street.

"Hey Sissi, where are you going? The woods are in this way," Herb jerks a thumb behind him.

"Yes, but the stores are that way," Sissi points forward. She wasn't gonna participate as she's planning on going shopping instead.

"But we're supposed to draw plants," Herb looks down at his notepad.

"There's a florist in the shopping center," Sissi replies.

"Oh," Herb says as he realizes that she's not gonna go into the woods.

"Eh, there aren't any monsters in these woods," Jeremy denies to Aelita's fears. "That only happens in fairy tales or in silly horror pictures. Ha, the kind that Odd likes."

"You don't like horror films?" Aelita asks curiously.

"I find them inaccurate scientifically speaking," he informs her. "Anyway, I don't have time to go to the movies. I've got my work cut out for me with XANA!" He reaches for his laptop, but doesn't find it in his backpack. "Huh?! Oh no, I don't believe it! I left my laptop in my room. What if XANA attacks?"

"Well, run back and get it. I'll just keep working by myself. Anyway, with the drawings we've already done, I'm sure we'll get the highest grade," Aelita smiles at him.

"That is if Amy beats us to it. She's got the highest grade in her art class. Be right back!" He runs down the path and she waves at him.

"Bye."

Ulrich is spying on Yumi and William with his camera, zooming in on them. "Oh, stop freaking out. You know Yumi's crazy about you," Odd dismisses Ulrich's paranoia.

"That's what you think. Actually, I have no idea," he turns his head to Odd and Amy. They're playing with their dogs as they sit next to each other.

"I can't figure you guys out. Are you going out together or not?" Odd turns around.

"Um, not really," Ulrich frowns, glancing at them. "It's complicated. Right now, I'll bet he's completely snowing her. Hey, why are you bothering me about Yumi anyway, what about you and A-"

"HEY! This isn't about me," Odd interrupts, Amy looking at them in confusion as she draws.

"What landmine have I stepped on?" She asks herself, closing her eyes as she shakes her head.

"I wouldn't really call myself a rebel," William says to Yumi's claim as he looks up. "I'm just a little rebellious."

"Well you did manage to get yourself kicked out of your last school putting posters all over the place," Yumi points out.

"I object, your honor," William holds up his pencil. "Extenuating circumstances, they were love letters."

"You mean love makes you crazy?" Yumi asks, pointing her pencil at him.

"Makes me totally insane," he tells her and she finds herself blushing. He looks away to draw some more and she looks back at her notebook, finding him interesting.

Aelita looks around the forest, growing anxious as Jeremy has yet to return. She gasps as she hears something flapping in the sky. There's a rustle behind her and she holds in a breath, but sees nothing. Another one makes her turn her eyes to the right.

"Monsters only exist in fairy tales," she remembers what Jeremy said. "Monsters only exist in fairy tales." She sucks in a gasp and continues moving forward with the notebook, but a howl causes her to run. Her head starts to hurt and she drops the notebook, getting a vision of a wolf. She gasps as she sees the animal and being frightened, she takes off in a panic.

In the ice sector, two Tarantulas are guarding an activated tower.

Jeremy comes back in time to hear the urgent beeps from his laptop. "Oh!" He looks at his computer, confirming his fear. "Just what I was afraid of! XANA is attacking!"

* * *

"I don't think I have to remind you that we haven't done a single drawing since we got here," Odd points out to Ulrich as he scratches Kiwi's neck. "I don't even wanna think about the grade we're gonna get."

"Go ahead, you draw. You and Amy are better at it than I am," Ulrich dismisses it, still watching Yumi.

"This is stalking," Amy sings as she opens her notebook. "But I think I drew enough..."

"Wow!" Odd snatches it, seeing the full notebook. "Oh, this is definitely gonna help our grade! Thank you, Ames!" Odd tackles her to the ground in a hug.

"Odd!" She giggles as she lands on the grass. They continue laughing until they notice their position. The two blush at each other as Amy looks at Odd's eyes. Ulrich gets a phone call and answers it.

"Jeremy?"

"I'm at school," Jeremy reports, gathering his things. "XANA's attacking! I'll head for the factory, but you guys have to pick up Aelita along the way."

"No problem, we'll go and get her," Ulrich says as he stares at Odd and Amy.

"I left her on the red trail," Jeremy informs him. "Is Yumi with you?"

"No," Ulrich says in anger. "I'd rather you call her yourself. See you in a minute."

"Ames, I...wow..." Odd mutters, attempting to apologize, but he can't say anything. Which is weird for him, as he's always had no trouble talking to her before. It was something about her eyes that just made him unable to speak...something that he never noticed before.

"Actually, I don't do anything halfway. No way, it's all or nothing with me. I just can't bring myself to be sensible. But hey, being sensible is just not sensible," William recites.

"You stole that line from the Subsonics," Yumi calls him out on that last line.

"You listen to them?" William asks in surprise.

"Yeah they're awesome," she says simply before getting a phone call. She answers it. "Yes?"

William looks up, having barely done any drawing. "Well, it's about time we got back to work, huh?" He stands up, but Yumi is no longer there. "Yumi? Yumi?"

Aelita pants as she's stopped running and discovers an old house across the street. She approaches the gate and tiptoes to peek inside. Turning to the side, she notices an old sign, the first letter having been decayed away.

"The Hermitage."

She starts to have visions of the house being kept in well condition. Aelita walks up to the house cautiously. "Is...is anybody home?"

A camera zeroes in on her, having the XANA symbol.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Odd asks skeptically, as they don't find Aelita.

"That's what Jeremy told me." Kiwi and Kiki sniff the notebook on the ground.

"Well, either she wandered off or Jeremy gave us faulty directions," Amy places her hands on her hips.

"Look," Odd notices the dogs. "Let's follow 'em."

"Are you sure?" Ulrich wonders as they follow the two animals.

"He may be a little dumb, but he does have a good nose," Odd explains.

"The nose knows," Amy taps her nose and Ulrich hears a noise, turning around to confront the intruder. However, it's just Yumi.

"Hey," she smiles at him, but he doesn't say anything. "Nervous, aren't we? What a warm welcome, nice."

"Yumi we can't find Aelita," Odd calls out.

* * *

Aelita opens the door to the Hermitage. The interior is dark with most of the furnishings destroyed beyond repair. She explores around, noting the dust that felt like it's been there for a long time. Maybe even longer than when she was on Lyoko. A dark spectre starts to follow her. She finds herself sitting in the middle of what looked to be a living room. The shadows start to overtake the walls and Aelita stands up, sensing something wrong. Piano music can be heard as she gets another vision of a man playing the instrument. She didn't recognize him as he has gray hair and what looks to be a white lab coat.

He's playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and she stares at him in wonder. She starts sweating as she tries to make sense of the visions. Aelita hears something and turns around, screaming as she's attacked by XANA.

"Don't tell me you haven't found her yet," Jeremy says in concern. "What have you guys been doing, she may be in big danger!"

"Chill Jeremy, okay? We're doing everything we can," Odd tells him as they stand in front of the Hermitage's fence. "Who knows? Maybe Aelita just went back to school. Kiwi and Kiki led us to an old house in the woods. We're gonna take a look inside. We'll call you back if we have any news." And with that he hangs up, Jeremy growing worried, but also intrigued by the house.

XANA sees them walk up the stairs and they enter the house.

"Aelita?" Ulrich calls out. The door suddenly closes behind them, shattering the window. Odd drops his backpack, trying to open it.

"I already don't like this," Amy narrows her eyes, looking around.

"It's locked," he tells them.

"No signal," Ulrich looks at his phone. Suddenly, a dresser is moving in their direction in a fast pace.

"Look out," Yumi warns them, pushing the others out of the way. The dresser hits the door and breaks into pieces, the gang having dodged it.

"That way," Ulrich points forward and they run down the hall. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"XANA," Yumi guesses as they look at the damage.

"Yeah, and that means Aelita must be here somewhere," Odd looks around.

"Get down!" Amy shouts, pushing Odd out of the way of incoming knives and tongs. They all stand up, only to be attacked with more household objects.

"Hey Odd, watch out!" Ulrich warns and Odd ducks his head from a flying lamp. They run down the stairs.

"Looks like XANA's trying to lead us somewhere," Yumi deduces and she's correct as they see someone in the distance on the floor.

"Aelita!"

Ulrich and Yumi help her up. "Don't worry princess, we're here." She wakes up and sees him.

"Ulrich. It's a trap. XANA, he's going to..." She gasps as the door is about to close. Odd manages to stop it with his foot.

"Get Aelita out," he struggles with the door, Aelita crawling out underneath him. Amy follows, but as Odd tries to keep it open, the door moves, causing him to fall out of the room. This traps Yumi and Ulrich inside. They try to pull it open as the temperature rises.

"You'll be cooked alive if we don't get you out of there!" Odd yells in panic. Aelita, Amy, and Odd struggle from their side to get it open, but the door doesn't budge.

"Odd!" Ulrich shouts from inside. "Run to the factory with Aelita and Amy. Deactivate the tower, it's our only hope."

"Come on!" Odd grabs Aelita and Amy's hands, pulling them down the hall. They try to get out through another door, but that one is locked as well. "I knew it. Now we'll have to go above ground. Wait!"

Another object comes hurling towards them and Odd pushes the girls away, jumping over it and landing safely.

Yumi tries again to open the door when she hears the cabinet crashing against the other locked one. Odd smiles when he sees the two dogs when the crash has caused a hole. "Kiwi!"

"Kiki!" The two dogs jump in their owners' arms. Aelita turns around and notices a door. She gets a vision of a passageway through that door which leads to the sewers.

"Ah! Amy, Odd, there's a passage over there. I...I think it leads to the sewers!" She informs them.

"This is no time for jokes, Aelita," Odd dismisses it.

"I'm not joking, Odd. I'm sure," She says seriously. Odd stares at it and Amy shrugs slowly.

"That's not something she'd make up for no reason, so I believe her..." The brunette opens the door as Aelita's theory is proven correct.

"Wow. Incredible," Odd comments in surprise. "How did you know about this?"

While inside the boiler room, Ulrich and Yumi are slowly getting hotter. He knew they were slowly boiling, but he had to know if he had to fight for her. "Yumi, I, uh..."

"Forget it, Ulrich. I should've told you about William sooner," She murmurs.

"Yeah, that would've been better," He admits, looking away.

After going through the sewers, Amy, Odd, and Aelita have reached the factory and the doors open. Aelita smiles at him and he turns around.

"Aelita! I was really worried," He says in relief.

"No time to lose, Einstein," Odd holds up a hand to stop him. "Otherwise Ulrich and Yumi will end up like dim sum."

"Okay, head for the scanners. I'll start the process," Jeremy gets to work. Odd glances at Amy as they're going down to the scanner room, noticing she's been almost silent.

"Ames? You okay? If this is about earlier, I..."

"No, it's fine," Amy shakes her head. "It just...happened."

"What did happen?" Aelita wonders and they both look away bashfully.

"Nothing."

When they reach the scanners, they step inside them. "Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. Transfer Odd. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

All three are virtualized and they land safely in the ice sector. The OverRunner, Overwing, and Overboard are materialized in front of them.

"_Aelita, the Overwing is for you."_

"Jeremy, I thought I told you no race cars," Amy points out, hands on her hips.

"_Hey, I made these vehicles for weeks, so the least you could do is use them."_

"Whatever. Bossy Einstein," She mutters, crossing her arms.

"_I heard that."_

"Our taxis are waiting for us. Let's go," Odd jumps onto his board and Amy backflips into her race car.

Aelita jumps onto the Overwing and follows after the two. "Tower dead ahead."

"Be careful. You've got two Tarantulas guarding it," Jeremy warns as behind a structure, the tower can be seen.

"We'll never be able to fight our way through _two _of those horrors," Odd states, Amy shaking her head.

"We'd have to be invisible."

"Maybe I can lure away one of them," Aelita smiles smugly and the two catch on, smiling back.

"Aelita, what are you planning on doing?" Jeremy wonders.

"_She's gonna steal the show_," Is all Odd says.

Ulrich and Yumi start sweating, the older girl glancing at him as he has his shirt off. She says nothing, as the heat was starting to get to her.

"Go ahead. I won't look," He tells her, his back turned to her. Yumi slips her shirt off, pressing her back to him. They both blush, smiling slightly.

Back on Lyoko, Aelita is flying over to the tower with the Overwing. The two Tarantulas see her and immediately sit up to fire.

"Well, my little monster friends, did ya miss me?" She waves with a wink and one Tarantula looks to the other. His pal gestures for him to follow after Aelita while he stayed there. The first Tarantula goes after Aelita, and she grins. It stands up and fires, Aelita flying around to dodge them. One of them hits the Overwing and she stumbles to a stop. She gasps as she looks at the monster behind her, running off. She stops at the edge and the Tarantula prepares to fire.

"Whoo hoo. Surprise!" Odd comes out of nowhere and fires repeatedly, getting rid of the pesky creature.

"_They're not all that invincible." _One of the Tarantulas disappears from Jeremy's screen. He smiles at their progress. Odd can't fire anymore, as he's out of arrows. "Uh oh. Jeremy, I'm all out of ammo."

"Okay, I'll reload you, be patient."

"We're gonna have to keep the monsters busy. Wait for my signal to run. Hey, where's Ames?" Odd looks around as he steps on his Overboard.

"Gotcha. And over there," Aelita points to the other Tarantula. A third one has showed up. Amy sneaks up behind one, having her blue bow in hand.

"Sapphire Arrow!" She fires an army of arrows at one, destroying it. Odd flies over to her.

"Yu...Yumi?" Ulrich asks as the increasing heat is getting to the both of them. "Uh...what's, um...really going on...between you and, uh, William?"

"...Nothing at all. He's just...just a friend." Ulrich passes out on the floor.

Odd makes himself seen in front of the Tarantula, which fires at him and he moves to the left. Odd flies above it, grabbing his board from behind and tilting backwards, spinning around the tower. Amy flies around it with her wings.

"Done. You're fully loaded." Odd now has 10,000 arrows.

"Great, Jeremy. Breaking off," They fly away from the tower, Aelita peeking over the ledge. Odd and Amy turn back around, firing their weapons.

"Aelita!" They call out. "Now!"

Aelita goes off running and the two dodge the incoming lasers. Odd fires as fast as he can, two lasers destroying the Overboard and Amy's wings, causing her to fall. Amy groans slightly as he looks at her.

"You okay, Ames?"

She nods and he stands up, Aelita continuing to run. Odd runs forward, continuing to fire, both of them looking to see Aelita about to enter the tower.

"Yes!" They cheer, the Tarantula turning around to see Aelita entering the tower.

The thermostat is starting to break as Aelita floats to the top.

Yumi kneels on the floor, about to fall unconscious.

Aelita logs in to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

Yumi passes out next to Ulrich.

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated," Aelita states as the data disappears. Jeremy activates the return to the past before Yumi and Ulrich are about to die from the heat. "Return to the past now!" Everything, including the Hermitage is engulfed in white.

* * *

Everyone has completed their assignment, having returned to the school. Ms. Hertz stares at Sissi's, which is poorly drawn. "Mmm, congratulations, Miss Delmas. You found an Amazonian Yucca, here in our woods?" She gives a smug look, knowing that she slacked off.

"Ah, yeah, and it wasn't easy either," Sissi states nervously.

"Is that so? Well, I think It's going to be much easier grading your work. Zero," She hands the notebook back to Sissi's shock, Odd, Amy, and Ulrich passing them.

"So, did you manage to get any drawing done this time?" Jeremy wonders curiously.

"Yeah, but we had to drag Ulrich far away from Yumi and William," Odd explains. "Going back in time didn't change anything there. We got a 100 thanks to Ames!" Odd wraps an arm around her shoulder and she smiles.

"All in a day's work."

Ulrich glances at Yumi and William saying goodbye to each other from the corner of his eye. He looks away as she approaches the group.

"I went to check out that house, the Hermitage," Jeremy gives his report, "Nothing to report. It's gone back to being a normal house. Abandoned, but normal."

"It's so weird. All those visions I had there," Aelita comments.

"Not to mention the underground passage that you knew about," Odd points out. Aelita thinks back to the Hermitage.

"It's as if I'd already seen that house, in a dream," She says in thought.

"A new mystery to solve for us," Yumi remarks.

"By the way, uh, Aelita?" Jeremy holds out a present. "This is for you. It's to keep us one step ahead of XANA."

"For me?" Aelita opens it to see a cell phone.

"This way we can always stay in touch, heh heh. I thought that pink would suit you," She holds up a pink cell phone.

"Wow, looks cool. It matches your hair," Odd states. Aelita happily hugs Jeremy.

"Thank you, Jeremy."

"There you go. You're like a regular school kid now," Odd comments, to which they all laugh.


	30. Uncharted Territory

In the woods, someone with an elf-like appearance is running through the woods. It's a little boy with elf ears and a pointy hat. Wolves are chasing after him. He runs as fast as he can to get away from them, looking back once as he ventures further north. The boy stops in his tracks when he sees another menacing wolf sitting on top of a rock. He gasps sharply and backs away slightly, the other four wolves catching up with him. The boy turns around to see them and takes off in another direction, the wolves not stopping in their pursuit of him, of course. While looking back, he trips and tumbles to a stop, but keeps going. He sees a tree with a hole small enough to fit him and he crawls inside. The wolves look around, but there is seemingly no sign of their prey. The elf-like child, hoping for them to leave, sits quietly in the hole.

One of them notices his presence and he gasps as the wolf bares his teeth at him.

But it turns out that the event was all a nightmare from the recently new Earth inhabitant, Aelita. She lets out a scream, opening her eyes. She sits up in her bed, trying to make sense of what just happened. Amy wakes up, turning to her.

"Aelita?"

"Oh..." Aelita rubs her temple. "I'm sorry, Amy."

"What happened?" Amy stands up and lets out Kiki to feed her.

"I had the nightmare...I'll tell you about it later, I don't wanna talk about it right now."

Amy looks to be understanding of that and nods, petting Kiki. "Go and hit the showers, okay? I'll meet you there after I deal with my little Kiki."

Kiki barks at her, jumping into her arms. Aelita nods with a small smile. Amy was really understanding and never got mad or impatient despite Aelita's lack of Earth knowledge. In fact, she helped Aelita every single time she needed it, and Aelita couldn't ask for a better roommate. They also help each other with homework every now and then.

Jeremy's printer prints a single sheet of paper that has a signature on it. "Now, let's see." He takes one glance and is already amazed. "Wow! Unbelievable!" The door opens behind him.

"Come on, Jeremy, let's get a move on," Ulrich warns him, Odd standing nearby. "Otherwise there won't be any hot water left."

"Hey, remember the Hermitage?" Jeremy changes the subject, as he's been used to doing his routine later than usual in the morning.

"The house where Aelita had those visions? Bad memory, Jeremy," Ulrich answers, and the Hermitage wasn't something they talked about ever since they were in the dwelling.

"Right. Well I wanted to check it out a little closer, and I found out something amazing!" Jeremy had done some investigating and hacking on the internet last night.

"What would really be 'amazing' is that there are still some eggs left when we get down to breakfast," Odd states, wanting to eat as soon as possible.

"Odd, you're a real walking stomach, you know that?" Jeremy remarks while typing.

"And you're a walking brain. You see, we compliment each other," Odd jokes, Jeremy not looking amused as his two friends smile widely with laughs.

"I did a little research to find out who that old house belonged to, and I came across a restricted access site," Jeremy explains as they step out of the room with towels around their shoulders. "It took me most of the night to hack into it, but it was worth it! I found a deed signed by a Mr. Franz Hopper. Seems that he's the owner."

"And you think it has something to do with Lyoko?" Ulrich wonders.

"Ulrich, there's a secret underground passage into the sewers from his yard, believe it or not," Odd informs them, remembering what Aelita insisted on. "So the guy must have had something to do with the supercomputer!"

"Exactly. So I did a search on Franz Hopper and guess what? He was a science teacher right here at Kadic Academy!" Jeremy reveals. "Is that weird or what?"

Aelita steps out to the girls' bathroom for a shower, only to find a long line for it. Most of the girls look exhausted or bored. Sissi steps out of the showers, having made everyone wait. "Ha," She flips her hair, fully clothed.

"Finally, it's about time."

"Every morning, it's the same thing," Milly complains.

"Yeah, but things can start moving now that Sissi's done," Tamiya remarks, Sissi walking past them.

"Shut up, kiddies," She retorts, not wanting to have kids gossip about her. Honestly, to her, it was a waste of time. The two 8th graders stick their tongues out mockingly at her. Sissi then notices Aelita, who's at the back of the line, waiting for her roommate. "Poor thing. You'll be here for another 2 hours." She places her arm around the shorter girl, leaning in. "Why not go upstairs? There's some showers free up there and not a girl in sight."

Aelita thinks about Amy, as she still wasn't there, but decides that she could take a shower and wait for her. She walks over to the double doors, Sissi having a sly look on her face.

Amy steps out of her room, her green towel over her shoulders. She glances at her closed drawer. "Okay Kiki, I'm off. Be good, okay?"

She hears a muffled bark and smiles, closing the door. She steps into the hallway where the other girls wait for their turn, but doesn't see her friend.

"Huh? Where's Aelita?"

The pink-haired girl steps into another door, but gets shouts from her guy friends; it's the boys' bathroom. Ulrich gently escorts her out.

"The girls' showers are downstairs, Aelita," Odd tells her. Just then, Jim runs up.

"Aelita Stones, hey! What do you think you're doing here?" He demands, hands on his hips.

"Please go easy on her, Jim," Ulrich states, "She's new here."

"Right, well, new or not, a young lady has no business in the boys' showers!"

Herb, Sissi, and Nicholas sneak in on the conversation. "But, uh, I thought that..."

"I don't wanna hear your excuses! Pull that again, and you go straight to the principal's office!" He warns, walking away with a huff. He walks past Sissi and her gang, who has a triumphant look on her face.

"Well, Miss Einstein, it's just like I said, huh? Not a single girl in these showers."

Amy steps into the hall, wearing her pink silk bathrobe and realizes the situation.

"Sissi, we're sick of your bad jokes, so chill. Can't you give Aelita a break for once?" Ulrich speaks on her behalf. "You knew she'd believe you, right?"

"What can I say? Ulrich, sweetie, she's gonna have to adapt, isn't she? It's a jungle out there," she informs, Amy glaring with her arms crossed.

"That was low, even for you. How fair is that?" She asks, everyone just now realizing she was there. Odd has to hold back a blush from her clothing. Amy looks at him and hides her blush from his upper body...

"You can say that again, I'm looking a big baboon right now!" The four break into a laugh.

"Shut up, you!" She shouts, walking away.

"Sissi's such a brat," Odd comments as he steps back into the shower. "And to think you guys actually kissed once."

"Ew," Amy sticks out her tongue.

"Hey, cool it, huh? That's ancient history," Ulrich explains behind the door, Aelita thinking about what Sissi said. She hasn't been there long, and she still doesn't know what she's doing. How was she going to learn if she's never been to a school?

Amy places an arm around her shoulder. "Come on, Aelita."

* * *

"So, you think the owner of the Hermitage and the science teacher are the same person?" Yumi wonders, having been informed of what Jeremy's discovered.

"Well, let's face it, huh? Finding two guys called Franz Hopper in a radius of less than half a mile, which should be a real coincidence," Ulrich replies, as it was a coincidence that Franz Hopper just happened to be the owner of a house not too far from where he worked.

"Anyway, there's only one way to be sure," Jeremy suggests, "After history class, we have a study period in the library. What do you say we do a little research of the Kadic Academy archives?"

"Good idea," Odd comments.

"I'll go with you," Aelita offers, Jeremy turning to her.

"I don't think that's a good idea," He explains, to Aelita's confusion. "You already got into trouble in the showers this morning. If Jim catches you snooping around in the archives, you'll be suspended for sure," He walks off with the boys. "Okay, see you later. We'll meet you in the cafeteria."

Yumi glances at Amy and then Aelita, who looks worried. "Are you alright, Aelita?"

"Ah, I can't get used to living here," Aelita confides, "I had another nightmare last night. The same one."

"You haven't even been here for a week yet," Yumi assures her. "You'll see, you'll feel better in no time."

"Yumi's right," Amy smiles at her. "Besides, you haven't experienced everything. Just because Sissi said something doesn't mean you have to listen to her."

Aelita smiles back, feeling a little relieved.

* * *

Jeremy, Odd, and Ulrich, dash over to the faculty building, sneaking past the principal's secretary. Jeremy opens the door, looking around for anyone while the other two keep a look out outside. The blond Einstein walks up to the file cabinet. "E, F, G, H. H for Hopper." He opens the 'F-O' section, the secretary humming as she's planning on going inside the office.

"Oh shoot," Ulrich mutters, walking up to her with Odd. They both smile widely.

"Shouldn't you be in class? Well, children?" She asks for an explanation.

"We're looking for, uh, a teacher," Ulrich lies.

"Oh really? Which one?" The secretary wonders, eager to help out the students.

"Ms. Meyer," Ulrich says at the same time Odd says, "Mr. Chardin." This confuses the secretary, needless to say.

"Hopper, Hopper," Jeremy murmurs to himself as he opens up a folder. He pulls out the deed to the Hermitage and holds it against the paperwork. "Bingo." He opens the door slightly.

"Come to think of it, at this time of day, if you can't find your teachers, it probably means they're in class," The secretary suggests. Jeremy closes the door, making his presence known.

"It's okay, guys. I found Ms. Hertz." He walks past the secretary, waving. "Ma'am." Odd and Ulrich follow after him, the secretary shrugging it off.

* * *

Past noon, it's lunchtime, Aelita on her own as Amy had to check on Kiki first. She's unfamiliar with the workings of a cafeteria.

"Hey," Another student interrupts her train of thought. "What are you waiting for?"

She slides her tray and looks at what to pick.

"Come on, huh? Would you move it?" She turns to the impatient students next to her and slides further to Rosa.

"Well sweetie, franks and beans or steak and potatoes?"

She doesn't even know what she wants as she stammers. "Uh, well, uh..."

The other students protest for their hunger and Rosa glares at them to be quiet. After all, Aelita was still new and they needed to be nicer. She looks back to see that Aelita has left the line.

"My turn."

"About time."

"Boy, that was a close one," Odd lets out a breath of relief.

"No doubt about it. I compared the teacher's signature with the one on the property deed I found on the internet. They're the same," Jeremy smiles at his progress.

"Hmm, what if we had a look around the Hermitage to find out more about this teacher?" Ulrich suggests.

"Good idea," Jeremy agrees.

"But aren't we supposed to meet Aelita and Ames in the cafeteria now?" Odd asks in worry, as Aelita's had some trouble adjusting.

"It'll only take a minute. They won't mind waiting a little."

Jeremy is wrong as Aelita looks lonely and uncomfortable by herself. She looks up to see Yumi with a tray. "Yumi!" She was about to run up to her, but stops as Yumi plans to sit with someone else: William. She gives up trying to get lunch as more people would complain and steps outside.

"So, going back to the great white north?" Sissi is standing in front of the cafeteria, planning on going in.

Aelita looks distressed as she's fed up with not making any progress on fitting in. "Why not? At least I feel at home there!" She runs off into the woods, crying.

Jeremy, Ulrich, and Odd arrive at the Hermitage. "Still looks as creepy as ever," Ulrich comments, "What are we looking for?"

"How should I know?" Jeremy questions, as there doesn't seem to be much left that's salvageable, especially since the last attack. "If this Franz Hopper guy has anything to do with XANA, maybe we'll find some information about Aelita's virus for a start."

He looks around what looks like an abandoned library, the two boys following him.

"Well?" Ulrich wonders.

"Not much. Physics textbooks. Planck, Heisenberg. Hey." Odd and Ulrich grow intrigued by his sudden interest in one of the books. "What's this doing here?"

"The Tunic Wars?" Ulrich reads the title. "What's that?"

"Punic, not Tunic," Jeremy corrects him. "The war between the Romans and the Carthaginians. We studied it last year. Don't you remember anything?"

"No," Ulrich answers.

"You really are lame in history," Odd raises an eyebrow smugly, Ulrich glaring at him. He already knew how poor he was in grades and paying attention.

"See all these notes?" Jeremy looks at the scribbled pages. "I'm sure Hopper wrote them."

At the factory, an automatic transfer is launched. Aelita stands in front of the scanner, sure of her decision. She steps into the scanner and the process is started, sending her off.

* * *

"Quiet, please," Ms. Hertz states. "Where's Aelita Stones? Jeremy, Amelia, do you know why Aelita isn't here?"

"Aelita?!" They both exclaim, looking around to see that she's not in class. He looks at Odd, who is equally confused. "Um, sorry, ma'am, I don't."

"I didn't see her at lunch today when I got there, I thought she was with you," Amy whispers, Jeremy shaking his head no.

"Well I do, ma'am," Sissi speaks up. "She went back to Canada."

"Canada?!" Jeremy exclaims, not knowing what she meant by that.

"Yeah, that's what she told me. She even said 'at least I feel at home there,' " she replies to Jeremy's shock.

"Elizabeth, if you continue to disrupt the class, I warn you, I will send you to your father's office," Ms. Hertz tells her off.

"It's Sissi! Not Elizabeth, I hate being called Elizabeth," She mutters angrily.

"Ma'am, um," Jeremy places a hand on his head, feeling lightheaded. "I don't feel very well. Can I please go to the infirmary?"

"Of course, Jeremy."

"Can we take him?" Odd, Amy, and Ulrich question at the same time.

"Well, oh...oh, alright then. But don't dilly-dally!"

Jeremy runs down the hall. "Jeremy, wait!" Odd calls out. "Hey!"

"Where are you going?" Ulrich asks.

"What's going on?" Amy demands.

"To the factory!" Jeremy answers.

"You think Aelita's there?" Odd questions in concern.

"She told Sissi she was going back to Canada. I think she meant 'I'm going back to the place I came from,' which means Lyoko," Jeremy explains, already growing worried more and more by the second. With the new Tarantulas, who knows what could happen to her? She has no way of fighting.

Aelita is in the forest sector, sulking around and thinking to herself. She's quickly met with a Blok, backing away slowly.

They've arrived at the lab and Jeremy sits in his chair. He localizes Aelita's location within the forest sector. "Okay, I found her. She virtualized herself all on her own."

"That's pretty weird. Why would she do that?" Odd questions.

"Maybe she got homesick," Ulrich suggests.

"Does Yumi know?" Jeremy asks on where she is.

"I left her a message," Ulrich tells him.

"Get to the scanner room, hurry!" Amy presses the button, closing the door. Jeremy holds his microphone. "Aelita, can you hear me? Answer me!"

She's too much in shock to say a word, as the Blok advances further. Aelita gasps and breaks off into a run, the Blok somehow keeping in pace with her.

The doors open to the lab, revealing a wet-haired Yumi, which means she was at the pool. "Oh, Yumi!"

"I got the message at the swimming pool," She states, "What's going on?"

"Run to the scanner room. Amy, Odd, and Ulrich are already there, I'll explain everything later," He says quickly.

"Jeremy!" Aelita cries out. "Help!"

"Aelita, don't worry. The others are on the way." Jeremy starts up the virtualization process. "The girls will go first. Transfer Amy. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Amy. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization."

Yumi and Amy are virtualized, landing safely. The boys land behind them, looking around as there's no sign of Aelita.

"_Do you see her?"_

"Not yet," Ulrich tells him.

"_She's due north."_

"Let's go," Ulrich says to the others and they take off running, Amy using her wings. Aelita is cornered by a Krab and the Blok.

"Jeremy! I'm surrounded!"

"Hurry up!" Jeremy warns the others, "Aelita has fallen into a trap!"

Aelita sees a path where she would have to jump, but it was her only option. She leaps across the gap as the monsters fire, hanging on to the edge.

The other Lyoko Warriors continue on, not having found her yet or any monsters. "Go ahead, Ulrich and Ames," Odd tells the two. "With your speed and her wings, you'll get there first."

"You're right."

"Too late," Yumi states and they come to a stop. They turn to the geisha and she points down the path. "Krabs."

She's right as a Krab approaches them. "Oh great. And just when I thought this would be easy," Amy deadpans.

"_There's another one behind you!"_

"Okay, battle stations," Ulrich orders as he looks behind him.

Aelita manages to pull herself up before she's hit, running down the path. "Aelita's bought some time," Jeremy reports, having seen her get up.

"Your move, Amy and Odd," Ulrich informs, pulling out his sword. Odd kneels down to a crouching position.

"I love this."

"Me, not so much."

One Krab fires and he runs on his four limbs, climbing up a tree and leaping. Amy slides underneath the monster. The Krab fires at him while Yumi backflips underneath the other one. She pulls out her fan, throwing it while Ulrich uses his super sprint to slice off the Krab's leg. Yumi's fan hits the target, destroying it.

Odd jumps around the tree to avoid the lasers. He jumps to another one and leaps off. "Laser Arrow!" He fires three of them.

"Venus Gobbler!" Amy holds out a hand, letting a Venus plant grow and swallow the Krab in its mouth. An explosion happens inside its mouth and the plant lowers down back into the digital sea.

"Nice going, guys. But hurry it up! The Bloks are catching up to Aelita," Jeremy warns.

"What are you waiting for? Call us a taxi," Odd tells him.

"It's on the way. And YES, Amy, you are using yours!"

Amy crosses her arms with a huff.

Aelita has reached the edge of the sector, finding herself trapped with the Bloks. "Hurry, Jeremy."

"Vehicle materialization," Jeremy presses enter and their vehicles appear in front of their owners.

"Here we go!" Odd hops on his Overboard, flying off with the others. Amy backflips into her OverRunner.

A rock falls from Aelita's foot. "_The others are coming to get you." _She almost slips, looking down at the Digital Sea. Suddenly, a white orb with the eye of XANA appears out of nowhere. Aelita lets out a scream. "Aelita!"

Odd and Amy arrive at the edge of the sector first, where Aelita is not there. "What? She's already gone? She must really be mad at us."

"_This is no time for jokes, Odd,_" Jeremy scolds him as Yumi and Ulrich arrive. "_I've lost Aelita from my screens!_"

"You-you mean she's..."

"No, I...I doubt it," Jeremy answers, interrupting Yumi. He did NOT want to think of that scenario. "I think she's just...disappeared from the screens as if...wait," He types away, "What's going on?!"

"_You mind explaining_?" Amy wonders, but he doesn't answer her question.

"Got it! I got a signal! A very weak one, but...hey. That's strange. Aelita's not in this sector anymore. _She's not in any sector, actually_."

"Wait," Ulrich holds up a hand, confused. "Can you explain that a little better?"

"_No, not really. Let's just say she's in a sector...that doesn't exist. A 5__th__ sector._"

"Huh? A 5th sector?" Odd asks, chuckling slightly. "Have you gone bananas or what?"

"How can there be a 5th sector that we didn't know about? There was only 4 when we first discovered Lyoko," Amy explains in disbelief.

"No, if I could just fix this thing. Maybe I..." A new interface pops up in front of him. "Welcome to Carthage?"

Aelita wakes up in a blue room, siting up as the XANA symbol is underneath her. The walls around her spin around and she feels movement as the walls come to a stop right in front of her, enabling a door to appear. She looks in awe, as she's never seen anything like this when she was on the virtual world. She walks slowly and then runs into the light, being drawn to it.

"Is this gonna take long, Jeremy?" Yumi wonders, as they've been sitting there for a while.

"_I hope not_."

Four Hornets suddenly appear in the skies. "Uh oh, now things are really starting to buzz," Odd jumps onto his Overboard and the four Hornets fire at the Lyoko Warriors as they fly towards their attackers. Odd fires some laser arrows, destroying one. The other three surround Yumi and she pulls out her fan, throwing it to destroy all of them. Ulrich maneuvers past lasers and ducks from an incoming Hornet. He pulls out his sword and jumps into the air. "Super Sprint!" He curls up into a ball at fast speed, destroying the Hornet. He comes to a stop as Amy rides past him, one of the Hornets chasing after her. She keeps one hand on the wheel as she holds out the other to the Hornet.

"Green Luxuriant Ivy!" Vines appear, surrounding the Hornet and destroying it in mid-air.

"Jeremy, what are we doing?" Ulrich calls out.

"Wait, I've got a little problem," Jeremy explains, as he has to figure out a password to get through.

"_That's no biggie as long as it's not a biggie_," Odd replies.

"There's a password," Jeremy states, "Something to do with Carthage, I think."

"_This is no time for a history lesson_!" Ulrich retorts, and that sounds familiar.

"A history lesson. That's exactly what I mean!" He bends down to his backpack and pulls out the book about the Punic Wars from the Hermitage. "That'd be too easy."

Ulrich rides up to a Hornet, destroying it. One of them hits his bike and he stumbles onto the path.

"Laser arrow!" Odd gets rid of another Hornet before flying to dodge a laser from another one.

"Hannibal, Carthage, general, his father, no," Jeremy tries several names from the book, but they don't work.

"_Hey Jeremy_," He looks up at Ulrich's ID card. "_Any day now_."

Jeremy gasps as he realizes the situation they're in. "Hannibal's sister, Salammel?"

Aelita walks up to a dead end...but it's not a dead end as the walls open up a path. She narrows her eyes and walks down the long hallway, glancing at her surroundings. She hears something and turns around to see a new creature. Aelita gasps and runs off, the monster following after her.

"The nemesis of Carthage?" Jeremy suggests after numerous passwords, but nothing sticks. He tries again, but it's the same result. "No dice!"

"_Whenever you're ready, Einstein_!" Odd calls out.

"_Hey, you guys, I'm doing my best_," Jeremy protests as Odd leans back and forth, allowing himself to dodge the lasers. He hits once and falls off his Overboard. Another laser takes out Yumi's Overwing and a third one destroys Amy's OverRunner, causing her to roll to a stop in front of them.

"Jeremy, we're not gonna last much longer," She informs him.

"I'm sure I'm gonna get it," he tells them as the Hornets fly over them.

"Oh no, I can't believe this," Yumi states as they're back-to-back, surrounded by Hornets. Jeremy tries name after name, but all he gets is beeps. He's getting tired of the same noise.

"Are you sure you've tried every single name in that book?" Amy calls out. "Wouldn't it have something to do with Carthage itself?"

"I'm going in circles!" He exclaims in worry, "Welcome to Carthage. Let's see. You've gotta go INTO Carthage..." He glances at the pages. "And if Amy's right...you have to defeat Carthage. Who defeated the Carthaginians? Um...Scipio! S-c-i-p-i-o," He types it in and hopes he's right as he presses enter. "Come on." He finally gets access. "Oh, I can't believe it!"

"Hey, the Hornets are calling it quits," Yumi points out as they fly away.

"Come back, you cowards," Odd calls out, Ulrich and Amy seeing a white orb, like the one with Aelita.

"What's that ball doing there? Huh?" It floats down to them.

"_I think the code word Scipio made it appear,_" Jeremy assumes as it engulfs them.

"Hey." It takes the four all the way to the other side of the forest sector, where wires connect to a bright light. Then they're taken to the new sector, a bunch of code surrounding a large dome with pathways. Through a door and other rooms, they are transported to the same area where Aelita was. The transporter releases them into the room.

"Hey."

"Whoa!"

"Wow."

Odd kneels slightly from the ride.

"How did you do that, Jeremy?" Ulrich wonders.

"_Let's just say I got a little help from Franz Hopper_. And Amy too. Welcome to Sector 5, everyone," Jeremy smiles down at the book.

"_What does it look like_?" Yumi wonders.

"Yeah, I wanna know!" Amy exclaims as she looks around. Her wings have mysteriously disappeared.

"A sphere, that-" Something interrupts him as an interface shows a decreasing countdown that only has less than 2 minutes left. "Uh, it's probably bad news."

Aelita ends up in another room, but there are plenty of new creatures there, even the one that was chasing her. She gasps in horror, backing away...until another monster appears. It looks like a jellyfish with a giant glass dome for a head. She gasps at it as it advances towards her.

"Jeremy," She cries out. "Jeremy!"

"_I think Aelita's being attacked and time is almost up_!" Jeremy reports.

"Can you guide us?" Yumi asks.

"_Take the footbridge behind you. Hurry up! This is no time for sightseeing_!" They run down the door Aelita took.

The jellyfish raises its arms and Aelita gasps, backing away slightly. She screams as it captures her.

"Super sprint!" Ulrich uses his super speed to get there faster.

The jellyfish creature starts to do something to Aelita, connecting some tentacles to her head. He looks to be extracting something from her.

"Hey, what's going on?" Jeremy demands as a blueprint of Aelita's memory appears. Ulrich arrives first.

"Jeremy, there's...this thing in here."

"_Destroy it! That thing is taking away Aelita's memory!_" Yumi pulls out one of her fans and throws it. Ulrich destroys one of the new creatures and Yumi saves Aelita by slicing the tentacles. Ulrich catches Aelita as one of the creatures fires at them.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires two of them, getting rid of one. Amy throws her spear, destroying one. Yumi uses her fan to block lasers while one sneaks up behind Odd. Ulrich and Aelita join them at the top and Odd takes out the one behind him. Ulrich and Aelita join them. Odd takes out the one behind him.

"Something weird is happening. Oh no! That can't be good!"

There's only 30 seconds left on the clock as the room starts moving around. "_Get out of there! Odd, beat it!" _Odd is lifted from a column, but he makes it as they're all trying to get out of the room. It's starting to close in on them as they run. They manage to get out just in time, Odd barely getting squished. "_Just in time!"_

Aelita falls onto the ground, out of breath.

"Now what?" Ulrich asks as they're back where they started.

"Wait, I'm re-entering the code: Scipio." Jeremy enters it and Odd looks up.

"We've got your ticket out of here, Aelita." Odd joins the others as the transporter engulfs them. Jeremy smiles slightly as he sees it taking them out of there. They arrive back at the forest sector.

"And there you go. I'm bringing you in right now. Aelita, all you have to do is get to the tower and I'll rematerialize you," Jeremy smiles slightly. Aelita walks up to the tower and enters it. "Materialization Yumi. Materialization Odd. Materialization Amy. Materialization Ulrich."

Yumi pants slightly, the two boys stepping out. Odd waits in front of his scanner as it opens up again to reveal Amy. She looks exhausted and Jeremy breathes a sigh of relief.

* * *

"You should've seen it, Jeremy," Odd is describing what they saw. "There were all these creepy things and in the middle, this kind of...huge jellyfish holding Aelita." Kiwi growls slightly.

"Can you imagine that thing was stealing my memory?" Aelita holds her head.

"Yeah. One thing is sure, XANA wants to get something out of you. But what? That's what we have to find out."

"I can't wait to go back to the 5th sector. There's so much to explore there," Ulrich comments in excitement.

"I'll go with you. It'll be totally awesome," Yumi agrees, she and Ulrich smiling at each other.

"I wonder what it has to offer," Amy murmurs to herself.

"Not so fast. I have to study it first. For now, it's uncharted territory. Which means it can be totally dangerous!" Jeremy tells them.

"Um, you're not angry at me for going back to Lyoko by myself?" Aelita wonders, feeling self-conscious. "I...I...don't know what got into me. I just needed to-"

"You don't have to explain, Aelita. We understand what happened. And we're not angry at all." Aelita smiles to herself, the others smiling too.

"And I promise that we'll have some fun roommate time," Amy smiles, wrapping an arm around Aelita.

"I also promise to spend more time with you," Jeremy tells her, and they both smile.

"Yeah, and if you want, I'll teach you plenty of ways to tell Sissi to go to-"

"Odd?" They turn to the aforementioned girl. "Do you know what your filthy mutt did in the shower? Oh." She notices them all gathered together, and they don't look happy to see her at all. "What a pretty picture. So you finally found Mrs. Einstein."

Odd grits his teeth at Sissi, since she made his friend upset.

"Yeah, while you were taking your third shower of the day!" Ulrich points at her.

"Well," She flips her hair behind her. "You know, Ulrich dear, a beautiful flower like me needs to be watered off."

"You-" Odd is about to tell her off.

"Yes, you never know. You might just sprout a brain," Aelita quips, Sissi's eyes widening in shock as the others laugh.

"Morons!" She dismisses their laughter, walking.

"I think you can give Odd lessons, Aelita," Ulrich jokes.

"You sure learn fast," Yumi comments as Odd gives Aelita a side hug.


	31. Exploration

Aelita pants as she's running through a path to a tower in the ice sector. _"Aelita, hurry! Yumi's only got 10 life points left!" _Aelita holds out her arms as she's ready to go in. "_Get ready, girls, I'm starting up the de-virtualization process."_

Ulrich and Odd are standing behind Jeremy. They had gotten devirtualized earlier. "Activated towers, Lyoko battles, danger. Aren't you guys starting to get sick of all this?" Ulrich complains.

"No," Jeremy and Odd answer in unison.

"Well sometimes I really wish we were done with XANA," Ulrich murmurs, as his normal life was pretty much less crazy.

"Uh, you missed an episode, Ulrich," Odd looks at him, "Remember Aelita's carrying a miserable virus that links her to our old friend, XANA. Bye bye XANA means bye bye Aelita."

The girls enter into the lab through the elevator, hearing the conversation. "And I don't know how to create an anti-virus," Jeremy states, "I mean, not just yet."

"Hey, I have an idea," Aelita suggests as a thought comes to mind, "Why don't we explore the new mysterious sector we discovered?"

"Sector 5? But we don't know what's in it!" Jeremy protests, as something dangerous could happen to his friends and Aelita...

"Sure we do," Odd starts off, "There are monsters, ultra dangerous traps, and the Scyphozoa, as you call it, that wants to steal Aelita's memory."

"And not to mention that pesky countdown," Amy mutters.

"You're right, but what if there's something else there?" Aelita wonders, "Like information about XANA. We have to go back."

"Good idea. All four of us will go," Ulrich agrees.

"You mean all five of us. I wanna be part of this expedition," Aelita gestures to herself.

"With that Scyphozoa slinking around?" Jeremy stands up, "No way!"

"What if there's a tower to deactivate?" Aelita presses, as she HAD to be there. She has a virus that XANA gave her, she could use information to fight against him as this was personal now. "Think about it. I have to be there."

Odd places a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Einstein, with bodyguards like us, she has nothing to worry about. And I promise to be careful."

"Okay, tomorrow night, exploration," Jeremy declares to Aelita's delight.

When they get to the bridge, it's nighttime, to Yumi's horror. "Oh my gosh, it's so late! My parents must be going bananas. Bye!" She waves to them, running as fast as she could. "See you tomorrow!"

"And as for us, we missed dinner again. And when I think it was spaghetti and meatballs!" Odd complains, Amy rolling her eyes.

"Well...we could go for an ice cream run," Amy grins at him and he pumps his fist.

"Alright! See ya!" Odd waves to the others, taking Amy's hand and running off with her.

"Those two are like one mind and stomach combined," Jeremy shakes his head, Aelita and Ulrich silently agreeing with him.

* * *

Yumi opens the gate to her house and walks up to the front door. She sneaks past a window and opens the door. No one seems to be up and the lights are off. She quietly closes the door...and then the lights turn on. She gasps as she sees her parents at the stairs. Of course they were waiting, they weren't even wearing their pajamas.

"Yumi. We need to talk."

Yumi looks at her cold dinner. "You come home late every single night. Tonight is the last straw. It's past ten o'clock, and you didn't even bother to telephone us!" Her dad scolds, arms crossed.

"And you haven't eaten anything, either. What's going on, dear?" Her mother looks at her in concern, "If you have a problem, you know you can tell us."

Yumi swallows her bite of noodles. "No, really, everything's fine. I was studying math at Mathenia's house, I told you already."

"Mathenia Lecuyer?" Her father asks knowingly.

"Uh huh."

"Hmm, that's strange. When I called her, she was studying...by herself," Mr. Ishiyama explains and she doesn't say anything.

"You're lying to us, Yumi. That's not like you," Mrs. Ishiyama points out. "What's the matter with you? I worry about you, sweetheart. Tell me what's bothering you," She places her hand on top of Yumi's.

"I promise you that everything's just fine. You saw my last report card. It was great, so why worry about me?" She defends, her mother sighing. While Yumi is asleep after dinner, her mother checks in on her, sighing. Yumi didn't always use to be so secretive and she could lose her little girl...She turns out the lights and joins her husband in bed.

"I'm concerned, Takeo."

He sighs, undoing his tie. "We're going to have to get a lot more strict."

* * *

Yumi is walking to school like usual, but she looks embarrassed. "It's nice of you to come with me, but I'm big enough to go to school, really I am." Her parents are walking her side by side.

"You are, huh? If you were, then you would stop lying to us and tell us why you come home so late all the time." Her father retorts.

"Ae you gonna watch me 24 hours a day, is that it? Am I in prison or something?" She asks in concern. If her parents were going to do that, that means she couldn't go to Lyoko anymore.

"We're trying to understand you to protect you," Mrs. Ishiyama explains. They reach the gate, where Sissi and her friends are. She notices Yumi with her parents.

"Oh wow, the entire Ishiyama family," She teases.

"I bet that you'll be picking me up as well?" Yumi asks expectantly.

"I'll be waiting for you here at 5 o'clock. I advise you not to be late," Her father answers, Yumi not answering.

"Oh, isn't that adorable?" Sissi teases, the others laughing as Yumi walks away.

"They're not gonna ease up on me," Yumi is explaining her situation at the vending machine. "Oh, what a mess. The worst thing is that I hate lying to them."

"Just explain to them that we're fighting in a virtual universe against a demonic artificial intelligence. That oughta reassure them." Odd suggests, Yumi narrowing her eyes at him. He smiles to himself as he thought about his ice cream run with Amy. He always has a good time with her...

"Dork," Yumi replies and Amy lets out a small laugh.

"You've gotta win back their trust in you," Jeremy tells her. "I think maybe you should stay away from Lyoko for a little while."

"Huh?" She turns around in shock. "What about exploring Sector 5? It's for tonight, isn't it?"

"Don't worry, Jeremy will give you a play-by-play update," Ulrich glances at Jeremy for him to answer.

"Promise," The boy genius replies and the bell rings.

"It's not forever, Yumi," Amy speaks up, "And besides, it won't be much fun without you anyway." Yumi smiles at her slightly.

"Come on, guys. I know you're all dying to Ms. Hertz's class. Off we go," Odd comments, Amy shaking her head.

"Did you study for the marine biology test?" Jeremy wonders.

"Of course I did, listen. Fish are remarkably well adapted to water. What's more, they can swim," Odd recites.

"Meaning no," Amy deadpans as she's not surprised.

"You are so lame," Jeremy comments, the others laughing except Yumi as she throws her drink away.

* * *

Later during dinner time, the four are in the scanner room while Jeremy is starting the process. "It's off to the forest sector!" Odd gestures to the scanner in front of Amy and she smiles at him. He steps aside to give her room.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Amy. Transfer Aelita." The scanners engulf them inside. "Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Virtualization." They all feel the cold air and virtualize, landing safely in the forest sector. They check around to make sure that there's nothing up XANA's sleeve at the moment. "Everything okay?"

Odd lands behind them. _"We're good. The monsters must be sleeping. They need all the sleep they can get to recover from all the grief we've been giving them."_

"You have to get to the other end of the sector to take the transporter. I'm gonna materialize your rides," The codes for the Overbike, Overboard, and OverRunner appear on his screen.

"Yahoo!" Odd shouts, Aelita hanging on behind him. She looks nervous as Odd could be a little risky. Ulrich and Amy drive their rides, Odd flying past them. "Yeah!"

"Odd, you promised you'd be careful!" Ulrich calls out, remembering what the blond boy said last night. Odd flies down to them, blowing a raspberry at Amy. The two roll their eyes.

"Real mature," Amy deadpans.

"Go straight ahead and hurry up before the monsters get there," Jeremy warns them. They stop at the edge of the sector, where Aelita was when she was transported.

"We made it, Jeremy," Aelita reports.

"_Okay, I'm entering the code Scipio." _Like before, it lets him through and the transporter orb appears out of nowhere.

"There's the transporter," Odd says and they back away a little. The orb spins around, half of it opening up and engulfing them inside it. Yumi's face appears as she's calling.

"Are you there, Jeremy?"

"Yumi?" He asks in confusion.

"Everything okay?" She asks in concern.

"Yumi," he says, as her parents could be around listening in.

"Everything okay?" She's sitting on her tub, a pink towel around her body.

"Yeah, they're in the transporter," He reports to her. "All is well."

"Tell them I'm thinking about them," She murmurs sadly, hanging up. She knew she had to stay back for precaution, but she missed fighting on Lyoko. It was her purpose...She places the phone down and turns off the water. She slips off the towel and climbs into the bath, sinking into it with a sigh.

The transporter takes them away all the way to the other side of the sector, and into Sector 5. It passes by a huge orb, then some rooms, and then all the way to the entrance. It lets the four go.

"_Happy campers?"_

"Yup," Ulrich answers, Odd standing up. "I'm beginning to get used to these little trips."

"Ugh, not me," Odd groans, holding his stomach. "I shouldn't have had that fifth dessert at lunch."

"Or any dessert considering how Sector Five doesn't like you," Amy chuckles at him and he glares at her playfully.

"Jeremy," Aelita eyes the other side, "The wall's about to open."

"Right, meaning the countdown's gonna start," Jeremy answers knowingly. He still had no way to stop that thing. A map of Sector Five appears instead of the holomap. "You've gotta find a way to deactivate it. That must be the answer to exploring further..."

The wall spins around faster and faster before it finally comes to a stop. _"Watch it, guys."_

"Everything will be fine," Ulrich states as they run._ "Odd promised to be careful."_

"It started already!" Jeremy exclaims, clutching the arm of his chair in fear. "You know what'll happen if Aelita loses her life points, do you?"

"Don't worry, we have no intention of losing her," Ulrich comes a stop, Aelita, Odd, and Amy right behind him. The wall separates into stairs and they run down them.

"Last time there was a big room at the end of this hallway," Aelita explains and she's right, but the room is different.

"_I got a feeling the architecture of the core zone changes each time you go there," _Jeremy deduces. They come to a stop at the edge.

"That's a great help for finding our way around," Odd comments, as it was never easy.

"Yeah, now this place has everything," Amy rolls her eyes.

"If we knew everything, we wouldn't be exploring," Ulrich replies, "Come on, let's go." The other three follow after him.

"_Look out, you've got two creepers on your tail."_

The two creepers are crawling on a structure above, appearing near Odd and firing at him. "Laser Arrow!" He fires three of them before he escapes them.

"You've only got three minutes left to stop the countdown, get going!" Jeremy urges and they appear in another room.

"That way," They run left and past a door. Ulrich comes back around and sees the path. "Come on." They run through it, running down a long path. They turn right and end up in the same room they were in before. "Haven't we already been through here?"

"How should I know? Everything looks the same in this place," Odd retorts back.

"Everything just had to be the same color," Amy mutters and they run again, Aelita stopping at a path.

"This way." As soon as she tries to run through it, she gets hit by a laser. The creeper that hit her approaches them and they move out of the way.

Jeremy looks at Aelita's ID card, her life points significantly decreased. "Wow, 40 life points in one go. Those creepers sure are powerful."

Odd turns to the path and opens fire on the creeper. He lands on his hands and feet as it's destroyed. "They're powerful, and really ugly too."

Amy giggles at him. "Jeremy, any ideas?" Ulrich calls out.

"No, but I've got news for you. You're in a labyrinth. Make a left at each fork and leave a mark there. If the way is already marked, then make a right," Jeremy informs them. Ulrich pulls out his sword.

"This is incredible, we'll never get out of this thing!" Odd exclaims as they take off.

"_You'd better,"_ Ulrich slashes a part of the wall as a marking. "Just two minutes left to find a way to stop the countdown!"

They come to a stop as they're finally out. "We're out, Jeremy," Aelita smiles at their success. "We made it!"

"Nothing like having a little luck on your side," Odd sighs in relief, "Hey Einstein, why complicate things, huh?" They run all the way to the other side of the room...only to find themselves at a dead end. They're standing on a platform, but there is no structure around them at all.

"Oh great, now what do we do?" Ulrich asks bitterly.

"Relax, I can just fly you over," Amy rolls her eyes, closing them. Nothing appears on her back, however. "What? Hey, where's my wings?"

"Hm...it looks like you can't use your wings here. I don't have a way to give them to you," Jeremy states.

"What?! That's so unfair!" She shouts in anger, as they could've been really useful here.

"Jeremy, can you see anything from your end?" Odd asks.

"So you need me again, huh?" A screen with a strange mechanism appears as it shows him a room they've passed before. "Go back to where you were, I spotted a mechanism on the wall. Hurry, time is running out!"

They turn back and arrive in the same room. Aelita looks up and sees a XANA symbol on the top part of the wall.

"There!"

"Let me at it!" Odd runs up to it, starting to climb up the wall. He jumps, landing in front of another wall. He uses his feet to climb up further.

"14, 13," Odd looks up at the symbol as Jeremy counts down. "12, 11."

"You can do it, Odd!" Amy encourages and he jumps.

"10, 9, 8," Odd reaches out his hand. "7, 6, 5, 4-" Odd gets hit by a laser before he can hit it, getting devirtualized.

"NO!" Ulrich shouts.

"Odd!" Amy yells and turns to the culprit, a creeper. She growls at it, but Ulrich gets devirtualized.

"Ulrich!"

"Oh no!" Amy pulls out her spear, standing in front of Aelita to protect her.

"Girls, the countdown is over, the room is bound to change now." Jeremy informs and Amy looks around as the walls start to lift up. The creeper leaves and the door closes in front of them.

"Well, no more creepers, that's a start."

They look around the prison-like environment. "I don't think that's a good thing, Aelita..."

"Don't worry, I'll rematerialize Odd and Ulrich, and I'll get you both out of there. Come on, come on." A bug appears before he can do any of the sort. Jeremy goes to the scanner room to see Odd and Ulrich did not come back. "Oh no. _Aelita, Amy, Odd and Ulrich didn't come back."_

"What?" The girls ask in shock.

"_But, that's impossible!"_

"_Why wouldn't they come back?" _Amy sounds like she's about to cry.

"_Are they lost?"_

Amy covers her eyes, trying not to let out a sob. _Odd...oh, and Ulrich too._

"For the moment, they are," Jeremy holds his head.

"So there's no rematerialization from Sector 5?" Aelita murmurs, since it was the first time they were devirtualized from there.

"_Sure there is...once we find the right program. Amy, you have to make sure you don't get hit, the same thing is going to happen to you. So be careful."_

"Right..." Amy murmurs sadly, thinking about Odd. She wondered how he was doing, where he is...

"And do you think you can find it?" Aelita asks softly, placing a hand on Amy's shoulder in comfort.

"It's probably as easy as finding your antivirus," Jeremy answers in worry, causing the two to look at each other in concern. "Don't worry, girls, I'm gonna do the impossible."

* * *

At Yumi's house, Mrs. Ishiyama is reading the paper while her son Hiroki is playing a video game. Yumi is playing a game against her father. She opens her eyes as Hiroki's game is loud. "Hiroki, could you make some more noise, please?"

"Sorry, Yumi, the volume's as high as it goes," He calls out.

"Hiroki," Mr. Ishiyama calls out in a warning tone and he groans, standing up.

"Go into the other room, Hiroki, go on now," His mother tells him as he opens a door and closes it. Yumi hears her phone vibrate.

"I pass," Her father states. Yumi hangs up the phone quickly.

"Me too, I pass."

"Then the game is over," Her father laughs. "I have five more points than you."

"On the goban, yes. Don't forget that I played the whites. With komi, I win by half a point," She states with a smile.

"Oh."

Yumi yawns, taking this as an opportunity to go to her room and call Jeremy. It must be urgent if he's calling instead of the other way around.

"Oh well, it's bedtime," She snatches her phone and stands up. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, my dear," Her mother calls out and she closes the door. As soon as she's sure it's closed, she calls Jeremy back.

"Jeremy, how's it going?"

"Badly," He answers, knowing that he's taking a risk by what he's about to say next. "Head for the factory."

Aelita hears a noise behind her…and it's not a good one. "Jeremy..." She turns around slowly. "Can you hear that?" Amy looks back and gasps sharply.

"It's the Schyphozoa! It's heading toward you! Stay calm, Yumi's coming."

"How?! We're trapped inside here!" Amy exclaims as Aelita presses her back against the wall.

"Yumi?" Mrs. Ishiyama opens the door. "Can I come in?" She wanted to check in on her daughter, since she remembered about Yumi's concerning questions that morning. "I wanna talk to you for a minute." She sees a lump at Yumi's bed, but approaches it anyway. She grabs the blanket, pulling it down...to see Yumi's plush instead. She gasps in shock and sees the open window.

"Yumi?!"

Yumi runs down the street, then slides down the rope into the factory. She lands in front of the open elevator. "Jeremy, I'm in the elevator," Yumi reports on the phone.

"You have to get Aelita and Amy in Sector Five. The Schyphozoa is there!"

"What about Odd and Ulrich?" She asks, as she didn't hear anything about them being devirtualized.

"You want the best-case scenario?" He questions skeptically.

"I'd rather."

"I've got about a one in a million chance of finding the right code to bring them back." She gasps in horror.

Principal Delmas and Jim stand at the gate, Yumi's parents having called them and waking them up. Mr. Ishiyama shakes the principal's hand.

"So sorry to bother you at such a late hour, headmaster Delmas."

"But we're very worried," Mrs. Ishiyama speaks up.

"Yes, yes, I understand that it's quite possible that Yumi is somewhere on the campus."

"Why sure, she's probably hanging out with her little gang of friends, come on," Jim leads them to the dorms.

Yumi is riding her Overwing in the mountain sector. "You're on the edge of the territory, Yumi. Better be careful, XANA's gonna do all he can to keep you from taking the transporter."

And he's right as two Kankerlots fire after her. They destroy her Overwing, causing her to land on the ground roughly.

"Jeremy," She pants as she runs, "Enter the code."

He does as quick as he can and she sees the transporter up ahead. She backflips and lands at the edge, looking back at the Kankerlots. She could only watch.

"Yumi?" Jeremy asks in concern.

* * *

"Huh, no one's here," Jim is looking inside Jeremy's room to find it empty. He didn't think to make a decoy to fool Jim, because he didn't think it'd take so long.

"No one's in Stern's room, either," Mr. Delmas reports. "Or Smith's."

"Looking for someone?" They turn around to see Sissi smiling.

"Uh, Sissi, would you know where your friends Stern, Smith, Belpois, and Della Robbia might be?" Her father asks curiously.

"Probably up to no good, as usual," She walks past him. "But I don't know, although their little mascots can find them for you."

"Mascots?" her father questions in confusion as she opens the door to Ulrich and Odd's room. "What mascots?" Sissi only steps up to Odd's closet and opens up the drawer to reveal the two dogs.

"Tada!"

"Flea-bitten mangy mutts!" Jim exclaims in shock, Kiki growling at him. "Well, excuse me, Mr. Delmas."

"Ew!" Sissi holds up one of Odd's smelly socks. "Hey, little puppies, where's your masters, huh? Go get 'em!"

The dogs run out of the room, barking as they run down the hall. "Let's follow them," Mrs. Ishiyama suggests. Mr. Delmas goes first, everyone else following after them. Sissi chuckles to herself, as it was much needed payback.

* * *

"Hang on there, girls. Yumi's on the way," Jeremy informs the two.

"I hope so," Aelita states as a door opens up.

"Yumi, can you hear me?" Jeremy asks into the headphone. He hasn't heard a word from her for minutes.

"Yes, I'm in the arena. The transporter got to me just in time. Horrible Kankerlot," Yumi explains as the door appears in front of her. She takes off into a run.

"_Listen up now. You have to get to the corridor and trigger the mechanism before the countdown runs out, okay?_" Stairs appear like last time in front of Yumi.

"Okay," She agrees, running as fast as she can.

"If I'm right about the core zone functions, my plan should work," Jeremy reports.

Yumi's parents, Jim, Sissi, and Mr. Delmas stand in the park, watching as the two dogs are sniffing the manhole cover used to get to the factory. "Huh? What's the matter with those hounds? Oh, I don't believe it. This reminds me of when I used to work in the sewers." The others watch him in disgust as he starts to climb inside.

"You, uh, used to work in the sewers, Jim?" Mr. Delmas asks curiously.

"I, uh, I'd rather not talk about it," Jim replies curtly, climbing down the ladder.

Amy backs away, leading Aelita to the wall as the Schyphozoa gets closer to them. It smacks away her spear and she gasps, holding out a hand so she can use one of her powers. "Venus Gobbler." Aelita looks at the floor, but nothing happens. Amy looks nervous, as this has never happened before. "Venus Gobbler!" Again, nothing.

"Uh oh," She murmurs in fear.

"_Only two minutes left, Yumi!" _She's in the Core Zone, but there is a path of lasers blocking her way. She backflips and lands safely, but one of her hands touches the laser, causing it to spark. "Down to ten points, Yumi! _This is not the time to mess up_!" Yumi slides on the floor, standing up and crawling underneath another laser. She turns around and sees more of them.

"That's weird," Jim looks at one of the skateboards left behind. "Ya!" He can feel Kiwi and Kiki pulling on his slippers. Jim gives a look of annoyance.

"Jim, we're wasting time," Mr. Delmas says as Jim is pulling on his slippers to get them back from the dogs.

"Would you let go of my slipper? Come on! Let go of it!" He gets them back, but they land in the water.

"No," Aelita whimpers as Amy runs to get her spear back, but the space around it turns into a column, seeping into the empty space and disappearing with Amy's spear.

"No!" Amy shouts as she has no way to stop the Scyphozoa. It lifts Aelita into the air as it starts to take her memory.

"Yumi, this is no time to drag your feet," Jeremy warns, "Amy doesn't have a way to stop the process now!" Yumi flips out of the laser maze. _"I've located the mechanism, it's on your right. You have ten seconds."_

She can hear the beeping as she sees the key up ahead. She stops in front of it. _"Two seconds!" _She pushes it and the key locks into the symbol, opening the wall in front of her.

"It works, Jeremy!"

"_The whole zone is being reconfigured_," Jeremy reports and Amy is confused as a wall separates Aelita from the Scyphozoa.

"Aelita, you okay?" Amy looks down at her and she nods.

"_We did it! Aelita, Amy, take the access behind you."_

A wall opens up behind them and they take off together. Yumi comes to a stop as there's a platform, but nothing else except for a line going straight across. It's definitely different from the dead end that Aelita and Amy encountered before. A platform moves right past Yumi.

"Wow, it's some kind of elevator," She says in awe.

"_You know what we do with elevators, right?" _Jeremy asks knowingly as the elevator comes back around. Yumi jumps on just in time, smiling.

"We ride 'em!"

The mechanism holding the elevator turns so that it's upwards instead of side by side, locking itself in. It starts moving down and Yumi smiles as she sees the girls.

"Yumi!" They call out and the elevator changes sides again to get them.

"_Try to grab them as you go by!" _

The elevator moves again and Yumi holds out her hands, steadying herself so that she doesn't fall off. Amy and Aelita hold out their hands. She grabs them and pulls them onto the elevator.

"Where are you taking us?" Aelita asks.

"I have no idea," Yumi answers honestly as the elevator comes to a stop. They gasp and they run forward, the wall opening up. They arrive at the outside of a dome, with four tunnels running through somewhere. An interface appears at the end of the path.

"There's an interface," Yumi says and Aelita walks up to it.

"What is this area?" Amy murmurs as she looks around.

"I can get in," Aelita starts doing her thing. "Incredible!"

"What?" Jeremy asks curiously.

"_It's unbelievable, the interface gains access...to XANA's own data!"_ Aelita exclaims to his shock. "Sector Five...is where XANA lives!"

On the walls, something seems to be coming through. "XANA's not a very good housekeeper. There's some weird things hanging around this place."

"And what's worse is that I can't fly after them," Amy tells her.

"I've got access to all kinds of data, it's crazy!" Aelita exclaims in awe.

"_Look for the specific devirtualization code for Sector Five_," Jeremy starts off. "_If you find it, we could rescue Odd and Ulrich._"

"That's great!" Amy exclaims in relief. Three rays emerge from the wall as Aelita continues searching. The rays fly around before they approach the three girls.

"Jeremy, _we're gonna need our vehicles_," Yumi says, but as Jeremy is trying to do that, there's something wrong.

"Uh oh. Bad news. When Aeilta's working on that interface, I can't do anything from my end," He reports and Amy groans at this.

"I think I found it. I'm transmitting it to you," Aelita tells Jeremy, glancing over to Amy and Yumi.

"Okay, I'm taking over again now." Jeremy gets to work on the vehicles.

The adults all arrive into the factory, confused on what they're seeing. "What would a nice girl like Yumi be doing in here?" Mr. Delmas wonders.

"Where are we, anyway?" Jim questions.

The rays are getting closer, flying above the girls. "Jeremy, our vehicles, now!" Yumi insists.

"_They're on the way._"

The Overwing appears first in front of them, with the OverRunner appearing next to Amy. Their owners jump on and Yumi flies around, trying to find an exit. "How do we get out of here?"

"There are some tunnels," Aelita is talking about the four tunnels around the sphere. Amy drives next to them, looking down. A ray fires and Yumi moves out of the way, Amy ducking.

"They're closed," Yumi points out.

"_Let's see..._" Jeremy murmurs as he tries to figure out how to get them open. "Tunnels...what if...what if they corresponded to those that opened onto the arena?" He starts typing away, hoping that he's right on this.

Another ray fires and Yumi flies sharply to the left, Amy driving to the right.

"Hey, it works!" Jeremy exclaims as he can see one of them opening on his screen. The tunnel opens so that it's gone and only the hole leading to somewhere remains.

"Nice one, Einstein," Yumi comments, Amy giving a thumbs up. She looks behind her to see the ray and as soon as they're about to enter the tunnel, a ray appears right in front of them, hitting Yumi and making her fall off the Overwing.

"Yumi!" Aelita exclaims and Amy is hit as well. "Amy!" Aelita glances at the rays and flies inside.

"Jeremy, I got out through a way tower," Aelita reports as she appears in the mountain sector.

"Okay, now get to a neutral tower, I'll bring you in." He gets the process started. "Okay, I'm ready, Aelita. Code: Earth."

Aelita is re-materialized and brought back onto Earth. "It's okay, Jeremy, I'm here. But what about the others?" Since the de-virtualization code from Sector Five was not implemented before the two girls got devirtualized, that means they were gone just like Odd and Ulrich.

"_I'm entering the new code. _Materialization Yumi. Materialization Amy. Materialization Ulrich." He presses enter three times. "Now all we can do is hope," He takes off his headphone. Aelita is clasping her hands as Jeremy enters, having automatically done Odd's when one of them got out. Jeremy walks up to Aelita and takes her hand, waiting anxiously. The scanners come to life and Amy kneels onto the ground, Aelita helping her out. The others step out.

"Yeah!" Jeremy cheers, Aelita gasping happily.

"We did it!"

"Odd," Jeremy bends down to him. "How do you feel? Say something."

"Uh, something," Odd murmurs weakly. Amy holds her head, looking up and smiling widely.

"Odd? Odd!" She engulfs him into a hug and he hugs her back tightly, smiling too.

* * *

They're all in the elevator, the five Lyoko Warriors helping each other stand. When they arrive, Kiwi and Kiki crawl into the elevator, jumping into Amy and Odd's arms.

"Kiwi."

"Kiki?"

"Yumi, what are you doing here?" Mr. Ishiyama asks as all the adults are staring at them.

"I believe you all have some explaining to do," Mr. Delmas states, Ulrich glancing at Jeremy and nodding. Jeremy nods back and presses the button. Aelita runs through, with the others stepping out. Jim follows Jeremy inside as the doors close.

"Ah ha! Trying to outsmart me, huh?"

Jeremy isn't fazed at all as he knows what to do. The elevator stops into the lab and Jim looks confused at what he's seeing. "What the? Belpois, what-what is this place?"

"Nothing rings a bell, Jim?" Jeremy asks, even though he knew the answer. "Funny, cuz you've been here before."

"What are you talking about? I don't remember this."

"Well, yes and no," Jeremy answers, to Jim's confusion. "Return to the past now." The white light engulfs them, the others in the factory, and the whole city.

* * *

It's now morning, the time when Yumi's parents were escorting her to school. But this time, she decided not to lie anymore and tell them the truth.

"So then you still refuse to give us an explanation?" Her father demands.

"Alright, I'll tell you," She says in defeat. "I'm in love."

Mrs. Ishiyama smiles, Mr. Ishiyama placing an arm around her. Yumi blushes as she glances at Ulrich, looking away quickly.

"Ah, Yumi. I knew there was a reason."

"And would you tell us your boyfriend's name?" Mrs. Ishiyama asks happily.

"No, sorry, I won't, mom. See you tonight," She waves goodbye and they wave back as she sticks her tongue out at Sissi. She gasps in shock, Yumi not caring at all as she stops in front of Odd, Amy, and Ulrich, who were waiting for her.

"Well, that sure seemed to satisfy your parents. What did you tell them?" Ulrich asks curiously as a strand of hair falls on Yumi's face.

"The truth," She pushes away the strand. Ulrich looks at her skeptically, as he knows that with that reaction, she couldn't have told them about Lyoko. Yumi only smiles at him. It was the truth...albeit not the actual truth.


	32. A Great Day

**Angel: I forgot about the update today because they scheduled me to work on the 11th, but I have finals that day, so I really can't do it and it's freaking me out, so I really don't want to hear where's the update, okay?**

In Sector Five, Aelita is doing some research, the others standing guard as she interacts with the system. She gathers some data while the others are looking up.

"_What about the Mantas? How are we doing?"_

The wall starts to move. "Looks like they're gonna hatch real soon," Ulrich speaks up.

"Um, judging by the size of the nest, you're gonna have some big bouncing babies," Odd jokes, Amy rolling her eyes as the mantas are almost inside.

"Okay, that's it for now, Aelita," Jeremy tells her, as he did not want those mantas to attack.

"Just a little longer, Jeremy," She pleads, "We've never been able to access this much data."

"_Let me take over now, okay?" _He asks, but she doesn't listen. Odd walks up to her.

"Aelita, listen, I don't wanna rush you, but, uh," He points to the mantas arriving inside. They fly slowly over to them.

"Jeremy, they're here," Yumi calls out.

"Okay, I got things under control," He pulls up the Overwing, OverRunner, Overboard, and Overbike. "Four vehicles coming right up," They appear around Aelita and Ulrich runs up to his bike, Odd backflipping onto his Overboard. Ulrich gets onto his Overbike and Amy flips to her OverRunner. The three take off, leaving Aelita with Yumi, but she dips her Overwing down when the mantas attack. She comes back to Aelita, who jumps on and they narrowly avoid another laser. Yumi flies up to Ulrich as the mantas come back around.

"Wow," Odd flies between Yumi and Ulrich, Amy driving in front of him. "Still just babies and check 'em out."

"What do you think they are, male or female?" Ulrich asks as he dodges some lasers.

"Considering their tempers, they gotta be girls, right?" Odd wonders, Amy giving him a look.

"Just watch, I'll show 'em what it is to be a guy," Ulrich brags, chuckling a little.

"Jeremy, tell me do I really need to hear this?" Yumi looks at the boys.

"Same here," Amy shakes her head.

"Uh, sorry girls, but you can't always choose your friends!" Jeremy smiles in amusement. "Anyway, the tunnel will be open soon."

Ulrich glances back at the manta behind him and revs his bike, flying it over right next to a manta. He pulls out his sword and jumps onto the manta, stabbing it through the eye that's on its back. Ulrich jumps off as the monster explodes and he falls due to the force. Odd swoops down, spinning around before he catches Ulrich.

"Just in time."

One of the tunnels open. "Okay, the tunnels are open. The mantas shouldn't follow you inside."

They fly through the tunnel and Jeremy is right as they fly away from the open tunnel.

"And there you go, the data analysis program is running," Jeremy reports as the doors open behind him.

"Great. And what does that mean, exactly?" Odd asks.

"All the data that we've been able to recover I've got a good chance of finding the antivirus," He elaborates.

"You mean that pretty soon we'll be able to shut down the super calculator?" Ulrich asks in shock.

"Exactly. And if it works, Aelita will no longer be tied to XANA by that horrible virus."

"Oh shoot, what are we gonna do with our free time? I mean, if we can't save the world anymore," Odd complains.

"You might study a little more, and learn something for once," Yumi suggests, Amy laughing. Odd huffs, crossing his arms.

"3 AM, wow. We'd better head for our rooms if we don't wanna get caught," Jeremy tells them.

* * *

"Well, goodnight," Jeremy whispers as they're back in the dorms.

"You mean what's left of it," Odd retorts back as he's leaning against the wall. Someone pushes their door a little to see Aelita and Jeremy outside her room. Odd and Amy smile at each other. "...Goodnight, Ames. Have sweet dreams."

"Thank you, Odd," She smiles softly. "Say hi to Kiwi for me." They wave at each other as Odd slowly leaves, looking at her one last time. Aelita and Jeremy smirk at Amy, who rolls her eyes and goes inside the room.

"Jeremy, do you really think that your calculations will lead to something?" Aelita questions in worry.

"We can never be 100 percent sure, but I think so," Jeremy answers.

"I can't believe that soon I'll be really real," Aelita smiles at him.

"Well, to me, you already are very real. I mean it. To everyone else, you're Aelita Stones, Odd's cousin."

"You know very well that isn't true."

Sissi gasps sharply at this. What did that mean? "But a lie that everybody believes isn't really a lie anymore. Hey, don't worry, Aelita. Tomorrow is gonna be a great day, believe me." Sissi smirks as she's holding a Walkman, having caught the whole thing on tape. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Jeremy."

Sissi closes the door, looking smug. "This time, I've got 'em!"

Back at the factory, the super computer turns on...

* * *

The next morning, it's just now 7 o'clock. "It's Tuesday. No, you're not dreaming. Or rather, you're not dreaming anymore. It's already seven o'clock in the morning on Sky Radio," Jeremy groans as he slowly sits up. "Look out your window. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, they aren't talking..." Jeremy feels around for his glasses and puts them on.

The Ishiyama family are also awake as they're listening to Sky Radio. "Hi daddy," Yumi greets as she sits down, but her father looks upset. He turns off the radio to her confusion.

"I can't help but wonder what a girl your age could possibly be doing out at such a late hour! There's a boy behind this, isn't there?!" He slams down her fist as her eyes are closed with a sigh. He must've been waiting for her while she was out.

"I couldn't exactly tell him that were three friends involved and all of them boys, could I?" She asks Ulrich at school. "That would've really freaked him out."

"Why don't you just make up a story? I do it all the time with my parents," He offers, but that wouldn't work.

"I'm sick of lying. I'd love to be able to tell them everything like I used to."

"Don't worry, Yumi," Jeremy places a hand on her shoulder. "Soon you won't have to lie anymore. Come on, cheer up. It's gonna be a great day. They said so on the radio!"

Sissi, Herb, and Nicolas are watching the two. "Don't you think Jeremy looks happy this morning?" Herb turns to Sissi.

"Not for long," She states, to their confusion.

Jeremy is walking though the hall when a finger stops him. "Hey. Jeremy, would you listen to something for me?" Sissi pulls out the Walkman. "You'll see there's not a lot of music, but the words are really interesting."

* * *

Ms. Hertz is drawing out some diagrams as Jeremy is talking to Odd, Amy, and Ulrich. "She taped the whole conversation!"

"But what does she want exactly?" Ulrich asks as Sissi obviously wanted something in return for her silence.

"She wants to be a part of our group. And that we explain everything to her from A to Z. If not, she'll tell her father everything."

"What?!" Amy says quietly in shock.

"She's even worse than I thought," Odd whispers.

"Excuse me, you four, but do you mind if I teach a class here?" Ms. Hertz pushes up her glasses.

"Not at all, ma'am. After all, it is your job," Odd replies.

"Yes, and my job is also to ask questions, isn't it, Odd?" She retorts back. "So would you be kind enough to tell me the mass in moles of two oxygen atoms?"

"Um...um..." He stammers.

"32 grams per mole," She crosses her arms. "And the principle of photosynthesis?"

"Uh," He swings his feet back and forth. "You mean...?"

"The synthesis of oxygen for plants possessing chlorophyll placed in light. Alright, here's an easy one now. Which student is this graduating class is the biggest failure in science who, nevertheless, takes the liberty of not listening to my lessons?"

"Um," He looks embarrassed, "Me, Ms. Hertz?"

"Bravo, well done, Odd. You see what you can do when you apply yourself?" She smiles as the others are laughing at him.

"Whatever happens, we can't let Sissi tell her father," Jeremy states as the 9th graders are outside the building.

"No kidding, remember what happened last time we told her about Lyoko?" Amy crosses her arms, remembering how Sissi betrayed them. "We can't go through that again."

"Don't worry, guys, I've got an idea," Ulrich kicks the air.

* * *

Later on, he's in the gym, Sissi walking up to him. She's in her gym outfit. "I'm so happy that you finally decided to give me a lesson in petrov kilav."

"Pentrack Silak," He corrects.

"Whatever. Well, I wonder what could've made you change your mind all of a sudden," Odd, Jeremy, and Amy are sneaking around in the girls locker room.

"Is it this one?"

"Mmhmm," Amy nods and he puts the pink fluffy backpack on the bench. He opens it and they grab the Walkman. He opens it, but there's no tape. Herb and Nicolas bust into the room.

"Maybe this is what you're looking for," Herb holds up the tape.

"This is a basic lanka," Ulrich does a pose as Sissi tries to balance herself. "You oughta be able to challenge it." She slips and falls, making him laugh. He turns to see Odd, Jeremy, and Amy walking between Nicolas and Herb.

"You were right, Sissi, as usual."

"They were after the mini disc," Herb holds it up.

"Oh, well, gentlemen and Amy, did you think you were smarter than me?" She smirks up at Ulrich. "You don't know me very well, so now it's time to spill the beans. Tell me everything you've been up to for as long as I can remember. What's the big conspiracy?"

They say nothing, as they can't risk telling Sissi about Lyoko. Not again, because they couldn't trust her.

"Oh, you won't tell me a thing? Is that it?" They keep silent. "Okay then. You asked for it, I'm gonna play this recording for my father." She huffs as she walks past them, the three intruders glancing at each other. Before she can get out the gym, however, a return to the past is launched.

* * *

It's Tuesday again as the alarm is set off. "It's Tuesday already. No, you're not dreaming or rather, you're not dreaming anymore. It's already seven o'clock in the morning on Sky Radio!" Jeremy sits up and goes for his glasses. "Look out your window, the sun is shining, the birds are singing." Jeremy is confused as he's definitely heard this before.

Yumi greets her father like yesterday, sitting her soup. "Yumi, I have to talk to you."

"Papa, I know what you're gonna tell me. You're totally right. Okay, I'm sorry!" She exclaims, running off.

"Yumi!" He calls after her, huffing.

"But I didn't program going back in time," Jeremy explains to the others as they're wondering why it happened.

"Then how do you explain the fact that Tuesday's starting again?" Aelita turns to him.

"It's weird. Let's go over to the factory after science class to check it out," Jeremy suggests as Amy shakes her head.

"No way this is coincidence. Unless someone's trying to help us out with Sissi and her drama," She rolls her eyes as Ulrich looks at them. They look away from the group as if they weren't looking at them. "If they are, I'd give 'em a medal and a big kiss."

Odd frowns at the thought of that, hoping that someone else wasn't behind this so Amy wouldn't have to kiss anyone...not that he cared! Of course he didn't! Amy can kiss who she wants...

"At least we've got a second chance to get Sissi off our backs," Ulrich walks up to her. "Uh, Sissi? Oh, I'm so glad to see you."

"What, you are?" She asks in confusion. "B-But, you see I, uh, I wanted to talk to Jeremy."

"Oh, that can wait. There's something I've been wanting to ask you for a long time," He smiles to hide the fact he's getting the Walkman from her. "But I just can't...bring myself to do it." He closes his eyes, his fake sincere words surprising her.

"You...uh...you can't, uh..." She can't even finish her sentence.

"Would you like to learn Penchak Silat with me?"

"Well, uh...yes!"

* * *

"So, would you be kind enough to tell me the mass and miles of two oxygen atoms?" Ms. Hertz had just finished scolding Odd like last time.

"32 grams per mole, ma'am," Odd answers, shocking her.

"Uh, oh! Yes, that's right." Never in her life has she ever heard Odd get an answer right. She narrows her eyes. He couldn't possibly know the next one. "Very well, Odd. Now please, would you explain to me the principle of photosynthesis?"

"Of course, ma'am. That would be the synthesis of oxygen from plants possessing chlorophyll placed in light."

The whole class is just as shocked as the teacher. "Odd, is it really you? You haven't been replaced by a clone?" The real Odd would've never known that.

"No, ma'am. Why? Is something wrong?"

"No," She shakes her head, "No. Let's go on with our lesson," She walks back up to her desk.

"Wow!" Odd exclaims, happy he didn't get in trouble this time around. "Hey, being a good student is so cool."

Jeremy chuckles, winking at him.

"I guess there was one good thing out of another Tuesday," Amy raises an amused brow.

* * *

Sissi kicks the air, spinning around and turning back to Ulrich, trying to pull off the same pose he's doing. "Very good. You learn really fast."

"You think so? That's great!"

"Uh, Sissi?" Ulrich turns to her. "Could-Could I talk to you as a friend?"

"Sorry?" She seems shocked that he used that term. "As a what?"

"As a friend," He gets back to his feet as he stares at her. "You see, I'm worried about Jeremy and Aelita. I know you're gonna laugh, but-"

"Laugh? But why?" She looks at him in confusion.

"Well, um...you see," Ulrich puts an arm around her, pointing his head. "They've kind of lost it. For some strange reason, they think they're...virtual people."

"What's that?"

"Do you think we're going to live the same day over and over again?" Aelita asks Jeremy as they're both in the lab.

"First I have to isolate the program that jumps back in time, to see what's going on," Jeremy presses enter.

"Maybe it's XANA's doing," Aelita suggests, looking at the screen in thought.

"We'll know in a minute."

Yumi is leaning against Jeremy's left side, curious over why Odd is reading a book. He's sitting on the floor, and he looks to be very focused. Amy's sitting across from him, writing on cards. "Odd, do you mind telling us what you're doing over there?"

"I'm studying," He says as if it was obvious. "That's what you wanted me to do, wasn't it? Ames is making flash cards for me."

Yumi blinks at him in surprise that he actually listened.

"I haven't seen him this focused since...well, ever!" Amy looks up at Yumi, shrugging.

"Look at that!"

She turns back to Jeremy to see a corrupted program. "XANA's managed to take control over going back in time!"

"But how?" Aelita asks in disbelief.

"In my opinion, by using the data we recovered from Sector Five, booby-trap data!" Jeremy looks in concern at the red corrupted data that's crashing.

"But why would he do that? He must have a good reason," Aelita says, as XANA could've done that at any time. He must've discovered something that caused him to do this, but what, she didn't know.

"I don't know. In any event, it's starting up again!" Jeremy looks at the 20 seconds they have left. "We're gonna go directly back in time in a few minutes. I'm launching a scan to see if a tower has been activated." He hopes it'll be quick as the scan starts to look at all four sectors.

"I can't believe that soon I'll be really real," Sissi is playing the recording for Ulrich.

"It's even worse than I thought," He places a hand on his cheek. "They've gone right off the deep end." He drops the headphone.

"But-that's crazy!" Sissi exclaims.

"It's much worse, they're totally out of it."

"Tower activated. XANA's launched an attack!" Jeremy looks at the activated tower.

"But what kind?" Yumi wonders, as there's been no signs.

"I don't know, but we can expect the worse. He didn't take control of jumping back in time for the fun of it. Get ready, it's starting again!"

* * *

Soon after, they're all engulfed in white, including Ulrich and Sissi in the locker room. It's Tuesday once again for the third time.

"It's Tu-" Jeremy stops the alarm before he could even finish.

"The Subsonic's latest hit-" Mr. Ishiyama shuts off the radio, about to scold Yumi, but she quickly drops her empty bowl.

"Hi dad." She leaves for school, leaving him shocked.

"Yumi!"

"What's fascinating is that plants use the sun's energy to change water and carbon dioxide into glucose," Odd has drawn a whole chart, shocking all his classmates. "And in exchange, give off oxygen."

"Odd, if you keep this up, you'll be teaching the class instead of me," Ms. Hertz comments, slightly worried about her job now.

"Oh, I certainly don't know as much as you, Ms. Hertz," Odd smiles innocently. All of his studying had paid off. He winks at Amy, who silently giggles.

"I'm beginning to wonder."

Ulrich turns to Jeremy and Amy. "Just think, I have to start all over again with Sissi," He says her name in regret.

"Don't even bother, Ulrich. I need you too much on Lyoko to help the others deactivate the tower," Jeremy informs him.

"But...what about Sissi?" She still has the tape, and she would tell her father at any opportunity.

"We'll find another way."

"Besides, once we figure out what's going on, you won't need to talk to her every single time," Amy speaks up.

"Fair enough. I really don't think I could be as clever as yesterday. Not like Odd," He turns back to Odd, who's still drawing. It was really unlike him to be so...attentive to his studies.

"Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy." Jeremy decided to virtualize the boys first, and the girls second. "Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

They felt the cold air before virtualizing in the mountain sector. The trio stand up to find the two boys waiting for them. "Welcome to Lyoko, ladies," Odd greets, Amy shaking her head with a small smile.

"The activated tower is on the second plateau to the north. Sorry, but you're gonna have to go without vehicles because I don't have enough machine resources to bring 'em up."

"No sweat, it'll be just like the good old days," Ulrich says with an amusing tone.

"See why I'm glad I have wings?" Amy winks as her wings appear on her back.

"Yeah, lucky you. Come on, let's go," Ulrich rolls his eyes at Amy.

"_Good luck. I'm gonna try and regain control of jumping back in time."_

They start walking, Amy flying above them. "It's kinda quiet," Odd notices the lack of monsters.

"Too quiet if you ask me," Ulrich glances at him.

"You can never really enjoy the present moment, can you, Ulrich?" Odd asks and there's buzzing in the air. They all turn around at the noise, as it could only mean one thing.

"Oh, yes I can."

Five Hornets are coming in, Amy waiting for them to come at her.

"Jeremy, XANA is sending us monsters," Yumi calls out.

"So I see. Separate their flight pattern, that oughta weaken them," Jeremy suggests, hard at work.

"Odd, take Aelita to the tower. Ulrich, Amy, and I will take care of the monsters," Yumi orders and Odd nods at her.

"_Guys, on your right! It should be a path that leads to the tower." _Jeremy is talking about the long pathway in front of them.

"With a platform to land on?" Odd asks as he and Aelita run.

"_Well, logically, yes." _Jeremy answers uncertainly.

"That's encouraging," Odd says sarcastically. The two stand at the edge and jump, hoping that there's something down below. There had to be. "Geronimooooooooo!"

Aelita screams as they fall through the white clouds.

"They're here," Ulrich holds up his sword. "You ready?" He turns to the two girls. Yumi hums and Amy nods, both girls pulling their weapons.

"Super Sprint!" Ulrich takes off and the horde of Hornets take off after him, four staying behind to deal with the girls. They immediately fire, the two running forward with Yumi blocking the projectiles with her fans. She flips, dodging past the lasers and moving past the bugs. She pulls out her fans, yelling as she throws them. She gets one dead on.

"Nice one, Yumi!" Amy cheers.

* * *

Meanwhile, her prediction about Sissi is wrong as the girl is playing the recording for her father. "You know very well that isn't true."

Principal Delmas stops the recording, adjusting his glasses. "Hmm, these little machines work very well."

"Daddy! That's not the point," Sissi insists to him. "You heard what they said."

"Yes, it's, uh, strange indeed. I'll call Della Robbia's parents to get to the bottom of this."

* * *

The activated tower is on the second layer of the mountain sector, Odd and Aelita landing roughly on the rock.

"_Nice jump, but it just caused you each 20 life points."_

Odd looks to his left to see the tower. "It was worth it. We can see the tower," Odd runs off with Aelita.

Ulrich turns around to the five Hornets as they fly around, surrounding the samurai. He holds out his sword to block the incoming lasers. He had to be alert as they could fire from any direction. He gets hit once, but then three of the Hornets suddenly back off and leave. His eyes widen as he realizes where they're headed, running up a wall. He pushes himself back and swings his sword at the two Hornets, defeating them.

"Jeremy, the Hornets are attacking Aelita and Odd."

"Got it. Odd, get ready for guests. _Three Hornets are heading for you."_

Aelita comes to a stop and shushes the cat boy. "Odd, listen."

He gasps as he looks up, seeing the aforementioned Hornets. "You hide, I'll take care of 'em." He loads himself up.

"Odd, time's running out! XANA's started another jump back in time," Jeremy reports, looking at the red X's on the left.

Amy and Yumi use their weapons to stop the lasers, Amy throwing a sharp dart made of rock. The Hornet flies below, causing the dart to fly above its head. Yumi catches her fan, putting it away. She backflips as the lasers narrowly miss. One of them hits her hand and she tumbles onto the ground.

"Yumi!" Amy calls out, getting hit while she's distracted. Ulrich comes in and destroys the one in front of Yumi, but he wasn't able to stop another one from devirtualizing her.

"Ulrich!" She says as she disappears.

"_Ulrich, Amy, go and give Odd a hand."_

The two take off to the edge of the ground. "We're on it!"

They jump off, screaming as they fall through.

The scanner opens up as Yumi lies there, slamming her fist against the metal.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires, jumping over several lasers but missing. Every time he tried to fire, they'd fire right at him. He backs up, rolling to the side until he's against the wall, gasping at the three Hornets.

"Super Sprint!" Ulrich rushes forward, Amy flying up to the Hornets. "Odd, yours!" Ulrich throws his sword, hitting a Hornet dead on. Odd laughs as he jumps up, hanging on to the sword above him. He fires a laser arrow and destroys the one on his right.

Amy throws her spear and destroys the last one, Odd throwing the sword back to Ulrich.

"If only I had more time to find a solution!" Jeremy says to Yumi, who had returned to his side.

"Cheer up, Jeremy, you're about to get another day," She gestures to the left screen.

* * *

Principal Delmas is talking to Odd's parents. "So then, none of you have never heard of this young girl who is supposedly your son's cousin?"

"No, I'm sure," Mrs. Della Robbia answers.

"Sorry to have disturbed you," He hangs up, looking up at Sissi, who's giggling. She did it. She finally caught 'em!

Until time starts up again, making today another Tuesday.

"It's Tuesday-" Jeremy quickly shuts off his alarm, huffing at the fact they couldn't stop it in time.

"No, you're not dreaming or rather you're not dreaming anymore."

Sissi yawns as she stretches her arms, not noticing an electric surge coming from her alarm clock. Black rays move behind her as she stands up, walking to her mirror. She rubs her cheeks, not noticing XANA's energy approaching.

Jeremy looks at Lyoko's sectors from his computer. There's a blinking light sitting on one of the rocks from the mountain sector. "Oh no, I don't believe it!" He immediately calls Ulrich. "Aelita is still on Lyoko!"

"We gotta get back to the factory, pronto!"

"Go ahead, I'll meet you there," Jeremy hangs up and his door opens to reveal Sissi. "Sissi, I already know what you're gonna say, but I don't have time." He doesn't seem to notice that something is off until she glares at him.

"Don't. You. Move!" He sees the XANA eye and backs away slowly, knowing he's in danger.

In the mountain sector, Aelita is hiding from two Hornets as they're searching for her. She's inside a decoy rock she made herself. "But what are you doing? I need you over here," She pleads as the others have arrived, but Jeremy has not.

"We're waiting for Jeremy. Without him, we can't do anything," Yumi says regretfully, Ulrich listening to Jeremy's voicemail.

"Leave a message, I'll call you back!"

"Still no answer," Ulrich reports and Amy frowns in worry.

"I don't like this. Something's wrong!" From just watching Jeremy, she knows that he'd be the first one there for Aelita. If not, then something or someone was holding him back. He wouldn't just bail on her, or on his friends.

"Okay, we'll find him," Odd says in determination.

Jeremy moves his hand around for his glasses. When he finds them, he puts them on, looking up. "Sissi, you're not yourself. XANA has possessed you. You must not obey him!"

"I've never felt so good!" Sissi grins wickedly as there's a glow from her.

"No!" Jeremy shouts as Herb and Nicolas are approaching. Sissi growls at the boy, grabbing his shirt and throwing him on the ground.

"Ah, there you are!" XANA Sissi says to the two boys who had just arrived. "Help me to transport this simpleton to a safer place!" She gestures to Jeremy, the two saying nothing.

Aelita closes her eyes in despair. "Yumi...they saw me!"

The Hornets immediately fire at the rocks, slowly breaking them into bits. Aelita gasps in horror as she's now out in the open.

"Aelita? Aelita!" Yumi shouts sharply.

The orange surges follow Sissi as she's walking down into the boiler. "Perfect. They'll never think of looking for him here."

Herb and Nicolas are holding on Jeremy, who stays silent. "But Sissi, what's going on?" Herb asks curiously, wondering why she's going to such methods to hide Jeremy.

"You! Be quiet!" She orders, turning as she heard something. Odd, Amy, and Ulrich step into the boiler room, glancing to each other in confusion that Sissi's here with Jeremy.

"Odd, Ulrich, Amy, look out! Sissi is possessed by XANA!" Jeremy warns them. Sissi growls as she slides in front of Jeremy, blocking him from the three. The trio narrow their eyes at her and she breaks off a pipe from the wall, letting out some steam. She starts walking towards them. When Nicolas and Herb have to cover their mouths from the smoke, they accidentally release Jeremy, who ducks out of the way.

"Can you see anything?"

"I see literally nothing, but I think we'd better get out of here!"

Jeremy runs past Sissi, who swings at him, but misses.

"Go on," Ulrich picks up one of the fallen pipes. "I'll handle her."

"Are you sure?" Jeremy asks uncertainly.

"Get going, will ya?" Ulrich whispers, sure of himself.

"Good luck," Jeremy leaves with Odd and Amy. Ulrich and Sissi approach each other, the boy hoping he can still Sissi long enough for Aelita to deactivate the tower.

Aelita runs off from the Hornets, getting hit in the shoulder by one of them. She keeps on running, knowing that if she stopped for even a second, she'd disappear forever. In her heart, she hoped that help was on the way soon.

Odd, Amy, and Jeremy use their vehicles to move down the sewer tunnels. "How did XANA manage to possess people?" Odd asks in disbelief.

"It looks like he's increased his powers," Jeremy theorizes.

"Brilliant, Einstein, but how?" Odd turns to the genius, whose eyes widen in realization. It was so obvious, he couldn't believe that he figured it out sooner.

"W-With the jumps back in time!"

"I-Is that even possible?" Amy stammers nervously.

"You think so?"

"I sure do." They all come to a stop. "The super calculator is a quantum computer that uses the properties of Q bytes." Odd and Amy climb up the ladder. "Every time you add a Q byte, its power theoretically doubles. I think the po-"

"Jeremy, do you mind saying that in English?" Odd asks once they've reached the bridge.

"Well, the super calculator is so powerful that it can undoubtedly do it," He summarizes.

"Which is not great for us..." Amy drags a hand down her face.

Aelita moves away from her hiding spot, seeing no signs of the Hornets. The activated tower is in her sights, meaning she's safe...

But a Hornet flies in front of her, making her gasp sharply. She turns around to see the second Hornet, but that's not all.

"Oh no, the Scyphozoa!" Yumi says in horror. Aelita gasps as she hears the jellyfish behind her, seeing it reach out its tentacles.

The lab doors open to reveal Amy, Odd, and Jeremy. "Oh there you are at last!" Yumi cries out in relief. "Aelita's in trouble!"

XANA Sissi looks around all the smoke, Ulrich standing up as he's holding a busted pipe. XANA Sissi sees him and knocks the pipe out of his hands, swinging it at him. He ducks out of the way, using the smoke to his advantage to sneak past the possessed girl.

Aelita is lifted up by the Scyphozoa, who attaches its tentacles to her head. It starts to steal her memory just as Jeremy is getting the trio to Lyoko.

"Virtualization!"

Yumi, Odd, and Amy are transported into the mountain sector, landing right in front of the Scyphozoa. Yumi takes out one Hornet with her fan.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd fires at the other one, destroying it.

"Rock Tomb," Sharp rocks pierce at the Scyphozoa, making it drop Aelita and then it retreats.

"XANA's started another jump back in time. We might have to start all over again!" Jeremy frowns at the screen.

"_I'd really rather not, Jeremy," _Odd voices in exhaustion.

"_Same here. I wouldn't feel like it,"_ Amy agrees with him.

Yumi tends to Aelita while Amy and Odd point their weapons at the jellyfish, threatening it to move. If it did, they'd fire straight at it again. Knowing that its lost, the Scyphozoa backs away.

"Aelita, you alright?" Yumi questions softly.

"Yeah."

"We just have to make it to that darn tower!" Yumi glances at the tower behind them.

"And we're not there yet," Odd is looking at the Tarantula blocking their access to the tower.

"How many times do we have to go through monsters before we can actually deactivate the tower?" Amy complains, Jeremy realizing something.

"This may be the code I need!" He starts typing, glancing nervously at the timer. He hoped that this would work, or else they'd have to do it all over again.

"We won't get a second chance," Yumi says as across a gap, the Tarantula sits there, as if encouraging them to attack.

"No sweat. I'll cover you," Odd jumps forward.

"It's gotta work!" Jeremy says nervously as he presses enter, testing out the program. "I can't believe it! I actually did it!" He cheers, as he's stopped the returning time jumps. _"I've stopped the jump back in time!"_

Odd jumps onto a rock, dodging the Tarantula's lasers. He crawls against the wall, Yumi backflipping and frontflipping over the Tarantula. She lands on the other side, throwing her fans to cut off the Tarantula's arms. Amy runs forward and slices off the legs, knocking it to the ground. Odd backflips over the Tarantula and fires an arrow at the eye, destroying it as Odd lands behind the girls.

Aelita sees the tower in her sights.

Ulrich slams the door closed behind him as XANA Sissi knocks it down with her pipe. She growls, looking behind her as Ulrich tries to use his Penchak Silat to hit her. He knocks down the Walkman she had, breaking it. She looks at him, angry that the evidence is destroyed as she advances.

Aelita lands on the top pad of the tower, walking up to the interface. She presses her hand on it to sign in.

_Aelita_

Ulrich cringes as he looks up at XANA Sissi, who threatens to bludgeon him with the pipe. "Sissi, no!" He calls out to try and stop her. She doesn't listen of course.

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The tower is finally deactivated for good. "Tower deactivated."

Sissi's eyes turn back to normal, confused. "What's going on? What am I doing here?" She drops the pipe when she sees the destroyed device. "Oh no! My Walkman! My mini disc!"

* * *

It's finally Wednesday as Ulrich points to his head. Since XANA gets more powerful from the return to the past, Jeremy did not want to risk doing it again. "Sissi doesn't remember a thing. It's as if nothing ever happened."

"Lucky for us. Ms. Hertz already gave each of us four hours of detention for skipping her class," Yumi frowns a bit.

"You know, if our homework is on photosynthesis, I just might get the only good grade of my entire career as a scholastic washout," Odd smiles, remembering how he shocked Ms. Hertz in class.

"Anyway, we now know that XANA can control people," Jeremy looks worried as XANA can possess anyone he wants to now.

"We also know that jumping back in time increases his power," Aelita looks at everyone.

"We're gonna have to be very careful," Ulrich speaks up, "The next round is gonna be tougher than ever."

But whatever XANA throws at them, they'd be ready.


	33. Mister Puck

**Angel: I'm uploading as soon as I wake up so that I don't get people asking me why I haven't updated yet, because it's annoying. I have exams next Wednesday morning, early, so I won't be able to upload until I get back later in the afternoon, so please do not ask me about the uploads for then! The last thing I need when I get home from taking finals is questions about updates. Or at any point in time, actually. I'm only grateful I got someone at work to cover me, because they scheduled a Wednesday shift for that day! If I had to do THAT, then that should tell a certain reviewer I can't update that morning.**

**I still update on three weekdays, I just do it whenever I please, so I really should not be getting reminders about that. It shouldn't even matter when I do it as long as it's done. Especially when I'm still taking classes! Leave me be! I'm trying to finish all my schoolwork here!**

The woods are only slightly quiet, with the wolves howling. The boy with the blue hat runs through the forest, panting as he takes a moment to breath. He continues to walk, but suddenly stops as a furred foot steps up. Turning around, he sees the angry wolf, backing away slightly so as not to show fear. The wolf bares his teeth at the boy, who takes off running, the wolf immediately pouncing.

Aelita screams as she sits up, gasping. She turns to Amy, who was panting as if she had seen the same thing as Aelita. But that couldn't be possible, as Aelita had been having these nightmares for days, and through those nights, Amy didn't have that reaction before...

She's about to ask Amy when the door opens, revealing Sissi. She wears a pink tank top with green frills and pink pants with the same frills at the bottom. Her hair is slightly messy.

"Who is that screaming?!" She grits her teeth when she sees it's both girls.

"Oh, um, well, you are," Aelita points out. The brunette snickers slightly. Sissi growls as she doesn't find this funny.

"Do you know what time it is?!" Sissi demands, Amy rolling her eyes.

"Uh," Aelita glances at the alarm clock for the time, "Five o'clock in the morning?"

"Yes, that's right! And this is the third night in a row you've woken me up! I have had it!"

"Sissi, you don't need beauty sleep. If anything, you still look like a troll anyway," Amy crosses her arms, smiling smugly as the girl grits her teeth.

"You shut up!" She slams the door shut and Amy rubs her temple.

"I wish I switched rooms a long time ago..." She mutters and Aelita looks at her. Amy's rubbing her eyes as she's sweating; something definitely happened to make her scream. And by the look of her face, it wasn't Aelita who caused it. If anything, Amy would just open her eyes and check on Aelita to calm her down.

"Amy? Why were you screaming?"

"Huh?" Amy turns to the pink-haired girl in surprise that she asked. "Oh, well...um...remember that dream you told me about a few nights ago?"

"Yes..." Aelita answers slowly.

"...I had the same one," Amy murmurs to Aelita's confusion.

"The...same one? But that's weird. Why would you have the same one as me tonight?"

"I don't know...but something tells me that there's more to these visions..."

* * *

When it's time to get up, the two girls head for the showers. Aelita goes into the showers with Amy, holding their toiletries and towels. Aelita suddenly gasps as she sees a wolf inside. Amy drops her bag in shock, Aelita backing away slowly. She screams, running out with Amy, slamming the door to let the wolf be trapped inside. Aelita shakes as Sissi approaches, two other girls behind her.

"Out of our way," Sissi doesn't seem to notice the girls' terrified expressions, or care.

"Don't go in there. There's a huge wolf inside," Aelita whimpers, not wanting to open her eyes.

"Oh, really?" Sissi chuckles in disbelief, moving the girls away. She opens the door, but screams in a fake tone, the two looking to see another girl with glasses standing there, confused as she was about to open the door.

"A four-eyed wolf." The three girls laugh, the girl with glasses huffing as she walks past the two. Aelita frowns, Amy closing her eyes. They weren't crazy, that they knew. These visions, however, are starting to really affect them...where are they coming from? Why is Amy getting them too?

* * *

"It's a shame you didn't dream about me, girls," Odd puts a hand on their shoulders. They're sitting on a bench in the courtyard. "Because you know me, I'm a real dream come true."

"More like a nightmare to tell the truth, Odd," Ulrich holds back a laugh, Odd turning around with a slight huff.

"These visions of yours are becoming a real problem," Yumi voices in concern. "And now Amy's having them? Why?"

Jeremy puts a finger to his chin in thought. "It all started at the Hermitage. I think you should go back there. Maybe Amy can get some answers on why it's happening to her."

"What! Back to that old house? I'm not sure if you remember, but last time, we were attacked by a cupboard, a lamp, and a gang of forks," Odd immediately protests. He didn't know what effect it could have on Amy, and he didn't want to. It really bothers him that Amy's getting these visions too, and they don't have a clue on why. Amy is his closest friend. To overwhelm her was the last thing he wanted to do.

"I don't like that place," Aelita voices her concerns, standing up. "It scares me."

"I second that," Amy sighs slowly, "As much as I want answers, I also don't wanna go back to that haunted house of horrors."

Yumi places her hands on Aelita's shoulders, Odd doing the same with Amy. "We don't have any choice, girls. If we don't do something, your hallucinations could get worse."

"Don't worry," Jeremy takes a hold of Aelita's hand. "This time, we'll be with you." He pats her hand.

"For both of you," Odd grips Amy's shoulders. The two girls look to each other, nodding slowly.

* * *

The six of them are standing in front of the steps of the Hermitage. Amy's having second thoughts as Aelita is scared. "My legs are shaking. What's happening to me?"

"You're scared. It's nothing to worry about. It happens to Jeremy all the time," Odd replies, walking to Amy and taking her hand. He pulls her forward and she silently follows, gripping the blonde's hand. She's not even inside and she's already doubting her decision.

"Come on, we'll see who's scared," Jeremy retorts back as they walk up the steps. They open the door to find the same furnishings the way they left them, all of them still broken of course. Jeremy holds Aelita's hand as the two take the lead. Odd points to a book on the desk.

"There, there, stay down, boy." He puts his right hand into his pocket, Amy stifling a laugh.

"See? Everything is just fine," Jeremy says to Aelita, who lets go of his hand. She walks forward to some steps, wanting to inspect things herself. Amy decides to follow her, both of them walking into the hall. One room sticks out to Aelita as she walks inside, the others following. There's pink carpet, but all of the furniture is broken down just like everything else. Aelita and Amy both get hallucinations, screaming. They can see the little boy running away from the wolves. He trips and crawls inside a tree as the wolves were trying to get him. He gasps sharply as the wolf shows his teeth.

As Aelita and Amy scream, the brunette bumps into the wardrobe, causing something to fall onto the carpet.

The little boy digs through the leaves, opening something. He gasps in fear at what he's seeing.

The next thing they see is a concerned Yumi looking at them. "Girls, are you okay?"

Aelita sweats a little, getting a quick flashback of the boy. "Yes, I mean...I think so."

"I'm...fine," Amy closes her eyes.

"Did you have another vision?" Jeremy wonders, Aelita walking up to the window.

"Yes, but it was different this time," Aelita glances at them. "It's as if something or someone was leading me to..." She looks at a picture of the same tree the boy hid in. "There was something in a tree, like that one," She removes the picture to see a hole...and in it is the same boy, but as a doll. She takes it, caressing its cheek. "Mr. Puck..."

Amy's foot hits something and she looks down, her eyes widening. She knows this moment. She lived it. "No...no way..."

"What?" Odd walks up to her. "What is it, Ames?"

"This...this picture," She picks up the slightly broken picture frame. There's a little baby being held by a woman with brown hair, tan skin, and wearing a hospital uniform. Standing next to her is a man who smiles happily.

"What about it?" Ulrich peeks at the photo.

"This is...this was taken the day I was born," Amy reveals, the others' eyes widening in shock.

"Wait...so that's you?" Yumi points to the baby.

"What's it doing here?" Odd murmurs in confusion as they all stare at it, but no one has the answer...

* * *

Amy hangs up from the conversation she just had with her mother, walking inside the classroom. "So to make a long story short, Aelita's never seen this toy? No, but she's been dreaming about it for days and she knows it's called Mr. Puck." Jeremy adjusts his glasses, glancing at the doll on Aelita's desk.

"It's not a gnome, it's an elf," Ulrich corrects the boy.

"Well, whatever it is, this whole story is definitely paranormal. And you said you've never heard of it?" Odd looks up at Amy, who shakes her head.

"No. I just got off the phone with my mom. Apparently she's never heard of the Hermitage, and she never sent a photo of me to that location."

"Could your dad have done it?" Ulrich asks her.

"If he did, I can't talk to him. He's not answering," She crosses her arms. "So I can't say for sure how my picture ended up at the Hermitage."

"So then why are you getting nightmares about a toy you've never heard of...?" Jeremy taps his chin in thought. "So far, things aren't adding up when it comes to Amy. It's like someone wants to keep it from you..."

The doll is suddenly snatched from the desk, Aelita's eyes widening. "Well, Aelita, still playing with dolls?" Sissi waves Mr. Puck.

"Hey!" Jeremy immediately stands up, and she holds it over his head. "Sissi, give that back right now!" He reaches out to grab it, but her arm is too long for him to grab it.

"Fetch!" She throws it to Nicolas, who catches it.

"Hey," Ulrich warns, the blonde hiding it behind his back, "A bit of advice, give me that toy right now."

"What toy?" Nicolas asks innocently as Herb now has a hold of it.

"Herb, I dare you to take your glasses off!" Odd runs forward, trying to punch him. "Come on!"

Herb throws it out of Odd's reach. "I got it!" Sissi and Aelita both grab for it at the same time, trying to get it. Aelita ultimately wins, and something drops from Mr. Puck. Sissi reaches out to grab the tiny key, but a boot steps on top of it.

"Uh uh," Ulrich tsks as Amy is standing on the key. They both grin as they've won this round. Mrs. Meyer enters the room as Sissi tries to move Amy's foot.

"What is all this noise about?!" She demands, Sissi pouting as she stands up.

"Okay, you can have it," Sissi walks past Ulrich. "But only because it's you."

Amy rolls her eyes, giving the key to Jeremy. They take their seats for math.

"Right. Look at this triangle marked ABC. The point eyes in the middle of the segment..."

Jeremy looks down at the tiny key. The numbers 167 are on it, but there's no clue as to what it opens. "What's this key doing here?"

"What do you think it opens?" Aelita glances at him as Mrs. Meyer is distracted.

"I sure wish I knew, but I have no idea at all." He inspects the picture underneath the numbers, his eyes widening. "Hey! A locker, it's the key to a train station locker!"

Odd and Amy both look embarrassed as he said that out loud for everyone to hear. Mrs. Meyer looks at him as she was asking for a volunteer. Amy rubs her temple.

"Jeremy? I'm listening."

Jeremy looks up, inspecting the board. "Uh, the complex number is called transcendent, only if the rational coefficients polynomial root is a polynomial zero."

"Yes, indeed, that is the Sierpinski-Mazurkiewiczi paradox, but it is not the answer to our problem," She looks annoyed that one of her best students can't pay attention. "So, zero."

Herb, Nicolas, and Sissi laugh, Amy facepalming.

* * *

"36537 leaving on track five all aboard," Someone announces at the train station.

"This is it," They're all standing in front of the locker. "Would you like to do the honors?" Jeremy gestures to the locker and Aelita opens it using the key they found. Inside is a briefcase. They all gasp at it, wondering what could possibly be in it. Engraved on the front are the initials F.H.

"F.H? What does that stand for?" Ulrich wonders.

"Fuzzy hands? Fifty cent hotdog? Fried egg?" Odd jokes as the others walk past him.

"Egg doesn't start with an H," Ulrich reminds him, hands in his pockets.

"Just testing to see if you were on your toes," Odd puts his hands behind his back before he sees that the briefcase has discs inside. "Oh wow, music!"

"Certainly not," Jeremy removes his backpack, taking out his laptop. "Let's see what we can come up with." He opens it up, Amy thinking to herself.

"So the Mr. Puck doll that I've dreamed about with Aelita had a key that holds the initials FH to solve...so what does that have to with me? I don't know anyone with those initials. _How _am I connected to all of this?"

"Maybe it's a secret ancestor of yours and you turn out to be filthy rich?" Odd giggles, Amy rolling her eyes.

"Or maybe you're not connected at all," Ulrich shrugs helplessly. "Maybe it's all just a coincidence."

"I think not," Amy huffs, crossing her arms. "I have to get to the bottom of this. My picture wasn't there for no reason. Someone who knows me and my family put that picture in there...and I think I was meant to see it...but why?"

Jeremy inserts the disc into his laptop, seeing a file with a name. "Franz Hopper's diary."

"Great, maybe we'll be able to find out more about the Hermitage's mysterious owner," Yumi wraps an arm around Aelita.

"And maybe he knows something about me..." Amy murmurs, Odd patting her shoulder. "I've never heard of a Franz Hopper."

"For sure, but not right away. Everything is encrypted," Jeremy looks at the interface that blocks access. "I'll have to decode it first."

"How much time do you need?" Ulrich asks, "One, maybe two hours?"

"More like one or two years!" Jeremy retorts. Whoever this Franz Hopper was, he certainly knows computers.

When they arrive back to the dorms, XANA activates Jeremy's computer. The blonde is sleeping after a long day, holding the briefcase that held the diaries...

* * *

The alarm goes off for 7 am, but Ulrich is already up. He glances behind him to see Odd asleep, of course. Kiwi is laying on the blanket. "Come on, time to get up."

"Mmm, just a little bit longer..."

Ulrich silently rolls his eyes. "I'm gonna take a shower," He closes the door behind him, the lamp from the desk shaking. A specter emerges from it, taking shape as it looms over Odd. Kiwi barks at the intruder, but Odd continues to sleep. The specter enters Odd through the ear and the blonde starts to get agitated, his body grey and static. Odd screams as he tries to fight it, gripping the blanket. It was like someone was trying to take control of him. The specter leaves, unable to do the deed.

Odd enters the boys' bathroom. "Ulrich, you here?" Theo is there brushing his teeth. He suddenly hears screaming, turning to the door that leads to the showers. It opens and Ulrich tumbles onto the floor, his body also static and grey just like with Odd. The specter leaves his body through the mouth, Ulrich coughing. Odd gasps in shock at what just happened.

Did XANA...try to possess them?

Aelita sits up in her bed, turning to a sleeping Amy. She smiles in amusement, grabbing her towel. She pets Kiki on Amy's bed before leaving the room. If the alarm didn't wake her up, her own dog was bound to do it for her.

Kiki sits up and licks Amy's cheek to get her up. She whines, not noticing the specter entering from the ceiling. It enters her ear and the same thing with the boys happens to her. She lets out a scream, which Aelita hears. She comes running back inside to see Amy on the ground, trying to get it out of her. The specter leaves, unable to possess her as well. Aelita and Amy both gasp at what happened.

"Jeremy, Jeremy!" Odd, Ulrich, and Amy loom over the boy who wakes up.

"Huh? What?"

"XANA's ghosts attacked us and Ulrich!" Odd informs him.

"What?" Jeremy asks in confusion.

"Don't worry, no harm done. They ran away," Ulrich corrects as Jeremy checks his computer.

"The super scan didn't detect any activated towers. XANA's attack failed. That's weird, XANA can possess humans, but not...you three," Jeremy looks back at them. Odd pats Ulrich's shoulder.

"It must have something to do with sex appeal."

"Yeah right, I'm sure of that," Jeremy chuckles in amusement.

"Did I really need to hear that?" Amy rolls her eyes as she leaves the room.

"See ya later!" Odd sings as the boys follow Amy out. Jeremy looks at the computer, curious as to what XANA was planning on doing. He doesn't have time to find that out as one of the ghosts attacks him, and this time, manages to possess him. Jeremy looks up at the briefcase sitting on his bed...

* * *

"Running is the noblest event in athletics. Well, except maybe for the long jump, or the shotput, javelin, high jump" Jim paces in front of everyone as they're all in their gym clothes. "Some of you may associate running with cowardice as in running away. Nothing could be further from the truth. See, who runs well goes far." He chuckles at his joke. "Jeremy! Let's see how powerful your strides are."

Jeremy walks up to the track, Jim turning to the others as the boy did his stretches. "For those of you with short memories, let me remind you that, uh, well, what was I gonna say? Right, may I remind you that we start when I say go, not on get set, and not on ready. I mean, well, after ready, get set, is when I say go."

Amy facepalms at his rambling. "Right!" He focuses his attention on Jeremy, as he's said enough. "Okay! On your marks, get set, go!"

Jeremy immediately starts running, but gets a cramp five seconds later. "Ouch!" He limps his leg.

"What now?"

"I twisted my ankle!" Jeremy clutches his right ankle.

"Yeah, of course you did. You don't get strong muscles sitting in front of a computer. Herb, take him to the infirmary."

Herb grits his teeth, not wanting to do any of the sort. "Jim?" Jeremy hops to Aelita. "Would you mind if Aelita came with me instead?"

"Okay, whatever. Go on, then," Jim waves it off and Aelita runs off. "Take him far away from me."

As the two are walking, Yumi is in the bathroom, washing her hands. Jeremy seems to be fine. "Jeremy, you're not limping anymore. Has your ankle stopped hurting?"

Jeremy slowly turns around to reveal that he has been possessed by XANA! Aelita shouts in horror and when Jeremy kicks her unconscious, Yumi hears it. She looks out the window to see Jeremy carrying Aelita over his shoulder, running into the park. She gasps in shock, quickly calling Ulrich and rushing out the bathroom.

Ulrich's phone vibrates and he hides behind his two friends to answer. "Yumi?"

"Ulrich, I think Jeremy's been possessed by XANA!"

"You sure?" Ulrich asks, the two glancing at the boy behind them. "This morning, Amy, Odd, and I were almost possessed by a couple of ghosts, but they didn't succeed. Why would it work on Jeremy?"

"No idea, but I saw him heading for the parklands. Aelita's in his arms, she was unconscious."

"Oh no!" Ulrich whispers, realizing what Jeremy plans to do.

XANA Jeremy lifts the manhole cover, throwing it.

"I'll check the super scan. Let's meet at the factory," Yumi runs out of the science building.

"Okay," Ulrich hangs up.

"Pitiful!" Jim scolds Emily, "A slug could've made it around faster. Ulrich, I'm counting on you to raise the level."

"Uh, okay. But I've gotta go to the restroom first," Ulrich stands up.

"Oh, and I gotta go too, Jim!" Odd and Amy raise a finger. Jim groans slowly, wondering just how many of his students would have to leave.

"Okay, okay, make it snappy," He jerks a thumb behind him and they rush off. "Right, which one of you wimps is next?"

Yumi checks Jeremy's computer, and indeed sees an activated tower. "Sector one, the ice territory, south southeast," She writes down the coordinates and rips off the paper from the notepad. As she's leaving, she notices the broken briefcase near the door. Using her foot, she lifts it open to see that the diary entries are all damaged. She narrows her eyes, wondering what was so important on them that XANA had to destroy...

Amy, Odd, and Ulrich run through the park. "Yeah?" Ulrich answers his phone.

"XANA's attacked. We have to stop Jeremy, and fast too!" Yumi reports as she runs down the stairs.

"Okay, we're on it." Ulrich hangs up, Odd and Amy glancing at the manhole cover that's now stuck to a tree...

At the bridge, XANA Jeremy is walking across, with Aelita in his arms. She begins to wake up, looking up at the boy. She had to snap him out of it. "Jeremy!"

He suddenly comes to a stop at her voice, looking at her with XANA eyes. She gasps in horror, thinking that since it was Jeremy, he could be easily persuaded. "Jeremy, no, listen to me. Please!" She tries to wiggle out of his grip, but he uses his hands to shock her unconscious. He wouldn't listen to her pleas, there was no need to.

With that, he continues to walk forward slowly.

Odd skates on the railing, landing back on the path. Ulrich and Amy follow after him.

Yumi stops at the manhole cover, looking around to make sure no one followed her. She opens it up, hoping that Jeremy hasn't already materialized Aelita onto Lyoko.

XANA Jeremy has Aelita over his shoulder, looking up as the trio swings down to greet him. "So, you going down too?"

XANA Jeremy drops Aelita, his hands sparking with electricity.

Yumi skates down the tunnels.

"Boy, it's totally weird to be fighting against Jeremy," Odd says to Ulrich and Amy. "I mean, I don't wanna hurt him, but..." Odd runs up to XANA Jeremy, who throws him to the pole.

"Odd!" Amy runs up to him as he's lying there.

Yumi races across the bridge as quick as she can.

Ulrich spins around to kick XANA Jeremy, who grabs his leg and kicks him away. Ulrich holds his stomach and tries to punch the possessed boy, but he catches the fist and shocks Ulrich with the electricity powers he has. It knocks Ulrich onto the ground, XANA Jeremy slowly walking back to the elevator, but Aelita is not where he left her. While he's distracted, Amy runs up to XANA Jeremy with a yell, holding a pipe. She swings it at him, but XANA Jeremy grabs the pipe and shocks her, knocking her back towards Odd.

Aelita is climbing a rope, having woken up. Jeremy grabs the rope and the electricity goes up to Aelita, knocking her unconscious again. He pulls the rope to make her fall, catching her in his arms. The elevator arrives just as Yumi comes in swinging, hitting XANA Jeremy in the back of the head with a wrench. He drops Aelita, who wakes up at the movement. Yumi pushes Aelita into the elevator.

"Quick, we've gotta get to Lyoko." She pushes the button, handing Aelita the notes she wrote down. "Here, these are the coordinates of the activated tower."

Ulrich helps Amy inside just as Odd looms over XANA Jeremy. "You guys go ahead. I'll take care of him." He growls as his possessed friend wakes up, allowing the others to escape. XANA Jeremy holds up his hands, showing the electricity coming from them.

"Okay, over here, twinkle fingers. I have a good feeling we're really gonna hit it off!"

The girls and Ulrich arrive in the scanner room, with Aelita taking the controls of the supercomputer this time.

"How are you doing, Aelita?" Yumi asks. "Think you can handle it?"

"I'm not as good as Jeremy on it," She manages to start the process successfully, "The virtualization countdown has been launched. Amy, Yumi and Ulrich will go first and then-"

She turns around to find that Amy is not standing next to her. "Amy? Amy? Where'd she go?"

"She must've went to help Odd. We'll have to go without her," Ulrich says from the scanner room, Aelita nodding. She goes downstairs just as the countdown has ended.

They're all transported into the ice sector, landing on the icy path. "Look, there!" Aelita points up ahead to see the activated tower. They start running down the path.

"He who runs well goes far!" Aelita recites, Yumi turning to her.

"Is Odd the one who teaches you nonsense like that?"

"No, as a matter of fact, it's Jim!" Aelita tells her as they continue on.

XANA Jeremy goes in to punch Odd, who moves out of the way. "Whoa, I'm sure glad that post was there and not my face. Got any other tricks up your sleeve?" He backs away as XANA Jeremy inches towards him, threatening to electrocute the boy. Odd flips out of the way and XANA Jeremy punches another post, growling in frustration. He actually broke the elevator button.

"Uh oh, that wasn't very smart, was it? Especially since you're the one who's gotta fix it," Odd replies and XANA Jeremy growls.

As the trio are running, Ulrich is suspicious. Not one monster has attacked, and since they don't have Jeremy, they won't know where they'll be coming from.

"Keep your eyes open, huh? We don't have Jeremy to warn us about monsters this time."

Unfortunately, there's no monster yet, but a crack in the ice. They come to a stop. "Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that."

They turn around as they see that they're trapped.

Odd is kicked into a pole, taking a breath. "How can you have a decent discussion with someone who has no sense of humor?"

XANA Jeremy approaches, preparing to stomp Odd.

"Whoa, easy does it!" Odd ducks, trapping XANA Jeremy's leg and knocking him off his feet. "Ha ha!" He holds up XANA Jeremy's leg. "Not so clever now, huh?"

XANA Jeremy stands up, looking at Odd who's spinning the chain like a nunchuck. Someone drops down from below and Odd is confused to see Amy taking a stance behind Jeremy. "Ames, what are you doing?"

"Helping you. You can't exactly handle Jeremy by yourself, no matter how weak he looks," She winks at him and he smiles gratefully.

Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich look at the Bloks emerging from the ice. "Bloks!"

Four of them surround the trio and they look at them nervously. There's no way to get past without being hit first.

Yumi pulls out her fans while Ulrich pulls out his sword.

Odd swings the chain to capture XANA Jeremy's arm, Amy jumping up in the air and descending down to kick him. He electrocutes Odd through the chain, reaching his other arm and hitting Amy with an electric ball. She falls down at Jeremy's feet and Odd lets go of the chain.

One Blok fires first, Yumi frontflipping out of the way. She flips again, backflipping in the air to avoid the lasers. She lands away from the Bloks and pulls out her fans again. Ulrich glances behind him at another one, who fires, but he uses his sword to block the projectile. Aelita looks in worry as another Blok fires and Ulrich gets his leg trapped by an ice laser. Aelita looks on as Ulrich tries to slice his way free. He eventually does, speeding to Aelita to block the lasers coming for her. He turns around to deflect another.

"Yumi, protect Aelita. I'll take care of the Bloks."

"Right." Yumi blocks lasers using her fans, backflipping to Aelita's side, taking Ulrich's place.

"Triplicate!" He divides himself into three, the two Bloks confused. His clones jump into the air, dodging the lasers. One is destroyed and his clones rejoin him. "Fusion!"

Odd backs away as XANA Jeremy goes in to attack again. He ducks as XANA Jeremy punches the pole again. Odd runs to behind him, climbing the rope. Amy follows him up to the catwalk.

"Hey Sparky, scared of heights, huh?"

XANA Jeremy flies up to them like he's Superman. "Okay, so you're not scared of heights," Odd assumes, Amy's mouth wide open.

"Good to know..." She follows Odd all the way to the other side and they continue to climb. XANA Jeremy places his hands down, sending a large electric wave that zaps the two, knocking them onto the second floor. They lay there, weak and electrified as Odd reaches out a hand to Amy, but is unable to touch it.

"Ames..."

Yumi flips over another laser, spinning around and blocking the rest with her fans. She slides backwards a bit from a flurry of lasers, eventually getting hit in the stomach. Aelita gasps in concern as Yumi stands up, weak from the blow. Another Blok approaches from behind and before he can fire, Aelita uses her creativity to make an ice wall behind Yumi.

"Nice one, Aelita," Yumi congratulates with a small smile.

XANA Jeremy lands in front of the broken elevator switch, pressing the button to try and make it work.

A Blok walks in front of Ulrich. "I'm gonna knock your Blok off, you dumb Blokhead!" He threatens, Yumi backflipping near him.

"Sounds like you miss Odd. Your jokes are worse than his," She calls out.

Someone enters the lab...

As Yumi and Ulrich are fending off the last two Bloks, one of them spins around and fires a circular orange laser. Yumi flips, passing through all of them and quickly throwing her fan. She lands as she misses the Blok, pressing her hands to her head. The fan comes back and she makes it hit the Blok before it can hit her again.

"Yeah!" Aelita cheers at her move.

Unfortunately for Yumi, someone's about to change all of their good luck...

"That's what I call a job..." She suddenly is devirtualized by XANA Jeremy, who's at the computer.

"Materialization Yumi."

"Ah, Yumi..." Aelita frowns at her disappearance.

Yumi lays down in the scanner, slamming her fist against the metal. She wasn't even hit, and she was the first one to go.

Aelita gasps at a Blok, running away from it. Ulrich looks back as he's deflecting lasers. "Hang on!" He slides back a bit from the lasers hitting his sword, Aelita running in his direction. However, an ice laser stops her in her tracks, leaving her unable to escape. "I'm coming! Triangulate!" Three clones appear as they run in a triangle, surrounding the Blok. Confused, it fires at one, destroying a clone before destroying the other one.

Ulrich jumps forward and hits the eye dead on, jumping out of the way and landing safely without a scratch. He looks up at Aelita.

XANA Jeremy prepares to devirtualize Ulrich.

He turns to the Blok who stands in front of Aelita. The Scyphozoa appears and Ulrich gasps in shock. "The Scyphozoa!" Aelita gasps in horror.

XANA Jeremy is about to materialize Ulrich, who gets hit in the stomach by a Blok. Aelita backs away, but is ultimately caught by the jellyfish.

"Aelita...!" Ulrich says in worry, the Blok blocking him from moving. Ulrich rolls out of the way from a laser, jumping over another while he's still on the ground. He jumps forward and hits the Blok in the eye, watching it explode.

XANA Jeremy turns around as someone tsks. "Uh uh, it's not nice to devirtualize your best friends," Odd playfully scolds, only for XANA Jeremy to grab him by the shirt, throwing him away.

"Odd!" Amy goes to punch Jeremy, but he catches her fist and throws her to the other side of the room. Odd grits his teeth as he hears Amy land on the ground.

The Scyphozoa is almost close to taking Aelita's memory when Ulrich speeds up. "Super Sprint!" He slices the tentacles off, bending down to the pink-haired girl.

"Thanks Ulrich," She says gratefully.

"No sweat. Head for the tower. I'll take care of this overgrown bug." He stands up just as she runs off.

Yumi arrives into the lab as Aelita tries to reach the tower as quick as she can. XANA Jeremy is about to punch Odd in the face.

As Aelita almost reaches the tower, Odd tries to poke XANA Jeremy in the eyes, but his glasses are blocking.

Aelita enters the tower.

"Oh, never trust a guy with glasses," Odd complains at his failed move. Yumi suddenly grabs the fist, Amy grabbing onto Jeremy from behind.

He drops Odd, throwing the girls off him.

Aelita walks up to the middle of the pad and starts flying to the top.

Odd tries crawling up to Amy, to check on her. XANA Jeremy stops him with his foot.

Jeremy creates a wave of electricity between his hands.

Aelita reaches the top pad.

Odd looks up in fear at XANA Jeremy as Amy reaches him, hugging him.

Aelita walks up to the interface.

The two whimper in fear at XANA Jeremy, who prepares to electrocute them—deadly.

Aelita signs in.

_Aelita_

They try to move away from him, wiggling their legs as he inches closer.

_Code_

_Lyoko_

Amy and Odd squeeze their eyes shut, holding onto each other tightly. Suddenly, Jeremy is back to normal.

"Tower deactivated."

Jeremy falls on top of the two, unconscious.

* * *

"Well?" Yumi asks as they surround him. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh, strange," He admits, sitting up slowly. "I remember talking to Odd, Ulrich, and Amy, and then after that, nothing. Just a black hole."

"XANA took control of you," Aelita decides to explain. It was better if he heard it from her.

Jeremy gasps in horror. "He destroyed all of Franz Hopper's CDs," Ulrich tells him next. "Apparently he had a problem with his notes."

"Whew," Jeremy actually looks relieved.

"What do you mean, 'whew'? It's a disaster!" Odd demands.

"No it isn't," Jeremy stands up. "Last night when I got back from the train station, I snuck in here and I coped the CDs onto a highly restricted access part of the supercomputer. I'm the only one who can access them."

"You're a genius, Jeremy," Aelita gives him a thumbs up, Jeremy smiling.

"Still, there's something I don't get," Ulrich opens his eyes. "Why couldn't XANA's ghosts take control of Amy, Odd, and me and then have no trouble controlling Jeremy? And was there information about Amy that he didn't want her to know about on those discs?"

"Maybe? I don't know, this is all really confusing," Amy says, crossing her arms with a frown. "I wish I knew just what I'm missing..."

"No idea," Jeremy answers to both questions. "Though, it might explain why XANA would destroy them."

"I might have an explanation for Jeremy," Yumi speaks up, "Apart from you, we're all used to fighting on Lyoko. Maybe that gives us more resistance to XANA."

"Maybe," Jeremy murmurs, "But then how can we protect me?" He didn't want XANA to possess him again.

"Hmm," Odd holds up a finger. "I just might have the answer." They all look at Jeremy knowingly.

Later, Jeremy exits the scanner, having just been on Lyoko. "Well?" Odd asks expectantly.

"That's the last time I ever set foot on Lyoko!" He storms off to the elevator.

"Why? Just because of a couple of megatanks?" Ulrich wonders.

"It's really just not my thing," Jeremy dismisses it, "I'll never be able to hack it. You know, I think I'd rather be possessed by XANA then go back there. I'll just keep on the lookout for ghosts, that's all," He leans against the elevator, the girls already inside.

"Well? What did he look like on Lyoko?" Aelita asks curiously.

"He looked..." Odd and Ulrich join them. "How...how can I say this tactfully?"

"Ridiculous," Ulrich finishes for him.

"That's the word," Odd smirks playfully. Everyone laughs except for Jeremy as the doors close.

That night, Aelita has no nightmares as she sleeps with Mr. Puck in her hands. _"Come on, Mr. Puck, let's go for a walk in the garden."_

Amy grips her sheets, sweating in fear as she has the nightmares again...something would be uncovered for her...

Something very shocking indeed...soon...


	34. Saint Valentine's Day

It's nighttime at Kadic as a delivery boy walks up to the dorms. He walks in the hall of the girls' dorms as Aelita and Amy are sleeping peacefully. The boy reaches his destination; their room, as he places down something for Aelita.

"No," Aelita sobs, clutching her pillow. "Stop. No, let me go."

They're having the nightmares again and Aelita's computer turns on, indicating a message. Amy sits up as she looks across the room, the two girls glancing at each other. Aelita logs in to see a present hopping up and down. Soon there's a knock at the door. Aelita opens it, but sees no one.

"But what could...?"

She looks around as Amy walks up to her. "Hey, what's this?" She points down to the peach-colored wrapped box with a red box. There's a tag with Aelita's name written on it.

They sit on Aelita's bed as the pink-haired girl removes the ribbon and rips off the paper. Inside is a glowing pink orb necklace.

"Huh...never seen this kind of jewelry before," Amy hums in thought.

"I wonder...we'll talk to Yumi about it tomorrow, see what she says."

"Sounds like a plan. I'm going back to bed, I'm meeting Odd at breakfast tomorrow," Amy lays back down in her bed, Kiki joining her at her side. Aelita smiles in amusement. One day, she'd get them to see how perfect they were together. After all, Amy's always helping her. Now it was time for Aelita to return the favor.

The delivery boy walks out from the hall, but Jim sees him. "Hey, you! What are you doing here? No one's allowed in the dormitory without my authorization." He doesn't notice the XANA symbol in the boy's eyes, and he smirks, knowing just how to scare Jim. "How'd you get in here?"

He says nothing as the boy holds out his hand, shooting electricity at Jim's face. "Well, I..." The boy jumps up into the air, hanging onto the ceiling like he's Spiderman. Jim gasps in shock, the boy grinning before he crawls his way out. Jim's mouth is hanging, wondering what just happened.

* * *

Yumi holds up the necklace the next morning, Amy brushing her hair. "Plain, but not bad."

"But I wonder who gave it to me, and why?" Aelita asks the girls. Yumi and Amy look to each other, grinning.

"Why? I might have an idea. You know what day it is today?" Yumi hands the necklace back to a confused Aelita.

"Ah, Tuesday."

"Yes, but not just any Tuesday. It's Saint Valentine's Day!" Yumi beams, Amy giggling. "The day all lovers celebrate."

Aelita looks at her necklace in shock, looking back up at her friends. "Lovers...?"

"Yes, and we can guess exactly which boy might want to give you a present, can't you?" Yumi asks knowingly. It doesn't take long for Aelita to know, smiling at the necklace. "So what about you, Amy? Are you giving Odd something?"

"Oh, me?" Amy questions in surprise, dropping the brush. "I, uh...had something in mind, but I don't know if he'll like it..." She rubs her arm nervously, trying not to let her insecurities show. When it came to Odd Della Robbia, it took all of her strength to not weaken at the knees by just saying his name. And that's when he's not joking around or pursuing other girls her age.

"Are you kidding? It's Odd, he'll love anything if it's from you," Yumi winks at her.

"What did you have in mind?" Aelita asks curiously. Amy fishes through her bag, holding up a portrait of Odd and Kiwi. Kiwi is in a smiling Odd's arms as he's sitting against a tree in the forest. She captured the dark blues and greens of the forest perfectly. It's as if they were looking at the real thing and not a portrait.

"I painted this when I was supposed to be doing plants in the woods. I guess nature just inspired me...but I don't know if it's enough."

"Wow, it looks great!" Yumi inspects it. "I'm sure he'll love it."

"Really?" Amy asks uncertainly. Knowing Odd's goals for love, she doesn't think her measly painting will get much of a reaction. It was hard enough having a crush on him.

"Yeah," Aelita nods with a smile. "You're a great artist. I've seen your sketchbooks. I think he'll even put it up in his room."

"Thanks, guys," Amy gives a small grin, pumping her fists in determination. She _will_ give it to him!

* * *

Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremy are walking to class when the shorter blonde notices Aelita running up to them. "Hey, there's Aelita!" She's wearing the necklace that she thinks Jeremy gave to her.

"Thanks, Jeremy," She says to Jeremy's confusion.

"You know, the first time I see someone in the morning, I tend to say 'good morning,' but then again maybe I'm a little old fashioned," Ulrich replies in amusement.

"For the necklace," Aelita smiles fondly at it. "Thank you."

"The, um, necklace?" Jeremy wonders, playing along.

"Your Valentine's Day present. It's lovely," She says gratefully.

"Uh, yeah, um...well, you're welcome," He smiles through his lie. "It's only natural."

"Well," She blushes at the last sentence, "See you in history class."

"See you, Aelita," He replies as she walks past him, dropping the smile. He stares after her, wondering if lying to her was the best thing to do.

"You didn't give it to her, did you?" Ulrich guesses right away.

"Was it that obvious?" Jeremy asks in confusion.

"Yeah," Ulrich chuckles, "But lucky for you, love has made Aelita blind."

"Oh come on, Ulrich," Jeremy retorts back, Ulrich chuckling again. As the blonde genius walks up ahead, Ulrich and Odd follow him. The brunette leans in towards his roommate.

"Odd. Did you get something for Amy?" He, on the other hand, totally forgot it was Valentine's Day, meaning he had to do something for Yumi, and it had to be something he could do in short notice.

"Yup," Odd puts his hands in his pockets. "She's gonna love it!"

"And yet you still don't have feelings for her?" Ulrich raises a teasing brow.

"The heart wants what the heart wants," Odd grins widely, Ulrich staring at him in confusion. He doesn't get to ask whether or not Odd answered his question because they reach class. Either way, Odd's answer leaves it vague...

* * *

"Most historians believe that Valentine's Day is associated with the Roman numeral..."

As the teacher is going over the history of Valentine's Day, Jeremy is very bothered that someone else gave Aelita a gift. Not that many boys even talked to Aelita, that he knew of. There was also no note left behind. He already knows Amy didn't do it, because Aelita wouldn't thank Jeremy if it was the girl. So the only suspects were Ulrich and Odd. And whichever one did it beat Jeremy to the punch.

"Hey Ulrich," Jeremy tries the brunette first who's sitting a desk behind from his left, "It wouldn't be you who gave her that necklace by any chance?"

"You outta your mind or something?" Ulrich asks in disbelief that Jeremy even suspected him. Aelita was definitely his friend, but he wouldn't do that to Jeremy. "I didn't even know it was Valentine's Day."

Jeremy narrows his eyes, but he believed him. Ulrich had done nothing in the past to make Jeremy distrust him when it came to Aelita.

Ulrich turns back to his work. As the teacher continues on, Ulrich whispers his name.

"Jeremy!"

"Huh?" Jeremy turns back to him.

"What rhymes with tulip?"

The question was mind-boggling to say the least. "I don't know. Microchip, paperclip, hypocrite?"

"Okay, nevermind." None of those worked for Ulrich, they were just too weird. Also, he didn't want anyone else to know what he was doing.

"What are you writing?" Jeremy asks curiously.

"Nothing," Ulrich denies immediately.

"A poem?" Jeremy could only assume it was one, because nothing he knew in their schoolwork involved flowers.

"No."

"Is it for Yumi?"

"No," Ulrich denies again. "It's...biology homework."

Jeremy narrows his eyes at that. "Biology homework that rhymes, huh? That's interesting."

Ulrich shrugs at him in amusement, Jeremy smiling in relief. That left only one suspect. He turns to Odd, who's taking notes like the rest of the class. He can see Amy's jacket past Odd's hair.

"Odd, the necklace, it wasn't you, was it?"

Odd closes his eyes with an amused smile. Of course Jeremy would ask him. "Do I have to remind you that Aelita is supposed to be my cousin?" Besides, he didn't give to her, and he shouldn't have to tell Jeremy that he had a gift for someone who wasn't Aelita.

"Yes, except we both know she isn't your cousin," Jeremy whispers accusingly, taking that to mean that Odd's not denying it.

"Yeah, what if it was me?" Odd raises a brow, glancing at Jeremy. "Aelita isn't your property as far as I know." He didn't think it was just a big deal that Aelita got a necklace from someone. Jeremy shouldn't treat her like he's the only one who can give gifts to her.

"Uh huh, you see! You admit it!" Jeremy shouts in his face.

"I didn't admit anything," Odd whispers, trying to silently tell Jeremy that they're in class. He didn't do it, and Jeremy should accept it and move on from the whole necklace thing.

"You just said it was you!" Jeremy stands up, still shouting.

"Hey, have you gone bananas?" At this point, they've already caught everyone's attention. "Your eyesight's not great, but your hearing's worse!"

"I-"

Someone clears their throat and they turn to the teacher. Everyone is staring at them, including Aelita herself. "If you have more important subjects to discuss than today's lesson, I suggest you do so in the principal's office!"

They both give dismayed looks, especially when they reach Mr. Delmas' office minutes later.

He taps his finger against his desk, disappointed. For Odd, it was normal. But Jeremy Belpois, a model student, yelling in class? He got the best grades, only tied with Aelita and Amy in second.

"In your case, Odd, this comes as no surprise. But you, Jeremy. A model student in all areas, I simply don't understand."

"Well, uh," Jeremy stammers, not knowing what to say.

"Two hours of detention should help you to find some more convincing arguments. And you're lucky it's Valentine's Day or I'd have given you at least four!"

The two boys say nothing as they walk out of the office, the secretary watching them leave. She just shrugs, having known the situation already. Valentine's Day could make anyone go crazy as far as she's concerned.

"I'm still waiting for an answer," Jeremy demands as they walk out.

"Hey, why don't we call a truce, okay?" Odd didn't need to admit anything because he didn't do anything.

"Was it you who gave her the necklace? Yes or no?" Jeremy presses further. He needed an answer.

"Okay then, no truce," Odd walks off, Jeremy huffing as he crosses his arms.

* * *

Jeremy's still frowning later on. "Come on, Einstein, it's stupid to fight over such a little thing," Ulrich tries to make Jeremy see reason.

"He's right," Yumi agrees, "What's more, Odd has every right to give Aelita a present if he wants to."

"Yeah, right. How could he do that to Amy?" Jeremy scoffs, Yumi and Ulrich rolling their eyes. Yumi already knew that Amy was planning on giving the blonde a present, and Odd was very close with the brunette. Odd thought of Aelita as a sister, and if he wanted to give the girl a present, it shouldn't bother Jeremy.

"He's still brooding?" Amy asks as she walks up to them.

"Yup," Yumi and Ulrich say in unison.

"Jeremy, it shouldn't matter. They're not lovers!" Amy shakes her head. "It's dumb that you're being mad about it."

"Did you give it to him yet?" Yumi questions hopefully.

"No. I-I don't think it's the right time since he has detention and...well," She glances at Jeremy.

"Oh, Ulrich?" The boy looks up at Sissi. "Could I talk to you for a second?"

"Well, only if it's really important," He says reluctantly, knowing that if he said no, she'd bother him all day. She's holding a pink envelope. "For me?"

Yumi grunts in annoyance. "Is this for Valentine's Day?"

"No, it's for Christmas," Sissi chuckles, "Of course it's for Valentine's Day. What do you think, hm? Come on, open it, stupid."

"Wow," He says in awe at the paper. "A ticket to the Subsonics concert!"

"Isn't that your favorite group?" Sissi asks knowingly, Yumi narrowing her eyes while frowning.

"Oh no," Amy murmurs, putting a hand to her forehead.

"Well, yeah," Ulrich answers, Yumi looking to her friends.

"I must be dreaming," She deadpans, Amy shrugging.

"Yumi," She turns to William. "I've got something for you." He holds out a rose bouquet to her.

"Oh, thank you, William," She says in surprise, taking them. She smiles at him and he smiles back.

"I must be dreaming," Ulrich replies in the same tone as Yumi. He decides to retaliate as he pulls out a piece of paper. "Sissi, I wrote you a little poem."

Yumi turns to the two as Ulrich said it loud enough for her to hear. "Don't do it," Amy mumbles, shaking her head.

"To tell you how much I flip, if not with a tulip. How I'm a victim of your charms, and long to hold you in my arms. With you, I never feel gloomy, my little, uh, Sissi." He wouldn't let anyone know it was for Yumi, but with the gloomy part, it was pretty obvious to Amy that all of it was supposed to rhyme.

"Ugh," Amy facepalms at the silent battle.

"Oh, Ulrich!" Sissi clasps her arms, touched. "It rhymes! It's so beautiful."

"Why?" Amy mutters at what he just did.

"William!" Yumi turns to William. Two could play at that game. "Your bouquet is beautiful. How did you know that I liked roses?"

"I didn't," He answers honestly. "But I figured you were like all the other girls."

Yumi gives a sound of shock, having lost that round.

Ulrich starts laughing. "How romantic, William, ha!"

Amy stifles a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. The awkward moment almost made her reevaluate her friends' actions. Almost.

"Thank you, William. You couldn't have made me happier," Yumi kisses a blushing William's cheek, Ulrich glaring. He couldn't even get one kiss with Yumi, but suddenly William gets one for flowers?

"Idiots," Amy shakes her head at their pettiness.

Meanwhile, Aelita is in the girls' bathroom to wash up. Electricity from her necklace touches her eyes and she can see darkness as she turns on the water. She tries washing her face to snap out of it, but he necklace takes over anyway, possessing the pink-haired girl.

* * *

"Look, it's ridiculous to fight over such a puny little thing," Jeremy tries to reason with both his friends. "William had every right to give Yumi a present, and so did Sissi with Ulrich, right?"

"Hey, I don't think you're the one to talk right now, okay?" Ulrich asks Jeremy, who is confused by what that meant. He looks at Amy, who slowly holds up her hands.

"Hey, I don't want to get involved." She grabs her bag, standing up. "I'm choosing to say nothing and just leave."

And she does. Jeremy looks around. "Um, by the way, does anyone know where Aelita is?"

In the ice sector, past all the pathways and ice tunnels, a tower is activated, sitting above the Digital Sea.

* * *

Ms. Hertz's class is just starting. "Settle down, and take your seats."

Jeremy sits next to Aelita up at front and Ms. Hertz looks up as everyone's seated. "Please open your textbooks to page 27. The anatomical structure of muscles..."

"Where were you?" Jeremy turns to Aelita, sounding worried. "I looked for you everywhere."

He doesn't notice the XANA symbol flashing in her eyes. "I was, um...uh..." She tries to come up with an excuse before getting straight to the point. "Do you think that we could go to Sector Five, after class? I know where to find the data for making the antivirus?"

He recoils back in shock. "The one that'll free you from XANA?" He assumes that's what she was doing, but then again, he checked her room and the lab, and she wasn't there. "You mean to say it just came to you, just like that?"

"Let's just say that your necklace inspired me," She smiles slightly.

"The problem is that given everybody's bad mood today, I doubt that Odd or Amy or Ulrich or Yumi are gonna wanna go with you," Jeremy glances back at Odd and Amy sitting together, Ulrich sitting to Odd's right at the other desk. Amy couldn't find Odd, so she didn't get the chance to give him his present. It's not that she doesn't want to, it's just that...it wasn't the right time anyway if she had found him. Ulrich's still bitter about William, vice versa with Yumi about Sissi, and Odd's still mad about his fight with Jeremy.

"I can go by myself," Aelita states confidently.

"No, it's too dangerous," He tells her as she has no way to fight. "Don't forget XANA's ready to go to any extreme to steal your memory, Aelita."

"Please, Jeremy," The XANA symbol flashes in her eyes for a split second. "I'm positive I'm on the right track. And with an Overboard, I'm sure I can get away from the monsters, even the latest ones like the Scyphozoa. Pleeease?" She grins slyly, kissing him on the cheek.

By this action, he gasps, falling out of his chair and onto the ground.

"Oh! Why Jeremy!" Ms. Hertz exclaims in disbelief. Everyone laughs at him.

* * *

"That's two more hours," Mr. Delmas says as Jeremy stands in front of him again for the second time today. "Four hours of detention. I'm going to have to suspend you if you do anything else."

Jeremy gasps at the word 'suspend', walking out of the office.

"Jim sees Spiderman stuck to the ceiling, my best pupil is acting like a clown. Valentine's Day is making everyone crazy!" Mr. Delmas rubs a temple.

Jeremy walks up to his room, only to find Yumi and Aelita standing there in front of his open door. "Yumi says she'll go with me to Lyoko!" Aelita smiles happily, Jeremy turning to Yumi. Yumi nods with a smile. Aelita tried Amy first, but she couldn't find her.

"After everything that's happened today, it'll be nice to get something accomplished," Jeremy reluctantly agrees to let them go, walking into his room. Aelita glances at Yumi, who senses something off about her...

* * *

The trio run into the park, Yumi opening up the manhole cover. She climbs down first, followed by Jeremy and then Aelita. Yumi takes her skateboard while Jeremy and Aelita take their scooters. The Japanese girl throws her skateboard, skating down the tunnels. Aelita follows after Jeremy, the necklace glowing as the XANA symbol is in her eyes...

They climb up the ladder when they reach the end, running across the bridge and using the ropes to get down to the elevator. Yumi presses the button and a few minutes later, Jeremy reaches the lab. Neither him or Yumi sense any danger as Aelita opens her XANA-filled eyes in the elevator.

"Ready, ladies? I'm starting up the process."

They walk into the scanner room. Yumi walks in first. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization." Just before the virtualization, he notices something wrong with Aelita's DNA. "Hey. That's weird." He hums to himself as the necklace absorbs itself into Aelita, further having control over her.

The girls are virtualized into the forest sector. "Vehicles for the ladies coming right up." Jeremy virtualizes the Overwing and the Overboard. "Materialization." The two vehicles appear in front of them. "You need to go due east to get to the edge of the sector."

"_No way," _Aelita denies, _"I'm heading north."_

Jeremy adjusts his headphone, not sure if he heard that right. "But...I don't understand, you're supposed to go to Sector Five."

"Sorry Yumi," Aelita sweeps her leg to knock Yumi off her feet. Then she kicks Yumi to a tree, knocking her out. She jumps onto the Overboard, leaving Yumi behind.

"Yumi?" Jeremy asks in concern as he doesn't see the Japanese girl moving. "Aelita! What's going on? _Yumi, can you hear me, are you okay?_"

At his voice, she regains consciousness. "I'd be lying if I said I was. What's gotten into her?"

"_I don't know, she's lost it!"_ Yumi stands up. "You've absolutely gotta stop her. _She's headed due north._"

Yumi jumps onto her Overwing. "Okay, I'll try, but I'm gonna need some back-up." She tries her best to catch up.

"I'm on it," Jeremy gets to work contacting the others.

* * *

Odd paces around, stopping as he sees Amy approaching him. She's got the portrait in wrapping paper so Odd doesn't see it. He wanted to give her his present now, since he has detention to serve. "Ames...I don't know when I'll get out of detention, so...I wanted to let you have this now."

"Odd...?" She murmurs in confusion at his serious tone.

"I..." He reaches into his pocket, but his phone rings, stopping him from grabbing the gift. Both Amy and Odd look disappointed as he pulls out his phone. "Jeremy, we're supposed to be doing two hours of detention now. Speak slower, I can't understand a word. Hm, an attack by XANA. Is that all you can think of as an excuse to make up?"

"Odd, listen to me. It's an emergency. Just get over here now."

Before Odd can say anything else, his phone is snatched away by Jim. "No cell phones in detention. Where is Jeremy Belpois?"

"Odd? Odd! Can you hear me?" Jeremy calls out, but there's no answer.

Amy frowns sadly as Odd is taken away back to detention, walking away and shutting off her mobile.

* * *

He had no idea how he ended up here, but he totally regrets this. "Relax, Ulrich," Sissi goes through her DVD collection. "Surprise!" She holds up a DVD. "The latest Subsonic CD, look. Not bad for getting in the mood before going to the concert."

"Uh, Sissi," He stammers nervously as she leans closer. "Uh, listen."

"You're right. Let's not talk. Let's listen."

His phone rings and he answers it. "Hello? Yeah. Yeah, Jeremy. Okay, I'll be right there."

At the last sentence, Sissi's eyes widen. "Right, I'll take care of it."

"Hey. Where you going?"

"Jeremy just reminded me I have a really important thing I have to do."

"What?" She asks curiously.

"Uh, well, leave." He closes the door and she grunts.

* * *

Aelita uses the Overboard, determined to let nothing stop her. Yumi flies past the trees, finally getting sight of her. "Okay, Jeremy, I see her."

"Yumi, you know how Aelita got that necklace?" Jeremy wonders as he's looking at Aelita's DNA.

"I think Amy said she found it on their doorstep," Yumi explains, "There was a tag that said it was for Aelita. Do you think XANA could've put it there?"

"I'm launching the superscan. We'll know in a minute," The truth was, Jeremy didn't know. But it was the only explanation that was possible. Aelita would never attack Yumi. He does a quick scan. "In my opinion, it's that dumb necklace that gives XANA control over Aelita. He wants to lead her straight to the Scyphozoa! Oh no, that's exactly what I was afraid of," He looks at the activated tower, "Looks like XANA has activated a tower."

"Don't panic, Jeremy. I've just about caught up to her," Yumi trails after Aelita, who notices she's being followed. She slides to the left and Yumi does the same. "And I was about to say this was too easy," Two Krabs block Yumi's path, but they allow Aelita to pass right by. They fire rapidly, causing Yumi's Overwing to be devirtualized.

She rolls to a safe stop, looking up at the monsters. She notices they're about to fire again and frontflips past them. Pulling out a fan, she throws it, but it flies straight past the Krabs. She catches it.

"Jeremy, I don't wanna sound pessimistic, but if Amy, Ulrich, and Odd could hurry up a bit!"

"Come on, Amy, pick up," Jeremy urges, but it goes straight to voicemail.

* * *

Ulrich is trying to help Odd out of detention. "You see, Jim, Aelita's got a 104 fever, so naturally she wants to see her cousin. He's her only family."

"A minute ago it was 103," Jim replies, not buying it.

"Right, her temperature keeps going up by the minute," Ulrich laughs sheepishly.

"What do you take me for, some kind of idiot?!" Jim demands as he leans closer.

"Well, um, no, no Jim," Ulrich shakes his head, though it was a lie. Ulrich's phone rings. "Uh, excuse me." He answers it and Odd leans closer to hear Jeremy. "Yeah. Well, no, Jim doesn't believe me. About Aelita's fever."

"Okay, put him on, Ulrich." Jeremy starts to do something, showing the image of the principal on the phone.

"Here you are, Jim, it's...it's for you," Ulrich holds out the phone to the gym teacher, not sure of what Jeremy could do.

"Yes? Yes, oh of course, I understand, Mr. Delmas."

Ulrich gasps in shock.

"Do you hear me, Jim?" Jeremy says into the headphone, but it comes out as the principal's voice. "Let Della Robbia see his cousin."

"Uh, very well." Odd and Ulrich glance at each other, not sure of what just happened. "Whatever you say, sir." He turns away from the boys. "Say, uh, when you have time, could I speak to you about a personal matter? It's about Suzanne Hertz."

"I, well, uh..." Jeremy definitely did not want to have this discussion. "Oh, it's a tunnel. We're about to get cut off," He makes static sound on the phone, confusing Jim only for a second. He figured that the principal must've left for an emergency.

"How did you manage that with the principal?" Ulrich asks in shock once they're out of detention.

"I wrote a new program," Jeremy smiles proudly. "Stern, Della Robbia, hurry up. Things are getting hot here."

Ulrich gasps in shock at the principal's voice again, looking at his phone. He'd ask Jeremy how he did that later. "And while you're at it, can you find Amy? She's not answering her phone."

"Huh," Ulrich replies once he hangs up. "It's not like Amy to go AWOL."

"She must be upset over me not giving her the present yet," Odd sighs slowly. "She's in her room with Kiki. That's where she always is when she wants to be alone."

* * *

Ulrich knocks on Amy's door and there's no answer. He opens it and sees Amy petting Kiki. "Hey, where have you been? Jeremy's been calling."

"Oh...sorry. I just...needed some time alone," Amy admits slowly, Odd's hands on his hips.

"I just can't stand to see my favorite girl brood," He shakes his head, pulling out something from his pocket. "Here, Ames. For you."

Amy gasps in shock at the golden heart-shaped necklace with a sapphire in the center. "Odd...! For me?"

Ulrich whistles, impressed and also surprised. Odd didn't get those kinds of gifts for any of the other girls. Amy must mean a lot to him if he went out of his way to get that.

"Yeah. Sapphire's your birthstone, isn't it?" Odd rubs his neck sheepishly as Amy holds it in her hands.

"Yes...I can't believe you remembered that."

"Of course!" Odd winks at her. "Happy Valentine's Day, Ames."

"Thank you, Odd," She hugs him and he returns it, both of them smiling with a tiny blush on their cheeks. "I have something for you too, but I'll give it to you later. Right now, we have a tower that needs deactivating," She walks out the door, the two boys racing after her.

* * *

Yumi flips, running off from the Krabs as they chase after her. She ducks from another laser as the Krabs continue their attack. She jumps away from more lasers shot at her feet, turning around and running up a tree. She pushes herself back to backflip onto a Krab. When she backflips again, she throws her fans at the eye, destroying one Krab.

"That's one down." She reaches up her hands to catch her weapons, but only one fan comes back. "That's one fan down as well."

A laser from the now lone Krab knocks her weapon out of her hand. She presses her hands to her forehead, using her telekinesis to get her fan back. She catches it, but the Krab knocks it away again. She runs as the Krab fires at her.

"Jeremy!" She calls out while panting. "Tell me you reprogrammed a new vehicle!"

"Don't worry, give me 10 seconds."

Yumi swerves right and left, seeing the Overwing materialize in front of her. She quickly jumps on, flying over the Krab.

"Yeah! Nice going, Yumi!" Jeremy cheers as Yumi escapes the monster.

"Do you still have a visual on Aelita?" She no longer sees the pink-haired girl.

"_She took off for Sector one, the ice sector. Use a way tower."_

"On the Overwing? Are you absolutely sure about that?" Yumi asks skeptically as she approaches the blue-aura tower.

"Well, yes. There's no reason you couldn't," Jeremy isn't confident in his answer, as Aelita technically did it, but he didn't see her.

"If you're wrong, I swear I'll...!" Yumi gives a nervous sound as she enters the way tower and falls through. She pilots her vehicle to the ice sector successfully.

"_You swear you'll what?_" Jeremy asks knowingly.

"Um, nothing," Yumi corrects herself.

The elevator opens to reveal the others. "Can't do without me, huh? You won't get mad if I save Aelita, will you?" Odd questions, teasing Jeremy.

"Odd," Ulrich warns him, Amy shaking her head.

"No, let him, Ulrich. He was right, I was being stupid," Jeremy admits, having used this time to think it over. He knew fully well that Odd didn't give to her now.

"I don't blame you, Jeremy, I understand," Odd places a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "I'm a pretty charming guy. It's only natural you'd be jealous of me." Odd giggles, Jeremy chuckling. Ulrich and Amy both smile that they've made up.

Aelita is flying down the icy path with the Overboard, Jeremy getting ready to virtualize the trio. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Transfer Amy. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

Yumi has just about caught up to Aelita, flying to her side. Using the Overwing, she bumps into the Overboard, knocking Aelita off of it. Yumi slides to a stop as Aelita continues running. Yumi races after her, jumping in front of the girl.

"Aelita, you must stop obeying XANA!" She tries to snap her friend out of it.

"Leave me alone," Aelita uses her creativity to make a hole underneath Yumi, who grabs onto the edge.

"No!"

Aelita jumps over the hole and continues on. "Jeremy, could you just remind me what'll happen if I fall into the digital sea?"

"_If I were you, I'd avoid it."_

"Well then if you could help me out of here, I'd appreciate it," Yumi calls out.

"I'm bringing you back, but it's gonna take a couple minutes."

"I was afraid you were gonna say that," She doesn't know if she can hold on for that long. She looks up at her slipping hand before she eventually lets go, but someone grabs her hand. She looks up gratefully to see Ulrich.

"Happy to see me?"

"I sure am," She says in relief.

"Move it, Jeremy. I can't hold her for long," Ulrich replies.

"I'm doing all I can," He types furiously.

"See, Yumi, what did you think of my poem for Sissi?" Ulrich wonders, causing her to look annoyed.

"Ulrich, this is really not the time!"

"Because, in fact, I actually wrote it for you," He confesses, Yumi smiling fondly. She gasps as she continues to slip.

"I can't hold on!" She lets go.

"Yumiiiii!" Ulrich shouts in shock as she falls, but luckily, the materialization works just before she could hit the water.

"Remind me to boost that program," Jeremy says to himself. "Ulrich, Odd and Amy are about to need your help."

Aelita is far ahead to her destination, Odd and Amy racing after the girl. Aelita jumps onto a platform, coming to a stop in front of a cave. A familiar sound is heard, but Odd and Amy appear behind her.

"Aelita, it's us, Odd and Ames."

"You have to stop."

She holds out her hand, creating an ice wall between her and them. "Aelita!" Odd shouts as Amy creates her bow. She pulls it to release her high speed arrows.

"Sapphire Arrow."

They hit the ice, but they don't make a dent. Amy's mouth opens in shock.

"Noooo!" They both shout as they can only watch Aelita walk up to the Scyphozoa.

Yumi walks up to Jeremy as they both watch the screen.

The Scyphozoa appears to take away Aelita's memory.

"Aelita!" Amy and Odd both scream, but she doesn't listen. Amy points her finger.

"Shattering Ice!" Ice daggers come from her finger, but nothing.

"Ulrich, hurry up," Yumi urges.

"_I'm almost there."_

"It's no use," Amy turns to Odd. "Nothing's gonna break through this wall."

Odd looks up to see that the ice wall can only go up so far. "Ames, fly me up."

"Okay." Amy flies up in front of him and he leaps forward, grabbing her arms. She ascends up to the top just as Ulrich arrives from using Super Sprint.

"You two okay?" Ulrich calls out.

"Brilliant as usual," Odd congratulates himself, Amy rolling her eyes. Ulrich pulls out his sword to try and break his way in since he can't climb like Odd would've. His sword isn't enough, however.

"That bad, huh?"

Amy drops Odd and he lands on his feet once they're on the other side. Amy lands next to him, Odd pointing his arm.

"Laser arrow!" He fires three times, hurting the Scyphozoa a bit. "Aelita, stop!" Odd and Amy run up to her, but she freezes their legs, as well as Amy's arms, preventing her from using her powers.

"Aelita!" She exclaims in defense.

"Hey, that's cheating," Odd accuses as the Scyphozoa takes Aelita. Ulrich continues slicing at the ice, but nothing happens.

"Jeremy, we're never gonna make it."

"You've gotta think of something," Yumi urges and there's only one last resort.

"I do have one idea, but it's awfully risky." He had no idea if it would even work.

Odd pulls at his legs, Amy trying to move her arms.

"_Odd, aim for Aelita,_" Jeremy orders as the Schyphozoa presses his tentacles to Aelita's head.

"What?!" Amy exclaims, Odd confused.

"Are you crazy?"

"Hey, don't forget that if Aelita loses all her life points, she'll disappear forever!" Ulrich explains, Odd not looking happy.

"XANA wants her memory," Jeremy tells them, "He won't risk losing that. Deep down, he wants her alive as much as we do."

Yumi looks worried as she turns to him. "Are you sure?"

"No...but I can't think of anything else."

Amy and Odd glance to each other. "Do it, Odd. Without the movement of my arms, I can't do anything."

"Okay...here I go," Odd points his arm at the girl. He fires one and it hits her back. She starts to lose her life points.

"_Only 30 life points left!"_

"You want me to stop?" Odd asks slowly, guilty that he had to do this.

"No, I just hope I'm right," Jeremy says. Odd fires three times, hitting Aelita enough for the Scyphozoa to drop her.

"XANA's given up!" Ulrich stares, but XANA doesn't give up easily. The Scyphozoa is still holding Aelita.

"Yes!" Odd cheers, Amy sighing in relief. While Aelita's still on the ground, the jellyfish continues his process. "Uh oh, the Scyphozoa's at it again. It was too good to be true." Odd hits Aelita again.

"Only 10 life points left!" Jeremy looks at the life points depleting.

"Come on," Amy urges for Aelita to be safe. Odd prepares to fire, but the Scyphozoa moves away, realizing that Odd's not going to stop.

"It's okay."

Aelita sits up, a little dizzy. She turns back to Odd, having no memory of what happened. "What's going on? Why are you aiming at me?"

Odd drops his arm in embarrassment, rubbing his head. "Boy, this is awkward..." Amy murmurs, glancing away.

Jeremy smiles in relief at Yumi, so glad that he was right.

They take Aelita to the activated tower and she enters slowly, stopping at the middle of the eye. She floats up to the top and signs in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

They all watch as the red aura disappears, Amy wiping away her forehead. "Whew."

* * *

Yumi smashes the necklace with her foot, revealing a chip inside with XANA's symbol in the center. Jeremy bends down and picks it up. "I better study this. You never know, I might be able to get some interesting information about XANA."

"Anyway, Aelita, from now on, you don't take any presents from anyone," Ulrich warns her.

"Promise," She smiles at Jeremy. "You know, Jeremy saved my life, and that's the nicest Valentine's present anyone could hope for."

Jeremy beams at her, walking away with a smile.

"Yeah, but that sure won't save him from being suspended," Odd points out. "For missing four hours of detention. The principal's not gonna be too happy about that! But I'm sure there's a solution." He giggles at Ulrich, having been made aware of something that could change things around.

"Hey, what are you looking at _me_ for?" Ulrich asks defensively.

* * *

"I'm really happy to be going to the concert with you," He says to Sissi at the courtyard. "But you won't forget to talk to your father beforehand, huh?"

"Don't worry, I'll get Jeremy out of this," Sissi walks away holding hands with Ulrich.

"Now that's a real friend, ready to sacrifice himself for his pal," Odd comments.

"Are you sure he's sacrificing himself as much as all that?" Jeremy asks as Ulrich gives them a secret thumbs up. "He doesn't seem to be bothered by it."

"Maybe not, but it was for me that he wrote the poem. Poor Sissi!"

They all laugh, Amy walking away. Odd notices her leaving and runs after her. "Hey Ames, wait up!"

"Hm?" She turns her head as he joins her side.

"Where's your present for me?"

"Oh, it's in my room. We'll go get it together," They start walking together, Aelita, Yumi, and Jeremy staring after them.

"I really hope we win the bet," Yumi winks at Aelita.

"Now now, ladies," Jeremy holds up his hand. "I thought we agreed not to influence them to increase our chances." He and Ulrich had bet that Odd wouldn't tell Amy his feelings, while the girls had bet that he would.

Odd didn't know why, but walking with Amy right now just felt so right. Any moment was right, as long as she was there...

"So what's this present you got me?" He grins once they're in her room. She rummages through her closet and quickly finds it, handing the gift-wrapped present meant for him.

"Open it and see," She winks and he smiles at the gesture.

Quickly ripping off the paper, he sees the portrait of him and Kiwi. He touches the frame gently as if it would break. "Oh wow..."

"Do you...like it?" Amy asks nervously and he looks up at her with the biggest smile.

"I love it! No one's ever given me a portrait! Thanks Ames, best gift ever." He starts to feel something inside him. Maybe he's sick? He didn't think so, he didn't step through Sector Five...

Were these...butterflies? For his best friend?


	35. Final Mix

A cup of hot chocolate is poured for Ulrich at the vending machines. "Can't remember the equation," He speaks to Odd as he picks up his drink. "The square root of a quotient equals...uh..." They have a big science exam that's a big part of their grade, and Ulrich needed it. His grades weren't exactly good.

"Uh, zero?" Odd guesses while trying to figure out what he wants. "Uh, no, 10? No wait. I give up." Ulrich squishes his cup, leaving the machines. "Hey, wait, where you going?"

"To study for the science final," Ulrich calls out. "It's tomorrow and I can't exactly count on you to help me."

"You must be kidding, we'll miss the afternoon snack. And don't get all worked up about that exam. I've got a little something in mind."

Ulrich turns to Odd, knowing fully well that Odd doesn't study. "This little something, does it start with cheat and end in sheet, by any chance?" He throws his cup at Odd's head. The paper hits him and then lands in the trash.

"Wow, you just read my mind," Odd smiles and Ulrich scoffs.

"Forget about your dumb plan."

"Gee, thanks a lot, Ulrich, for being so supportive," Odd retorts, Sissi standing in front of him.

"Wow, I am really knocked out. Bet you can't guess why?"

"Don't tell me, the members of the band Love Potion split up?" Odd asks her.

"Come on, that's old news, you dork. Brian fell in love with Crystal Parlance, so Geoffrey kicked them out," She turns back to Ulrich, smirking. "Now listen to this, huh? The news is...my father said it was okay to use the gymnasium!"

"He said yes?" Odd couldn't believe it and she nods. "YES! I've gotta find William," He races off to find the older boy.

"Oh, it's gonna be the dance party of the century!" Sissi cheers as she spins around.

* * *

Later, the gym is being set up for the party. Jim blows the whistle as two students are moving around mats. "Hurry it up! You two, take those mats into the storage room." He blows it louder. "You, push that pommel horse against the wall. Come on, move it!"

While one of the students is pushing the pommel horse, he bumps into William, who was carrying the mixing board. He drops it, damaging it.

"Oh no! I don't believe this," He whispers as he tries to fix it. Odd walks up to him.

"So it's really true, huh? The principal gave the techno party the green light?" He asks in excitement.

"Looks like it, yeah," William drops the tool he was using.

"Wow, smoking, huh? The best DJs from all the local schools will be there. It's gonna be a blast!" He pumps his fist, wishing that Amy was here to hear the news. He called, but she's studying for the science final. He sighs to himself as he misses her presence...she'd definitely be excited, and he loved to see her so energetic and happy. She's always like that, but with him, it was different.

"We're not blasting anything. The mixing board is hammered. I can't figure out how to fix it."

Odd gets an idea of someone who could. "Hey, no problem. We'll ask Jeremy. He's Mr. Fixit. He can fix anything."

William looks up at him. Being here for only a short while, he didn't know the extent of Jeremy's knowledge. They're not in the same grade, so he didn't know that Jeremy's actually the smartest kid in 9th grade.

"You think so?"

"Yeah!"

* * *

"No," Jeremy denies when Odd asks him in his room. "I've got better things to do with my time than play around with a mixing board."

Aelita looks up from her book. "Maybe I can help."

"Would you?" Odd asks her in surprise.

"Uh, but," Jeremy raises his eyebrows, turning to her. "What about our research on your antivirus?"

"I'm just sitting around watching you at this stage," Aelita closes her book.

"Great. Come on," Odd waves her forward, Aelita following after him.

"What about the science final? Don't you ever study?" Jeremy asks Odd, thinking that he shouldn't be helping with the party. Grades were important, and so was helping Aelita with her antivirus.

"It's in the bag," Odd waves it off, Jeremy looking a little annoyed.

* * *

"Oh, please, Ames!" Odd begs to the brunette, who's standing at the doorway. "You've gotta come see it! Aren't you excited for this?"

"Of course I am. But this final is pretty important. I can't show my dad an F on my exam," Amy looks down at her notes. He glances at something sitting on top of her shirt and a chill goes up his spine when he sees that she's wearing the necklace he gave her for Valentine's Day.

_She's...wearing my present..._

Aelita sees him tense up, but not in a bad way. She giggles to herself at how adorable they were.

"Knowing you, you'll get a good grade! Whatever happened to taking a break with your friends?" Odd winks at her and she blushes a bit. Well, with the way he really wants her to come, how could she say no?

"Alright, I'll come."

* * *

Aelita patches up the mixing board. "So then, this is the thing that makes the music?" She asks curiously. She's never seen one before.

"Yep, you play the records on the turntables. The board mixes one song with another. The trick is to synchronize the sound," Odd demonstrates for her and she stares at the controls.

"Interesting."

"It doesn't sound like you know an awful lot about it," William points out, "Will it take much longer?"

"No," Aelita gestures to the board. "I'm done."

"Mind if I give it a try?" William pulls out a record from the cover, putting on the headphones. He presses the power button and spins the record. He's relieved to hear music. "Hey, it's working! Aelita, fantastic!"

"Yay!" Amy claps for Aelita with a smile. "That's so great."

Odd chuckles a bit, glad that she took a break and came with them. He knew that Aelita would need a lot of support trying to live like them, and he was glad that Amy was a perfect candidate...

And not because he had some sort of feelings for her.

He didn't know what he felt for her to be honest. She's a good friend, supportive, and deserved the best. That was something he'd always wished for her. He wanted her to be happy...

But did he feel that for her in _that way? _

"You wanna try?" William offers Aelita the headphones.

"Well, yeah. Why not?" Aelita puts them on and lowers the volume from what William was playing. She changes the music to a captivating beat, Amy's eyes widening.

"Wow!" William turns to Amy and Odd. "I've never managed to get that kind of mix."

Amy giggles, shaking her hips as she waves her hands in the air. William, Aelita, and Odd start doing the same, as they couldn't help but do it too. Suddenly, someone turns off the power, causing them to stop.

"Hey goof-offs! Well don't mind me," Jim crosses his arms. "Do you know what time it is, by any chance?"

"Uh, we're really sorry, Jim. We're rehearsing for tomorrow night," Odd steps off the stage. "Do you like techno?"

"Forget about it. Electronic music," Jim sounds displeased by just the thought of it. "I prefer the twist."

"Aelita," The pink-haired girl turns to William. "You really mix like a pro. Where'd you learn?"

"Uh...uh..." She really didn't know how. It was like it came to her. But how could she explain that without giving off the fact that her brain is technically different?

"Uh, it runs in the family," Odd puts an arm around her. "We're all artists, we're creative."

William decides to accept it. "I'll make a selection of LPs. And you can be our DJ, tomorrow night, okay?" He hands her a record.

"You think so? Well, uh, okay," She answers, smiling to Amy. "But only if Amy dances for me. I'd like to have someone with who can get the crowd more excited!"

"Me?" Amy asks in surprise, gesturing to herself.

"Oh wow, that'd be great!" Odd cheers as he joins her side. "Amy and Aelita, the mix and dance duo!"

"You were really good," William agrees with the two.

"Yeah, remember when you were a cheerleader for Jeremy in the robot competition?" Odd asks and she shakes her head, unsure. Well, she did like to dance, and of course she'd love to support Aelita. She had a feeling that Aelita wanted her to be there. And it would be fun...

"Um...sure! I'd love to. We are roomies," Amy winks at Aelita.

"Great!" Aelita hugs Amy gratefully. She's so glad that she won't be alone. And she gets to do something with her roommate, so it was a win-win.

"That's awesome you're gonna do it," Odd smiles widely. "I can't wait!"

* * *

"You're wasting your time with this party," Jeremy says once Aelita's told him the news.

"I am not wasting my time. I'm trying to live, like you guys! And have some fun, a good time. That's human too, isn't it? I only agreed to do it if Amy was my dancer, I can't just not go."

For Jeremy, parties were only a distraction right now. XANA wasn't going to stop anytime soon, and he needed to work hard to free Aelita from that antivirus. And...he had thought that Aelita had fun helping him out.

"You mean you don't have a good time researching the antivirus with me?"

She groans in frustration. "You're as stubborn as a fool!" She storms out the door, angry at how he was being. Slamming it made him only more focused.

"It's stubborn as a mule!" He corrects her.

* * *

Ulrich walks into the science building the next morning, turning to Odd. "Odd, you didn't study at all?"

"Nope," He denies, Amy rolling her eyes as he walks past them. "But like I told Jeremy, it's in the bag." He gasps as he sees something up ahead. Jim's standing at the top of the stairs. "Huh? What's going on? Can't we go in?"

"Inspection by G.I. Jim," Sissi explains, her bag over her shoulder. Jim snatches a girl's backpack, throwing it into a pile.

"One pen, that's all you can take in."

"Ouch," Odd whispers in dismay, turning to Amy and Ulrich. "That's an unexpected development."

Ulrich hums in agreement, nodding.

"Did you really think you could get a cheat sheet inside?" Amy smirks, crossing her arms.

"You have two hours for Physics, and then two hours for Chemistry," Ms. Hertz hands out the test papers. "My colleagues and I will correct the exams this afternoon. After that, the principal himself will announce the results."

Odd frowns at the formulas. He didn't understand them at all. Brains were definitely not going to work here.

Ms. Hertz looks up at the clock as it's 8 AM. "You may begin."

Jim walks past Ulrich and Odd, looking around at the class. Odd folds his paper in half. Sissi is sitting next to Jeremy and in front of Aelita, thinking for the past five minutes. She smiles and starts doodling on her exam.

Odd glances to Amy across from his left as she seems to be hard at work. He looks away and bites his lip, trying to get romantic thoughts out of his head. Even if he did feel the same way, who was to say she felt that way about him?

_Man, why did she have to be so beautiful?_

He takes a breath and sticks his tongue out, his paper folded twice.

Sissi draws a girl, smiling. She hadn't answered a single question.

Soon, time is up at noon, Jim clapping his hands. "The test is over. Put your pens down and stay where you are while I collect all of your papers."

Ulrich looks at Odd's paper, glancing at Odd. Was his friend for real?

"Stay in your seats until I have all of them," Jim takes a student's paper before picking up Odd's. He's made it into a paper crane. "Well done, Odd, that's one of your best yet."

Odd smiles sheepishly at Ulrich. Well, he did have in the bag...until he had to improvise. Odd then smiles widely at Amy, who giggles at him.

"Ms. Hertz," Jim murmurs to himself as he's in the teacher's lockers. "Hertz, uh, Hertz." He opens up the locker once he finds it up, putting the test papers inside. "I hope she'll let me keep Odd's paper sawn for my collection."

One of XANA's ghosts appears from the light switch, moving towards him. Jim closes the locker, only to be knocked to the ground and possessed. He opens up his XANA-filled eyes.

A tower has been activated in the desert sector, where a megatank is waiting not too far away...

* * *

That night, Yumi is walking up to Odd and Ulrich, who were waiting for her outside the gym. "Well?" She asks regarding their exam.

"Sure, never felt better," Odd answers normally.

"I was talking about your exam, stupid," She replies in a deadpan tone.

"It looks like I'm gonna be left back this year," Odd cuts to the chase.

"Oh, don't exaggerate," Yumi tries to cheer him up. "But it wouldn't have killed you to study a little."

"Cut it out, this is not the time," Ulrich reminds them of where they are.

"Hey, we're gonna see Aelita the DJ and Amy the dancer!" Odd smiles, trying not to remind himself of how pretty Amy looked while dancing. "That's bound to cheer us up. Where are they, by the way?"

"They're already in the gym," Ulrich looks at Jim guarding the door. "The DJs and dancers get VIP treatment."

"What about Jeremy?" Yumi decides to bring up the missing member. She would like to think that he'd come and support Aelita. He'd do anything for her.

"He's sulking," Odd answers, rubbing his neck. Yumi and Ulrich notice his far-off look, smirking. He notices their smug looks. "What?"

"Odd, are you only coming to see Amy dance?" Ulrich asks him honestly, the blonde blushing.

"O-Of course not. I'm here to have fun like anyone else is. And to support my friends," He crosses his arms, trying not to melt at the thought of Amy.

"Why so nervous?" Yumi questions playfully. "Did you finally realize your feelings for her?"

"I don't have feelings for her," Odd denies immediately. "I don't feel anything for her, especially not when she smiles or the fact that she's wearing my necklace or-"

"Odd," Ulrich places a hand on his shoulder. "We're just messing...for now."

Odd pouts at them, saying nothing else. The truth was, he was really happy when he saw the necklace around Amy's neck. It meant a lot to him that she wore it, because he spent a lot of time figuring out what to get her...

He shakes off the thoughts again. _Stop it. It's just because she's one of the few girls you haven't gone out with yet. There's no way she likes you like that. In fact, she's out right denied it._

* * *

Jeremy is walking down the halls. "You are not going, and that is that!" He can hear the principal, coming to a stop in front of Sissi's room.

"But please, Daddy!" Sissi begs as Jeremy watches them. "It's the happening of the century!"

"You should've thought of that earlier and studied for the exam," He points to her drawing from her paper.

Jeremy chuckles a bit and walks off. Jim is following him, but the boy doesn't know what had happened to him. He sits in his computer chair, doing a superscan to see an activated tower.

"XANA! He sure picks his moments. Desert sector, okay," He's about to go warn the others when Jim snatches his hand. "Oh no!"

* * *

Millie and Tamiya record Aelita as she's about to go on. Amy is wearing a knee-length black dress with a red belt and red removable sleeves, red headphones over her ears as she has a red bracelet on. Her shoes are black boots as she pats Aelita's shoulder. She could tell the girl was nervous; she's never done this before.

"Aelita? Amy?" Millie stands in front of the with a microphone. "A question for the school paper. As a DJ and dancer duo, how would you define your style?" She holds it up to Aelita. "Hardcore, d pass, or downright newbies?"

"Um..." Aelita had no clue what any of that meant.

"They're a little too nervous to answer," Tamiya looks to William. "I'd say their style is more hardcore, but it's more a style of their own."

"Totally rad!" Tamiya says in excitement. Sissi walks past them up to her friends.

"Ta da!"

"You snuck out?" Nicolas asks in confusion.

"No no," She places her hands on her hips, "My father said 'you're gonna repeat the year, but it's no big deal, sweetie. Doesn't mean you can't have a good time'," She smiles smugly.

"Is that what he said?"

"Oh you're such an idiot! Of course I snuck out, what do you think?"

Jeremy's phone rings, but he's unable to answer as he's tied up and gagged at his chair, by Jim. He struggles to get out so he can warn his friends...

"And now, Aelita, a brand new DJ, with her friend acting as dancer, Amy!" Christophe announces, gesturing to the two girls. "And, as you're gonna see, they totally rip!"

Amy and Aelita glance at each other, nodding. Aelita starts up the music, Amy shimming as she starts dancing. The crowd loves it, pumping their fingers into the air.

"Wow," Yumi smiles at Ulrich. Amy twirls to Aelita, the pink-haired girl smiling as she bops her head to Amy's dancing. "It's great, ya coming?"

Aelita turns it up as Amy waves her arms side to side. Yumi and Ulrich dance together as William walks up to Odd.

"Your cousin and Amy are incredible, Odd!" William shouts over the music. Odd stares at Amy as she's jumping up and down, waving her arm in the air like she didn't care.

Odd feels his cheeks flushing as he watches her. Her dancing was not helping him out with the whole 'does he have feelings for her' dilemma, dang it. It was only making him even more confused than ever!

Well, he definitely didn't have the same chemistry with Amy like he had with any other girl. She's always been there for him, and vice versa. They knew each other better than anyone. And they both love dogs. But now...it's like he can't even look at her without wanting to touch her. Something simple just as her wearing his necklace was something that excited him.

Amy sees Odd in the crowd and waves to him with that big smile. _Man, did she see me drool?_

* * *

Jeremy shakes back in forth in his seat before he finally falls to the ground. He uses the pole in front of him to get the tape off.

"Kiwi! Come here, boy!" He calls out as Amy's room was too far for Kiki to hear. "Come on, good boy!"

Kiwi opens his eyes at Jeremy's voice. He closes his eyes, thinking it was just his imagination...

"KIWIII! HEEELP!"

Kiwi gets to his paws and runs out the door.

"Come here, you mangy mongrel!"

Kiwi pushes the door open, Jeremy smiling in relief. "Oh, oh, nice doggie. Go on," Kiwi sniffs his face. "Chew through the rope."

Instead, Kiwi licks his face and leaves. "Kiwi, no! Come back!" Jeremy pleads as he can't reach his phone and everyone else is at the party. He sighs in frustration. "That mutt is as brainless as his owner!"

* * *

Back at the party, the crowd is really enjoying both Amy and Aelita. They could see how the two really liked being up on stage together.

Aelita smiles as Amy dances behind her, moving her head to the left and right. She giggles, Amy's energy being a breath of fresh air.

Sissi glances back, grinning as she sees Ulrich dancing with Yumi. It was time for him to switch partners. She cuts in, dancing with Ulrich much closer than he was with the Japanese girl. He goes back to dancing with Yumi, but she cuts in again, irritating the both of them.

* * *

A ball is rolled past Jeremy, confusing him. "Huh? Kiwi, this is no time for games. You have to go and get Odd and the others from the gymnasium, you hear? Now go get Kiki and find Odd!"

Kiwi gets back onto his feet. "Yeah! That's a good dog! Run!" He stares after Kiwi, not confident at all. "With my luck, he'll come back with the principal..."

Aelita is still mixing as Amy holds out her hand to Christophe. He takes it and they start dancing together to the beat, smiling. Odd frowns at how she took someone barely knew instead of him...

Not that he was jealous!

He glances to William, who's just standing there. "What's up? Not dancing?"

"Nah, it's not my thing. Why do you think Amy's up there?" He jerks his head to the brunette, who's laughing with Christophe. "You don't seem too happy about it."

"Oh, please. You've gotta be kidding me. She's only pumping up the crowd." That's what he'll choose to believe. The last thing he needed was love advice from William.

_L-Love? Where did that come from?_

"Come on," He decides to change the subject. "Let me see how you move...oh."

William dances like he's a robot. "You're right, it's not your thing."

Kiwi and Kiki appear, barking up at him. "Nice dog sounds, where did Aelita sample that from?" He realizes how close the sounds are, looking down to see the two dogs barking at him. "Hey, what are you doing here, buddy? Jim'll spot you."

They place their paws on his legs, silently telling to follow. "Okay, okay, okay. Hold on, I'll get Ames."

He's silently glad to take her away from the stage and away from Christophe as he runs up to her. "Ames!"

"Huh?" Amy takes off her headphones to see Kiki in Odd's arm. "What?!"

She turns to Aelita and whispers in her ear, "Kiki somehow ended up here. Odd and I are gonna take her back to our room. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Aelita nods with an understanding smile. She could handle the fort until her roommate came back.

"Let's go," Odd grabs Amy's arm and they bump into Yumi.

"Hey, where you going?"

"Ask them," Odd points to the barking dogs.

"I'll go with you two," Yumi turns to Ulrich. She's also silently hoping she can get an advantage in the bet. "I could use some fresh air."

"Uh," Ulrich stammers to Sissi, "I forgot, I have something important to do."

"Oh, what?"

"I have to, uh, polish my flip flops!" He wanted to get away from her as soon as possible. "Bye!"

She stares at him in disappointment as Aelita puts on a new mix. Jim is standing at the door, closing it behind him as he locks on one of his targets. The other isn't there, but one will do. He turns to the breaker box, holding his hand out to it. He electrifies it and the electricity reaches the spotlight above Aelita. It eventually hits the mixer board and her hand, electrocuting the headphones. She shouts at the static and the music suddenly stops, the crowd looking on in concern.

* * *

"What happened?" Ulrich asks, the two dogs playing with the rope that Jeremy was tied up with.

"It was Jim. XANA's possessed him. Where's Aelita?"

"At the dance," Ulrich starts off.

"I left her alone to finish her mix," Amy bites her lip.

"With Jim around?" Jeremy asks in disbelief and Amy's eyes widen as she realizes what danger Aelita's in.

* * *

XANA Jim bends down to the unconscious Aelita. "Everything's alright, she just fainted," He picks her up in his arms. "I'll take her into the infirmary. Go on with your party."

No one suspects a thing at his choice of tone as he takes off with her.

A new DJ replaces Aelita in the meantime as XANA Jim walks down the stairs. The other five are just reaching the building, but they missed Jim and Aelita.

"Are you sure that Jim can virtualize Aelita and send her to Lyoko?" Ulrich looks over his shoulder to Jeremy.

"Under XANA's control, he can do anything!"

"Oh no, Aelita doesn't stand a chance along against the Scyphozoa!" Yumi realizes the plan.

"And she can say bye bye to her memory!" Odd adds in, Amy looking upset.

"I shouldn't have left her alone!"

"It's okay, Amy. There was nothing you could've done. It was bound to happen," Ulrich tells her gently. When they enter the gym, they see Aelita's replacement. "They're not here. Hurry, let's head for the factory."

XANA Jim has the passed out Aelita over his shoulder, running across the bridge to the factory. Instead of using the ropes, he simply jumps down, landing hard on his feet. He runs up to the elevator.

Odd throws his skateboard with a "Yeah!" Yumi skates behind him, Jeremy and Amy following close behind.

XANA Jim puts Aelita into the scanner and it closes her in.

Amy skates down the stairs railing, Odd and Ulrich doing the same.

XANA Jim sits down in the chair to virtualize Aelita. "At your orders, XANA. Transfer Aelita. Virtualization!" He senses something, however, making him stand up.

Aelita opens her eyes just in time to land safely in a crater of the desert sector. A megatank is waiting for her, and she immediately knows she's in trouble.

The five race across the bridge, using the ropes to jump down just as the elevator comes back. XANA Jim walks up to them, blocking their way as the elevator goes back down.

"Jeremy, Yumi, Amy, take the corridor," Ulrich glances at the three. "Odd and I will take care of Jim."

"Okay," Jeremy races after Yumi and Amy comes to a stop, glancing at Odd.

"Be careful, Odd," She whispers softly enough for only him to hear.

"You too," He looks at her, winking. "By the way...you look beautiful."

Amy blushes at him and runs off.

"If you ask me, it's more likely he's gonna take care of us," Odd backs away in slight fear, knowing how much stronger he is. XANA Jim then splits himself up so that the boys each have one to fight. They both gasp at this ability. "And he's brought a friend along with him too!" He steps back a bit. "Go!" Ulrich gives him a boost. "Bonzai!" He tries to kick both, but he phases right through them. "This is bad..."

"You think so?" Ulrich asks before he's then punched.

"Ulrich!" Odd runs up to his friend, only for one of the clones to punch him without even looking back.

Amy, Yumi, and Jeremy reach the lab, the boy taking his spot. He puts the headphone on. "Aelita, are you okay?"

"Let's say I've been better," She admits as she backs up from the megatank.

"_Hang on, help is on the way!"_

She's pressed against the wall, trapped. Looking up, she sees the pathway out and starts running up it. However, she grows worried as the megatank opens up in half. Running as fast as she can, she eyes the laser and steps back as it fires right at her feet. This destroys the rock underneath her and she falls onto the sand.

The two Jims merge into one, growling.

"Ulrich?" Odd checks over his friend. He opens his eyes. "This is no time to take a nap. We've got an invincible guy to wipe out," He glances back at XANA Jim as the elevator has returned, most likely to attack Jeremy and the others!

_I can't let him hurt Amy._

"What are you suggesting?"

Ulrich grins when Odd holds up a pipe. "The other thing, like the way we handled the Kankerlots. Hey Jim! You didn't think a little tap like that would knock me out, did you?"

XANA Jim turns around to a smug Odd, punching his fists together. While he's distracted, Ulrich swings the pipe, knocking XANA Jim down.

"Hurry up!"

"Yeah!" Odd exclaims, jumping into the elevator. Ulrich pushes the button, allowing them to escape.

"We're on the way," Ulrich reports to Jeremy by phone.

"Get to the scanner room now!"

XANA Jim opens his eyes, ready for payback...

"_Hang on, Aelita,"_ Jeremy assures as she's still on the ground.

"Ah, the Scyphozoa isn't here yet, but please hurry," She begs, looking around for a sign of it.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Odd."

Odd sighs to himself as he sees Amy's beautiful look disappear...

"Scanner Yumi. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization."

They materialize into the desert sector, but not where Aelita is. _"The crater isn't far. Head south southeast."_

"Have you programmed the vehicles?" Yumi wonders as Amy lands behind them.

"_Of course. I think of everything."_ The Overwing appears in front of Yumi. "So does XANA, I guess, from the looks of it. _You got company._"

"Hm?" Odd turns around just as the Overbike and Overboard appear to see three Hornets.

"_Faster, if the Scyphozoa gets there before you do, Aelita's done for!"_

"Go on ahead, leave the Hornets to me and Ames," Odd jerks a thumb behind him.

Ulrich jumps onto his bike, Yumi flipping to her Overwing. She grabs the handlebars. "Go!" They both take off to help Aelita.

"Come on," Odd crouches down, holding his arm. He fires a laser arrow, hitting one dead on.

"Nice one," Amy comments as she holds out her hand, fire coming from it. She doesn't get to fire it as Odd pushes her out of the way from lasers. Amy looks at him in surprise. He's saved her before, but not like that.

Odd runs, crawling on his arms and legs, and flips to a rock. Amy waves her hands.

"Yoo hoo!" She gets the attention of one Hornet, the other one finding Odd and firing at him. He runs past the rocks and stops, hiding behind another one. He crawls up it and flips in the air.

"Laser arrow," The projectile flies right past the Hornet. "Darn it, I missed." He slides down a rock, seeing Amy riding her OverRunner away from a Hornet. She fires one of her Heat Waves from behind, but misses. The Hornet hits her ride and devirtualizes it, causing her to slide onto the sand. Odd gets hit, getting her attention.

"Odd!"

The Hornet fires while she's distracted, hitting her wings and devirtualizing them too.

"Odd, you're down to ten life points."

The Hornets eventually move on as Amy fires a ball of sand, hitting the one in front of her dead on and defeating it.

"They're heading for the crater."

He backflips onto his Overboard, Amy standing up. He rides up to her, gesturing to behind him. "Need a ride, my lady?"

She smiles and jumps on, holding onto his shoulders. Odd wraps his tail around her waist and she blushes at the contact. She won't admit it, but she liked his tail. He flies after the Hornets.

"_Careful, the Hornets are right behind you,"_ Jeremy warns the others. _"But you're not far now. You're there."_

"Gotcha," Ulrich sees it, but he also sees the Hornets behind him. They fire and they have to swerve to avoid it. Yumi flies into the air as Ulrich grits his teeth at them. He swerves back and forth until he gets hit, knocking him off his ride. Yumi turns around, having heard him crash.

"Ulrich!"

She turns around to check on him. "Move it, Yumi! Go on!"

Yumi looks up at the approaching Hornets, reluctantly nodding and going on ahead to the crater. Ulrich pulls out his sword, deflecting the incoming lasers with them. He gets hit again and hears someone's voice, a laser arrow flying past the Hornets.

"Surprise!"

The two Hornets turn their attention to him as he and Amy fly right past them. He turns around and while they're firing, he holds out his arm, a stray laser hitting the Overboard.

"Uh oh."

The two jump off, landing in the sand. Ulrich rides up to Odd. "Taxi?"

The Hornets fire, Odd jumping, but getting hit. He jumps again, landing behind Ulrich. Before Amy can jump on, she's fired twice at and devirtualized soon after.

"Amy!" Odd calls out.

She leans against the scanner, a hand on her head. "Man, those awful Hornets. Can't believe I didn't see them..."

Aelita tries to move slowly, the megatank rolling out of the way to allow the Scyphozoa to enter. She gasps sharply. "Jeremy, it's here!"

Yumi jumps in and lands in front of Aelita. "Not so fast, blubber face!"

"Yumi!" Aelita points to the open megatank and Yumi flips out of the way just in time, but the laser destroys her Overwing. She lands on her feet, looking at the megatank that has her sights set on her. She smirks, running up to the megatank and backflipping to the wall. She spins around, throwing her fan just as the megatank fires its circular laser, devirtualizing her in one hit. "Yumi! Oh no!"

The Scyphozoa moves behind her and she whimpers.

Yumi growls as she slams her fist.

"Whoa!" Odd shouts as Ulrich lands roughly on the sand. Ulrich moves past the lasers, trying to reach Aelita before anything can happen.

The Scyphozoa captures Aelita, preparing to take her memory.

"_The Scyphozoa's taking her memory! _Odd, Ulrich, hurry!"

XANA Jim phases through the elevator doors, unfortunately, grinning at Jeremy. The power shuts off. "Hey, what the-?" He looks up at XANA Jim, who had just used his electricity.

"Sorry, I'm taking over from here," Jim pushes Jeremy away.

"No!" He crash lands and XANA Jim prepares to devirtualize Odd.

Ulrich gasps as he sees a ramp up ahead. "Hold on tight." He revs up the Overbike, making it go faster. The ramp makes them spin to evade the Hornets. "Not bad, huh?"

"I-" Ulrich watches Odd devirtualize right before his eyes. "Hey!"

XANA Jim grins evilly just as Amy comes in. "Jeremy?" She sees him on the ground before looking at Jim. "Hey!" She runs up to him, kicking him to the ground.

Ulrich gets hit in the shoulder and continues on, driving down the path. He jumps to a lower level and sees the Scyphozoa. He slides to a complete stop and jumps down to them.

"Jeremy, what level is Aelita's memory at?" Ulrich asks, the Hornets having followed him. They destroy his Overbike, looking up to see them firing straight at him. He moves out of the way quickly before he can get hit, growing a bit worried as Jeremy hasn't answered. He throws his sword, destroying one Hornet. It lands in front of him. "Jeremy? Jeremy, you there? Jeremy?"

Jeremy and Amy are being electrocuted by XANA Jim.

"Oh no!" Ulrich looks at Aelita.

XANA Jim senses someone coming, dropping the two. The elevator doors open to reveal Yumi. "Jeremy, Amy," She gasps once she sees XANA Jim, jumping onto his back. "Get back to the computer. We'll handle Jim."

"Jeremy, you there?" Ulrich asks as Jeremy returns.

"I'm back, Ulrich. It's up to you. Hurry!"

Ulrich looks up at a firing Hornet. "Super Sprint!" He speeds up to his sword, grabbing it and running up a wall. He pushes himself back and fires right through the Hornet, defeating it. He then sees the Scyphozoa and throws his sword again, destroying the tentacles. Aelita falls onto the ground, thankfully not possessed.

"_Get to the activated tower, 25 degrees east. Move it!"_

"Jeremy!" Yumi calls out as she's thrown by XANA Jim, falling to the ground.

"Ulrich, hurry up!"

Amy yells as she jumps into the air, going in to kick XANA Jim, but he fires an electricity bolt, electrocuting her again. She shouts in pain.

Ulrich stops a few feet away from the tower, watching Aelita go in. She steps in slowly, Jeremy glancing at XANA Jim next to him.

"Move it!"

Aelita starts floating up to the top. She lands on the pad and walks up to the interface.

XANA Jim grits his teeth at Jeremy, Amy unconscious.

Aelita signs in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

Jim snaps out of it. "What am I doing here?"

"Ames!" Odd checks over her, and she thankfully has a pulse.

"You'll never know, Jim," Jeremy starts the Return to the Past. "Return to the Past now!"

* * *

"Okay, so that's a promise, right Jeremy?" Odd asks in the courtyard the day before the science final. "You're gonna help me with Physics, and Aelita, you're gonna help me with Chemistry. And you're gonna help me until I get it, right?"

"Promise," They say in unison.

"Wow, I am really knocked out!" Sissi walks up to him. "Bet you can't guess why."

"Your father said okay for the gymnasium?" Odd asks knowingly, making her raise a brow.

"Huh? How did you know that?"

"Oh, I've already lived through this day and I just traveled back through time," He smiles as he sees Amy and Ulrich joining them. Amy seems to be okay, and that's all he could ask for.

"You're a real loony. I feel sorry for you."

"By the way, you wanna come and study with us? Jeremy and Aelita are gonna give us a hand," Odd offers, but he already knew the answer.

"Study? Me?" She scoffs at the thought. "Looks like you've lost the only brain cell you had left."

"If she only knew what was coming," Odd comments as Jeremy told them what he saw with Sissi and her father.

"What a pity," Aelita stares at the girl. "After final exams, I want you to teach me about techno. I love it! It's my new Earthly passion. Will you come listen to me next, Jeremy?"

"I promise," He smiles at her.

"Amy, are you gonna be my permanent dancer?" Aelita asks the brunette. "I loved doing the party with you, it was really fun."

"I'd be honored," Amy grins at her and they give each other a small hug. "Keep making beats like that and I'll never stop!"

They all laugh, Odd staring at Amy. What he's feeling is a simple crush and that's all. This would all just fade away and he'd go back to pursuing other girls...

Right?


	36. Missing Link

**Angel: Remember guys, Wednesday I have to update later because I have exams that morning, so please don't be concerned if I don't update early like I usually do.**

At the factory, the others are waiting on one missing person. "What could Yumi be doing?" Jeremy looks at his watch. "We have to get some data out of Sector Five."

"It's not like her to be late," Ulrich says as him, Odd, and Aelita are standing in front of the scanners. Amy is already on Lyoko waiting for them.

"Maybe she's with William," Odd suggests to Ulrich's disdain as he gives a jealous hmm. "I said maybe!"

"By the way, Jeremy, have you made any headway on the antivirus recently?" Aelita wonders, to which Jeremy looks unconfident about.

"Well...actually, it's going kind of slow. I'm missing a lot of important codes."

Aelita frowns a bit, crossing her arms. She knows that Jeremy is doing his best, but she'd like to see a little bit more progress. She couldn't spend her whole life trying to find data for this virus of hers.

"But with a little luck, we'll find them today," Odd tries to assure her.

"And then it's ciao, XANA. We'll finally be able to shut down the supercomputer," Ulrich adds. He couldn't wait for that day to happen so his life could go back to somewhat normal. XANA wasn't lenient on any day, and he could really use the extra time to catch up on schoolwork.

"What's the hold-up, Jeremy?" Amy asks, leaning against a tree.

"_Yumi still hasn't arrived yet."_

The already-late aforementioned girl is running down the sewer tunnel, skateboard in hand.

"We better forget about Yumi," Jeremy looks at his watch again as it's already late, and they had to get back to school before they missed class in the morning. "I'm transferring you."

Yumi skates down the tunnels as Jeremy starts up the virtualization process. "Hang on, Amy. I'm sending the others right now."

"_Yumi hasn't shown up, huh? Well, at least I won't be bored anymore. It's getting a little lonesome. I almost wish some monsters showed up."_

Jeremy chuckles a bit as the others enter the scanners.

Yumi crawls onto the bridge, running as fast as she can.

The scanners close the three in. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Aelita."

Yumi descends down using the elevator, but it's already too late as the three have been virtualized. "Virtualization."

They land in the forest sector in front of Amy.

"Missed us?" Odd winks at Amy. She giggles at his playful tone and when she looks away, he rubs his neck sheepishly. He still had those...lingering thoughts of her. He didn't understand it, why wasn't he able to get Amy out of his mind? He couldn't even sleep without her appearing in his head. Her smile, her laugh, her energy...everything about her was enchanting.

But he knew that it had to go away sometime. Right, they would go away and he would stop thinking about his best friend in that way.

"Now head for the edge of the sector, okay?"

The doors open and just when they're about to leave, Jeremy turns around to see the late member. "Oh, there you are."

"Hi Jeremy. Sorry, I..."

"Hurry up. I'll tell them to wait for you," He says quickly and she presses the button, closing the doors. She descends down into the scanner room, walking up to one and turning around. "Virtualization."

Yumi lands on the grass, surrounded by all her friends. "A little longer and we would've started the party without you," Odd jokes, Amy shaking her head at him.

"Where were you?" Ulrich asks and she turns her back to him.

"Had something to do," She gives a vague answer.

Ulrich remembers Odd's prediction, scoffing. "Yeah right, like being with William."

"Huh?" She places her hands on her hips. "Hey, don't you get tired of being jealous all the time?"

"Ah ha, I knew it, you were with him!"

"You can believe whatever you want. Be a jerk if you want, too."

"What's this about William?" Amy whispers in confusion, Aelita pointing to Odd. She crosses her arms at him and he holds up his hands in defense.

"Hey, I only said maybe."

"You must think I'm really dumb," Ulrich retorts as they don't see three monsters approaching.

"Careful, you have visitors," Jeremy's voice snaps then out of it.

"Hey, settle this later, okay?" Odd asks as three Kankerlots approach. "I'm gonna give 'em a little Odd acupuncture," He readies his arrows.

"Aelita, take cover," Ulrich orders and she silently goes to hide behind a tree. He pulls out his sword, Yumi pulling out her fans as Aelita runs past her. One of the Kankerlots fire and Odd narrowly misses it. Amy flips over the projectile that was coming towards her.

"Laser Arrow!" He fires straight at one, defeating it. "One down. Great way to start off the morning."

Yumi jumps into the air, throwing a fan but missing. The Kankerlot fires and she backflips to behind Ulrich, who's deflecting lasers with his sword.

Odd fires another Arrow, but has to backflip again. _"Watch it! More Kankerlots at five o clock!"_

Odd turns to two more of them, getting hit in the stomach once. Ulrich speeds over to help, deflecting a laser before stabbing a Kankerlot in the eye. It explodes behind him and a Kankerlot fires at Amy. She pulls out her spear, spinning it around and deflecting it. The monster turns around and fires at Ulrich next who gets hit in the shoulder.

Yumi spins her fan as she throws it, hitting a Kankerlot from behind and catching it.

Odd runs as a Kankerlot is firing at him, jumping and firing straight at it, watching the monster get destroyed. He lands near Ulrich, who's backing away from a Kankerlot. It prepares to fire, but Ulrich backflips, slicing it with his katana.

"Green Luxuriant Ivy," Amy holds up her hand, watching the Kankerlot in front of her get captured by vines. The Kankerlot tries to get free, wiggling around as it sees Amy walking away. It fires at her, but she holds up her spear, deflecting the shot and hitting the monster as she continues walking towards the others.

"Pretty interesting welcoming committee," Odd comments as two more Kankerlots arrive.

"_What do you expect? XANA hates it when we go fishing in Sector Five."_

Ulrich glances back at Yumi only for a second, seeing the Kankerlots. "Two more." He doesn't notice the Scyphozoa heading straight for the geisha.

As Odd and Ulrich are distracted by the Kankerlots, Amy opens her wings, flying over the Kankerlots as a diversion. "Laser Arrow!" Odd jumps off a tree and fires twice, defeating a Kankerlot.

"Oh no! The Scyphozoa!" Jeremy holds his head. The three look behind them as Yumi drops her fans, the Scyphoozoa doing something.

"Yumi!" Ulrich dashes to her and slices off the tentacles. Yumi falls in front of him. "Yumi, are you okay?"

"I don't know," She sits up, holding her head. "I feel kind of funny."

"Well, anyway, it seems to have scared the Kankerlots away," Odd looks at the leaving monsters.

"This is so weird," Amy murmurs, glancing to where the Scyphozoa left.

"Why would they go after you? We'll abort the mission. Materialization Yumi. Materialization Odd. Materialization Amy."

Odd and Amy step out the scanners, but when Yumi's opens, she's not inside. "You must have tripped on your fingers, Einstein. Yumi isn't here," Odd tells him, Jeremy looking at the computer in confusion.

"J-Jeremy?" Yumi stammers as she's still in the forest sector with Aelita and Ulrich. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh...no, I must've made a mistake," Jeremy tries again, even though he didn't make a mistake. "I'll reboot the program. Materialization Ulrich. Materialization Aelita." He notices that while Ulrich and Aelita's ID cards are disappearing like they should during this process, Yumi's is not. "Materialization Yumi." Hers does start to deplete, but when Ulrich and Aelita come in, Jeremy starts to grow nervous.

They four watch as the scanner opens up, but with no Yumi again. "Missed again."

Aelita and Ulrich gasp in shock, growing worried. Jeremy holds his head in guilt. "I can't believe it! Yumi, I don't know what's going on, I can't devirtualize you!"

"What?" She asks in confusion.

"Go and hide in the tower while I figure this out. Direction south southeast."

* * *

The four have gathered around Jeremy in the lab. "I'll find the bug. You're safe in the tower."

"_It's not XANA I'm worried about, Jeremy, it's the principal."_

"Huh?" He murmurs, wondering if Yumi was in trouble with him.

"Oh no, I almost forgot," Ulrich realizes what she's talking about. "Today's the class picture!"

"What class picture?" Jeremy turns back to the screen.

"Hello, the 9th grade picture. It's this morning. One day suspension for any unjustified absence. Thanks a lot, Delmas," Odd complains, Amy sighing.

"It's not something worth missing, Jeremy. That goes on your record."

"_Can you just picture my parents' faces if...if I get suspended?"_

"I'll do all I can, Yumi, I promise," Jeremy did not want to be responsible for getting his friend suspended.

"Hey, I have an idea. You know what a great actor I am, right? With a wig, dress, and little makeup, I can take your place in the photo and bam! Signed, sealed, and delivered," Odd offers, Amy rolling her eyes at his dumb plan. Odd, for one, was a boy. And second, he and Yumi were dangerously great in height.

"Signed, sealed, and suspended is more like it," Yumi replies from inside the tower. _"No way."_

"Hang on a second, huh?" Ulrich walks up to the screen. "That's not a bad idea."

"There, you see? Ulrich finally admits that I'm a great actor," Odd smiles at his friend happily.

"_You? _You stink," Ulrich corrects, making Amy laugh. Odd pouts at him as he can hear the brunette. "I know a _really _great actress."

* * *

Sissi is in the girls' bathroom, adjusting the skin on her forehead. She hears a knock and opens the door, glancing to her left.

"Hi Sissi," Ulrich greets as he, Amy, and Odd are standing there. "C-Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh, well, yeah, of course," She closes the door behind her. Amy raises an eyebrow as Sissi doesn't sound like her usual bratty self.

"I have something really important to ask you," Ulrich rubs his neck, not sure of how Sissi would interpret his words. He was expecting her to be flirty.

"Oh, me?"

"And in exchange, I'm ready to do whatever you want," He offers, as with Sissi, nothing was free.

"Anything?"

"Well, almost anything." He wasn't going to kiss her again.

* * *

"In my opinion, when the Scyphozoa attacked you, he gave you some kind of bug, Yumi," Jeremy explains as Aelita is standing next to him.

"_Could it have stolen some of my memory?"_

"That's strange," Aelita looks to Jeremy at Yumi's suggestion. "It's my memory that XANA seems to be after."

"If you ask me, the Scyphozoa took something else from you. Stand still. I'm launching a digital analysis," Jeremy types in some keys, a screen of Yumi's silhouette appearing, scanning her body while she's in the tower. Eventually, one of the strands come back wrong.

"Oh no! I don't believe it!"

"What's the matter?" Yumi asks in concern as she lands back on the pad. Given Jeremy's worried tone, it didn't sound good at all.

"_The Scyphozoa stole the sequence code for your human DNA."_

"Oh, what's that?" She had no idea what that was.

"Well, when you're virtualized, you keep your human DNA sequence code. You can't do without it. It defines your molecular structure which is-"

"Okay, okay, just get to the point," Yumi interrupts in worry.

"...No DNA, no way to get back to Earth."

Aelita gasps in horror.

"Oh no!" Yumi gasps, and if she was able to cry, she would've...

* * *

"I'm listening," Sissi crosses her arms, waiting for Ulrich to speak.

"Well, since Yumi can't be here this morning, I'd like you to stand in for her, um, in the ninth grade class photo," He smiles sheepishly at her. Sissi was the only girl he knew with natural black hair, and probably the only one who was Yumi's height. He really hoped that he could pull this off and not get Yumi into trouble.

Sissi stares at them for a few seconds, smiling softly. "Okay."

"Huh?" The three turn to each other in confusion at her kind tone and because she actually agreed to do something for _Yumi._ The same girl that she dislikes because of Ulrich. "Y-You'll do it? And, um, what do you want in exchange?"

"Oh, what do you think I am? I don't want anything at all. Just call it a personal favor to you and that's that." And with that, she walks off with a hum, Amy's mouth wide open.

"...Are we sure that was Sissi?"

* * *

"Oh, this can't be true," Yumi paces around, "What about my parents and school and my brother? You have to find a solution, Jeremy. My whole life is on Earth!"

"Don't panic, Yumi. I'll do everything I can."

"What...if..."

"You have an idea?" Jeremy glances to Aelita.

"I think so. Send me to Lyoko."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Just trust me this time." If she told him, he would never allow her to do it. And she really wanted to help Yumi. She can't stand one of her best friends being so sad...

"Alright. I'll bring you up close to the tower."

* * *

"A quarter of an hour to put on a dress and a wig," Ulrich puts a hand to his forehead as they're waiting outside Sissi's room. "Unbelievable."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amy raises an eyebrow at him.

"Uh, well, I mean-"

The door suddenly opens and Sissi is wearing a chin-length wig, with a blue long-sleeved dress that shows her knees and brown boots. The collar of the dress is cut off, along with fabric that would cover her shoulders. "There we go. What do you think?" She smiles, walking past them.

"Not bad," Odd says after a few seconds. "The hair looks like Yumi's."

"Yeah, but she doesn't dress like that. She always wears black, and her dresses are longer and less..."

"Less sexy?" Sissi smiles in amusement, Amy snickering. "Well why don't you bring me one of her dresses?"

"Right, good idea, we'll try," He says as she reenters her room.

"Should've thought of that earlier," Amy mutters as Odd turns to them.

"Sissi's being...strangely helpful."

"Yeah, I suppose. Weird, huh?"

"I guess some people are full of surprises," Amy shrugs slowly.

Aelita steps in the scanner, turning around fully for the scanners to close her in. She's transferred, scanned and then virtualized.

Ulrich approaches one of the doors of the Ishiyama house, pulling it open. "Cool, it's open, I'm in," He turns to Odd and Amy on the grass, who would be his lookout. "Piece of cake. Warn me if you see anyone coming."

"We read you loud and clear, general," Odd salutes with a smile. Ulrich smiles back at his response and goes inside. He silently closes the door behind him, glancing around the house.

Now, if he were an Ishiyama, where would his room be...?

Aelita lands on an Overboard and flies down the path.

"Okay, Aelita, the tower is nearby at ten o'clock," Jeremy reports, seeing Yumi's dot there. While she's flying, Aelita hopes that she can help her friend...

No matter what she had to sacrifice.

"I'll have another Shiro. You did a very good job on the white bean paste." Ulrich hears Mr. Ishiyama's voice, quietly sneaking past the door. He suddenly hears a game sound and looks down to see one of Hiroki's game systems he left lying around.

"You know, Takeo, I've been feeling depressed lately," Mrs. Ishiyama confides in her husband. He looks up, wondering if Yumi knew about this. "You don't pay any attention to me, it's almost as if you never listen to me anymore."

"Mmm, delicious," He hums at his meal, Ulrich moving slowly to another door. "Oh, sorry, what were you saying?"

Ulrich quietly opens the door to the hall and closes it, smiling in amusement.

Aelita is zooming to the tower, but not all is quiet. _"Watch out for monsters! _Aelita, now will you tell me what your idea is?"

"No!" She denies as she makes a sharp turn, Jeremy looking annoyed. She said to trust her, but right now, her vague demeanor is making him a little skeptical.

Ulrich sees the stairs in front of him, tiptoeing over. "It's always the same thing. My mother warned me not to marry a man from Tokyo!" Mrs. Ishiyama laments. Ulrich reaches the top of the stairs and opens the door to Yumi's room. He eyes the stuffed plush in the corner, chuckling at it. Never would he think that Yumi would have that in her room.

Aelita enters the way tower where Yumi is.

Ulrich looks to the wardrobe and opens it to find her clothes. "Bingo!" He chuckles as he takes one of her regular outfits.

Aelita is using the interface to commence her plan. _"Aelita, please tell me what you're up to."_

"There," She ignores Jeremy, turning to Yumi. "Process launched."

"What process?" Yumi asks her.

"The process of transferring my DNA sequence code to your virtual structure," She finally reveals, Yumi gasping in shock.

"What?!" Jeremy exclaims in surprise. "Are you crazy?!"

"Jeremy, Yumi's place is on Earth," Aelita speaks seriously, staring at Yumi. "If anyone should stay on Lyoko until we find a solution, it's me." She didn't care if anyone disagreed, she didn't want Yumi to be stuck here like she previously was. Not being able to live...not being able to see her family again...she just couldn't let that happen.

"_I don't agree with that. Aelita, stop it-"_ She presses a button to cut him off.

"I knew he was gonna say that."

"You know you're making a big sacrifice, Aelita," Yumi tells her.

"Call it whatever you want to."

"Aelita, do you hear me?" Jeremy calls out, but there's no answer.

Aelita closes her eyes, Yumi leaning forward. A blue ray comes from Aelita's forehead, connecting with Yumi's.

"Aelita! I can't believe this!" A pop up shows Aelita's DNA sequence code depleting. "I don't even know how that kind of transfer works!" He tries to do something, anything, to stop the process. "Oh no! This is unbelievable!"

* * *

While Odd and Amy are standing outside, Ulrich stuffs Yumi's clothes underneath his stomach. "Okay." He leaves the room.

"I'll go and wait for Hiroki."

Ulrich gasps as Mrs. Ishiyama sounds close, quickly closing the door. Mrs. Ishiyama reaches the top of the stairs just as Ulrich's phone rings from his pocket, pulling it out to see a message from Jeremy. "Huh? Yumi?" Mrs. Ishiyama walks up to the door, thinking that Yumi left her phone at home. She looks inside to see no one, Ulrich's phone lying on Yumi's bed.

"Darling? Have you seen Yumi?" Mr. Ishiyama calls out and she closes the door shut.

"No, she must've left for school already." Ulrich moves away from his hiding spot behind the dresser. "She forgot her cellphone."

Ulrich picks up his phone slowly, looking to the window...

Odd's playing a game on his Gameboy, cheering as he won. "Odd Della Robbia takes first place! He's the king of the world!"

Amy rolls her eyes. "Fine, you beat me. But I'm only giving you this win because you're my friend."

"Thanks, Ames," He turns to look at her, immediately blushing as he sees how close they are to each other. _Her face is so close...she's so beautiful. Wait, why am I still having these thoughts?! She's my best friend! I can't like her like that._

And yet he so badly wanted to know what her lips tasted like. Amy stares into his eyes and they lean in, their lips about to touch from a few inches.

_This is it. We're about to kiss. _

"_Amy..." _He murmurs huskily and she blushes at how he said her name like that.

"Odd..."

"Odd!"

Just when they were about to kiss, Ulrich had to go and interrupt it. "Huh?" They realize what they were doing and quickly move away, looking up to see Ulrich crawling down to them using the pipes from the gutters.

"Guys, is that how you stand guard?"

Odd quickly looks around, anywhere away from Amy. Ulrich jumps and lands behind his friends. "W-We didn't see anyone go by."

"Did you, um, get the dress?" Amy rubs her neck, wondering how much Ulrich saw. He simply holds up his shirt, revealing Yumi's clothes. His phone rings from his pocket again and this time, he answers it.

"Jeremy, sorry. I didn't mean to hang up on you, but it was either that or getting caught by Yumi's mom."

"Listen to me. Aelita is on Lyoko transferring her DNA sequence code over to Yumi."

"Uh, so what?" Ulrich asks in confusion, glancing at an awkward Odd and Amy. "You mean that's not a good idea?"

"No. Aelita doesn't know that when she transfers her code over, her memory will be exposed."

"What? Are you saying that XANA will just be able to steal it at will?" Ulrich wonders, Odd moving past him.

"I'm sure that's why the Scyphozoa attacked Yumi. It's another one of XANA's little evil schemes!"

"Then warn Aelita, tell her to stop," Ulrich suggests, Amy looking at the dress.

"I can't. She's cut off all communication with the tower, so you've gotta get to Lyoko fast!"

"Okay," Sissi looks at Yumi's clothes once the trio has given it to her. "I wouldn't exactly call it glamorous, but it'll do. You can count on me."

"Thanks, Sissi. I owe you one."

She smiles at him, watching the three leave. Ulrich catches up with a silent Amy and Odd. "Hey, so what happened outside Yumi's house?"

"Nothing," They say in unison, confusing him.

_They're acting so weird..._

"Only ten more minutes before the transfer," Aelita informs Yumi, determined to do the right thing. "Everything will be just fine."

"Girls. You leave 'em alone for five minutes and it's a mess after mess," Odd comments, glancing at Amy who stays silent. _What was I thinking trying to kiss her? I don't wanna ruin our friendship. But it felt so nice being close to her...and my heart was pounding so fast..._

"Jeremy," Ulrich dials the genius, "Warm up the scanners, we're on our way."

Amy pulls back the cover and climbs down first, followed by Odd. They skate down the tunnels, skidding off the railing at the stairs. They run across the bridge and enter the elevator, Ulrich pushing the button.

Sissi walks up to the 9th grade class, sitting in front of William.

"Transfer Amy. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Scanner Amy. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

William places a hand on Sissi's shoulder. "Hey Yumi. I was looking for you in the school yard this morning," He smiles at her before noticing that Yumi's cheeks are bare, unlike Sissi's. "Hey, wait. Who are you?"

"That's the principal's daughter," Matthias notices her cheeks. "It's Elizabeth. Too weird."

"Uh, listen, first of all, the name is Sissi, and second of all, just shut up, okay?" She wanted to get this over with before she got in trouble.

"Okay, Elizabeth," He says with a teasing tone, William closing his eyes as Sissi slaps Matthias. The other students laugh at him. "Ow, that hurt."

"_You should be able to spot the tower now,"_ Jeremy says as the three are riding their vehicles.

"There! There it is. We'll be there in a minute."

"Just one more minute," Aelita says to Yumi, her DNA sequence dropping faster and faster.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" Jeremy urges to the three. Just when Aelita is almost finished, someone stops her.

"Aelita, stop right now!" The trio comes to a stop in front of them.

"If the transfer takes place, XANA will steal all of your memory!" Ulrich explains next.

"Aelita, stop this. Please, we're telling the truth," Amy pleads and she turns to the interface, stopping the process and giving communication back to Jeremy. The genius sighs in relief.

"_Jeremy?"_

"Aelita, you're so stubborn, that was a silly thing to do!" He scolds as soon as he hears her voice.

"I'm sorry. But I thought I was doing the right thing."

"I understand, and I appreciate it too," Yumi smiles softly at how much Aelita was willing to sacrifice for her.

"You're turning into a real human being," The girls turn to Odd. "You're beginning to confuse generosity with stupidity."

Amy rolls her eyes at Odd's words. "I'm proud of you, Aelita. You were willing to give up your life on Earth for a friend...even if that wasn't the wisest solution," She chuckles a bit.

"Thank you," Aelita smiles at her. Amy was like a mentor to her, and she was glad that Amy saw this in a positive way.

"Anyway, we still have no idea how to save Yumi," Ulrich changes the subject.

"Don't bet on that. I just happen to have a brilliant idea," Jeremy leans back in the chair. "XANA has stolen Yumi's DNA code sequence, so it must be in his memory. And how do we get access to XANA's memory?"

"Sector Five!" The five say in realization.

The photographer stares at Sissi, knowing that she's not a 9th grader. "Why are you dressed up to look like Yumi?" William asks curiously.

"It's none of your business," Sissi narrows her eyes, crossing her arms and hoping to just ignore them.

"Anyway, that dumb haircut of yours is really old-fashioned," Matthias tells her, causing her to glare.

"I never look old-fashioned, understand?" She stands up, "Everything looks fashionable on me!"

He whimpers, not wanting another slap.

The five Lyoko Warriors reach Sector Five, the transporter dropping them off into the Arena. Odd holds his stomach, feeling that same sick feeling again.

"Ugh, it's a good thing I didn't eat breakfast this morning..."

"Quiet down!" The photographer shouts to the 9th grade class as they're laughing.

"He's right, shut up, will ya?!" Sissi yells and her father just happens to hear her nearby. He was talking to Mr. Chardin.

"What's all this noise about?!"

Sissi's eyes widen at her dad as he walks over. "Yumi? Is anything wrong? Yumi, I'm speaking to you."

She tries to get away, but he grabs her arm and he sees her face. "Sissi?"

"Ah, I can explain everything, Daddy darling."

"Daddy darling," The others tease, "Daddy darling." The photo is taken, to Sissi's embarrassment.

"That's enough!"

* * *

"_By the way, Yumi, just a little detail. Without your human DNA sequence code, you're just as vulnerable as Aelita. If you get hit, you'll disappear forever," _Jeremy informs as the five are waiting for the wall to open.

"Great," Yumi mutters under her breath.

"Nice timing, Einstein. That makes things so much better," Amy deadpans as she looks up, hearing Jeremy laugh in embarrassment.

"_Sorry!"_

"Come on, let's go," Yumi takes the lead out of the Arena, stopping at another wall. It changes into a long hallway and they make their way to the Core Zone.

"The countdown has started," Jeremy looks at the 3 minute time limit. "You have 3 minutes to get out of the Core Zone."

"First, we have to find the key," Yumi reminds him.

"Check at the end of the corridor. I spotted the mechanism on the wall at the end of the room," he checks the room for confirmation and they reach the Core Zone.

"Yes, I see it over there," Aelita points to the key that's all the way across from them.

"Looks like a trap to me, but when you gotta go, you gotta go," Odd starts running to go push it, not noticing a pillar from the ceiling heading right towards him. Ulrich gasps and uses his Super Sprint to dash over there.

"Odd!" He pushes Odd out of the way and they land on the platform, the girls gasping. Another one comes for the boys.

"Watch out!" Aelita warns and they look up to see the pillar descending above their heads. They flip out of the way, Odd glancing at Ulrich.

"The whole ceiling is booby-trapped! Move it!" Yumi calls out to them. They start moving and immediately the pillars try to crush them. One hit, and they'd be devirtualized. Jeremy eyes the countdown as it's now two minutes.

"Faster, guys. You've got one minute left to turn the key!"

Odd and Ulrich jump to avoid the pillars, moving left and right. Odd comes to a stop as a pillar was right in front of him. Ulrich keeps on running as Odd follows him.

"Move it!"

Odd sees a pillar coming down for Ulrich. "Timber!" He pushes his friend out of the way, allowing himself to be crushed and devirtualized.

"Odd!" Ulrich exclaims in shock. Odd figured it was time to return the favor. He looks up to see another pillar and jumps out of the way, finally reaching the key. He pushes it just in time.

"Odd, are you okay?" Jeremy asks as Odd steps out of the scanner.

"Well..." He pants, falling to the ground in exhaustion. Being crushed in Sector Five for the first time took a toll on him.

"Okay," Ulrich turns to the opposite side of the room, watching the pillars rise.

"_Good work, Ulrich."_

The girls run across the room to Ulrich, gesturing to the door that just opened. "After you, ladies." He follows after them once they pass through.

The elevator starts up, falling towards them as they enter. "Here comes our taxi."

The mechanism then goes up, Aelita looking down at it. "We'd better not miss it. Now!"

The four jump, landing on the elevator and heading towards the Celestial Dome. The elevator rolls downwards before coming to a stop. They run up to the closed door and wait for it to open. Aelita goes through first and stops at the edge.

"Aelita, do you know where to find Yumi's DNA sequence code?" Jeremy wonders.

"Not really, but I'll manage somehow," She starts to search when Ulrich notices the outer sphere moving.

"The Flying Mantas' nest is about to hatch, we don't have much time left." He hears someone clear his throat and he looks to see Amy. She jerks her head to Yumi, signaling that he should talk to her about their small argument. He nods slowly in understanding and turns to the geisha. "Uh, Yumi, I wanted to apologize for this morning. It was none of my business what you've been doing."

"That's true, but I'll tell you anyway," She says, appreciating his sincerity. "I was buying two tickets for the Subsonics concert. And it wasn't easy. Bad internet connection."

He smiles to himself before she points up. "Look out, the nest has hatched!"

Three Mantas come into the Celestial Dome, soaring over to them. Amy, Yumi, and Ulrich pull out their weapons as one of the Mantas fire. Ulrich absorbs the laser from his sword, Yumi spinning around and throwing her fan. She destroys one of them. Amy throws her spear, but the Manta hits it with a laser, deflecting the weapon back at Amy. She backs up as the spear lands in front of her feet.

"_How's it going, Aelita?"_

"Nothing yet."

Amy runs forward and picks up her spear while Ulrich is distracted long enough to be hit from behind. Jeremy gasps at how much that hit took and Aelita continues looking, Yumi ducking from a Manta. Ulrich sees a laser coming for Yumi and speeds behind her, deflecting that shot as well.

"That's it!" Aelita suddenly gasps, "I've got it! I'm sending it to you now, Jeremy!"

Ulrich smiles slightly at Yumi, Aelita giving control back to Jeremy.

"Oh. I've got it, Yumi. I'll download back to you in a second."

"I'm gonna be really happy to go ho-" A laser from a Manta hits Yumi, devirtualizing her.

"Yumi!"

"Oh no," Amy murmurs, wondering if it worked as Ulrich jumps onto a Manta's back, stabbing it with his sword. He jumps back to the platform as Amy dodges a laser by holding her spear in front of her. She throws it, destroying the last one.

"Did you have time to reinsert her code?" Aelita asks in worry.

"I sure hope so. _You three, get out of there_!" He materializes the OverRunner and the Overbike to their right. Ulrich jumps onto the Overbike while Amy and Aelita get into the OverRunner. They start up their rides. _"The North tunnel, it's open!"_

They boost into the open tunnel, a Manta giving up and leaving.

The three are then materialized as they step out of the scanners, Yumi laying down in front of the scanner that Amy was in.

"Yumi?" Ulrich jumps to her.

"It's okay, don't worry. She's out cold, but she's here with us," Aelita smiles softly. Yumi opens her eyes to see Ulrich smiling down at her. Yumi smiles back.

"How bout you, Odd?" Jeremy looks behind him. "How are you feeling?"

"Ever been flattened by a steamroller?" Odd leans against the wall.

"No."

"It's simple, just get yourself devirtualized in Sector Five."

Jeremy chuckles a bit.

* * *

"Your father caught you?" Ulrich asks Sissi once they've returned back.

"Oh, am I gonna get suspended?" Yumi worries and Sissi smiles.

"Don't worry, I saved your day. I'll get punished, but not you. Anyway, I know how to talk to my father. Here," Sissi holds out Yumi's clothes. "Here's your dress back."

"That's a...that was really nice of you, Sissi," Yumi says as she takes it.

"Yeah, she's right. Thank you."

"I told you you could count on me," She smiles again. "See you later." She walks off, Yumi glancing at Ulrich, wondering if she wasn't dreaming either. She also wanted to do something to show her appreciation. Ulrich nods at her.

"Sissi, wait," Yumi places a hand on the girl's shoulder. "How would you like to go see the Subsonics with Ulrich?"

"Are you kidding?" Sissi gasps in excitement as she takes the ticket. "Great!" She smiles happily, the others watching from the vending machines.

"Something's really fishy about the way Sissi's behaving..." Odd says suspiciously.

"Maybe deep down, she's a very nice person," They watch Sissi walk off with the ticket.

"Or she's really crazy about Ulrich," Jeremy adds in.

"What a mess," Odd puts a hand to his forehead.

"Oh come on, it's not that unbelievable...I don't think," Amy crosses her arms.

"Exactly. Some people are just full of surprises," Aelita smiles at Amy, Jeremy noticing that Odd and Amy hadn't spoken to one another for a while now. In fact, when they were walking back from the factory, they avoided each other.

"Hey, what's going on with you two?" Jeremy asks, Amy and Odd glancing away. She didn't want to look at him out of embarrassment, and she knew that he felt the same way.

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing if you're avoiding each other. Come on, out with it," Aelita encourages, Amy walking away.

"I'm going to go feed Kiki. See you guys later."

"Odd?" Jeremy turns to the other blonde for an explanation.

"Amy and I...almost kissed," Odd whispers, the other two glancing to each other in shock.

"You what? But why didn't you kiss her?" Aelita asks him, narrowing her eyes. "Did you say something to her?"

"No, no," Odd waves his hands rapidly. "I didn't turn her down, we just got interrupted by Ulrich."

"So...do you have feelings for her now?" Jeremy is silently wondering if he's lost the bet.

"No...I don't know. Even if I do, it's just a simple crush, right? She's my best friend. I can't...fall for her."

"Odd, there's nothing bad about falling in love," Aelita smiles in amusement. "I think you two are great for each other."

"Yeah..." Odd murmurs, his eyes widening at what Aelita said. He sharply turns back to them. "I-I'm not in love with her! Just wait, this will all go away and things can go back to normal," He storms off, Aelita and Jeremy watching him. As he's walking, he looks towards the ground.

_I'm so confused. I wish I had an explanation as to why I feel so weird around her..._


	37. The Chips Are Down

The students are gathered around the courtyard before class. Ulrich is alone until he sees his friends talking to a worried Yumi.

"Hey everybody."

"Wow, that's a tough break," Jeremy ignores Ulrich's greeting.

"You've gotta be kidding," Odd looks up at the girl.

"Unfortunately, I'm not."

"Hey, uh, what's going on here?" Ulrich asks for an explanation. He's worried that something bad has happened, given Yumi's mood.

"I wish I could do something, Yumi."

"Me too. I can't imagine going through that at this time of the year..." Amy frowns, Ulrich ignored again.

"That's really nice of you, girls."

"Hey...would somebody tell me what's going on?" Ulrich wonders as the bell rings.

"Look, we'll talk about it after class, okay?" Jeremy walks off, the others walking right past Ulrich like he's not even there.

He stares after them, wondering just what was going on. Were Yumi's parents fighting again? "Hey, Amy."

The brunette turns around at his voice. "Finally, someone looks at me. Can you tell me what that was all about?"

"Ames!"

Amy hears Odd calling out for her, trying not to smile. After the...thing that happened outside Yumi's house, they both mutually decided not to talk about it and hang out again. She was happy to have him as her best friend again, and Odd felt it just as much. They weren't going to let something that didn't happen affect them.

"Hurry up so we can sit together."

"I'm coming," She replies and he walks into the building. Amy turns back to an annoyed Ulrich. "Sorry, but I'm sure that you'll get to know soon. Come on or we'll be late."

She runs inside and Ulrich huffs.

"Don't mind me, keep making like I don't exist, okay?" Ulrich shouts to the others.

* * *

Ulrich finally gets Odd's attention as he's sitting next to Jeremy, Amy and Odd sitting in front of the two.

"Hey, say that again?" Ulrich asks in shock once he's finally known the extent of the situation.

"Yumi's father lost his job," Odd whispers, leaning his head back. "They're thinking of going back to Japan so he can find work."

"You've gotta be kidding!" Ulrich exclaims in disbelief. Yumi couldn't just up and leave! What about school, her friends...

Him?

"It's not for sure yet, so don't panic," Jeremy shrugs, Odd turning back to the teacher.

"What?! Yumi's leaving, we may never see her again, and I shouldn't panic?!"

Odd and Amy smirk to each other at how seriously he's taking this. "You know what? There is an easy solution."

"Oh yeah? What?" Ulrich lifts his head up, eager to hear. Anything could help him out.

"Well, you see, if you marry Yumi, then she can get a green card!"

Amy stifles a laugh, hiding her mouth with her hand as some tears fall down her cheeks. "Very funny," Ulrich deadpans, Odd grinning at the brunette with a giggle.

"I'm just trying to lighten things up."

"How nice. Yumi's moving and you're laughing," Ulrich scolds Amy, who turns back to him while the teacher speaks Italian, pacing around.

"Ulrich, it's not confirmed. If anything, he'll find a job and Yumi won't have to move."

He shakes his head and stands up. "Por favore, Senor Caggia?"

"Uh, si, Ulrich?"

"Could I please go to the infirmary? I'm not feeling too well."

Jeremy glances at Odd and Amy in front of them, both of them frowning in sympathy. He didn't want to lose Yumi as much as they did.

* * *

As Yumi's listening to her teacher, she hears a thump near the window, glancing at it. "In Moby Dick, Melville uses the literary technique of a character in the novel, speaking-"

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Yumi interrupts as Ulrich is outside.

"Yes, Yumi?"

"Could I please go to the infirmary?"

Ulrich's eyes widen and he ducks down before someone could see him.

They walk together outside the dorms to talk. "Why can't you stay at the school as a boarder? And you could go to Japan during summer vacation?" He suggests, trying to silently convince her not to leave. She couldn't go...she meant a lot to him.

"Are you kidding? My parents would never go for that. And what's more, they need me." Yumi couldn't leave her parents behind even if she wanted to.

"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" He asks bitterly, looking at the ground. He snaps his fingers as he gets an idea. "What if..."

"Ulrich, it's nice of you to try to find a solution but nothing has been settled. There might not be anything to worry about."

That's the third time he's heard someone say that and he's already tired of hearing it. What if the move does happen and he loses Yumi, possibly forever? What would happen then? Were they just going to deny the fact that Yumi would be gone? And what about Lyoko? With one less warrior, it was going to be harder to stop XANA...

And he's not just thinking that only because he wants Yumi to stay.

"I know, why don't we write to our congressmen and ask for help?" He suggests as she walks back inside her classroom building.

"Sure, why not the president while you're at it?" She chuckles and he raises a brow.

That could work.

* * *

As soon as he got out of classes, he started right away on the letter to the president. Yumi possibly moving away was serious, so he had to make sure that the most important person in the world listened to him.

Of course he wasn't crazy. This was for someone really special to him.

"Are you ready for dinner?" Odd asks as he opens the door.

"You go on," Ulrich waves him off. "I'll see you there."

Amy walks up to the door to pick them up, Odd stepping out. "He's still writing it?"

"Yep," Odd walks off with her. "Hey, so when we get dessert, can I have yours?"

"Odd!" She laughs at the thought of him stuffing himself, as usual. "I'll never understand how you can never get sick with how much you actually eat."

"Is that a yes?"

"Well, yeah, after watching you, I won't have an appetite for it."

"Hmph. Race ya!" Odd takes off running and she laughs, racing after him as they pass through the double doors.

Ulrich listens to the radio as he tries to come up with something convincing. It had to be enough so that Yumi's father could be granted a job and Yumi could stay. _Dear Mr. President, I'm writing to you about a young girl named Yumi. Yumi is an amazing person. She's originally from Japan, but she really likes her country._

He thinks about her bright smile...and realizes that wasn't good enough, throwing the paper away into the full trashcan, muttering something to himself.

"Dear Mr. President—will you be quiet?!" He shouts at the radio in annoyance, as the device was making him lose focus. "Can't you see I'm trying to concentrate?"

He's about to turn it off when another possible idea could solve the problem. "Remember, folks, this week's super jackpot is 30 million big ones! And now that big bonus number. 14, 2 times lucky 7 14. Anyway-" Ulrich shuts off the radio, looking down at the numbers he wrote down.

"_Remember folks, this week's super jackpot is 30 million big ones!"_

This could solve everything...if the Ishiyamas won, they'd have so much money, they wouldn't have to work again until Yumi was out of Kadic.

"No...I couldn't do that. It wouldn't be right," He shakes his head. The fact that he's too young to enter comes to mind, and because gambling was a huge risk that he couldn't take back if he went through with it. But then again...Yumi might be grateful...so grateful that not even William could change things.

He opens the door and leaves his room, holding the paper in his hand.

* * *

Mr. Ishiyama slowly eats his noodles, the silence tense. Mrs. Ishiyama turns to him. "Did you go back to see the temp agencies?"

"I haven't had time."

"Too bad, they might've had something for you. I mean, to tide us over until we return to Kyoto."

Mr. Ishiyama sighs slowly. "There is nothing out there for me. There are too many people in my field. You know that very well."

"Anyway, if you don't look, you certainly won't find anything."

He slams down his chopsticks at his bad luck lately. "Oh, will you stop it now? What about you? Did you go the temp agencies today?"

She puts down her chopsticks at his grumpy attitude, standing up and walking off. He sighs at what he did, putting a hand to his temple. Hiroki and Yumi stare at him in worry.

* * *

Kiwi barks on Jeremy's bed, Kiki playing quietly with her tennis ball. Dinner time has passed, and Ulrich had not shown.

"He's not in our room," Odd sits down. "I don't know where he is."

"I get the feeling that Ulrich is taking the situation even harder than we are," Aelita comments in concern.

"Of course he is. He must be devastated. Even though it probably won't happen, he's still trying to do his crazy ideas," Amy places a hand on her chin. "Poor guy..."

"You can say that again. For Ulrich, losing Yumi is...well, imagine how you'd feel if Jeremy had to leave," Odd lays down on Jeremy's bed, Aelita looking away with a blush.

"Why do you say that?"

"Cuz I love making you blush!"

Aelita glances at Jeremy, who looks away sheepishly.

"Oh yeah? How about you and Amy? If she had to leave, you'd feel the same," Jeremy retorts back to change the subject.

"Shut up," Amy and Odd say in unison, blushing.

Suddenly, a return in time is launched, encircling everything in white.

"Wait," Aelita says as they're outside the building again like this morning. "What just happened? Why did we return to the past?"

Jeremy immediately pulls out his laptop, opening it and scanning for an activated tower. "Could XANA have taken control of the back in time function? He's done it before," Yumi points out.

"No way. I made a special program so he couldn't," He doesn't see an activated tower anywhere. "The superscan doesn't show any active towers. This is really weird. I'll go to the factory after class and check it out."

* * *

Ulrich crosses a number off the lottery ticket, giving it to the vendor. "Here you go."

"Uh, you do know that you're not really old enough to play, young man."

"Aw, it's for my mom. She asked me to buy it for her," He lies through his teeth. He had activated the return in time, as he 'borrowed' Jeremy's notes, before he listened to the winning numbers on the radio. He knew that XANA would gain an advantage, but Yumi was more important than that. He did it so that the Ishiyama family could win the ticket.

"Well, in that case..." The man takes it and Ulrich starts to walk back to school.

He did the right thing...he would get Yumi to stay.

"Ulrich," Jeremy states once the bell rings for Italian class. "We're gonna check out things at the factory after class, about the jump back in time? You coming?"

"No, I, uh...I have to, uh, study for Chemistry," Ulrich lies again.

"Hey, mind if I study with you? I don't get Mendelier's periodic table at all," Odd offers, Amy noticing something off about Ulrich.

"I'd rather study by myself."

"Huh?" Odd is confused. Ulrich never wanted to be alone to study. With his grades, he always asked for help...

* * *

"Oh, well I know you're gonna think this is ridiculous," Ulrich says to the Ishiyamas, as he left after class. "But I heard you had some problems with work and everything, and...and I thought, well...I bought you a lotto ticket. You never know. Maybe you'll be lucky. Then you can stay here, with Yumi," He hands Mr. Ishiyama the ticket.

"Hm," he starts laughing at the possibility of winning. "I'm sorry, son, but you have to admit that it is very funny. Do you know the odds of winning the lotto? Huh! At least you made me laugh. That's something I need right now..." He chuckles, Mrs. Ishiyama turning to the boy.

"Anyway, it was very nice of you, Ulrich. We're really touched."

"Don't forget to listen for the numbers," He looks at them hopefully and they nod. "Oh, and please don't tell Yumi that I gave it to you. She might take it the wrong way." He walks down the steps, Mrs. Ishiyama placing down the clean bowls.

"That Ulrich is such a sweetheart!"

"Yes, only, he doesn't realize that we have one chance in 14 million of ever winning," Mr. Ishiyama dismisses it. This is why he never gambles; you never win.

"Now, once again today's lotto results." Mr. Ishiyama glances at the lotto ticket on the table. "The winning numbers for today's super jackpot drawing are...6, 22, 10, 47, 13, 37, and the bonus number is 14."

Both Mr and Mrs. Ishiyama stare down at the ticket in utter disbelief, wondering if this was a trick. "I don't believe it...!"

Yumi enters, having just arrived back. "Hey there, what's going on?"

"Uh..." She promised she wouldn't tell her daughter, but she couldn't keep it from Yumi. That would be the same as lying to her. "This is the winning ticket. The jackpot!"

"What's a jackpot?" Hiroki asks curiously.

"Oh! It's incredible!" Mr. Ishiyama pulls at his collar in shock.

"Oh, you played the lotto?" Yumi wonders, knowing her parents don't believe in it. "But I thought you hated gambling."

Mr. Ishiyama clears his throat, glancing at his wife. He couldn't lie to Yumi either.

"Actually, it was, uh, your friend Ulrich who played. And he gave us the ticket."

"He didn't want you to know."

Yumi narrows her eyes. A return time to the same morning where the lotto would be won? This was no coincidence. Ulrich had done this on purpose, meaning that he had willingly let XANA gain an advantage over them...

* * *

"I don't get it," Jeremy stares at the statistics of the program. There was nothing wrong. No bugs or anything; someone did it on purpose. "XANA had nothing to do with it. It's as if someone had set off the return of the past from here, except that I'm the only one who knows how to do it."

"Unless...someone read your manual," Aelita points out. She already knew it wasn't Odd; he was a lost cause when it came to the Supercomputer.

"What makes you say that?"

Aelita says nothing, looking at the log data...

Ulrich approaches his silent friends. "Hi."

"Hi Ulrich. You know, I'm really impressed with your computer skills," Jeremy says and his eyes widen.

"Who, me? You are?"

"Well, you did enter the code for returning to the past into the computer without making a single mistake. Well done," Jeremy gives him a sarcastic thumbs up.

"What are you talking about?" Ulrich plays dumb.

"Don't waste your breath," Yumi accuses angrily. "We know it was you who set off the return to the past."

"I never expected for you to do that, Ulrich. For you to lie to us and turn your back to help XANA?" Amy looks sad at his betrayal. "Did you really think that we wouldn't check up on this?"

"You broke rule number one, Ulrich. I can't believe it!" Odd exclaims and Ulrich couldn't deny it anymore.

"I only did it for Yumi, so you can stay," He smiles sadly and she narrows her eyes at how he's justifying it.

"I didn't ask for your help."

"Do you realize what you've done, Ulrich? You know that going back in time makes XANA stronger!" Jeremy exclaims.

"Why didn't you talk to us first, huh?" Odd wonders, "Why did you have to go sneaking around?"

"I'm sorry..." Is all he can say. His heart was in the right place, but his actions were definitely wrong...

"It's too late for sorry. You betrayed our trust!" Jeremy sounds the most upset.

Yumi walks up to him. "Here," She holds up a piece of paper. "You can take back your dumb ticket," She throws it to the ground. "My parents think you should keep the money," She storms off.

"As of now, and until you hear otherwise, you're out of the group, Ulrich!" Jeremy announces to his shock, walking off next. Amy says nothing as she leads Odd away, Aelita placing a sympathetic hand on Ulrich's shoulder.

"I hope this will all work out..." Honestly, she didn't want to break up the group. They were all she had, but she couldn't look past what Ulrich did. He picks up the ticket, sighing in disappointment as Sissi approaches him.

"Hey, what's up, Ulrich? You don't look too good." She laughs at him, attempting to cheer him up.

"Right, and when I see_ you_, it gets even worse," He glances away to see Yumi already talking to William. He really messed up. He just wanted to help...but instead, it cost him his friends, possibly until he graduates.

"Well, that'll teach me to be nice to people!"

Ulrich groans to himself. It wasn't Sissi's fault he just lost his friends, it was his. Even though he still didn't like her, she didn't deserve his rudeness this time.

"Sissi, wait. I apologize."

She smiles widely that he's acting nicer. He puts his hands in his pockets forlornly. "I'm just a little edgy." He walks off with her, hoping to talk to someone about what just happened.

"I really don't understand what she sees in him," Herb looks on jealously at the two.

"You said it. He sure is no match for my looks or my brains."

Herb chuckles at the fact Nicolas even has brains, given his grades so far. And handsome? Hardly. Barely any girls looked at him. "You think you're handsome, huh?"

"No more than you think you're smart!"

He rolls up his sleeves. "I dare you to say that again!"

Nicolas punches him in the face. Clearly, he was the stronger one.

In the desert sector, a Krab is walking on the sand, soon followed by others. At least more than a dozen gather around, walking in one group.

Herb is washing his face after being punched by Nicolas, his friend next to him. He stretches his arms, Nicolas' hair getting goofy after he dried it. It kind of looked like poodle hair as he turns on the water. He hears a spark and looks up at the ceiling light, which is emitting electricity. One of XANA's ghosts appears from it, possessing Nicolas.

Nicolas sits there, numb for a few seconds before he stands up, the XANA symbol in his eyes...

* * *

"Africa is the continent that suffers most from problems related to a shortage of water and rural areas of Africa are affected to an even greater extent," Mr. Fumet recites, Nicolas glancing back at the four other Lyoko Warriors. Ulrich is sitting next to Sissi, knowing that his friends wouldn't want to be near him right now.

"Hey, why is Nicolas staring at us like that?" Amy whispers to Odd. He glances at the other side of the room to see that Nicolas is indeed staring.

"Maybe he's got a crush on you?" He suggests, shrugging and Amy gags.

"Ew."

"Less than half of all rural zones have any access..."

"Well, when I think how much we complain all the time," Odd glances back at Jeremy.

"To sanitary systems..."

Jeremy glances down at his open laptop underneath his desk to see that a tower has been activated. "XANA has launched an attack," He whispers to the three, gaining their attention.

"What?"

"We have less than a minute left to class. We'll go to the factory as soon as the bell rings," Jeremy glances at his watch.

"Without Ulrich?" Odd asks in concern. They had gone to Lyoko without him before, but this time it felt different...and not in a good way. It felt bad to just leave his roommate behind...he was kind of worried about how he was doing.

"Without Ulrich," Jeremy confirms, still angry about what happened. Amy places a gentle hand on Odd's shoulder, trying to comfort him in the slightest. Odd sighs, resting his head on her shoulder. After Ulrich's betrayal, he really needed something to take his mind off it. Amy blushes at his action, but says or does nothing to stop. She knew that Odd needed a shoulder to lay on, and being the good friend she was, she wasn't going to stop him. Nicolas keeps staring, Amy shivering at him. The bell rings a few seconds later and the four quickly leave.

"See you next week, then."

Nicolas leaves right behind the four Lyoko Warriors. "Hey Nicolas," Herb stands up.

"And don't forget your project reports on your own ideas for helping African communities!" Mr. Fumet calls out as the rest of the students leave.

* * *

Jeremy's chair swivels as Aelita, Odd, and Amy enter the scanners. Yumi's the odd one out as she was called by Jeremy when they were arriving at the factory. "Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. Transfer Odd. Scanner Odd. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

They're virtualized into the desert sector, landing safely. They don't see anything out of the ordinary—yet. Jeremy pulls up the program for their rides as Yumi is virtualized. "Here come your vehicles."

As Amy's OverRunner appears in front of her, Odd places a hand on her shoulder. "Ames, wait. Can, you, uh...can you ride with me today? I mean, madam, would you do me the honor of climbing aboard my humble, uh...board?"

Amy giggles at his joke, glancing at Aelita, who nods. Aelita jumps into Amy's ride instead, the other two girls smiling at their friends. Amy climbs on and Odd wraps a tail around her waist, causing her to look down in surprise. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she's always been intrigued by Odd's tail...it felt soft and inviting.

She places her hands on Odd's shoulders and he grins.

"_The activated tower is located two plateaus north."_

To Odd, Amy was the only one who listened to his problems, and he could really use some cheering up from her today.

"Okay, let's go," Yumi flies off first.

"Yeah!" Odd cheers as they both fly over the plateau. Aelita revs up the OverRunner and gets a boost, flying over the plateau.

"No monsters on the horizon for the time being," Jeremy reports, not noticing that XANA Nicolas had followed them, hiding above the ceiling.

"_It's not monsters I'm worried about. It's XANA attacking on Earth. We still don't know what he's got in store for us this time,"_ Yumi voices her concerns, especially since they don't have anyone to report it...

"Yeah well, I'd rather we deactivated the tower before we find out," Jeremy comments, hearing a thump.

"_Well, whatever it is, just be careful, Jeremy. You never know, okay?"_ Amy speaks as Jeremy puts down the headphone. He looks up to see just what the attack is, XANA Nicolas landing right behind him. Jeremy gasps sharply as he quickly notes the XANA symbol embedded in his eyes.

"No!"

Nicolas lifts him up the air, electrocuting him slightly and knocking the genius into the wall. XANA Nicolas grins evilly as Jeremy's head softly hits the ground, unconscious. He then turns his attention to the computer, bugging it up.

"At your orders, XANA..."

As the four continue on, Aelita notices a Krab to her right. "Look, over there, a Krab!" Odd and Amy turn to the monster before seeing the rest of the horde.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or are there at least 20 of them?" Yumi asks in disbelief.

"Yumi, there are no mirages on Lyoko," Aelita informs her.

"That's what I was afraid of!"

"Kind of weird that Jeremy didn't report it..." Amy murmurs to herself.

"By the way, thanks for warning us, Jeremy," Odd says sarcastically, but gets no answer. "Jeremy?"

"Now your wound will become fatal!" XANA Nicolas laughs evilly, loud enough for them to hear it.

"Jeremy, was that you?" Yumi asks in concern, but that couldn't be possible. He's immune to being possessed by XANA now. "Answer me, will you?"

"That isn't Jeremy," Odd shakes his head. "I'd recognize that laugh anywhere. It's Nicolas."

"Nicolas? Are you sure?"

"Nobody else has a laugh that dumb, not in the whole universe!"

"Nicolas is possessed by XANA!" Amy exclaims in realization. "Jeremy must be in trouble!"

"Watch out!" Aelita notices two Krabs behind them. "The Krabs!"

"We better get out of here fast!" Odd says, knowing fully well that fighting all of them at once would end in devirtualization immediately, and Aelita needed all the help she could get. They speed up as the Krabs start firing, Odd taking the lead. Aelita drives besides Yumi, who swerves a bit to avoid the lasers. She looks back at them, only to be hit in the shoulder and her Overwing to spin out of control. She eventually lets go and her Overwing gets devirtualized. She crashes roughly into the sand. "Yumi!"

Amy opens her wings, flying above Odd and going off to check on her. Aelita spins the OverRunner sharply, she and Odd following after the fairy. Odd flips off the Overboard once they reach her.

"Yumi, are you okay?" Odd asks her.

"I don't understand. Why does it hurt so much? Shouldn't I just lose some life points?" She wonders as she lies down on the board.

"Something's wrong with the factory," Odd deduces, Aelita turning around.

"Odd, Amy, the Krabs. We're gonna have to take cover." They look behind them to see the rocks, walking over to them.

* * *

Ulrich practices Penchak Silat by himself in the gym, trying to let out his frustrations. "You're even more handsome when you train."

He turns to Sissi watching him in admiration. "Sissi, I think I'd rather be alone."

"Are you crazy? That's the last thing you need when you're feeling down. It's just the opposite. You need your friends to be there." That, and she wanted to be alone with him for a little while longer.

"Uh uh. I don't have friends anymore..."

"What about me?" She asks as he kicks the air. "What does that make me then?"

Herb opens the door, entering. "Oh, Sissi, there you are. I've been looking all over for you."

"Yeah? Well, pretend I'm not here and keep on looking," She retorts back, not wanting to be bothered. "Why don't you go out and play with your friend Nicolas?"

"I would, but I can't find Nicolas either. He ran off like a madman after class to follow Jeremy, Amy, Odd, and the new girl. He was really spaced out."

Ulrich turns around after hearing him, wondering if Nicolas was possessed. "His voice sounded weird and there was something strange about his eyes."

"XANA," Ulrich whispers in realization. Nicolas might be hurting them right now, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing. He knew that his friends probably would turn them away, but he had to make sure that they would be okay.

"Why are you telling me all this? I don't care. Can't you see I'm with Ulrich?" Sissi points to the middle of the gym.

"Well not anymore, you're not," Herb notices that the boy is gone.

"Huh?"

* * *

The four are hiding behind a rock so that Yumi could catch her breath. "I'll go and check it out," Odd offers, crawling on the rock on all fours.

"Odd, wait. I'll go with you." Amy opens her wings, following after him. The two peek over the top to see Krabs walking right towards them. They start firing.

"We'd better move, otherwise-"

Amy pushes Odd out of the way and gets hit in the stomach, knocking her off the rock. "Amy!" Odd looks down at her, jumping into action. He grabs her into his arms, sliding down the rock swiftly and flipping onto the sand.

"Ow, Yumi's right. It really does hurt," Amy shakes her head as she looks up at Odd. Her breath gets caught in her throat as she realizes how close he is. Odd stares down at her.

"Ames, you okay?" He asks softly and she snaps out of it, nodding. Yumi looks up to see Aelita crawling onto the rock to see what was going on.

"My turn." She presses her hands together and starts singing, using her creativity to make a sand wave in front of the Krabs. They try going over, but it's too steep for them. One of them falls flat on their back, wiggling its legs. "It won't take them long to find a way around."

"Then we need to move far away from them as possible," Amy murmurs as Odd puts her down gently.

"Jeremy!" Ulrich arrives at the lab to see the genius on the ground. XANA Nicolas has gone, but only to hide in the ceiling.

"Maybe I'm the one you're looking for!" He announces, crawling onto the ceiling and then to the wall like he's Spiderman. Nicolas launches forward to tackle Ulrich, who rolls out of the way.

"Wow," Ulrich backs away slowly. "Since when did you become an athlete? I don't believe it." He backflips, kicking his leg right through XANA Nicolas. He looks at the possessed boy in shock as he didn't even touch him. Because XANA's ghost is possessing Nicolas, the boy can't take any hits. XANA Nicolas punches Ulrich to the ground and he lands near Jeremy. He sees him crawling up the ladder with no problem.

"Come on, Spiderman. Hold on, I'm not out yet!"

XANA Nicolas hangs onto the ceiling, eyeing Ulrich as he goes into the elevator. 'Spiderman' crawls after Ulrich, crawling into the elevator. Ulrich then rolls out the closing doors just in time to close XANA Nicolas in. As the elevator descends down, Ulrich messes with the wires, causing the elevator to stop. The electricity then shocks Nicolas.

"Jeremy, wake up, will ya? You gotta get up!" Ulrich shakes Jeremy by the shoulders.

"Hey...hi Ulrich. How are you?" Jeremy says, the concussion affecting his speech.

"Jeremy, please pull yourself together. I need your help!"

"Because I'm not feeling so great." He falls back into his deep sleep, Ulrich giving up and walking over to the computer. Jeremy was no help, so it looks like he'd have to take care of things on his own.

The Krabs keep attempting to crawl up the sand wall as Ulrich sits in the chair. "Odd, Amy, Yumi, Aelita, can you hear me? Answer me, will ya?"

"Ulrich, is that you?" Yumi asks in relief.

"_Oh, great, you're alive."_

"Yeah, but not in great shape," Odd glances at Amy.

"What about Jeremy?" Aelita asks in concern.

"He's also in pretty bad shape," Ulrich looks to Jeremy still on the floor. "I don't get it, there's nothing on the screens."

"_That must be why the fire from the XANA's monsters hurt us for real,"_ Yumi deduces.

"_Nicolas bugged up the Supercomputer, and now we can't take a hit without being hurt,"_ Amy explains. A Krab bumps into the sand wall.

"What was that noise?" Odd looks back and they go up to the rock to inspect. Aelita gasps in shock to see a Krab pass right through the sand wall, breaking it.

"That's just what I was afraid of. The Krabs have broken through the sand wall."

"I'm really sorry about this, Jeremy, but it's for a good cause," Ulrich slaps Jeremy across the face, causing him to wake up.

"Ouch, what-what's going on?"

Ulrich places his glasses back on for him.

"Okay, this is no time to drag your feet," Odd says as they slide down the rock. The Krabs crawl over inside their hiding spot and they take off running, Amy flying above them.

"Nicolas has deactivated the scanner. I should be able to fix it pretty fast," Jeremy says once Ulrich has told him what happened.

"Jeremy, I wanted to tell you-"

"Later. Head for the scanner and get ready."

Ulrich runs to the ladder and opens the shaft, climbing down to the scanner room.

A Krab fires right at Amy's wings, causing her to fall down, sliding to a stop. She quickly gets up and follows after the others. Yumi looks back at the horde nervously and a stray laser hits her. She flies into the air, leaving her open for more.

"Yumi, no!" Odd calls out in worry as Jeremy presses enter.

Luckily, Yumi lands on her hands. "Yes!" Jeremy cheers as Yumi gets back on her feet, continuing to run as the program has been fixed.

"Yeah!" Odd cheers for her, "We're invincible again!"

"Nice job, Einstein!" Amy smiles, Ulrich jumping down into the scanner room.

"_Hold on, I'm sending you Ulrich."_

"Jeremy," Aelita comes to a stop.

"Transfer Ulrich," Jeremy ignores Aelita calling his name, too focused on virtualizing Ulrich. Odd backflips past the lasers, landing on a rock. "Scanner Ulrich."

Another Krab fires at Odd, who jumps out of the way, landing on top of the rock. He flips and fires an arrow. "Laser Arrow!" He fires again twice, destroying the Krab in front of him.

"Virtualization!"

Yumi pulls out her fans to deflect the blows, Odd firing more arrows. Amy holds out her hand, fire coming from it. "Heat Wave," She fires it, destroying another Krab in front just as Ulrich arrives. He immediately gets hit by a monster, Yumi narrowly ducking the projectiles. Ulrich pulls out his sword to absorb the lasers, standing in front of Aelita with the others.

"Hi guys. Didn't need me too much, did ya?"

"Just a little, yeah," Yumi admits, using her fans from more lasers. Odd continues firing from his arm, rolling onto the ground. Amy pulls out her spear, spinning it around to deflect a flurry of lasers aimed at her.

"I'm just glad to have some extra help at all," She says as she stops spinning her weapon.

"Yeah, but those guys aren't gonna keep missing us if we stick around," Odd stands up.

Electricity comes from the control panel, causing it to stop.

Ulrich stares at all the Krabs, some of them separating from the group. He notices where they're going, and that was to block their way from the tower.

"Your vehicles are on the way. They could come in handy," Jeremy brings the four vehicles up, pressing enter. They virtualize in front of their owners.

"Okay great. Now all we have to do is cross that line of monsters," Odd looks to the others. "You and Yumi may as well go over the top."

"And what about you two?" Yumi asks, Odd crouching low.

"We'll do what we do best, chef's surprise," He winks at Amy and they jump onto their rides. "Come on, Aelita. We haven't much time."

"Good luck," Amy sings as she and Odd take off, riding underneath all the Krabs. They try to hit them with their blue lasers from underneath their shells.

"He's really lost it this time," Ulrich comments to Yumi. "And now Amy's in on it?"

"No more than you have. Come on, let's go," Yumi smirks, flying her Overwing to the army.

Amy swerves past Krabs, her and Odd coming across another row. Ulrich narrows his eyes as he sees something in front of a Krab, using the plank of wood as a ramp. He yells as he rides over some Krabs, pulling out his sword and stabbing three of them. One by one, they're destroyed. Yumi swerves past lasers being fired at her and she soars higher, throwing her fans. She hits two of them dead on, taking care of them as well.

Odd and Amy continue to dodge the lasers from underneath.

"They're never gonna make it," Jeremy says in worry, as XANA Nicolas could come back at any moment.

Odd looks behind him at the Krabs they dodge, looking up ahead. "Oh no! Another row of those guys."

They all fire in unison, Odd and Amy narrowly dodging them and moving to the right. Ulrich flies over the same row.

"Stop moving around so much. How do you expect me to help you?" Ulrich calls out.

"Cut me some slack, okay?" Odd retorts back. "I'm just trying to avoid getting hit."

"Yeah, same here. You try dodging lasers with this racecar," Amy points up to Ulrich.

XANA Nicolas punches the elevator button, causing it to start up again, heading towards the lab.

The Krabs continue their relentless attack, Odd skating back and forth. Amy revs up her car, moving faster. Ulrich backflips off his Overbike, landing on a monster and stabbing it. He flips away so that he's not affected by the blast.

"Now!"

Odd and Amy move past the open gap, stopping at the tower. "Jeremy, I think we've done it," Ulrich watches Aelita jump off.

"Ulrich, you're the greatest!" Jeremy replies in relief.

"_Hey, what about me? Don't Ames and I get any credit?" _Odd asks as Jeremy gives an amused smile.

"Hurry, Aelita," Amy urges as she slowly enters the tower.

The elevator opens and XANA Nicolas speeds over like the Flash, jumping up to the ceiling. Jeremy looks around, having heard the whoosh. He then looks up to see XANA Nicolas, who laughs evilly.

Aelita walks onto the pad.

Jeremy gasps sharply. "No!" He tries running away, but XANA Nicolas tackles him to the ground, the boy's glasses falling near him.

Aelita lands at the top just as XANA Nicolas is about to off Jeremy, gripping onto his neck. She presses her hand on the interface.

Jeremy gasps for air as XANA Nicolas grits his teeth.

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

Nicolas' eyes turn back to normal and he drops Jeremy, falling unconscious. Jeremy looks down at him, putting his glasses back on.

* * *

Nicolas is then taken to the school infirmary, a thermometer in his mouth. Yolanda checks his pulse.

"You say this is how he was when you found him?" Jim rubs his chin.

"Yeah, in the middle of the campus," Jeremy looks away.

"Hm..."

"That's very strange," Yolanda comments, glancing at the teacher. "He must've fainted. Nothing serious in any case."

They walk away from the infirmary, Yumi looking at Ulrich. "I know you did it for me, Ulrich."

"But I should've asked you first," Ulrich replies back in guilt.

"Right," She turns to him and he closes his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Jeremy places a hand on his shoulder with an understanding smile, nodding.

"So, are you back in the group?" Aelita asks him.

"Mm, looks like it."

"Hey, what are you gonna do with that lotto ticket?" Odd wonders, as Ulrich technically won.

"I thought about it and I decided to give it to an association that builds wells in Africa."

"Really?" Yumi asks, "Oh, that's a great idea."

"It's good for your report, too," Amy comments, Odd groaning.

"I forgot about that!"

Yumi's phone rings and she answers it. "Yes? Yeah mom, I'm listening. Uh huh. Uh huh. Alright. See you tonight." She hangs up, turning to her friends. "My father's found work with Takahashi."

"Takahashi?" Ulrich asks slowly, Jeremy cringing. Odd has his eyes widened, Aelita's mouth is opened in shock, and Amy is biting her fingernails. "You mean in Japan?"

She pauses before she smiles widely. "No, silly, right here!" She ruffles Ulrich's head.

"YES!" The others cheer happily, Ulrich smiling big with a blush on his face in glee. Yumi was gonna stay! Looks like all he really had to was wait...

And he was happy that he actually listened and did nothing this time.


	38. Marabounta

The 8th grade science class is watching an ant farm. "Ants are social insects like termites or like bees. A single individual is incapable of any personal initiative. All of the decisions are made by the colony. Ants receive a few simple orders such as search for food, mark the path leading to the food, and follow a marked path. As a result, we might have the impression that each ant is rather clever, and in fact, this has more to do with a collective intelligence."

"You mean an army of Sissis could be intelligent?" Odd laughs at the thought. "I don't believe it."

Everyone laughs except the aforementioned girl herself. "Very funny. Shut up, bird brain."

"Settle down, please," Ms. Hertz orders, turning back to the glass cage. "As I was saying, thanks to their numbers, they manage to accomplish some fairly difficult tasks such as finding food or defending themselves against an attacker. It would seem that ants even waged full-scales wars between different colonies."

Her explanation gives Jeremy an idea, one that would be beneficial in their fight against XANA.

"What about killer ants?" Ulrich holds up a finger. "Do they exist?"

"Well, yes," She chuckles a bit, "Maybe in movies, Ulrich."

The class laughs at him instead of Sissi, making him huff. "But there are in fact army ants, that destroy everything in their path. And it's true that you'd best stay out of their way."

"And, uh, do any of those filthy bugs live around here?" Sissi wonders.

"No, fortunately. They live in South America. Down there the phenomenon is called Marabounta."

"Phew! I'm glad I live in a country where there's no danger," Sissi comments, to which Odd, Amy, and Ulrich smile at. Oh, the irony. The bell rings and they leave the classroom, Jeremy still looking at the ants, intrigued. One of them moves its tentacles and he smiles a bit.

* * *

They sit together at lunch, Odd taking bites out of Jeremy's food. Jeremy watches the walking stomach stuff himself. "Saturday's my favorite day. No school in the afternoon."

"I like Sundays better. No school at all."

"Hmm," Odd hums in agreement.

"You seem worried, Jeremy," Aelita notices that Jeremy had barely said a word, not even when Odd took his food from him. "What's on your mind?"

"Franz Hopper's notes, Aelita," He explains his concerns, "Last night I decoded a really interesting part on a multi-agent system. It's a computer application that follows the principle of an anthill. What happens is-"

"Oh no, Mrs. Hertz is already bored us to tears with all that ant stuff. Don't you start now," Odd warns, the others laughing except Aelita.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say to not bring class to this table," Amy puts a finger to the table, taking a bite out of her mini potato.

"Seriously, this time I might've found a way to weaken XANA. Let's meet up at the factory after lunch, I'll explain everything."

Aelita stands up. "Well normally I'd love to, but I have to finish my Italian homework. Amy, you're good in Italian, right?"

"Si, princessa. Sono uno con l'italiano," Amy winks at her and Aelita giggles.

"What did that mean?"

"I am at one with Italian," Amy presses her hands together, bowing her head. Odd laughs at her, finding her Italian really intriguing.

"Meet me in our room when you're done. See ya," She walks off, Jeremy looking at Odd.

"Uh, no, I have to practice for a skateboard competition," Odd stammers, picking up his tray. "Ames, when you're done with Aelita, meet me in the gym."

"Okay," Amy waves at him as he leaves, Jeremy pouting. He really thought Amy would help, but not only is she busy, she's doing two things in one afternoon. "Sorry Jeremy," She gulps down the rest of her drink and leaves the cafeteria.

"Yumi?" Jeremy glances up at her.

"Sorry, I've got swimming after school," She smiles softly, hoping he'd understand. "Bye bye."

Ulrich watches her leave, frowning to himself. Don't William and Yumi have the same class? That means he would be there too...trying to make moves on Yumi. And that was the last thing that Ulrich wanted; to give William an advantage. He doesn't have plans, but he does now.

"What about you, Ulrich? Are you doing anything later?" Jeremy asks as the boy's attention is on William, who was waiting near the cafeteria doors.

"Yeah, I've gotta be somewhere..."

"Oh yeah? Where?"

"The swimming pool," Ulrich stands up, picking up his tray and walking past Sissi, who watches him.

"Right, well, since everyone else has better things to do," Jeremy takes a sip of his water. "I'll just deal with it myself."

At the factory, Jeremy cracks his fingers, sitting in the lab chair. "Okay, here we go." He gets to work on his plan, with a few magazines nearby on ants sitting on the floor, for inspiration.

* * *

Amy hums as she opens the door to her room, seeing Aelita with a pencil in her hand. "I'm here."

Kiki barks, wagging her tail as she walks up to her owner. Amy smiles, bending down and petting her dog on the head.

"I'm really stuck on this one phrase, Amy," Aelita holds out the worksheet. Amy takes it from her, sitting on Aelita's bed and examining it briefly.

"Hmm. Mmhm. Oh, I see what you did. It's a trick question; there's more than one way to say this one," Amy points to Aelita's answer.

"There is?" Aelita asks in confusion as she peeks over Amy's shoulder.

"Well, yeah. Sometimes verbs can have more than one word but mean the same thing," Amy shrugs at her. "No biggie, as long as you remember, then you should be fine."

"Hm," Aelita picks up a pencil, glancing at the girl. "Soooo...how are things going with Odd?"

"What do you mean how are things going with Odd? They're fine. We still hang out and sit in class together. Sometimes our dogs have a playdate."

"No, I mean romantically," Aelita smiles widely, Amy's eyes widening as a deep blush is on her face.

"They're...not."

"Oh come on. There's nothing going on?"

"No, Aelita," Amy sighs slowly that she has to explain this, putting a hand to her forehead. "And I'd prefer it if they'd stay that way."

"Is it really that bad to just see what it would be like?" Aelita asks curiously, putting a finger to her chin. "It wouldn't change that much since you two are really close."

"It IS a major change, Aelita," Amy stands up, crossing her arms. "He's my best friend, and this is Odd we're talking about. He is trying to date every single girl in our grade."

"Odd would do anything for you, Amy. Even change that part of his life."

"Just because it's a possibility doesn't mean I should do anything about it," Amy whispers softly, glancing at Kiki. "Think about it. My relationships and grades are the only thing I can control in my life. All this other stuff with XANA just happened like it was nothing, but my love life I have a say in."

"That's not true," Aelita shakes her head. It didn't feel like XANA was just thrusted into her. Most of her life was living on Lyoko.

"That's how it _feels_," Amy replies back. "Having to go through the same day again...having to deal with everyone like I should be friendly and happy all the time. Sometimes it just takes a toll on me."

Aelita closes her eyes in sympathy.

"But...I do it because I was lonely. And I'm glad that I met you guys," Amy smiles softly, Aelita returning the gesture. "Thanks for listening."

"That's what roommates do!" Aelita says in Amy's usual tone with a wink, both of them laughing at their new inside roommate joke.

* * *

Meanwhile, William walks onto the diving board, wearing only black swimming trunks with red stripes on the sides. His hair is slightly messy as he glances at Yumi sitting on a bench near him. She's wearing a black one-piece bathing suit and he smiles, jumping off and diving into the water. Ulrich has a scowl on his face as he crosses his arms, a blue towel around his neck. His trunks are black with green stripes on the sides.

Hearing clapping, he turns to a smiling Yumi, William leaning on the edge. Ulrich bravely walks up to the diving board, Sissi stepping out in a two piece bikini. Ulrich glances at William and Yumi, climbing up to the diving board.

Sissi looks around for Ulrich until she looks up, seeing him at the diving board. She continues to watch as Ulrich glances at Yumi. William can sense him watching and looks up.

"What do you know? Isn't that Ulrich Stern about to dive?"

Yumi looks up, surprised to see him. He looks away from her gaze and holds out his arms, everyone else watching. Yumi can only watch as he jumps off, but his foot trips as he's landing, causing him to fall headfirst.

"Ulrich!" Yumi exclaims in worry as he body-plants into the water. Sissi gasps in shock and William comes to Ulrich's rescue, pulling him out and dragging him to the surface.

"Out of the way! Let me through!" Sissi tries pushing past the others as they run up to the two boys, Yumi helping William pull Ulrich onto the ground. Jim hears the commotion and turns around to see Ulrich on the ground.

"Is he okay?"

"Is he breathing? Is he hurt?"

"Oh, call somebody, he looks like he's..."

"He needs mouth-to-mouth!" Ulrich hears as he slightly opens his eyes. Sissi pushes past the two girls.

"Get out of the way!"

Yumi looks like she's about to give Ulrich CPR, Sissi glaring. If she knew how to do it, she would've stepped up. But if it was to help Ulrich, then she'd say nothing. Ulrich opens his eyes again, seeing Yumi getting closer.

"Let me through," Jim pushes past the crowd. "I've got a first aid certificate."

Ulrich hears breathing, glancing at Jim, Yumi giggling in amusement. Jim pinches the boy's nose and sees Jim taking a deep breath, giving Ulrich air. Sissi looks away in disgust and Jim pulls away.

"There you go." Ulrich coughs, sitting up. "Good thing I was here, huh?"

"Are you okay?" Yumi asks him.

No, he wasn't. He just embarrassed himself not only in front of Yumi, but in front of a lot of students. It didn't help that William had to save him, the last thing he wanted. And Jim...what else could he say? He gets up and storms off, Yumi looking away in sympathy.

* * *

"Now for the moment of truth," Jeremy tests the program. A screen pops up as circles duplicate in one group. "Everything seems to be working. "Transfer prototype," He presses enter and the prototype is transferred to one of the scanners. Like with his friends, this program had to be scanned first before it could work. "Scanner. Virtualization."

In the forest sector, a black-liquid orb appears, Jeremy humming in delight. "Come on." The black orb then grows bigger, making it a group. It seeps into the grass, one of the orbs lifting into the air.

"YES!" Jeremy cheers at his success. "Franz Hopper, you're a genius! And so am I. XANA and his monsters better watch out now!" He smiles happily at the thought of it.

* * *

Ulrich hears barking and looks up to see Odd and Amy entering with their dogs. Odd has his skateboard underneath his arm.

"Oh, hey Ulrich," Amy waves at him. "Didn't know you were back."

"What's the matter?" Odd notices Ulrich's disappointed stance.

"Nothing," He denies thinly, Amy glancing at Odd. He pushes his skateboard into the room, his phone ringing.

"Jeremy?" Odd answers as Amy notices Ulrich's brooding look.

"I have something amazing to show you guys! Can you meet me at the factory?"

"Okay, soon as possible," Odd glances at Ulrich. He silently wonders what happened to make him so upset.

"Great, don't forget to go and pick up Aelita."

"Okay," Odd hangs up, turning to Ulrich. "Jeremy's called a meeting at the factory. You coming?"

He didn't feel like seeing Yumi right now after the pool incident. "I'm not in the mood. I'd rather be by myself," He denies sourly.

"Come on," Odd walks up to the door. "If you don't come, he'll get mad."

"You know how Einstein gets when one of us isn't there," Amy crosses her arms. "And it sounds really important, Ulrich."

"Leave me alone."

"Okay, suit yourself," Odd places his hands on his hips. "Both of you can stay here."

"Both of us?"

"Yeah. You and your bad mood!"

"Listen Ulrich, I don't know what happened, and I'm not going to ask, but you need a reality check," Amy tells him, closing the door behind her as the two leave with their pets. They didn't want their dogs to be affected too.

* * *

They arrive with Aelita, the two holding onto their dogs. "Ah, there you are. But...where's Ulrich?"

"He's sulking," Odd walks up to him. "I don't know what his problem is."

"Whatever it is, he can keep it to himself with that attitude," Amy rolls her eyes. However, she knows that it had to do with one thing: Yumi. Whenever he was sulking, she was always involved in it. After all, that's what he did when William came into the picture. She was silently hoping that they didn't get into a fight again.

Aelita eyes the screen, confused. "What's this program?"

"It's...Marabounta, my own creation," Jeremy explains, Amy snickering a bit. Not really his own if he had to steal the name from their science lesson this morning...

"And what does it do exactly?" Odd asks curiously.

"It's a multi-agent system that functions according to the same principle as an anthill," Jeremy smiles at his inspiration he got from Ms. Hertz. "But instead of ants, we have these little spheres whose mission is to search and destroy XANA's monsters."

Kiwi and Kiki walk up to his ant magazines, sniffing them.

"I get it," Odd smiles in realization, "While the monsters are getting wiped out by your ants, XANA leaves us alone on Lyoko, is that it?"

"You guessed it!"

"Huh. Practical, and simple," Amy comments, smiling at Odd in amusement.

"Hey, that's great," Odd replies, but Aelita looks a little skeptical.

"But...what if there's a real bug in the program?" With Jeremy putting up a program in a day, there was bound to be a lot of doubt. She didn't doubt Jeremy, he was really smart. But even new programs could go wrong on his watch.

"Impossible. Remember, Franz Hopper was a genius," Jeremy smiles at the name.

"Yeah, that's right. What do you say we go to Lyoko to check it out? If this thing really works, nothing can happen to us!"

"Hey, yeah. I'd like to see this in action," Amy nods at the program.

Aelita glances at them, silently agreeing, but she still didn't trust it.

"You read my mind, Odd. Go to the scanner room. I'll transfer you." He sees Aelita with her eyes closed as she's thinking about the risks. She had no idea how it would affect her and her friends, which is a risk in itself. "If there's the slightest problem, I'll pull the plug. Promise."

Aelita looks away in uncertainty, running to the elevator. She just hoped that she could trust Jeremy on this.

Amy, Aelita, and Odd enter a scanner, Jeremy pressing enter. "Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. Transfer Odd. Scanner Odd. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

They all land on a path not too far away from the Marabounta. "_You guys are south of the Marabounta. Take the path to your right._ Sorry, but you'll have to go without vehicles. I don't have enough machine resources to bring 'em up. _And watch out for the bad guys! XANA may have his hands full, but you never know._"

"Roger, general," Odd replies as Amy opens her wings.

"See why I'm glad to have two types of transportation?" She winks, flying above them. Amy watches Odd and Aelita run down the path, flying after them.

"_A Krab at two o'clock!"_

They slowly come to a stop, seeing it up ahead. "_Follow it. It's headed in the right direction._"

The Krab does not stop to attack, which is already concerning. Also, it seems to be going very fast for a Krab. They race after it, deciding not to question its sudden speed.

* * *

Sissi sits on a bench, taking her break from the water. Someone jumps in as William walks up, sitting next to her. She plays with her left foot as they sit in silence for a little bit. He knows that Sissi likes Ulrich. It was obvious from how she was front and center for everything out of concern for him.

"Have you been crazy about Ulrich for a long time?"

"Have you been crazy about Yumi for a long time?" She asks back. William looks up to see Yumi diving.

"Forever..."

"You've only been here for a few months," She dismisses the fact that William has liked Yumi for that long.

"Don't you believe in destiny with a capital D? Two people who've never met, but who are made for each other?" That's how he felt for Yumi. He was an optimist; eventually Yumi would start falling for him.

"No, I'm not really into fairy tales or cheap magazine style romance stories. I've had a crush on Ulrich since elementary school. I wanna go out with him. That's all there is to it." She wouldn't normally tell other people this, but with William, she could understand how love could be. "If it weren't for that stuck-up Yumi, I..."

Yumi takes a breath of air, swimming to the surface. "If it wasn't for that big shot Ulrich, I..."

Sissi and William glance at each other, noticing just how similar their perspectives were. They both giggle to each other, Yumi standing in front of them.

"Shall we go? I'm getting cold." He stands up and she walks after him, Sissi looking away in thought. William just might understand after all...

But she still thought Yumi was stuck-up.

* * *

"Target dead ahead!" Jeremy announces.

"_Jeremy, I've got it! I can see the Marabounta!_" Odd replies back.

"_Well? What's it like?"_

"Well...what's the phrase I'm looking for to describe _this_?" Amy starts off as they see the spheres surrounding the Krab, shocked at the power it has. The Krab tries to move, but then it gets covered in black.

"Pretty scary," Odd finishes for Amy.

"That's it," Amy snaps her fingers and points to Odd for the correct wording. The Krab then disappears into the black mess. A Tarantula tries firing at it to get the Marabounta away, but it eventually engulfs its leg. Four Hornets circle around a pillar of spheres, firing at it to get it away. It explodes into a volcano of goo, destroying all the Hornets in one move. A Megatank opens up in half, firing its big laser. It has no effect on the Marabounta, engulfing the Megatank fully and taking it inside the goo, making it explode.

"I never thought I'd ever say it, but I really feel sorry for XANA," Odd comments to the girls.

"I'll uplink you a visual, Jeremy." Aelita pulls up a video feed of the Marabounta crawling away.

"It's working even better than I thought it would," Jeremy says, impressed.

"_If you want my opinion, Einstein, you've invented yourself a nasty piece of work_," Odd tells him.

"_Nasty is right. It looks like black acid," _Amy comments in disgust. "_But, effective._"

Jeremy smiles at the praise.

A Tarantula is swallowed up by the black/grey ooze. "Jeremy, I've...seen enough. I wanna come in," Aelita glances nervously at the ooze.

"Yeah, okay, Aelita. I'll bring you back. Head southwest. _There's a tower nearby_."

"Got it," Odd takes the lead, Amy putting a hand on Aelita's shoulder.

"Come on, Aelita." They're about to move when the ooze surrounds their feet.

"ODD!" They both call out. "Look!"

He turns around at their voices, seeing their dilemma. "Odd, Amy, Aelita, what's going on? _Answer me!_"

Odd doesn't answer as he fires his laser arrow at the Marabounta. He clears a path for them and they run away from the ooze. The Marabounta chases after them, Odd pointing his arm at it while he's running.

"Laser Arrow!" He fires twice at it.

"_Odd, Amy, say something!_" Jeremy urges to know what is going on.

"_Your Marabounta seems to have it in for us!_"

"_Yeah, and I don't like it!"_

"This isn't the time for jokes, I programmed it to attack XANA's monsters only!" He replies back, and he doesn't even see their dots on the screen.

"_Well, could you program some eye glasses for it, then?"_

"_We're not joking, Jeremy. Why do you think we're running AWAY from it?"_

"This can't be right," Jeremy says in disbelief. "Did you do something special?"

"_No, except for firing a few laser arrows." _He can now see the three dots as the Marabounta is seeping towards them.

"That wasn't the smartest thing to do," Jeremy silently rolls his eyes.

"_Jeremy, Odd didn't have a choice. The Marabounta was coming after Amy and me,"_ Aelita defends Odd.

"Oh, how can that be?" Jeremy gasps in shock, deciding to check something. "Unless...oh Jeremy, idiot! It's my fault. _It's the virus implanted in Aelita. The Marabounta thinks she's one of XANA's monsters._"

"But why would it attack me?" Amy asks, looking up. "I don't have the virus."

"_I wish I knew."_

"Great, nice work, Frankenstein. I thought we had nothing to worry about," Odd retorts. Some of the ooze catapults forward, hitting Amy's wings and absorbing them.

"Oh no!" She shouts as her wings completely disappear, making her fall to the ground. Odd and Aelita help her up and she continues to run in pace with them.

"_I was wrong. Okay, head for the tower._ I'll kill the program." The Marabounta is dangerously close behind the trio as Jeremy taps enter...but nothing happens. "Oh no! Oh no. Oh, no, no, no!"

"_Whenever you're ready, Jeremy."_

"_I'd really like it if it could leave now!" _Amy exclaims urgently.

"I can't deactivate the program. _It seems that the Marabounta doesn't wanna die! The Marabounta's become autonomous. It'll submerge everything and everyone in its path. I'll brief Yumi and Ulrich."_

He calls Ulrich, but he doesn't pick up. "Come on, Ulrich, what are you doing? Will you pick up?"

Ulrich allows his phone to ring, glancing at it. He's lying down on his bed, hands behind his back. He didn't feel like talking to anyone right now, so he doesn't bother to get up. "Boy, that guy can really pick the right day to sit and sulk," He then calls Yumi, who's back in her room at home reading a book. She picks up her mobile and puts it to her ear.

"Jeremy?" She puts down the book as she listens to him. "Huh? What are you talking about? What do you mean a Chattanooga?"

"Marabounta," He corrects her, "I can't explain now. Just get here ASAP. Amy, Odd, and Aelita are in big trouble. Ulrich's at school, but I can't reach him. I don't know what's going on with him!"

"I do. I'll get him and we'll be right over," She stands up, wondering if Ulrich would even listen. She hoped so, their friends were in danger given Jeremy's tone.

Odd comes to a stop as they see something up ahead. "Hey, Jeremy, I think we lost your monster, but now we're kinda lost ourselves."

"I, um, sorry, guys." Jeremy's so distracted by the situation that he forgot to guide his friends to the way tower. "Take off in the direction, uh, due west. The Marabounta hasn't hit that sector yet. In the meantime, I'll find a way to stop it, and hopefully find out why it went after Amy, which is really weird..."

"Don't blow it, okay? I don't wanna end up as chewing gum!" Odd exclaims, the three running off. "And Ames, you be careful around that thing. I don't plan on losing my best friend anytime soon!"

"Right," Amy murmurs, glancing at Aelita, who smiles a bit, winking at her. Amy rolls her eyes and continues running.

* * *

Yumi enters the boys' dormitory and knocks on Ulrich's door. There's no answer and she closes her eyes, knowing that Ulrich was still upset. But their friends' lives are on the line and they needed all the help they can get. She opens the door, hands on her hips.

"I was sure I'd find you here."

"What I need is for everybody to leave me alone, especially you."

She looks surprised by his tone directed at her. All she had done was watch him attempt a dive. She didn't _make _him do that. "Hey, if you wanna make a fool of yourself in front of everyone, don't blame me. No one asked you to spy on me at the pool."

"Spy on you?!" He had no idea how she knew his real reason, but he didn't care. He couldn't obviously let her know that he was only there so that he could watch her and William. "You've gotta be kidding. I just happened to be there, okay?"

"Oh yeah right. What an incredible coincidence," She replies sarcastically. "Anyway, do you mind shelving your ego for a minute? Odd, Aelita, and Amy need us on Lyoko," She shuts the door and he scoffs. He really didn't feel like going anywhere, but his friends needed him...

* * *

Odd, Amy, and Aelita stop again, gasping in shock. Unfortunately, the Marabounta is blocking their path to the tower.

"Jeremy, bad news. The Marabounta got here first. And without Amy's wings, the tower is unreachable."

Aelita gasps, backing away.

"This won't take me long. I'll find a way to stop it, I promise," Jeremy informs them. If he didn't, it was bye bye to his friends...and also Aelita... "And Ulrich and Yumi are on the way! At least, I hope they are."

Yumi lifts off the manhole cover, grabbing her skateboard once she's reached the bottom. She throws it onto the ground, skating down the tunnel.

"Oh!" Jeremy gasps, stopping for a second. "No, it can't be! Hopper, help me out a little," He begs to himself, hoping that something from Franz Hopper's diary had some solutions.

The Marabounta advances towards them, Odd firing his arrows. Amy had no idea what to do. None of her powers would work to deflect it. The vines from her Green Luxuriant Ivy wouldn't be able to do anything and the Venus Gobbler would be swallowed in an instant. In this sector, she doesn't have anything that would fire rapidly at it. Nevertheless, she decides to try her spear, swinging at it to get it away from her feet. Odd backs away as he fires from both hands. Aelita glances around as it was getting closer, Odd and Amy running up to her. Odd fires his arrows, Amy swinging her spear back and forth.

"If this goes on any longer, all of Lyoko will be destroyed!" Jeremy says, Aelita and Amy surrounded by the Marabounta near a tree. Amy continues swinging, but it does nothing to stop the monster. It surrounds the tree and Amy pulls Aelita away from it. _"Careful. XANA's sending a monster."_

"Not the time!" Amy exclaims as a Krab virtualizes in front of them. She stands in front of Aelita, ready to protect her if needed, but the Krab shocks both of them by kneeling towards them. "What...?"

They hold onto its legs, Amy feeling awkward that she's touching it like this. The Krab thrusts its legs so that they fly, landing towards Odd. Odd gasps, looking back to see the Krab that helped him, sacrificing itself to the Marabounta.

"That's crazy! That Krab just sacrificed itself for you two!" Odd exclaims at what he just saw. "_I don't get it._"

"That's weird. _I-I think I understand_," Jeremy stammers as two Bloks arrive. "_XANA knows he can't let Aelita die. He needs her memory. But Amy...why would they help her?_"

Odd is about to fire at the Bloks and three Kankerlots, but they don't attack. Instead, they fire in the other direction. "Hey, what's the matter with them?"

"They're...protecting us," Aelita says slowly.

"_Aelita's right. Use them as allies to defeat the Marabounta._"

"But why me too? I'm not special to XANA," Amy murmurs to herself. She got the feeling that XANA knows something that she doesn't. What it was, she couldn't begin to imagine.

Yumi finally arrives at the lab. "Ah, at last! But...where's Ulrich?"

"Alone with his pride. Wanna tell me what's going on?"

"No time, go straight there._ Amy, Odd, Aelita, hang in there. Cavalry's coming._" Odd continues firing with the monsters as Yumi steps into the scanner.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd fires another, trying to get the Marabounta as far away as possible. A Kankerlot fires a huge laser, their group now turning into 7. Aelita smiles that they're helping them for a change. Yumi virtualizes right in front of a Blok. She quickly pulls out her fan and destroys it.

"No, Yumi. Not them," Aelita waves her hands. Yumi catches her fan, turning to the girls.

"The real danger is the Marabounta over there," Amy points the ooze. Yumi turns around and sees the black gunk, shouting in disgust.

"What is that horrible thing?"

"One of Jeremy's bright ideas," Odd turns his head to look at her. "Luckily, XANA's here to give us a hand."

"Weird, huh?" Amy shrugs at Yumi.

"The world has turned upside down!" She comments, running up and throwing her fan at the ooze. She catches it in her hand.

* * *

A knock is at Ulrich's door. "Yeah?"

It's William this time. "Hi. I came to see how you were."

"Yeah right," Ulrich sits up. "When you have a good chance to humiliate the competition, you might as well go for it."

"Uh, I miss something here? What's your problem?" William asks in confusion. While he didn't love Ulrich, he also didn't want to get between his friendship with Yumi. And, he did save Ulrich's life. He wasn't expecting him to be grateful, but he also didn't expect this kind of attitude from him.

"_You're_ my problem!" Ulrich points at him.

"Uh, no, that'd be too easy, Ulrich," William places his hands on his hips. "Let me tell you what's wrong around here. My being around Yumi forces you to ask yourself a question. A tough question that you can't answer. Here's a piece of friendly advice. Go and talk to Yumi, from the heart. Or else, one day, I will. And then I really will be your problem." He shuts the door and Ulrich sighs, looking away.

As much as he didn't want to admit it...William was right. Not that he'd ever say that out loud.

* * *

"_How you doing, Jeremy?_" Aelita asks as she's next to a Krab.

"I'll never make it. I'm really the biggest loser to walk the face of the Earth!" Jeremy hides his head between his arms.

"You couldn't have known that my virus would be a problem," Aelita says gently.

"Your virus! Virus! What if...? Yeah, well...that oughta work!" He begins typing, Amy looking up.

"You wanna fill us in, Einstein?" She gets no answer and rolls her eyes, swinging her spear at the Marabounta again. Yumi throws both her fans, making it slide on the ooze.

Ulrich rushes into the park, entering the sewers as quickly as he could. He just hoped that he's not too late.

Odd fires, backing away as Kankerlots fire back, but the Marabounta makes it hard for them to fight back. As it gets closer, the Bloks back away.

Ulrich jumps using his skateboard, sliding off the railing in the process.

"Whatever you do, don't let it make any headway. It'll attack from the rear," Odd warns the monsters as Amy backs away slightly.

"You're a really good combat general, Odd," Yumi compliments.

"It takes strategy, you know? The only thing stupider than a Blok is two Bloks!" He jokes, Yumi throwing a fan.

"Ha ha," Amy shakes her head at him.

"Jeremy, move it. Things are getting a bit out of hand."

"_Hey, I'm doing my best, guys."_

"We know. We just want you to do it faster," Amy winks as two Kankerlots are engulfed into the ooze and destroyed.

"_I think I found a way to destroy the Marabounta,"_ Jeremy says while the three have their backs to each other. _"Odd, I inserted a code for a deadly virus in one of your arrows. If you hit a sphere with it, the whole colony will be infected. But-"_

"No sweat," Odd is about to fire.

"_Wait! It'll only work if you hit the first sphere, the one I transferred to Lyoko that created all the others. It's at the heart of the Marabounta."_

"Great, so how am I supposed to reach the heart of the Marabounta? On a camel's back?" Odd wonders as with the ooze covering almost everything, it's impossible to get there without being devirtualized. He hear a noise and turns around to see a Krab offering its back.

"Odd, it's the only way."

Odd gets on top of the Krab's back. "Charge!"

Amy giggles at him. "Good luck, Odd."

"I won't need it, but since it's coming from you, I appreciate it!" He winks at her, letting the Krab lead the way. Amy blushes slightly, Yumi and Aelita grinning to each other behind her back. "Jeremy, would you mind telling how to find the right sphere in all this mess?"

"_I'll guide you."_

Odd feels a little uneasy as the Krab starts to shake, the Marabounta right underneath it.

Aelita backs away, watching Amy and Yumi helping the Bloks. A part of the Marabounta captures her leg. She screams, making the girls turn around.

"Aelita!"

Yumi runs over, throwing her fan and getting Aelita free. She runs over to Amy as Yumi goes to the other side. Aelita looks down at the Marabounta in worry, looking back behind her.

"Yumi!"

Yumi is covered in the Marabounta before she's gone. "Oh no," Amy murmurs as she's alone now to help Aelita. Yumi groans as she lies down in the scanner.

Amy steps in front of Aelita, swinging her spear. It gets closer and she places an arm in front of Aelita, both of them backing away. "Jeremy."

Suddenly, someone else arrives: Ulrich! He lands on a Blok, slicing away at the Marabounta. Amy helps him and he slices with more force.

Odd is almost there, but the Krab starts slowing down as some ooze is on its legs. _"You're almost there, Odd. I'll give you the exact location of the first sphere." _He looks down nervously at the partially-covered Krab, looking up and aiming his arm.

"It's okay, I think I found it." He sees one sphere above all the mess floating there.

Aelita looks back at the ooze, hoping that Odd's reached the main sphere.

Odd readies his arrow as the Marabounta is at his legs. "_You've only got one shot."_ He focuses his aim and fires, hitting the sphere.

"Yeah," He cheers, a fire ball overshadowing the Marabounta. Odd is now standing on regular grass, turning to the Bloks. Ulrich glances around at the monsters while Aelita smiles in relief.

"Thank goodness," Amy murmurs to herself. The Blok, Kankerlot, Tarantula, and Krab gather together, simply staring at them. Ulrich and Amy silently prepare their weapons in case the monsters would attack them, but they simply bow to them.

"Look."

"Don't buy it, Aelita," Ulrich warns her.

"Ulrich's right. The Marabounta is gone, but XANA and his monsters are still our worst enemy."

The monsters leave. "_He wants your memory at all costs._"

Odd joins them, staring after the departing enemies. "That was really weird that the Marabounta targeted you. And that the monsters helped you too," He looks at Amy. "Why?"

"I have no clue...but no matter what, I'll figure it out," Amy narrows her eyes, definitely sure that there's something that she doesn't know. But XANA does. What he would do with that information?

She hoped she wouldn't find out.

* * *

"Next time you wanna play being a mad scientist," Odd walks up to Jeremy as they exit the sewers. "Clue us in a little more first, okay?"

"Well, I really tried to, but you all had better things to do," Jeremy points out, "But you're right, Odd, cuz this time I was a big zero from start to finish."

"You found a way out of it, Jeremy. That's what counts," Aelita tells him, smiling. She was just glad it was over.

"I don't get it," Jeremy turns to Amy. "The scans showed you're normal. _Why _did it go after you?"

"Eh, we'll know eventually," Amy takes the lead back to school.

When they get back to the courtyard, Sissi sees them, turning her eyes away from her magazine. "Well, if it isn't the whole crew."

"Well, if it isn't the brainless frog face."

"Ha ha ha, you crack me up," Sissi retorts to Odd. "By the way, Ulrich, are you feeling better after what happened at the pool?"

"Cool it, Sissi," Ulrich grits his teeth.

"So what happened at the pool, Ulrich?" Odd asks as they're walking up the stairs to Jeremy's room. "Come on, out with it."

"Nothing!" Yumi and Ulrich say in unison. They'd rather not embarrass Ulrich.

"What?" Odd is confused as the two walk up the stairs. He smiles, grinning widely. He might have a good idea of what happened after all.


	39. Common Interest

**Angel: Yo, William Hoenicke,**

**It's not the end of the world if I update this story late in the day. At best, I try to do it as soon as I wake up, and I'm out of school for the time being. I don't necessarily have to do it in the morning, any time is fair game. I_ hate_ it when people come to me asking for an upload, when they should know that I only update three times a week, not at any specific time. So please stop reminding me, I know that it's Monday, but it's also winter break. It's not really something I'd like to see whenever I read my email. I know people out there wanna read it, but it takes patience.**

**Next Wednesday is Christmas, so I will not be uploading that day.**

In the ice sector, there's an activated tower that is being guarded by two Tarantulas.

Out on the road, a police van is escorting a criminal to another one so that he can be transported out of the country. "HQ transfer calling car Alpha."

The officer sitting in the passenger seat picks up the radio. "Car Alpha, go ahead."

"In 3 miles, you'll meet up with escort 2 as planned." The driver glances at the electrocution sign passing by. Suddenly, electricity comes from the fence, one of XANA's ghosts appearing from it.

"Copy that. You happy to be going home, huh Duncan?" The male officer looks past the wire to Peter Duncan, who is cuffed to the wall.

"I don't talk to cops, so save your breath," He retorts back, wanting to be left alone.

"Typical. That's what you get trying to be nice," The male officer puts the radio down as the ghost enters the back of the van. It enters Duncan through his right ear, possessing him as he falls to the ground. The male officer sees a flash through the wires, looking back. "Duncan? Hey, what's going on? What's up?" He sees Duncan kneeling over, looking to be unconscious. "Pull over, he's had some kind of attack."

The female officer comes to a stop as the male officer gets out to inspect. "Car Alpha to HQ, transfer."

"Go ahead, Car Alpha."

The doors are opened. "Duncan? Hey, you okay? What's going on here?"

Duncan opens his eyes and pulls off the handcuffs, to the male officer's shock.

"Following procedure 3. Momentary stop to assess the situation."

The van shakes with electricity flowing through it, the male officer being through right through the wire. "Hey!"

She stares at the unconscious officer. "Roger, Car Alpha. Standing by for information."

There's a thump in front of her and she looks up in shock to see Duncan standing there with a big evil grin. "Car Alpha? What's going on?" She can only look in shock as he laughs evilly. "Come in, please, Car Alpha."

* * *

In the courtyard, two students are kicking around a soccer ball while Odd, Amy, Ulrich, and Yumi are talking about Peter Duncan. Yumi had heard the news about him this morning before she arrived at school.

"Peter Duncan escaped from the police transport van without _any_ outside help?" Ulrich asks in shock as Yumi grabs her hot chocolate.

"Yeah, that's what they said on the radio," Yumi replies, Odd looking back at her.

"You know, ever since David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear, nothing surprises me anymore," Odd chuckles a bit.

"What bothers me is that the two police officers who were guarding him talked about a supernatural force," She brings up her concerns.

"You think XANA is involved?" Ulrich asks her knowingly.

"Well...with him, anything can happen. Whether we like it or not," Amy crosses her arms.

"Not a chance that he is," They turn to Jeremy and Aelita approaching. "The super scanner doesn't show any activated towers. I just checked."

"I hope you're right," Yumi glances at the others. "Imagine public enemy number one under XANA's control. Talk about double trouble."

"A public enemy?" Odd asks in confusion. "What did this Duncan guy do?"

"Oh, nothing much," Jeremy counts on his fingers, "Fine art theft, safecracking, kidnapping, bank robberies..."

While he's talking, Aelita and Amy hold their heads, Aelita dropping her bag.

"You okay, girls?" Yumi wonders their uneasiness.

"Yes, uh, I just didn't sleep very well last night," Aelita replies, Amy nodding.

"Yeah..."

Odd raises a brow at Amy, silently wondering how she didn't sleep well. She didn't mention having nightmares again as far as he's concerned. In fact, she hadn't had any ever since Aelita stopped having them.

The bell rings for class and Aelita picks up her bag. "Don't forget, we have a math test. You gonna be alright?" Jeremy asks Aelita.

"No problem," She smiles a bit. Math was nothing, and she'd just sleep it off later.

Duncan uses his newly acquired speed to travel to a nuclear power plant. He stares at it, as he was looking for something here...

* * *

"As you all know, the exam covers the principles of division. I hope you've studied hard," Mrs. Meyer announces as she gives out the test papers.

"Hey Ulrich?" Odd turns to Ulrich sitting next to him. "What's the last digit of the number divisible by 2, huh?"

"0," Mrs. Meyer answers for him.

"Oh yeah, that's the answer," Ulrich silently cringes at Odd, who turns to the teacher. "Well done, ma'am."

"No, that's the grade you're going to get if you keep trying to cheat," She corrects him.

"Oh," He says in dismay. Amy rolls her eyes as she sits across Ulrich, getting started. Odd turns back to his paper, Mrs. Meyer walking across the room and looking at everyone. They seem to be working, everyone except Jeremy, that is.

Mrs. Meyer stops next to his right. "Well, Jeremy? Is there a problem?"

"I finished, ma'am."

"I see," She picks up his paper. "Good work. Excellent, in fact, Jeremy."

The whole class gasps as Jeremy smiles at the teacher. Amy gives him a thumbs up.

Duncan holds his head while he's in the woods, falling to the ground.

Aelita holds her forehead, Amy rubbing a temple. Something inside her didn't feel right. "Aelita? Are you okay?" Jeremy asks in concern.

Duncan starts to have a headache and then he passes out right in the middle of the forest.

"Aelita!" Jeremy gasps as Aelita's on the ground.

"Amy!" Odd runs over to the still brunette, bending down to her. Everyone gasps at the two in concern.

* * *

The two are taken to the hospital in separate ambulances, still unconscious as they lay on the gurneys. Amy's hair rests on the pillow and over her shoulders as she tries to open her eyes, failing to do so.

"Okay, what do we got?" The doctor runs out of the hospital.

"Adolescents, 13 and 14 years old unconscious. Very weak pulses, irregular heartbeats," One of the paramedics say as the two are quickly ushered inside the building.

"Put them in the same room." They usher the two into the ICU, Jeremy and Odd following until they had to stop, since they couldn't go in. The doors close in front of them as they wondered how this might've happened. The two blondes glance at each other in worry.

The doctor looks up at their heartbeats on the IV. "They've gone into fibrillation!"

"10 mils of adrection." Another doctor inserts a syringe into the both of them, looking up again.

"Hearts failing."

The doctor pushes the syringe further into their arms, but their hearts still slow down. "They're going down! Cardiac unit!"

The doctor rushes over and puts one defibrillator onto their chests. "Clear." He shocks them with it, but their lifelines go flat.

"Nothing. Clear!" He tries again and there's nothing from either of them, the two gasping in shock. They had no idea what could happen to result in this, and now, they'd have to tell their friends they couldn't revive them...

Duncan wakes up in the forest, sitting up.

Suddenly, the girls' heart rates go back up, bringing them back to normal. The second doctor looks at them, truly amazed. "They've got a real guardian angel, that's for sure."

Amy and Aelita slowly open their eyes.

* * *

Jeremy, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich are in the waiting room, sitting together silently as Jeremy looks up. "So how are they?" Jeremy asks as he sees the doctor approaching them, hopefully with good news.

"They're fine, don't worry." Jeremy and Odd smile in relief. "They'll be alright, but they're extraordinary cases."

"Can we see them?" Yumi wonders.

"I don't see why not, but not too much noise. They need to rest," He walks away.

"Don't worry, doctor, everyone knows I'm quiet and calm!" Odd smiles a bit. He's holding a stuffed peacock for Amy, along with a few snacks and some 'get well' balloons.

"How are your test results?" Yumi is sitting between the girls. Amy hugs the stuffed peacock, her gifts sitting near her.

"Completely normal," Aelita tells her.

"Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that you're not really human," Ulrich points out.

"It could be the virus that XANA implanted in me," Aelita suggests.

"But why would it affect Amy? Come to think of it, a lot of stuff has been happening to her that shouldn't," Odd looks at the brunette. "Like when the Marabounta went after you or when we found that picture from the Hermitage that got there somehow."

"I don't know either. There was nothing from the recent scan I had to suggest anything wrong," She touches the fluffy and soft feathers. "And I've asked my parents a bunch of times already. They don't know a Franz Hopper or the Hermitage. It's so weird."

"Did you find anything, Jeremy?" Yumi looks at the genius.

"Dead calm as far as XANA is concerned. No activated towers, although the superscan seems to reset itself. It's not giving the right results," Jeremy looks at his laptop in frustration.

"Kind of like me. I guess it didn't study either," Odd smiles at Amy in amusement and she giggles.

"No class this afternoon. I'm going to pay a visit to the factory and check it out," Jeremy closes his laptop.

"We'll go with you," Ulrich offers, putting an arm around Odd's shoulders.

"I'll stay here. We can have a girl-to-girl talk for once," Yumi smiles at the girls and they smile back in relief.

"I'll come back with your sketchbook," Odd places a hand on Amy's shoulder. "To pass the time."

"Thank you, Odd...and also for your gifts. That was really sweet of you," Amy smiles softly at him. He smiles back, relieved that she's okay.

_I'm really glad that she got through this. I hope that nothing else happens to her while I'm gone._

A truck from the power plant drives away.

* * *

Ulrich lifts the manhole cover and Odd grabs his skateboard. He skates down the tunnel, jumping off the railing. Ulrich does the same, Jeremy cringing at the stairs up ahead. He jumps over the stairs and reaches the ladder, Odd and Ulrich already up ahead. They wait for him as Jeremy reaches the bridge, running across it and grabbing the rope. They land in front of the elevator.

The truck from the power plant makes a left, but Duncan is standing in its path. "Hey! What the—this guy's crazy!" He tries to stop, but he phases through Duncan, thinking that he ran him over. Duncan is perfectly fine as his body goes back to normal. He turns his attention to the truck, using his electricity to crack the simple code of 123456.

The back opens and the two guards are ready to deal with the intruder, guns pointed at him. "Don't move."

"Put your hands in the air!"

Duncan just grins at the simple request, the driver hearing someone getting beat up. He gasps, looking at the rearview mirror to see a hand disappearing back into the truck. He gets his gun and sneaks over, slowly moving so as not to alarm Duncan. He then points his gun.

"Hands up!"

All he sees are the two unconscious guards and no Duncan. Peeking inside, he sees that an Uranium rod is gone...

* * *

Jeremy examines the superscan program at the lab. "That's exactly what I was afraid of."

"What?" Ulrich asks.

"The superscan bugged up. I'll find out why in a minute."

Odd walks up to him. "The real question is, can you fix it?"

"Well normally, yeah, but the debugging phase takes time. I don't know if it's a minor bug or something more serious-"

"Okay, okay," Odd interrupts, holding up his hands. He did not want to hear another explanation from Einstein. "If XANA's activated a tower, we'll find it much faster by going directly to Lyoko. You coming, Ulrich?"

"Mmhm," Ulrich follows after Odd. He only wanted to do this faster so he can go back to Amy and make sure she's comfortable.

Jeremy silently agrees, as XANA could've activated one and he had no time to fix the bug right now. It could take hours, and that's something he couldn't risk.

Odd and Ulrich walk inside the scanners. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Virtualization!"

When they land in the ice sector, they don't see any towers. "All clear here. We're gonna have to search all the sectors."

"Don't panic, I'm calling up your vehicles, guys." He materializes the Overboard and the Overbike. Odd backflips, landing on the board as Ulrich sits in his bike. They take off at the same time as Jeremy attempts to fix the bug.

"_Jeremy, how's it going with the superscan?" _Odd asks.

"Not too great."

The boys' search isn't long before they find something. "Anyway, you might as well forget it. No wait, we found it!"

"Activated tower dead ahead."

"Right, I've got it," Jeremy puts a lock on the tower so that he can find it when he transfers the others. "25 degrees north northeast. Nice job, you guys."

Odd and Ulrich come to a stop in front of the tower. "Now all we gotta do is bring Aelita here to deactivate it," Ulrich looks at Odd.

"Okay, I'm bringing you in," Jeremy reports until the map of Lyoko disappears altogether. "That's great. Now what's up?" The screen shuts down, leaving his friends stuck on Lyoko. With the supercomputer shut down, he was unable to bring them in since the scanners are offline. "Oh no! Can you hear me? Hey! Ulrich, Odd!"

"Jeremy, not that we're in a rush, but uh...Jeremy?" Ulrich notices that it's silent. "Taking your time there. Jeremy?"

"Hmm, must've forgotten to pay his phone bill."

* * *

Yumi, Amy, and Aelita all laugh together as Yumi's telling a story about her family. "Great, funniest part is Hiroki says to my father, 'Papa, when I grow up, I'm gonna look like you, but with muscles!' Heh heh."

The two girls giggle until they feel something break down, closing their eyes. "Aelita? Amy?" Their flatlines are dead as she gasps sharply. "Oh no, I don't believe it! Get a doctor, quickly!"

Duncan falls down, dropping the uranium he stole. Because of the supercomputer shutting down, it was affecting Duncan since the tower is on Lyoko. And with the supercomputer falling at the seams, Aelita and Amy were suffering the effects as well.

"What's wrong with this darn supercomputer?" Jeremy grumbles as he descends to the lowest room. He enters the Supercalculator room as the battery ascends from the ground.

Odd and Ulrich continue to wait as it's been several minutes. "Uh, Jeremy, are you gonna bring us in or not?"

"We'll have to manage without him," Ulrich pulls out his sword. "Get ready."

Odd points his arm at Ulrich, the two attempting to devirtualize themselves. "1...2...3!" Odd fires at the same time that Ulrich swings his sword at Odd's shoulder. Ulrich gets hit twice with the arrows, but they don't disappear like they should've. It did hurt, though.

Ulrich picks up his sword as Odd stands up, walking over to him. "W-We can't be devirtualized!"

"The scanners must be offline," Ulrich guesses as he puts his sword away. "What is going on around here, anyway?"

"I have no idea, but we've got a real problem," Odd says in worry.

"That's the understatement of the year," Ulrich agrees with him. Without Aelita, they can't deactivate the tower, and if they couldn't do that, Duncan would be on the loose.

Jeremy walks up to the supercalculator, pulling the lever to restart it, but it's a no go. "Ugh, this is really bad!"

Suddenly, the land in the ice sector starts disappearing into a wave, which will eventually leave nothing but the Digital Sea.

"Huh! What is that?!" Ulrich exclaims in horror.

"How about a gigantic invisible eraser?" Odd suggests as they stare at it.

"Let's get out of here!" They run to their vehicles. "Jeremy, do something fast, huh? Before it's too late!" Ulrich jumps onto his Overbike, Odd flipping to his Overboard. They quickly get away from the tower, flying over to the other side where it's potentially safe. The tower disappears as well, but it's not deactivated.

"Come on," Jeremy tries again. "Start up, will you?"

"Jeremy, can you hear us?" Odd calls out as the erasing gets closer. "We have a big bug here!" He looks to Ulrich, only to see that his Overbike is disappearing. He starts falling towards the Digital Sea once it's gone. "Ulrich!"

"Help!" Ulrich calls out as Odd dives towards him, spinning his board around. He flies in and captures Ulrich on his board. "Thanks."

Suddenly, the board starts disappearing too. "No!" They start falling towards the Digital Sea.

The doctors try pumping the girls' hearts, Yumi looking on in worry.

Jeremy's finally gotten the Supercomputer working, but not for long. "Oh, finally!"

The land reappears, breaking the boys' fall, but just barely as they hold onto the edge. They crawl up to their feet, Odd looking down at their feet as the edge turns into a platform.

"Looks like Lyoko's recharged its batteries," Ulrich replies as the activated tower reappears. The boys smile at each other in relief.

The girls' heart rates go back up, to their shock. "In all my years as a doctor, this is the first time I've ever seen that."

They open their eyes to see the hospital ceiling again.

Duncan also wakes up, still in the forest. He looks down at the Uranium and picks it up, continuing on to his destination.

"Hey, we're doing okay," Jeremy says in relief, noticing something as the battery is depleting. "Oh no, the nuclear battery's going dead!"

* * *

"The uranium in the nuclear battery's almost all used up, so the supercomputer keeps failing," Jeremy explains once he's returned to the hospital with Odd and Ulrich. "And pretty soon, it'll turn off altogether."

"Oh, is that all? Then we just have to change the battery," Odd replies nonchalantly.

"A supercomputer is not the same as a Gameboy, Odd. You can't just pick up a bar of uranium at the corner store," Jeremy replies sarcastically.

"But isn't there a kind of emergency backup battery?" Ulrich wonders, as getting uranium as teenagers wouldn't be successful, not to mention impossible to obtain.

"No," Jeremy shakes his head solemnly. "I checked."

"XANA is dying."

"And so are Aelita and Amy," Jeremy says sadly, the girls listening in on them. They glance to each other, Amy trying not to cry. She's dying, and she doesn't even know why... "And all account of that miserable virus and I don't know what is going on with Amy! I guess we'll...never know..."

They all sigh in despair, Odd holding his head. "I'm gonna get something to drink," Jeremy replies slowly, walking away. They say nothing as they glance at the hospital door.

Jeremy holds his full cup of hot chocolate in the waiting room, sighing to himself. If only he could figure out why Amy. What exactly is there that she has to be affected by this too? There's nothing in Hopper's dairy, nothing new from her parents, and nothing to suggest a connection to Lyoko.

Her parents hadn't even shown up. Yeah, that's what a real parent would do.

He hears footsteps and looks up to see Duncan approaching him. He shouts as Duncan grabs him.

"Hey princess," Odd leans towards Aelita, who's turned away from them. Amy has done the same, opening her eyes as tears run down her cheeks. She's losing her life, and her parents don't even care... "Is this the best TV set they could find?" He jerks a thumb to the machine behind him.

"Don't bother trying to cheer us up. We heard what they said in the hallway."

Odd closes his eyes, wishing he could do more for them. He walks up to Amy, whose back is turned to him. "I can try calling your parents and try to get them down here."

"They're not gonna come. They're already going through enough," Amy looks away. "So don't even try..."

Odd clenches his fists, pulling out his phone and walking out of the room. Amy needed family to be there for her, but she's getting squat. All of this wasn't fair. She hadn't done anything and there was nothing there that would have her going through this. Why her? Why his best friend?

"Yes?" A man answers the phone.

"Hi sir. My name is Odd Della Robbia. I'm a friend of your daughter, Amelia," He starts off seriously.

"Oh, the hospital called. A friend, you say? My daughter doesn't need friends. What she needs is to get her head straight and focus on graduating right now."

"Graduate?" Odd asks in disbelief. "She's only in 8th grade, and she's in the hospital! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"The only thing that matters is that she assumes her role as CEO of the company! I'm the president of SafeTech, and I don't step foot in where...commoners are gathered. Dying or not, she shouldn't be wasting her time at some hospital when there's more important things to be done."

Odd narrows his eyes, one of his fists turning white. "Commoners? Wasting her time? You could LOSE your daughter, and all you care about is your company? Now I see why she doesn't go home to you!"

"You watch what you say, young man. I put Amelia into that school; I can easily take her away from it if I want to." And with that, he hangs up, Odd glaring at the phone. Should he say nothing about this conversation to Amy? If he did, she'd call her father and then he'd take her out of school. The last thing he wanted to do was for Amy to possibly leave. They needed her...

He needed her.

Duncan has an unconscious Jeremy over his shoulder as he runs across the bridge.

Yumi walks into the room, noticing a scowling Odd. "Jeremy's disappeared," She reports.

"But he can't have left just like that," Ulrich says. He knows Jeremy, he wouldn't leave Aelita without saying anything. Suddenly, Amy and Aelita's heart rates slow down again.

"Aelita, Amy!" Yumi calls out, Odd looking down at Amy as he gasps in shock. He's heard of this happening to Amy, but...to actually see it? It was awful. He doesn't like this feeling of dread, this feeling that Amy's in pain. And it killed him that he didn't even know why. He puts a hand to Amy's head.

"Amy, come on. Stay with me. Stay with me, Ames," He urges for her to open her eyes.

Ulrich's phone rings and he takes his phone out of his pocket, Yumi looking over Aelita. "Ulrich." It's Jeremy, who's wearing an orange suit. "It's me."

"Jeremy, where are you? The girls have just had another attack."

"That figures. I just turned off the supercomputer. But this definitely confirms my suspicions now," Jeremy's hand is holding the lever that has just been switched off.

"What?!" Ulrich exclaims in shock that Jeremy would do that.

"Peter Duncan is under XANA's control," Jeremy explains as the uranium sits near his feet. "He kidnapped me to make me replace the battery."

"That means that Aelita and Amy are saved too then!" Ulrich exclaims in relief, Odd looking at Amy in worry. He gently caresses her forehead. "Fantastic!"

"Yeah, except that once the new battery is in...Duncan's gonna try to kill me." Jeremy glances at Duncan, who's lying on the ground since the supercomputer affects him too. He just hoped that he had a good plan of fending him off once he does the switch...

Room 117 beeps red and one of the doctors looks at it. "It's room 117, little Aelita and Amelia."

"The only way to get rid of Duncan is for you to go to Lyoko and deactivate the tower. Get the girls out of the hospital and get here ASAP," Jeremy presses a button for the panel to separate. He sees a hole where the uranium goes.

"Their hearts can't take an awful lot more of this," Ulrich looks at the two.

"I know, so hurry."

When the doctors arrive, they're shocked to see that the girls are gone. Ulrich carries Aelita on his shoulders, Odd doing the same with Amy as they're almost at the bridge.

* * *

"This oughta do the trick," Jeremy carefully pulls out the drained uranium. "Easy..." He puts the new one in just as slow, to be careful in case anything happened. "Yeah." He closes the panel. "Please let them soon be alive..." He pulls the switch, quickly getting out of his suit and making a run for the elevator. Duncan's eyes open as Jeremy had done it, both fortunately and unfortunately.

Duncan chases after the boy. "You won't get away from me!"

Jeremy presses the button just in time as Duncan is locked out. The elevator takes him to the lab just as Duncan opens his eyes, sitting up.

Jeremy puts on the headphone. "Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, are you there?" He says, hoping that they've arrived. "Tell me you're there."

"You're there," Odd jokes, Jeremy sighing in relief.

"We're in the scanner room," Yumi explains. He just had to know if it worked or not.

"_Are the girls okay?"_

"Couldn't be better," Aelita smiles softly.

"Yeah, thanks Jeremy," Amy winks and all of them are there except one.

"Launch the procedure for Yumi, Aelita, Amy, and me. We're gonna deactivate that darn tower!" Odd glances at Amy, wondering if he should tell her or not about her father. On one hand, she'd get to stay if he didn't. But if he said nothing, he'd be lying to her, and he didn't want to do that to her. It was better for her to learn the truth than to lie, no matter how much it could hurt.

"But where's Ulrich?" Jeremy asks and the doors open to reveal him.

"Here I am," He smirks at Jeremy. "You didn't think we'd let you have all the fun with Peter Duncan, did you?"

Jeremy peeks over to see him. "The girls will go first. Transfer Amy. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Yumi. Virtualization."

The three girls are virtualized into the ice sector. _"You should see the tower," _Jeremy tells them as Odd lands behind the three. Yumi points ahead to see the tower not too far away.

"Over there."

Odd looks at Amy, who's staring at the tower. "No monsters, huh? Obviously it shouldn't be this easy."

"Hey...Ames?" Odd calls out and she turns to him curiously. "I have to tell you so-"

"Amy's right. Watch out!" Aelita points to behind him. They turn around.

"Oh, Kankerlots," Odd looks at the five of them. "We haven't seen you guys for a while. I missed you!" He glances at Amy. "We'll talk later."

"Um, okay," Amy agrees in confusion. He sounded pretty serious, she hoped that nothing was wrong. Though, she couldn't help but feel that she felt his hand on her forehead when she was unconscious. Maybe it was just her imagination...but if that were true...

_Amy, come on. Stay with me. Stay with me, Ames._

Why did she hear him pleading for her to wake up? It was his voice, right?

A laser from a Kankerlot interrupts her thoughts as it fires straight at Odd's feet. He jumps into the air, crawling on all fours as he dodges the projectiles. He backflips and aims his arm. "Laser Arrow!" He destroys the one in front, landing behind the remaining four.

"One down."

Two of them turn around while the other two deal with the girls. They fire at Aelita and Amy stands in front of her. "Frosty Vine!" She thrusts up her arms to create vines made of ice. They then form into a shield to deflect the shots. "Aelita, stay behind me."

She nods, standing behind her, but the other Kankerlot comes around the shield and fires. Yumi steps in and blocks it with her fans.

"Jeremy, we're gonna need our vehicles!"

"Your rides are on the way," Jeremy gets to work on materializing them. The Kankerlot in front of Amy fires and it starts to crack the shield. Yumi suddenly gets hit in the stomach from the left Kankerlot. "Yumi, you're down to ten life points. The vehicles are materializing."

The Kankerlots advance forward at Odd, but he takes care of one by a laser arrow. "_Hurry up, guys!"_

"We're doing our best. It's no picnic out here."

"There's no time, Odd!" Yumi calls out as she flies up to him on her Overwing, Aelita hanging onto her. "Let's go!"

Amy skids to a stop in front of him and he backflips onto his Overboard. "It's your lucky day, you little Kankercreeps!"

The fairy revs up her race car and takes off, riding between Yumi and Odd. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Odd?"

"Not now," He tells her gently. They've almost reached the tower. "Tower dead ahead!"

"Great," Jeremy smiles a bit just as Duncan appears through the elevator and into the lab. He cringes nervously at the possessed man. "Can you handle 'im?" He turns around to Ulrich.

"I love entertaining guests," Ulrich waves it off as he approaches Duncan.

"Two monsters in view," Yumi sees the Tarantulas up ahead. Odd and Amy separate from her as the Tarantulas prepare to fire. Aelita waves to them as Yumi passes by, winking. One Tarantula turns to the other, who gestures for him to go follow the girls. Aelita chuckles at their plan, the Tarantula standing up and firing. The last one hits the Overwing. "Aelita, jump!"

She does so, Aelita rolling to a stop. Yumi lands on her feet, glancing back at the monster approaching her. "Run to the tower!" She tells the pink-haired girl, who follows her order. The Tarantula looms over Yumi, walking over to her.

Ulrich ducks Duncan's punch, sweeping to the side, but he gets elbowed in the gut.

"Ulrich!" Jeremy cries out in worry as the boy lies on the ground, gritting his teeth. Duncan picks him up by the back of his shirt.

Odd and Amy swerve as they approach the Tarantula guarding the tower. "Ready for our strategy, Ames?" Odd glances at her.

"Ready when you are, Odd!"

The Tarantula fires at them and Odd swerves out of the way, Amy driving away from the lasers. Odd flies above the monster while Amy charges at it. Odd holds his board, flying around the tower. The Tarantula continues to fire at him, but Amy drives in front of him. It sees her and she waves with a smile, driving off. The monster follows after her.

Yumi continues to block the lasers, flipping away from them. Odd and Amy look behind them to see the monster still chasing after them. Odd comes back around, firing straight ahead at the Tarantula, missing. Amy swerves as he turns around, driving straight for the monster. She pulls out her spear, but the Tarantula fires it out of her hand.

"That's not cool!" Odd exclaims at the Tarantula.

Yumi jumps and throws her fans, hitting the mark and landing behind the Tarantula as it explodes.

The other one is still firing at the duo, Odd trying to get a shot at it. Eventually, his overboard is hit and he falls.

Amy gasps and swoops in, with him landing behind her. "Ames, you're my hero!"

"Don't mention it. Now it's Plan B."

Ulrich is thrown to the wall, Duncan growling at him. He then turns his attention to Jeremy. "Now it's your turn."

Aelita can't reach the tower as the Tarantula is still there. Amy drives past it and it follows her, firing at the two. Amy glances behind her and swerves, but Odd gets devirtualized from behind.

"Odd!" Both Amy and Aelita call out.

Jeremy backs away slowly as Duncan approaches him, his foot eventually hitting the wall. "Stay away!" He tries to look away as Duncan's shadow looms over him.

The Tarantula fires at Aelita, but Yumi's fan flies in front of her, stopping it. "Aelita, time to pull out all the stops!" While she's distracted, the Tarantula devirtualizes her.

"Time for Plan C," Amy murmurs to herself as she looks behind her.

He hears a whistle and turns to Amy, who's near the edge. "Hey, focus on me!" The Tarantula chases after her and Aelita runs to the tower. Amy drives off the edge.

"Amy, no!" Aelita cries out. The Tarantula looks over the edge, only to get multiple arrows hit on the symbol, destroying it. Amy flies from underneath the land, smiling at Aelita. She smiles back at Amy's strategy.

"Aelita, now!" Amy tells her and Aelita nods, running into the tower. She starts floating to the top.

Duncan grips Jeremy's collar, threatening to electrocute him.

Aelita is almost at the top.

Jeremy screams at Duncan.

She does a flip and then lands at the top, walking up to the middle.

Jeremy clenches his fists above his head.

Aelita signs in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

The tower deactivates, Amy smiling in relief.

Duncan goes back to normal, Jeremy slamming his fists over his head. He's dropped to the ground as Duncan falls, unconscious. Ulrich sits up.

"Hey, you okay?"

Jeremy gives him a silent thumbs up.

* * *

"Peter Duncan was found unconscious in front of police headquarters," Yumi reads the newspaper the next day. "The police are investigating, but for the moment, don't have any leads as to how the escaped prisoner ended up outside the police station."

"Even if we did tell them the truth, they'd never believe us," Ulrich speaks up.

"You're right. That's how it is for unsung heroes like ourselves. We gotta act in whim and remain in the shadows. I guess that's what being a true hero is all about. But someday, everybody's gonna know just how brave we are. And we'll reap the real benefits and rewards true heroes deserve..." Odd says, closing his eyes in content.

"Hey, speaking of rewards, I just saw Mrs. Meyer."

"Uh oh," Odd opens an eye.

"She gave me the results of the math test."

"Hey great, what did I get?" Odd asks curiously.

"8,650 plus 51 minus 10,000 plus 1,299," Jeremy simply says, Odd doing the math in his head. Amy cringes when she finds out the answer.

"You mean I got um...uh...wow! I got 100?"

"No. Zero," Jeremy tells him the answer, Odd sagging with a small frown.

"Don't worry, Odd," Ulrich places a hand on his shoulder. "One day everyone's gonna know how brave you are by not studying. And you'll reap the rewards that an unsung hero like you deserves."

"But don't hold your breath!" Yumi adds in, the others laughing. Amy pats his back.

"I'm sure you'll do better on the next one, Odd."

"Thanks, Ames, but uh...I kinda talked to your father on the phone while you were at the hospital," He rubs his neck.

"Oh no," Ulrich facepalms at this.

"You did what?" Yumi demands, Amy frowning a little.

"You called him? What did he say?"

"I was just trying to get him to actually care, I don't know why your mom didn't come," Odd frowns as he remembers the threat he got. "And I took it too far and I kinda yelled at him. He said that if I spoke to him again, he'd get you kicked out of school. I didn't tell you because I thought you'd be upset. I'm sorry I kept it from you."

"Odd..." Amy smiles softly, hugging him to his surprise. "I'm not upset. Heck, I'm not even mad. I'm just glad to hear that you were looking out for me, and I'm happy that you did that for me. At least I have friends like you guys...besides, when my mom's at work, she turns her phone off, but I'll be okay."

The five all smile at each other, silently vowing that they'd never leave her behind when it came to her father.

"Anyway, me turning off the Supercomputer proves it. Amy and the Supercomputer are linked somehow; but I don't know how," Jeremy rubs his chin. "It's obviously there, but we just haven't found it. And if you're linked to Lyoko, that means XANA might try to attack you, Amy. So just be careful from now on."

"Guess I'm not out of the woods yet..." Amy murmurs to herself, hoping she'd get her answers soon. She wouldn't be affected for no reason...obviously there was something about her that connects her to Lyoko, something just as significant as Aelita's memory.

And it seems that XANA wants it.


	40. Temptation

In the forest sector, Odd is flying with Aelita as they're dealing with another activated tower. Aelita yelps as Odd narrowly misses a tree, allowing a Hornet to bump into it and be destroyed. "Say Odd, why do you always have to wait for the last second?" Aelita asks curiously.

"Because it's more fun," He tells her playfully, "That's why."

She gives a worried look at how that's gotten him devirtualized in the past. Amy flies up to them, riding her OverRunner. "Everyone has their own style, Aelita."

"See, Ames gets it," Odd winks at her. "I knew I made you my favorite girl for a reason. You understand me."

She rolls her eyes, blushing as she sees Aelita smirking. As the Hornets fire, Odd skates left and right to avoid the trees at an angle, Aelita holding onto him the whole time. The two Hornets fire again, Amy swerving underneath Odd to avoid them. Aelita yelps at the close proximity of the lasers and at the trees. She gasps sharply as Odd zips by a tree at close range, getting another Hornet destroyed.

"Is that what you call fun? Looks more like insanity if you ask me," Aelita comments.

"Oh, really? You mean there's a difference?" Odd giggles, both Aelita and Amy chuckling at his joke.

The last Hornet fires and he swerves to avoid it. He looks up and one of Yumi's fans hit two trees before coming back and getting rid of the Hornet.

"Thanks Yumi," Odd gives her a finger salute with a wink as she appears with her Overwing.

"Don't mention it," She chuckles a bit and they continue flying as Ulrich is on the ground. Amy lands next to him and Ulrich looks from behind to see a Hornet. He moves back and forth as it fires at him, another one joining in on the attack. Two Hornets appear in front of Amy and she speeds up, avoiding the incoming lasers. They follow after her while Ulrich pulls out his sword. He stands up and moves his bike to behind the Hornets. He jumps up into the air and spins around, destroying both before landing back on his Overbike.

"Odd, Amy, and Aelita, you're only a few minutes from the activated tower," Jeremy reports.

"_Bummer. I was just starting to enjoy yourself_," Odd sounds disappointed.

Amy looks behind her, dodging the lasers as she moves forward. She swerves back around and holds out her hand. "Green Luxuriant Ivy," A green glow comes from her hand as vines shoot up from the ground, capturing the two Hornets. They continue to fire and Amy turns them around so that they destroy each other with lasers.

"_Careful! Behind you!"_

A Hornet is right behind Odd and it destroys the Overboard, Odd lowering it to the grass. "Boy, lots of action. Sorry Aelita, we're gonna have to jump!"

As they're nearing a tree, Aelita jumps off, Odd jumping and hanging onto another tree. He crawls over to Aelita, standing up. The activated tower is in their sights, but then a horde of Hornets arrive behind them.

"Hurry, I'll cover you!" Odd points his arm at them, Aelita running off. He fires at one, destroying it. He fires again, but misses. He backs away from the lasers and tries again. "Laser arrow!" He misses and gets hit in the stomach, destroying a Hornet before he lands on his feet.

Aelita uses the stepping stones to reach the tower, but light blue tentacles fly in front of her. She looks up at the Scyphozoa as it blocks her way. She backs away slightly, looking at the waving tentacle in fear. Yumi comes in and throws her fan, destroying the tentacles before they can touch Aelita.

"Good job, Yumi," Jeremy congratulates with a smile. Aelita enters the tower as a Hornet explodes near Odd. He looks in confusion, knowing that he didn't fire a laser arrow. He sees a spear landing in front of his feet. Amy skids to a stop in front of him, throwing up a hand.

"Venus Gobbler." The plant soars into the air, swallowing up the rest of the Hornets. Amy turns to Odd with a smile. "You okay?"

"Yeah," He nods with a smile. "Thanks Ames. I've never said this before, but your powers are pretty cool."

"Thanks!" She beams at him for the compliment.

_She looks really pretty when she smiles like that._

He still didn't know why he had these kind of thoughts of her. He needed to talk to someone about this, and soon, but not too soon. He wasn't ready to tell the others about his urges, they would just tease him about it and possibly tell Amy. Not that having those thoughts about Amy was a bad thing; he just needed to know why.

Aelita runs into the tower, floating to the top. She approaches the interface and presses her hand against it.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"All done, Jeremy. The tower's been deactivated," She informs him.

"Okay, I'll start the return and get you all home," Jeremy smiles a bit.

"Really?" Yumi asks curiously, putting away her fans. "Why? XANA didn't even have time to launch an attack on Earth."

"Yeah, he didn't even pull anything. Nothing that suggests we do a return in time, anyway," Amy looks at Yumi.

"_You can't be too careful."_

"Uh, may I remind you that going back in time makes XANA stronger?" Ulrich points out.

"I know what I'm doing, alright?" He retorts back.

"_Well, if you know then explain it to us," _Odd replies. If Jeremy was going to make XANA stronger, they at least deserved a reason.

"Just trust me, okay?" Jeremy asks with attitude that's not like him.

"Jeremy," Aelita looks up, "That's not the point."

"_That's my final answer._" Odd glances at Ulrich and Amy, who shrug. "Return to the past now." He presses enter and Aelita can only watch as the data depletes from the tower. Everything gets redone and when they return, they talk about Jeremy's recent mood.

"Jeremy's really becoming a pain," Ulrich starts off, holding his soda as he's leaning against the door frame. Yumi gets her drink from the vending machines. "He just flies off the handle for no reason at all. He's like a timebomb."

"Who knows? Maybe he's got family problems. Er, sorry, Amy," She smiles sheepishly.

"It's okay," Amy replies as she steps up to the machine.

"Or else he's only just realized he has a split personality and that when the moon is full, he becomes the son of Dr. Shrank!" Odd imitates a monster, Amy snickering as she places in a coin. "Capable of grafting animal body parts onto human beings. And he now knows that he must face up to a fate worse than death."

"You've been watching Horror at the Hospital again, huh?" Ulrich asks knowingly.

"How could anyone pass up such a fantastic program?"

The others hold up their drinks as an answer. Ulrich notices Jeremy approaching. "Oh, there he is."

"How's life, Einstein?" Odd asks casually and he walks past him without a word.

"Where were you?" Aelita questions in concern.

"In my room, why? Is there a law against it?" He replies rudely.

"Chill, will you? We were worried, that's all," Yumi tries to calm him down.

"Geez, Jeremy. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Amy crosses her arms. She already didn't like this side of someone she really respected, it wasn't like him. He'd never be rude to Aelita like that or snap at his friends. Something was obviously affecting him...

"I'm a big boy now, so just get off my back!"

"Hey, you might just have something there with your Dr. Shrank theory," Ulrich replies to Odd.

"Ah, you see? I told you so!" Odd says as the bell rings. "Right, in the meantime, I've also gotta face a fate worse than death."

"What's that?" Ulrich asks as he walks away.

"Mrs. Meyer's class."

Amy laughs at him at how much he hated math.

* * *

"Property allows us to calculate length. For example, in a triangle marked ABC. With straight lines called RS and BC, which are parallel."

As she's speaking, Jeremy doesn't seem to be paying too much attention as usual. Amy glances at Odd across from her as he's drawing something. "First we calculate X, then SC." Ulrich glances at Odd's paper as he's drawn a beast with duck feet. "Hypothetically, ABC is a triangle. R is a point on AB. N is a point on AC."

In Jeremy's head, he's in front of an entrance that has light. He tries walking up to it, but it suddenly gets dark, the darkness starting to capture the walls.

"X equals 7 times 8. 10x equals 56." Jeremy stands up as his head is pounding. "And that's it. It's rather simple in the end."

"Ma'am?" Jeremy asks, holding a temple.

"Uh, yes Jeremy? Question?"

"May I go to the infirmary...?"

"Oh, yes, of course," She says, seeing his troubled stated.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Aelita offers as he walks past her.

"No," He tells her sharply, leaving her worried. Aelita glances at Amy, who stares after Jeremy, resting her pencil on the desk.

* * *

"Jeremy skipped history class?" Yumi asks at lunch, grabbing a dish.

"And gym class too. And now he's skipping lunch," Ulrich moves his tray, Odd and Amy standing behind him. Jeremy skipping lunch and gym was something that was common; he was usually in neither. But history was something that he always showed up for. It's one of his top classes, and it wasn't like him to just skip it like that.

"Gym class and lunch, I can understand. But skipping history class is not Jeremy's style at all," Odd speaks, Aelita walking up behind Amy.

"I'm gonna check his room."

"Good luck. With his grouchy attitude, I doubt he'll listen, but you never know," Amy shrugs at her.

Jeremy is busy working with a scowl on his face when Aelita knocks. "Yes?" He turns to the door and she enters.

"It's me. I brought your notes from the classes that you missed this morning," She holds up a binder.

"Put them down on the bed," He replies thinly. She does so, approaching him.

"Jeremy, if there's anything wrong, you know you can talk to me about it, right?" She places a hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort him. She was finding this side of him unsettling. Being discreet with the return in time, having an attitude about his actions, skipping classes...

"What's up with you guys? There's nothing wrong with me. I'm just working," He tells her dismissively. "That's all. I've almost found the antivirus, which will free you from XANA. Isn't that worth spending some time on?"

"Yes, of course, but you've been strange recently. You should take a break from time to time," She tries to reason with him.

"Oh yeah, does XANA take breaks? No. So what do you want? You wanna destroy your memory?" He turns back to Aelita, who approaches the door.

"I really don't wanna lose you, Jeremy, and I can hardly recognize you anymore."

"Aelita..." He stands up, actually sounding like himself for a second. "There's something I have to tell you."

Before he can, the superscan activates, showing an activated tower. "You see? I told you XANA never takes a break!"

* * *

Rosa is gathering the salt and pepper shakers after lunch while the others are waiting for Odd to finish eating. Yumi stares at the empty trays, Ulrich's hand on his cheek. Odd finishes the last of it, looking at three empty plates.

"You sure you're done now?" Yumi asks impatiently as her phone rings. She answers it without a word. "SOS XANA."

"Okay Jeremy, we're on the way."

"Hurry up!" He urges and she hangs up the phone.

"XANA has launched an attack. We have to go to the factory," She stands up, but Rosa comes to a stop.

"You, over there! Sit back down."

"Huh?" The others stand up in confusion at her order.

"I said sit down," She growls and picks up a plate, throwing it at high speed towards Amy. Odd pushes Amy to the ground, shielding her as the glass hits the wall. Yumi and Ulrich move out of the way. Now they know what the attack was.

XANA Rosa levitates a plate to her hand and throws it again, tossing three more. They all hit the ceiling as Ulrich cringes.

"I shouldn't have said her mashed potatoes looked like barf, I guess," Odd comments, helping Amy to her knees.

"That's not the point," Amy puts a hand to her forehead.

"If you ask me, this looks more like a XANAification. Cover Amy and me, we'll try to reach Aelita and Jeremy at the factory," Yumi points to the entrance.

"No problemo. Ulrich, on three. One, two, three!" The boys stand up, ducking a plate as they throw some of their own at her. Yumi and Amy stand up, quickly running past XANA Rosa as she holds up a lid, the plates breaking when they hit it.

"Hey!"

"Ready for another round?" Odd smirks at Ulrich. "It's not everyday we get the opportunity to break up the place."

"The activated tower's in the mountain sector," Jeremy reports to the lone Aelita.

"Well, we'll just have to wait for the others," She says just as the elevator doors open to the scanner room.

"_What on Earth are they doing?"_

"They're doing what they can. XANA has possessed Rosa. We'll have to make do without them," Yumi explains as she and Amy walk up to the other two scanners.

"They do love entertaining," Amy smiles in amusement.

"Hurry up. I'll start the virtualization process."

Yumi, Amy, and Aelita step into the scanners. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Amy. Transfer Aelita. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Amy. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization."

When they get to the mountain sector, the tower is not too far. "The activated tower should be straight ahead."

"_We can see it, Jeremy. But there's also an army of monsters blocking our way_," Yumi reports as a bunch of Kankerlots, at least 18 of them, blocking their way from the tower. "I have a funny feeling we should take cover. Come on."

Aelita runs ahead of them as they hide behind a huge rock. The first row of Kankerlots fire before the second one stands in front, firing as well.

"Yumi, Aelita, Amy, are you okay?"

"_We'd be a lot better if you could materialize the Overwing and the OverRunner_," Yumi implies.

"Okay, coming up." As he's bringing up the two vehicles, he gets a phone call from Odd.

"Jeremy, how's it going on your end?" He and Ulrich are using the table as a fort. XANA Rosa picks up the cart, dropping the other items. "Cuz over here, we're starting to run out of ammo."

Ulrich throws a spoon that hits the cart and lands in front of XANA Rosa. She steps on it, squishing the utensil.

"Jeremy, you better hustle. May I remind you that Rosa's specialty is chopped sirloin?" Odd presses further.

"Come on, ladies, get a move on! Odd and Ulrich are in a really bad way," Jeremy tells them.

"No kidding. All we need here are some sandwiches for a night picnic," Yumi gestures to the army of Kankerlots.

"They can come here and try getting rid of 20 Kankerlots. I'm sure they'd have it just as hard," Amy crosses her arms as Aelita peeks out to the monsters. The two rows fire at the rock again, Aelita turning to the other two.

"We'll never get through."

"Hold on a sec. I've got a little idea. Amy, when I tell you to, I need you to do your Rock Slide." Yumi steps back a few feet, Amy looking at her in confusion.

"What good will that do?"

"Just trust me," Yumi winks at her.

"Little or big, it doesn't matter as long as it works. I say you do it," Aelita looks at Amy, who nods. Yumi presses her hands to her head, using her telekinesis to lift up the boulder in front of them. She moves her arms and the boulder goes rolling over to the monsters, crushing at least half of them. Two of them destroy each other as they fall to the ground. Three run away while one tries to figure out which way to go. It eventually gets crushed by the boulder.

"Now!"

"Rock Slide!" Amy holds out her hands and a slide made of rock materializes underneath each Kankerlot. They slide down, disappearing into the Digital Sea. Yumi and Aelita fly down the path towards the tower, Amy backflipping into her race car and driving after them.

XANA Rosa growls as she advances towards the two boys. "Here she comes," Ulrich looks at Odd. "Now I know what Tweety feels like against Sylvester."

Odd dials Jeremy again. "Hey Jeremy, what are you guys waiting for?"

Yumi slides to a stop in front of the tower, letting Aelita jump off. She enters the tower. "Aelita's in the tower. Just hang in there for another 30 seconds," Jeremy tells Odd, who glances up nervously at XANA Rosa. She throws it and they jump out of the way as it breaks apart.

"30 seconds? That's like an eternity!"

_Code _

_Lyoko_

Rosa turns back to normal and she falls unconscious, Odd glancing at her. He pulls his phone up to his mouth. "Jeremy, I think this calls for a return to the past, don't you?"

"Right. I'm launching it. Get ready. Return to the past now!" Jeremy pushes enter and starts the day all over again.

* * *

"What's he up to?" Ulrich asks as Jeremy is missing. "He should be here already."

"Why don't we go check his room?" Aelita suggests, pointing to the dorms.

Aelita knocks like last time, but there's no answer. She opens it. "Jeremy!" He's lying on the ground, having fallen from his chair.

Odd looks down at Jeremy, who has been taken to the infirmary. He hasn't woken up since they've discovered him. "Jeremy, wake up! It's terrible!" He shakes him, "Aelita has fallen in love with Herb! No reaction. This is really serious," He turns to Yolanda, who has her phone out.

"Right. I'm calling the hospital."

"Look!" Aelita points to Jeremy. "His eyelids are moving."

They are, but he doesn't wake up. "He must be dreaming," Yolanda guesses, her phone to her ear.

He's having the same dream again, in the room where there's light. He walks up to it, curious as to what's on the other side, but the darkness comes back, surrounding the room. The light gets farther and farther as he starts running to escape the darkness. But he can't escape...

Odd and Aelita walk out of the infirmary, Yumi, Amy, and Ulrich waiting for them outside. "What could've happened to him?"

"Something must've happened during the last return to the past," Aelita explains, as Jeremy was grouchy, but other than that, he insisted he was fine. Or at least, that's probably what he wanted them to believe.

"XANA?" Yumi asks slowly.

"I have no idea, but I think it's worth checking out the supercomputer," She walks towards the exit.

"I think that's a good idea," Amy says, hands on her skirt. "Maybe we'll find some answers..."

"We'll go with you," Odd offers, glancing to Amy. She nods and stands up, walking with them out the building.

"Should we search Jeremy's room?" Yumi asks Ulrich.

"I really don't wanna do that." Ulrich didn't feel comfortable invading Jeremy's privacy, considering that if he found out, he wouldn't be happy given his mood. "But..."

* * *

"Nothing special," Ulrich says once they're in his room. "Except that I just found out that Jeremy still wears underwear with kangaroos on them," He holds up a pair. "I'll have to tell him to move onto boxers."

"No activated towers," Yumi checks the superscan. "But there's a ton of files. Hey, I can't open this one." She tries to press on it, but a red sign in front of it prevents her from accessing it. "It's called My Journal."

"The logs are all normal," Aelita looks at the stats from the returns in time. "There certainly was a major discharge of energy during that last return to the past, though. But they're no different from any of the previous returns to the past."

Something was obviously up with the returns to the past, and it most likely had something to do with Jeremy. Why else would he go against their protests and launch one the first time around without giving a reason? They're normal, but there had to be something else behind it. Jeremy knows that doing the procedure increases XANA's power; in fact, ever since the time loop, he outright was against using it unless it was absolutely necessary. He wouldn't do it without something that was logical to understand, but it was something that he obviously kept to himself.

That would explain his secrecy...

Ulrich suddenly calls, to ask her for help. "Ulrich?"

"We need you. Can you meet us in Jeremy's room?"

"Okay."

* * *

When Aelita, Amy, and Odd meet them, it's the same thing as last time: no access. "There, and I..." She opens it up to see lots of entries. "Got it. It wasn't easy, but I got it." Jeremy being Jeremy, he'd obviously secure his things. "These are video files."

"Just open the first one," Yumi points to it and she does so. Jeremy is on screen in his room, recording.

"Today I have decided to start a video journal. A bit like the diary of Franz Hopper had. This way, if anything happens to me, others might be able to continue my research. My search to find the antivirus which will free Aelita from XANA has never been closer to total success, or how Amy is connected. And it's thanks to Franz Hopper's diary, and thanks to the data recovered from Sector Five that I was able to decode part of his diary that explains how to use the returns to the past to logarithmically increase your intelligence. I immediately tried it. It's amazing. It's as if my brain suddenly had the processing power of 10 computers linked in series." He holds up a headset.

"A neural headset," Aelita realizes what it is.

"Open the most recent entry," Yumi tells her.

"This one's from yesterday," She opens it and they see Jeremy wearing the headset.

"Everytime I use the headset, my mental and physical health gets worse and worse, but I'm moving so far forward in my research. I can't stop this close to success." The entry ends there.

"That's all we needed," Ulrich comments.

"Is there anything we can do to save him?" Aelita asks herself as she doesn't have the answer.

"Let's go to the factory," Odd suggests.

"I'll meet you there. First I have to stop by the infirmary. I wanna make sure that XANA's attack isn't directed at Jeremy," Yumi says as they leave.

"Yumi, just be careful. If XANA is targeting him because of what we just learned, we might not be able to rely on him to help us on Lyoko," Amy places a hand on the doorframe, turning to Yumi. "Okay?"

"Right," She nods at her and Amy takes her leave after the others.

* * *

Jeremy is placed inside an ambulance, Yolanda and Mr. Delmas watching. The paramedic is outside, closing the doors.

"Come with me," Mr. Delmas holds up a folder full of files. "There are papers we have to sign."

A specter enters the ambulance, taking control of the vehicle. It starts up and the three adults turn in confusion to see it about to leave.

"Hey, my ambulance!"

Yumi comes just in time to see the vehicle take off, with Jeremy inside as the siren sounds. "Is Jeremy in there?"

"Yes, but he isn't driving it," Yolanda states skeptically, Yumi watching it leave. She had to stop it, to make sure that Jeremy didn't get hurt. She sees a bike behind her and jumps on, speeding after the ambulance.

The four descend from the main floor to the lab to drop off Amy. Odd, Ulrich, and Aelita step up to them. It was decided that Amy would stay in the lab to monitor Lyoko, like Jeremy would do. Someone had to do it, and she needed to help in the best way she can.

Yumi catches up with the vehicle, but she's not close enough to stop it. She picks up her phone. "Amy, XANA has taken control of Jeremy's ambulance. I'm gonna try to do something, but I'm really counting on you guys."

"Oh no, so that's what XANA's attack is. Okay, the others will have to manage without you both. I promise I'll get them there...I hope," She cringes at the last word. She's seen the virtualization process happen, but she's never actually done it. Hopefully she remembers how it's supposed to go.

"Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, are you guys ready?"

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready. You can do this, Amy. I know you can," Aelita says, Amy smiling in relief.

"Okay..." She takes a deep breath. "Transfer Odd," She presses a few keys and Odd gets his hair blown into the wind. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Aelita. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization."

They virtualize into the ice sector. _"How'd I do?"_

"We're all here, Amy. You did great," Ulrich looks up, Amy putting a hand to her chest in relief.

"_Okay, the tower isn't too far from you. But I can't bring up the vehicles. I don't know how to do that. You'll have to go on foot."_

"That's okay, Ames. It's time for going old school, anyway," Odd comments, Amy giggling. Aelita takes the lead, the boys running after her.

* * *

Yumi moves the bike to the pathway of the park, the ambulance catching up to her. When she sees herself in the rearview mirror, she reaches out to try and get through the passenger door. She pants as the vehicle speeds up. It drives out of the school and sharply turns left. Yumi catches up to the back, seeing the sleeping Jeremy inside.

"Jeremy!" She pounds on the window, but it's too muffled for him to hear.

It's happening again. The darkness is trying to take him away. He runs as fast as he can, but he's unable to reach it...

"Jeremy!" Yumi calls out again, trying to get to the driver's seat. The ambulance is out of her reach, so she'd need to get a boost. She takes a shortcut and rides the bike down some stairs. She bumps all the way until she gets a slight headstart of the ambulance. She reaches out to the door handle and finally gets a grip on it, pulling it open. Due to the wind, it leaves her hanging onto the handle, the bike left behind. She looks at Jeremy and enters, closing the door behind her.

"Jeremy, wake up!" She shakes him by the shoulder, but he doesn't budge.

Jeremy tries again to reach the light, but it's not enough. The darkness has engulfed the entire room.

"Jeremy!"

He slowly stops walking as he hears Yumi's voice.

"Jeremy! It's me, Yumi!"

The light slowly starts to fade away and all he can see is darkness. "Wake up!" Her voice echoes as he stares at the fading light, and then he's suddenly brought to it.

"Wake up!"

When he opens his eyes, his vision starts to clear. "Jeremy...Jeremy." He sees Yumi looking down at him.

"Y-Yumi, what's going on?" He stammers, as the last thing he remembered was falling in his room.

"Just huge problems. Same old routine," She sounds happy that he's up, but also relieved that he's okay. "Before we can do anything else, we have to get out of here," She opens up the door a little.

"Hey, don't you think we oughta stop the ambulance first?" Jeremy suggests, closing the door.

"Well of course I do, but you mind telling me how?" She asks sarcastically. The ambulance jerks to the left, causing her to fall as they're headed for the river. "Make it fast because we are heading straight for the river!" She peeks through the back window.

"Huh?!" Jeremy stands up to see their destination.

* * *

Aelita, Ulrich, and Odd are almost at the tower. "There." They can see it past some pillars.

"Guys, watch out. Five Tarantulas are materializing," Amy warns them and they virtualize in front of the trio.

"Maybe you shouldn't have said it so loud," Odd replies to Aelita, Amy rolling her eyes.

"I've got an idea," Ulrich suggests. The only way to get past was to make their own path.

"I love it when you say that," Odd replies and Ulrich pulls out his sword, spinning it. He points it towards the land and stabs through it, breaking it a little. Odd realizes his plan and charges up the arrows. "Laser Arrow." He fires at least ten times, further cracking the ice.

Ulrich pulls out his sword and the ice cracks underneath, causing a Tarantula to fall into the water. The other two look at their fallen companion, looking down at the cracking ice. Ulrich watches until he feels something underneath. He glances to see the ice separating his feet and he jumps to Odd and Aelita. Another Tarantula falls through the ice, leaving only two left. One of them slips, falling through the water, leaving two remaining.

Yumi pounds on the glass as they're nearing the river. "Hurry up!"

Jeremy snatches a fire extinguisher, throwing it through the glass and breaking it. Yumi jumps into the driver's seat and puts on her seatbelt. She presses on the brake, but XANA thought of that, and has cut off the power to them.

"Oh, darn it!" Yumi exclaims in disbelief. "Oh no!" The ambulance jumps into the river, slowly sinking. "Help had better be on the way like now!" Yumi dials Amy as the vehicle hits bottom.

"Yumi, everything okay?" Amy asks as she answers.

"Not really. Jeremy and I are at the bottom of the river. Please tell me that they're almost there."

"Oh no," Amy gasps in horror, changing to the others. "Guys, you gotta speed this up. Yumi and Jeremy can't take it for much longer."

"We would if we could," Odd looks at the broken ice. "You got any other brilliant ideas, Ulrich?"

A Tarantula narrowly misses the water, crawling back up. "Uh, well..." A laser hits the samurai, devirtualizing him

"Man, that was not cool," Odd glares at the Tarantula.

"Oh great!" Amy places her hands on her cheeks. "Odd, it's up to you now. _You and Aelita have to hurry_."

Ulrich steps out of the scanner.

"Odd, watch it!" Aelita warns as he jumps, landing in front of the Tarantula, causing the ice to tilt. Odd stares at the Tarantula in the eye, gripping the ice with his claws. He fires at the leg, causing the Tarantula to step away and slide. Odd hangs onto the top and jumps, landing on another block.

As Ulrich comes into the lab, Amy glances behind him. "You okay, Yumi?" She asks as Ulrich steps up to her.

"To tell you the truth, uh, no."

Amy cringes, holding her head at how everything's going. Two of her friends are danger of drowning while the other two can't reach the tower by jumping. Now she knows how Jeremy feels all the time. It's a wonder that he doesn't take anxiety pills. How does he do it? "What do I do? Odd and Aelita aren't at the tower yet and you could be drowning..."

"Hey, it's okay," Ulrich assures her, placing a hand on her shoulder as she's frowning to herself. "You've managed this far. Jeremy would be proud. Just hang in there a little longer."

"Okay..." She takes a deep breath. "I can do this..."

"Now the problem is how to reach the tower," Odd places a hand on his hip.

"Preferably faster. I don't think Yumi and Jeremy are in the mood for swimming at the bottom of the river. There's only one Tarantula left, you just have to get rid of it and somehow reach the tower," Amy looks at the three dots.

"Do you think Yumi and Jeremy can make it?"

"We just need a few more seconds..." Amy bites her lip.

"Just a little Tarantula to get rid of first, right." Odd waves his tail as he stares at the monster. It takes the first move by firing at Odd. "Shield." He throws his arms in front of him, a purple shield blocking the blows. He fires three times, Aelita staring at him.

"Odd, leave it to me." Aelita presses her hands together, singing. She uses her creativity to make a bridge from her spot to the tower.

"Nice one," Odd gives her a thumbs up. The Tarantula fires, devirtualizing him. Aelita gasps and Amy sees his dot disappear.

"_Aelita, the tower."_

"Okay," Aelita runs across the bridge, a shot firing in front of her. She slides the rest of the way down, narrowly avoiding the shots. She passes through a tunnel to the tower and enters it. She starts ascending to the top. She does a flip and lands on the pad. Walking up, she logs in.

_Aelita_

_Code _

_Lyoko_

"Guys, we got it. Tower is deactivated," Amy reports, Ulrich giving her a high five. "Thank goodness."

"Super. Now we can drown in peace," Yumi retorts back. "Amy, Ulrich, we're still at the bottom of the river. The only thing that can save us now is a return to the past."

"I'd love to do that, but I never read that part of Jeremy's notes," Amy explains.

"Put me on," Jeremy holds out his hand and Yumi hands him her phone. "Amy, I need you to do exactly what I say, okay?"

"Okay. Right. Uh huh. Yes. Jeremy, I know you're in trouble, but if you go too fast, I might not be able to pull it off! Where's the button I need to push? I don't see it."

"Quickly!" Yumi urges Jeremy.

"On the right. On the upper right of the keyboard, the jump button, the ultimate blaster!"

"Okay, I found it." Amy and Ulrich push it together.

"Return to the past now," They say in unison, narrowing their eyes.

The return jump engulfs all of them, including Yumi and Jeremy in the ambulance.

* * *

When they return to the same day the third time around, Jeremy has yet to show up again. "Don't tell me he's out cold again," Ulrich turns to the others.

Aelita knocks on the door (a record of how only she's done it on the same day three times) and opens it. "Jeremy, no!"

This time he's not unconscious, but he is in the process of destroying the headset. "I checked the calculations I've done over the past few weeks. Most of them are wrong."

"So, you were destroying your health without even improving your brainpower," Odd walks up to him. "I wouldn't call that a very good deal."

"I wish you said something, but I'm glad you're okay," Amy replies, Odd patting her back.

"Thanks to you!"

"Do you think that XANA had something to do with it?" Yumi steps up to him.

"He certainly put me on the track, but the information did come from Franz Hopper's diary."

"In some way, the we have not just one, but two enemies," Ulrich holds up two fingers.

"Hopper is certainly not an enemy," Jeremy dismisses that theory. "But his discoveries are out of our league. I think we better be careful."

"For now, the important thing is that you get back to being your old self again," Aelita tells him gently, glad that he's not his recent self.

"That's for sure. Seeing you so grouchy, you were getting to be like Dr. Shrank," Odd looks at a certain member. "Or even worse, huh Ulrich?"

"Hey, I am NOT..." He pauses, realizing just how he can be at times. He wasn't exactly Mr. Sunshine like Jeremy was being the last two times. "Grouchy."

The others laugh at his expense. "Yeah right, give me a break."

"Well alright," He laughs along with them.


	41. A Bad Turn

**Angel: I am finally writing the season 3 finale, something I thought wouldn't happen for another while because I was busy with other stories XD Lots of specials, a lot of new episodes coming out, and not to mention all the schoolwork and admissions stuff I've had to turn in...at least I've finally gotten back to writing for this. I've been mostly working on three other stories.**

Jeremy lifts open the manhole cover as they're exiting the factory after another successful mission on Lyoko. Odd, Aelita, Amy, Ulrich, and Yumi follow after him. "More missions like that on Sector Five, and I'll have all the elements I need for Aelita's antivirus."

Ulrich bends down and helps Yumi up, his hand lingering there for a second. "See you tomorrow, Yumi!" Jeremy calls out.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," She waves at them. "See you tomorrow," She repeats softly to Ulrich, glancing back at him one last time.

"Yeah, uh, later," He stammers, turning around to see the others staring at him. It's almost as if they wanted to say something. "Well, what?"

"Hello," Odd knocks on his head. "Anyone home?"

"What are you waiting for, anyway?" Jeremy asks him, Amy frowning to herself. In fact, she's been almost silent since they got out of Sector Five.

"You know they're right, Ulrich," Aelita smiles in amusement. "You really oughta go for it."

"Like, now?" He asks nervously, not sure if he can bring himself to do it.

"No, wait till she starts going out with another guy because she's sick of waiting for you to make a move, right?" Odd asks back sarcastically. Ulrich glances at Amy, who nods slowly. He nods back and is about to leave, turning to them.

"And what if Jim notices that I'm missing?"

"We'll cover for ya," Odd tells him, Jeremy and Aelita laughing in agreement. He notices Amy's sullen look and sighs to himself, knowing that his jokes won't cheer her up, not this time. For this was something far more serious...

* * *

Yumi makes it back home, hoping that her parents weren't waiting for her. Instead, she sees William leaning against the gate. "William?" She walks up to him. "What are you doing here? You crazy?"

If her father saw her outside with a boy, she'd never hear the end of it. She already knows that she didn't miss class today, so he's not here to drop off notes.

"Yes," He leans in towards her. "I told you I was," He cups her chin, staring at her in the eye. "I go totally crazy when I like a girl."

Ulrich arrives just in time to see William and Yumi. He sees how close they are and grits his teeth. He lost his chance, and now he'll have to deal with the two possibly dating! Of course she'd say no to him, why would she go out with him? William's her age, after all...

He runs in the opposite direction, seething with anger and regret that he didn't get there sooner. William leans in towards Yumi, but she couldn't do this. Not to Ulrich. She pulls away. "Ah, no. Wait, I-" She gets out of from underneath his arm. "Sorry, I-I'm a little bit confused."

"It's Ulrich, isn't it?" He asks knowingly as she opens the gate. She doesn't answer, hanging her head.

"Goodnight," She closes the door behind her and goes inside, leaving a disappointed William.

* * *

"So then I told her I was gonna order a t-shirt on the internet," Odd is telling Amy, Aelita, and Jeremy a joke. "And she asked if it was gonna come out of the printer!"

Everyone laughs except Amy, who's staring out the window forlornly. Odd rubs his neck, hoping that she'd at least giggle, but no reaction.

They hear the door open and turn to Ulrich arriving. "Here's our hero."

He narrows his eyes, trying to forget what he saw. "Hey champ, how'd it go?" Odd asks happily, but he just sits on the bed, laying down. Odd glances at the others, knowing fully well that Ulrich is sulking once again.

"Well then, I think I'm gonna go to bed. I'm tired," Aelita walks out first. "Come on, Amy."

"Yeah, me too," Jeremy follows after the girls.

"Well?" Odd asks for an explanation. "What happened, huh?"

He turns his back to his roommate. "Leave me alone."

Odd looks at his dog, wondering what could've happened.

In the mountain sector, there's pulsations as past two rocks, there's an activated tower...

* * *

"Some of you are already riding scooters and at this stage, I don't think it would be a waste of your time to go over the rules of the road," Mr. Delmas announces to 8th and 9th grade students the next morning. Ulrich is sitting at the front row, away from his friends as he just wanted to think by himself. Yumi waves at him and he turns away, to her concern. Ulrich's glaring at William.

"This training day will familiarize you with the correct way to drive a vehicle. Assistant Warrant Officer Gehrig here has agreed to take you under his responsibility today as part of the exchange program between the police force and the Board of Education." He's standing in front of a yellow car. "Our physical education teacher, Jim, will assist you as well."

"Corporal Jim Morales, 7th Engineer Battalion, sir, number 92121," Jim salutes to Gehrig.

"At ease. You were in the army?" He says in surprise.

"Uh, I'd rather not talk about it, Captain."

"I'm only a Warrant Officer," Gehrig corrects him, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, excuse me, lieutenant."

"Yes, well," Mr. Delmas interrupts before Jim could anger the officer further. "I'll turn operations over to you, uh, Jim. Can I count on you?"

"Affirmative Mr. Delmas!" Jim shouts loudly, the principal now annoyed himself.

A scanner activates and when it opens, a certain claw emerges from it...

"Driving any vehicle is serious business," Gehrig warns the students. "Caution, concentration, and safety..."

While he's talking, Yumi pulls Ulrich away from his spot. "Hey, Ulrich, what's wrong? Are you sulking or what?"

Instead of answering, he grabs his arm back and she scoffs in disbelief, walking back to Odd. "What is it with him? Last night when we said goodbye, he was in a great mood."

"Yeah, but about after? What happened after he followed you back to your place?" Odd asks as Ulrich sits down.

"He followed me? Oh no...!" Yumi realizes that Ulrich saw what happened.

"Hey, where's Amy?" Aelita wonders as she doesn't see the brunette around. It's mandatory to be outside today, and it's not like Amy to skip anything. "Come to think of it, she hasn't been herself lately."

"You didn't know?" Odd asks solemnly. "Her parents are coming for a visit today."

"Both of them?" Jeremy wonders in surprise.

"Yeah...they're fighting for sole custody over her," The blonde closes his eyes. "Her father thinks that she's too good for Kadic while her mom wants her to stay here. Her mother...moved her here without telling Amy's dad, but he was planning on sending her away to Tokyo to some fancy school anyway."

"Whoa, he tried to do what?" Yumi's eyes widen.

"It's totally unfair!" Odd opens his eyes in frustration. "They can't even make a simple visit without screaming at each other all the time. And they're trying to put Amy in the middle of it all!"

"Are they going to court?" Jeremy asks in concern, knowing fully well that taking this to court would overwhelm Amy.

"Her mom doesn't want to," Odd breaks apart a stick. "I hate the fact that I can't do anything."

"I'm sure it'll all work out," Aelita replies uncertainly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"For who?" Odd mutters bitterly and they don't say anything else. If her father won, Amy would have to move away and they'd lose a friend. If her mother won, Amy would still have to deal with her father breathing down her neck if he's allowed to see her.

"Now I'm gonna call you one by one to take a drive around the circuit," Gehrig opens the passenger door. "The rest of you can go back to your seats. Delmas, Elizabeth."

Everyone sits down as Sissi stands there. They both get inside. "I prefer Sissi to Elizabeth. What about you, do you have a nickname?" She buckles herself up as she adjusts the mirror. She starts up the car and turns around. Instead of going in reverse, she goes forward, knocking into all the cones and a stop light.

Jeremy laughs at her as she storms past them. "Park it, Sissi!"

"Della Robbia, Odd."

"Yeah," Odd stands up. When it's his turn, he exclaims in excitement, driving at high speed.

"Ishiyama, Yumi."

Yumi struggles to drive, obviously failing.

"Pichon, Herb."

Herb constantly presses on the brake.

"Stones, Aelita."

Aelita looks discouraged as she drives.

William parks the car in front of Yumi, Ulrich getting in. "Let's go." He drives through all the cones without a care, abruptly stopping.

"Hey, you might be better than I am. What a morale booster," Odd smiles a bit.

"Hey will you just shut up?" Ulrich asks bitterly.

"Hey, it's not Odd's fault if you drive like a dork. I'm glad your friend Amy wasn't here to see it."

Ulrich turns around and jumps, knocking him to the ground. While Jim is watching another student, he hears the fight and turns around.

"Stern and Dunbar! Where do you think you are?" He grabs them by the back of their shirts. "Get up! Straight to the principal's office." He escorts them away, Yumi cringing. She knew the real reason why he started it.

* * *

"Come on, sweetheart. Show me around," Mrs. Smith smiles softly at Amy, both of them standing at the entrance. A limo suddenly pulls up, Amy's heart leaping in her chest in fear. The door opens from the inside and a tall man who is 5'8 and wearing a blue business suit steps out. He looks dressed to impress with his gelled black hair slicked back and his golden cufflinks. He narrows his eyes at Amy's mother.

"What are you doing here?" Mrs. Smith demands angrily.

"I have rights," Mr. Smith glares at the woman, pointing to a scared Amy. "I'm her father."

"No, you're not! A father raises his child!"

"Don't you dare judge me," He hisses, stepping closer. Mrs. Smith moves Amy to behind her. "_You _abandoned your child. At least I actually came back for her! She's gonna go far, but not if you're holding her back by trying to let her make decisions!"

"You came back to take her away from me!"

"She's lying to you," Mr. Smith speaks to Amy this time, "Don't listen to your mother."

"Please..." Amy begs as they continue to yell at each other. "Stop...!"

They don't listen as they're only focused on one another and not their daughter. Amy sniffles as they get louder and she starts to feel overwhelmed. She sneaks out of there to go back to her dorm room.

* * *

"Your behavior is unspeakable," Principal Delmas scolds once the two boys arrive. "Violence is no way to sort out your differences. Next time I'll suspend you both. Understood?" He huffs, sitting back down. "Jim, take them to the library."

"Yes, general. Uh, I mean, right away, Mr. Delmas."

William and Ulrich smirk at him at how Mr. Delmas is annoyed by the name. He rubs his temple, shaking his head.

Suddenly, Mr. Smith barges in. "Sir, my daughter has run off. Can you please tell us where she is so I can take her back?"

"You're not taking her anywhere!" Mrs. Smith storms inside, balling her fists. "You just can't accept the fact that she's not your little girl anymore!"

As the two shout at each other, Jim cringes. He, William, and Ulrich slowly back away to the door so that they don't get involved.

* * *

The bell rings and the rest of them gather in the courtyard, Yumi leaning against a tree. "Don't worry, Aelita. It'll work out. They're not the first guys who ever fought over a girl."

"How about you? Would you fight over me, Jeremy?" Aelita looks to the boy.

"I'd fight for you everyday, Aelita. Against XANA."

"Aww, that's so beautiful," Odd sniffles as Jeremy opens his laptop to hear it beeping.

"Huh? Speak of the devil. I've got an activated tower here."

"Let's head for the factory. The sooner we deactivate it, the better," Yumi suggests, Jeremy nodding.

"What about Ulrich and Amy?" Aelita asks as he closes his laptop.

"We'll manage without him. As for Amy...well, since Ulrich got in trouble with Mr. Delmas, I guess one out of two will do. I just hope she's okay."

"I'll get her and make sure she's alright," Odd offers, running off to the dorms.

* * *

A knock is heard at Amy's door and the person opens it to reveal the principal. "Ms. Smith, your parents were worried about you. I've brought them here to make sure you were alright. Though..." He glances back at the yelling parents.

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't come over!"

"I am the only parent in Amy's life, and you are NEVER getting custody over her!"

"God help us if the judge leaves her with you. All you do is smother her. You care more about making her your heir to your company rather than me or your own flesh and blood!"

"You did this. You're putting these crazy ideas in her head to go to college, when she needs to be graduating high school at her age!"

Odd leans against the doors, closing his eyes. Why couldn't they understand that this isn't what Amy wanted? That they never asked her what she wanted? Her decisions were her own, but they weren't listening to her. Why couldn't they listen? Was that so much to ask?

"Oh, you're just dying for your day to court to say that. Well guess what, you're not getting one! Amelia can make her own decisions and she doesn't need you controlling her life!"

Amy's had enough as she steps out of her room, tears in her eyes. "Stop it! Please! Please just stop fighting," She pleads, getting their attention. At her voice, Mrs. Smith's eyes grow soft, seeing how much this was affecting her. Her father says nothing, so as not to make Amy more upset.

"Okay, baby."

"Thank you, Mr. Delmas, but I think I just need to be alone..."

"Amy..." Mrs. Smith whispers, reaching out a hand.

"Don't," Amy shakes her head. "I'm not in the mood for more yelling and waiting for you to finally listen. That's all you know how to do." And with that, she closes the door, her mother blinking back tears. Mr. Delmas looks at the two as Amy's father is rubbing a temple.

"I'll...show you around while your daughter takes her time," He leads them away, Odd sighing when they leave. He knew she said that she wanted to be alone, but that's not the message he got. Amy only really wanted for someone to listen...to actually care.

He opens the doors and looks at the door in front of him, wondering if he was enough to make her feel better. Taking a chance, he knocks on the door. Amy opens it to see him, blinking back tears.

"Odd..."

He just engulfs her in a hug, rubbing her back as she silently cried...

* * *

Mr. Ishiyama arrives home to a frustrated wife and game-focused son. "You're home early, dear," She notices as Hiroki sweats at the level he's trying to beat.

"The meeting with Boram Motosan was moved up," He looks behind her to see what she's doing. "How's your dictionary coming along?"

"Well, my editor called and-"

There's suddenly a thump outside, causing all of them to go silent. Hiroki glances at his mother and father. Mrs. Ishiyama stands up to go investigate.

"Who could that be?"

When she opens it, she sees a Krab, screaming in horror.

* * *

Odd, Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremy run across the bridge. Amy got roped into giving her parents a tour, so she couldn't come. Odd hoped that she would get through her fighting parents for the rest of the day.

When they arrive, Odd stops them. "There, look out!"

A Krab fires at them and they duck, peeking over. "Well, now we know what XANA has in store for us."

Yumi's phone rings and she answers it. "Hello, Hiroki?"

"Yumi there's a big monster outside the house!" He shouts quickly.

"What?!" She exclaims.

"No, I swear. And the monster looks like the one in Ultimate Blaster! Daddy's outside," He whimpers in fear as he sees the Krab's leg outside the window. He's hiding underneath the kitchen table.

"I'm coming," She hangs up as they're lying on the floor. "XANA has virtualized another Krab. It's at my house. My parents are in danger."

"Go help them," Aelita tells her. "Odd and I will manage on Lyoko."

"Take care of yourselves," Odd replies.

"You too," She stands up and runs off.

"We're gonna need some back-up," Jeremy calls Ulrich first.

In the library, Ulrich's phone rings, but he's stuck reading. "Uh, that might be important," He points to his phone.

Jim tries to hang up, gritting his teeth. "Ah, there we go."

"But-"

"What, you think I confiscated your telephone so I could use it? Ha ha ha ha!"

"I got his voicemail," Jeremy frowns at his phone. "What bad luck. I hope Amy isn't still with her parents." He dials her next.

As Amy's showing her parents the gym, her phone rings. She picks it out of her pocket, but it's snatched by her father. "In this family, you answer your phone when I allow it! You're not abandoning me to go hang out with your friends!"

"But Dad-"

"Let her speak to them, Robert. She's allowed to have friends," Mrs. Smith narrows her eyes, hands on her hips. "You just don't want her to have a life."

"No, I'm doing what's best for the next CEO! Phones are only distractions, unless it's for business," He shoves it in his pocket. "You're my daughter under my rule. And if you try to snatch it, I'll pull you out of this school."

Amy frowns sadly at how selfish he's being as he starts another argument.

"Same thing," Jeremy sighs slowly.

"Her jerk dad probably snatched it," Odd grits his teeth.

"We'll have to do without them," Jeremy says, tapping his finger against the ground. "Right, I've got a plan." He starts drawing a diagram with his fingers. "Okay, this is the gallery which I'm going to call G. This is where we are, this is the elevator landing which I'm going to call E. We've got to get to point E without being spotted by the Krab K. You get it?" He pushes up his glasses.

"No, but I've got another plan," Odd suggests.

"What is it?"

"BONZAI!" He jumps past Jeremy, messing up the blonde's hair.

"Odd!" Jeremy yells as Odd lands in front of the Krab. He jumps underneath the monster as it fires a laser.

"What are you waiting for, an invitation?" Odd teases as the Krab turns around. He backs away, getting the Krab to move away from his friends. "Get into the elevator. I'm coming."

He runs away from the elevator, Aelita and Jeremy jumping to the first floor. While the Krab focuses on Odd, Jeremy and Aelita reach the tower.

"Hurry up!" Odd comes and rolls inside just before the door closes. They reach the lab safely and Jeremy turns to the two. "Get to the scanner room. I'll start up the virtualization process."

As Yumi is running down the sidewalk, she can hear the police sirens.

Jeremy spins around in his chair as Odd and Aelita descend into the scanner room.

"You can't come through here, there's a dangerous animal on the loose," A police officer tells Yumi as she's around the corner from her house.

"But I live right there!" She points down the street. "I have to get to my parents!"

"Sorry miss, we have our orders."

She sighs nervously, hoping that the Krab hasn't hurt her family...

"_You okay?_" Jeremy asks, Odd rubbing his neck as he stares at something. "Are you there, Odd?"

"Uh, yeah," Odd and Aelita are looking at two destroyed scanners. "But we've got a little problem here. _Our friend Mr. Krab has busted all the scanners_."

"Not all of them," Aelita inspects the last one. "This one still works."

Jeremy starts up the process for Aelita. "Okay, I'm gonna virtualize Aelita first. _The activated tower is in the mountain sector. _35 degrees north. Scanner Aelita. Transfer Aelita. Virtualization," He presses the key and Aelita lands safely in the sector. "_I programmed the Overboard." _The skateboard appears in front of Aelita.

Jeremy starts up the process for Odd. "Your turn, Odd."

"Okay," He says as the last one starts up, virtualizing another Krab. "Uh oh. Jeremy, we've got another problem."

"What kind?"

"_Well, it's a big banquet. XANA has sent us an entire seafood platter._"

* * *

As Amy and her parents are walking into the courtyard, a Krab walks up to them. "What is that?!" Mr. Smith demands and it prepares to fire.

"Move!" Amy pushes them out of the way as the laser flies past them. She looks back at the Krab. "XANA, you are dirty."

The lasers from the Krab can be heard from the library as it starts attacking other students. "What's all that ruckus?" Jim looks out the window as the students run off in fear. He turns to the two boys. "You two stay put if you know what's good for ya." He leaves the building, Ulrich and William glancing outside. The Krab chases after Amy and her parents.

"What is that thing?" William asks in shock.

"Krab," Ulrich simply answers, William turning to him.

* * *

There's a noise and Jeremy covers his ears at the loud static. "What was that?"

"The very last scanner getting destroyed by a Krab," Odd comes out from the ladder, walking up to Jeremy.

"Aelita is on her own now."

"Okay then. There's no time to lose," Aelita jumps onto the Overboard. She skates down the path just as Jeremy gets a call from Amy.

"Amy, everything okay?"

"A Krab is chasing me and my parents at the school," Amy reports, Jeremy gasping in shock. "You wanna tell me how I'm not dreaming?"

"XANA sent them from the scanners, which aren't operational anymore. There's three, one at Yumi's and Odd is upstairs with the other one. Aelita is all alone on Lyoko. Hang in there."

"Tell that to my parents!" She retorts, hanging up.

"You've got to believe me," Yumi pleads with the officer, "I'm the one that the creature is after!"

"I already told you, miss, orders are orders."

She clenches a fist, her anger boiling at how he's preventing her from getting through. "Calling all cars, the animal has just been spotted in the vicinity of Kadic Academy. I repeat, the vicinity of Kadic Academy."

"Let's go," The car leaves, Yumi staring in confusion. All she had to do was wait a few more seconds. She takes off towards her house.

Aelita skates down the path, wobbling a bit. The Overboard was kind of hard to control, but she's getting the hang of it.

"_The activated tower is 15 degrees more to the west. Be very careful!"_

Aelita swerves to the left, hanging onto the board from behind like Odd would. She smiles at her move, quickly flying down the path. "Don't worry, Jeremy. I learn fast."

"You better."

Then Ulrich calls. _"Jeremy?"_

"Ah, Ulrich. Not a moment too soon."

"_What's going on?"_

"XANA has materialized three Krabs. One of them is at Yumi's and Odd's playing upstairs with the second so it won't do anymore damage outside. You gotta help Amy out, she's being chased by one at the school," Jeremy says the last sentence in concern.

"Amy and I will deal with it...with William," Ulrich glances at the boy, looking outside as Amy trips, falling in front of the Krab.

"Amy!" Mrs. Smith calls out.

"Geronimo!" Jim tries to punch it, but a Krab hits him in the arm.

"Jim!"

Amy turns around to see Ulrich and William running towards her. "Who are they?" Mr. Smith demands to his daughter.

"Dad, not now!" Amy says sharply and he stays quiet. The Krab looks at the two boys, who run underneath it. It turns around and gets confused as it doesn't see them, turning its attention back on Amy.

"Looking for me?" William waves his arms. "Come on, over here!" The Krab fires, chasing after William next.

"Are you friends with them?" Mr. Smith whips around to Amy.

"She can be friends with whoever she wants," Mrs. Smith rolls her eyes.

"If they're bad influences on my daughter, I have a right to know!"

"So that you can-"

"Mom, Dad!" Amy screams, having had enough. They turn to her, staying silent at her outburst. "The whole time, you've been screaming at each other instead of getting along for the sake of your daughter. This visit isn't about you or whatever fight you have. Don't put me in the middle of something that you can't resolve yourselves, and interrogating me about my life isn't going to get us anywhere. What matters is that you two tough it out when I'm around! Now, all I can tell you is that you need to trust me and go hide where it won't find you, because you need to be safe!" She points to the path of the garden shed.

Mr. Smith stares down at her in surprise, Mrs. Smith hugging Amy. "Okay, baby."

"And what are you gonna do?" Mr. Smith asks, actually sounding serious for once instead of childish. She takes her phone back from his hand.

"Someone has to help them, of course."

"But-"

Amy glares at her dad and he nods slowly for her to go. She runs off into the forest.

Yumi finally reaches her house. "Anybody home? Daddy? Mom?" There's silence as she looks around. "Hiroki?"

Amy and her parents follow William to the garden shed, the brunette pushing her parents inside and slamming the door.

"Ulrich, we're at the groundskeeper's shed! Ulrich?!" William calls out. Ulrich holds a pipe, yelling as he jumps down from a tree. He lands on the Krab, William and Amy ducking from a shot. Ulrich stabs the Krab through the eye and it shuts down.

Amy claps as he has a serious look on his face like he would on Lyoko.

Aelita continues skating down the path as she goes left and right. With her creativity, she creates a ramp, smiling. She skates forward and skates into the air, spinning around the board. She then falls onto the top edge of the ramp, skating down it as sparks fly from the board. She spins back onto the path, beaming at her moves.

Odd is crawling down the elevator shaft when a thump causes him to almost fall. The Krab pierces a wall and Odd continues climbing up.

"You're lucky, I wasn't gonna save you," Ulrich replies to William, who grits his teeth.

"Hey, what are you, crazy? What's the matter with you?" William demands, Amy clenching her fists in annoyance once she's let her parents out.

"Stay away from our group, you got that!" Ulrich points at him.

"Listen, man, you're the one who doesn't get it. In the race for Yumi, I'm not in first place," William explains, "Or didn't you know?"

"You know what? I am not breaking up another argument today if you're gonna be like this!" Amy tells them and, seeing her frustrated face, they stay silent. "Oh no, you can explain," She crosses her arms at William, pointing to Ulrich. "Without you getting in his face."

Ulrich looks at her in surprise at her assertive tone. Usually, she was positive and happy go lucky like Odd, but it seems that her parents caused a 180 on her.

Yumi stops at the top of the stairs. Suddenly, a samurai pops out of nowhere, holding a sword. She yells as he raises the sword above her.

"Daddy?" She recognizes him as he takes off the helmet, both of them smiling in amusement.

The Krab crawls up the elevator, Odd crossing his arms as he leans against a pole. "These Krabs are just as bad as on Lyoko."

"Aelita! Behind you!" Jeremy warns, "Squadron of four Hornets coming in!"

Aelita gasps sharply as she sees the army of Hornets behind her. She dodges the lasers as best as she can, swerving left and right again. They continue to attack as she sharply reverses from a laser in front of her. They fire at her again, no pause in their lasers as she spins around the board.

"_They'll do everything they can to slow you down."_

"That's for sure," Aelita glances back nervously at the Hornets. "They'll wanna give the Krabs time to take care of Yumi and the others."

"Ulrich," Jeremy dials him.

"Jeremy, we took out one of the Krabs."

"Finally some good news. Aelita's doing everything she can to get to the tower and deactivate it but nothing had better happen to Yumi and Odd in the meantime."

"Amy and I will take care of it," Ulrich hangs up, about to walk off with Amy.

"We'll take care of it," William interrupts.

Ulrich smiles to himself.

The Hornets chase after Aelita, firing at the ground. She speeds up the Overboard to go faster and they dive, firing again. She circles around a boulder, looking behind her to see one Hornet following. She giggles and speeds up, hitting the Hornet and disorientating it. It fires uncontrollably, hitting one of his pals. Aelita continues on as the Hornet gains control, flying after her. The third Hornet follows after them, the second one firing narrowly at Aelita's head.

She looks up to see a boulder and flies upwards, a Hornet destroying itself by bumping into the rock. The third one follows as more Hornets arrive. They separate to ambush her and she sees the ones in front. She sees something and looks back at the Hornet trailing her. She moves out of the way so that the two Hornets crash into each other, getting rid of each other. Aelita smiles at her trick, skating up again as the now five Hornets follow.

She spins around and grips the front of the board. She speeds past the Hornets.

"_Well done, Aelita. Odd would be proud of you."_

The Hornets follow her past the clouds and she flies back down onto the path Jeremy told her to take. She looks back at the monsters and continues going.

"_They're catching up with you!"_

Aelita then notices a gap coming up. "I've got an idea."

"_It isn't dangerous, is it?"_

"Uh, no. Odd showed it to me," She answers a bit nervously, but it does nothing to calm him.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" He asks skeptically.

The Hornets attack again and she swerves a bit, quickly boosting into the air. She grips the front of the Overboard again, laying down on it as she swoops down and flies down the hole. Two Hornets hit the edge, destroying them. She continues flying underneath the path.

Yumi walks outside her house, inspecting the area. "Let's go." A laser suddenly hits her leg and she hits the ground.

"Yumi!" Mrs. Ishiyama calls out in concern. The Krab reveals itself as she has a bruise mark on her leg. Mr. Ishiyama yells, standing in front of her. He tries slicing the leg but misses, the Krab knocking him near Yumi. He drops the sword.

Odd lands in the machinery room, looking behind to see the Krab still tailing him. When it enters, Odd is not there.

Aelita glances behind her to see the Hornets relentlessly following her. "_You're about to arrive at a hollow mountain_."

"_Jeremy, could you dematerialize the Overboard when I give you the signal?_" She asks suddenly.

"Yeah sure, but why?" He asks in confusion.

The Krab prepares to fire at Yumi, Mrs. Ishiyama gasping in horror. "Oh no!" It fires, but is stopped by Mr. Ishiyama's sword, but it's not him who's holding it. Yumi looks up.

"Ulrich."

"Make my day, shrimp," Ulrich says and when it fires again, Hiroki and Mrs. Ishiyama watch in shock as Ulrich backflips, dodging the lasers.

"Wow!" Hiroki says in awe, "Too cool!"

Mrs. Ishiyama looks down at him in disapproval.

The Krab down in the factory doesn't see Odd until he reveals himself out of nowhere, running down the conveyor belt.

Aelita sees the tunnel up ahead, the tower just past it. The Hornets follow her inside, one of them circling around and flying into the entrance. Aelita dodges as best as she can, spinning around in the tunnel. She skates down a narrow entrance and skates upside down, one of the Hornets bumping into a rock and destroying itself. One of them scrapes its wings against the rock, flying out of control and eventually landing on the ground, wiggling.

The last one follows after Aelita, the other one haven gotten up. Aelita reaches the middle of the tunnel, waiting for them. She glances at the two entrances and listens for the flapping.

"Now!"

Jeremy devirtualizes the Overboard, allowing Aelita to fall just in time for the two Hornets to bump into each other, destroying each other. She lands on the rock, winking.

"Thanks, Jeremy."

"Nice job. I'm sending you the Overwing." He materializes it and it appears in front of her. She jumps onto it and flies out the right tunnel.

The Krab continues pursuing Odd as they're back on the main floor. William and Amy drive using the car from practice. Amy opens the door and Odd jumps in, Amy squeezing in between them.

"Ames, you're okay!" Odd immediately hugs her in relief, glad that she has no visible injuries. William turns around, driving down the factory as the Krab fires. William skids to a stop as there's a hole through the glass.

"What do we do now?"

"Well, I've got a slightly crazy idea," Odd tells them.

"Oh no," Amy facepalms at him, knowing that it'll be risky.

"_The activated tower's not much further. Dead north," _Aelita flies out of the tunnel towards the tower. Jeremy's eyes widen as he sees something on the screen. "Aelita!"

A Tarantula comes out of the space while the Scyphozoa reveals itself out of nowhere. She gasps at it; she should've known XANA would pull out all the stops. As the Tarantula prepares to fire, she continues forward, that is until the monster gets rid of the Overwing. She rolls roughly to a stop, slowly getting to her feet. She walks into the tunnel, the monster following after her. There was no way she was going to get rid of this one that easily.

The Krab slides to a stop in front of the vehicle, Odd tying a rope to one of its legs. Odd runs, a Krab hitting his pant leg. He lands near Amy. "William, go!"

"Odd!" Amy looks over his leg.

"Don't worry, Ames. Just a scratch."

"Well...if you say so..."

"I know so!" He beams at her.

William floors it, dragging the Krab across the factory as the rope is tied to the passenger seat. He turns towards the elevator shaft.

"Now," Odd and Amy urge, William quickly jumping out the driver's seat. The car falls down the shaft, taking the Krab with it. It tries to hold onto one of the bars, but it falls anyway. Odd and Amy walk up as they hear the crash.

"Good job, man," Odd pats William's arm.

"Thanks for the help," Amy huffs slightly, William rubbing his neck nervously. She was still a little peeved by his fighting with Ulrich. She hugs Odd and he hugs her back gently. "You okay, Odd?"

"Y-Yeah," He tries to hide his blush as he can smell her hair. "I'm fine."

William smirks at them knowingly.

Ulrich deflects the Krab's lasers with the sword, Hiroki staring in awe. "Wow. How many times have I told you this is the guy you should go out with?" He points to Ulrich, Yumi gasping at him as she holds her leg. Ulrich deflects another laser but gets hit in the leg. The Krab tries pining him, but Ulrich slices off a leg. "Ulrich, you're the greatest!" Hiroki starts running over.

"Hiroki!" Mrs. Ishiyama shouts at him.

"Hiroki, no!" Ulrich yells as Hiroki approaches, the Krab preparing to fire at him. Ulrich jumps in the way, taking a shot for the little boy.

"Ulrich!" Yumi says in concern, cringing.

Aelita runs through the tunnel, the Scyphozoa and Tarantula following her inside.

"Aelita, get out of there!" Jeremy exclaims in panic. If they steal her memory, she wouldn't be able to deactivate the tower and save their friends.

They corner her and his eyes widen...

The Scyphozoa reaches out to her...

"Aelita!" He shouts in panic.

When the Scyphozoa tries to steal her memory, Aelita suddenly disappears into thin air. Jeremy lifts his glasses in surprise before realizing what happened. "_A decoy!_"

The real Aelita runs up to the tower. The Tarantula follows after her and fires, but is too late as she passes through.

"I hope it's not too late," Jeremy murmurs in worry.

Ulrich tries to reach for the sword, but the Krab stabs through his shirt, trapping him. He tries to pull the leg off, but it's no use.

Aelita floats up to the top.

Ulrich struggles as the Krab prepares to finish him off.

Aelita lands on the top pad, walking up to the interface.

Ulrich grits his teeth, the Krab's leg raised.

Aelita presses her hand to it.

_Aelita_

_Code_

Yumi shouts as she tries to reach Ulrich, but her hurt leg prevents her from doing so.

_Lyoko_

The leg stops in front of Ulrich's sweating face as the Krab shuts down. Yumi sighs in relief. "Oh, they did it!"

"You were great, William," Odd turns to the older boy. "But you won't remember any of it."

"Hmm?" William turns to the two. "Hey..."

"Tower deactivated."

The return in time is set. "Return to the past, now!"

Everything gets engulfed in white and they start another driving practice day. Ulrich doesn't do as bad as last time, William walking up to him.

"Hey, you really do know what you're doing, Ulrich."

"Thanks," Ulrich replies nicely.

"You wanna come with me to my go kart club? We'd have a great time together."

"Sure." Yumi raises an eyebrow at how they're not fighting. "Why not?" They shake hands, Aelita and Jeremy glancing in confusion at Yumi, wondering what could've changed between them...

* * *

Amy waits by the entrance of the school for her parents, but this time, she has her friends with her in case her parents started fighting.

"So which company does your father run again?" Aelita asks curiously.

"SafeTech. Their chips are in every computer, like, ever," Amy explains, Ulrich's eyes popping out of his head.

"So wait...your family is rich?"

"I don't really like to call myself that," Amy rubs her neck. "Money is nice to have, but it can't buy the things a 13 year old needs..."

"And what about your mom?" Odd asks as he leans against the brick. "What does she do?"

"She runs a grocery store near here. It was before she met my dad at a business meeting to put his chips into the office computers." Amy shrugs nonchalantly.

"Here it comes," Jeremy points to a limo. Instead of just her mother coming out, both parents step out, confusing Amy.

"Huh? You're not...gonna argue with each other?" She asks skeptically, raising a brow. Mr. Smith crosses his arms.

"I had the feeling that the future CEO of SafeTech wouldn't want a stressful day, so...for just this one, I will cooperate."

Amy smiles softly, Mrs. Smith turning to him. "Yes, your father and I agreed that this should be a peaceful visit to check up on you," She hugs Amy and the others smile at how nice they're being.

"Oh, Mom, Dad, these are my friends," Amy gestures to the group. "I met them on my first day here. Odd, Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich, and Jeremy, meet my parents."

Mr. Smith stiffens at the first name. He's heard it before..._Ah! He was the one who called when Amelia was at the commonly hospital. I don't approve of him and his attitude, but for the sake of my heir, I'll look past it..._

"It's so nice to meet you all," Mrs. Smith smiles, shaking their hands.

"You too, ma'am. Amy's a really good friend," Jeremy smiles back. There was just something about the woman that they all liked. Her father...not so much.

"Yes, well...shall we begin?" Mr. Smith walks past them.

"Sorry about him. He doesn't trust people unless it benefits him," Amy rolls her eyes.

* * *

"Your parents seem nice. Well, one of them," Odd says to Amy once they're in her room.

"Yeah..." Amy rubs her neck. "My father really wants me to be CEO...that's why he puts me on this stupid imaginary pedestal all the time."

Odd notices her sad expression when she says that. "...Is that what you want?"

"Of course not, but how can I tell him that I don't want it? It'll make him angry, and you know how he gets."

Odd glances at her notebook and picks it up, looking at her drawings. He remembers how happy she looks to show them off, and how good she is. Then again, she also likes dancing and film like him...

"Why don't you be an artist?"

"Huh?" She asks in confusion, Kiki jumping into her arms. "You...want me to rebel against him?"

"I'm not asking you to," He closes the book. "But this is your decision. Wouldn't you rather do something you love than be miserable? What if you do be CEO and you hate it? You'd regret not considering another path. You don't have to do what he wants for you, Amy. Be your own person."

She glances at Aelita, who nods in agreement. She got the sense that Mr. Smith was very persistent in choosing Amy's own dreams, and that wasn't right.

Amy looks like she realizes it too, nodding. "You're right. I should pursue my own interests instead of having them chosen for me."

"So...?" Odd and Aelita ask in excitement and she smiles at them.

"I'm gonna be an artist! Or a dancer, I don't know. There's so much to choose from..."

"Well, whatever you want, we'll support you," Aelita smiles, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah! You'll have lots of time," Odd says, Amy smiling down at the sketchbook.


	42. Attack of the Zombies

**Angel: Since I won't be updating Wednesday, I'll see you guys on Friday with the next episode! Happy holidays!**

Danger falls on the desert sector as there's pulsations bulging through the sand. Past a rock trench, there sits an activated tower. But XANA's not done yet.

In Ulrich and Odd's room, Kiwi is peacefully sleeping until he hears something, looking up to see a lamp shaking. He looks at it uneasily from Odd's bed as a ghost unscrews the bulb, dropping it and turning its attention on Kiwi. He growls at the intruder, XANA's ghost separating into two. The first one leaves while the other one takes care of Kiwi.

In Amy and Aelita's room, Kiki is chewing on a bunny squeaky toy until the first XANA ghost sneaks in. She drops her toy and barks at it until she whimpers.

The bell rings for class to end and Jim looks around the courtyard to supervise. Aelita reads a book as Yumi walks up to her friends.

"Hi. So how'd the Italian test go?"

"I couldn't string two words together," Jeremy states. Italian was probably one of his weaker classes besides gym.

"Sei veramente nullo in italiano mio caro Jeremy!" Odd recites, Jeremy glancing at him to elaborate.

"Hm?"

"It means you're really lame at Italian, Jeremy old buddy," Odd explains, Amy stifling a laugh as Ulrich smiles in amusement.

"You see? I didn't even get that!" Jeremy replies to Yumi.

"Well, no one's perfect," Amy shrugs as she's holding her book to her chest. Sissi walks past them, Milly and Tamiya trailing after her. They were looking for a scoop, as usual.

"Sissi, what do you think of your father's decision to set up a language exchange program with France? Our readers want to know!" Milly wonders while Tamiya doesn't look too happy that they're asking Sissi.

Sissi scoffs, turning around to them. "My dear Milly, your paper doesn't have any readers. And anyway, I don't need the whole school knowing what I think, understand?"

"No danger of that, Sissi, you need a brain to think!" Odd calls out.

"Good old Odd, as unfunny as ever. Shut up, will you?!" She storms off, Herb and Nicolas following after her.

"Oh, I hate her!" Milly says bitterly as they stare after her.

"You're not the only one," Odd assures, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You're wrong, I tell you!" Odd exclaims at dinner. He's standing next to Jeremy as they're getting their food.

"But I didn't say that Kiwi was stupid," Jeremy argues.

"Oh no, you said he was brainless!" Odd corrects with a glare.

"Yeah, well, if you throw a stick, he won't run and fetch it," Jeremy walks away with a chuckle, Odd's mouth opening in shock.

"Well, neither would you! Does that make you brainless?" Odd points out, Jeremy saying nothing.

"Franks and beans or ravioli?" Rosa offers, Jeremy looking down at the food.

"Did you make a decision yet?" Odd huffs, turning to Amy. She grabs a plate of ravioli, putting it on her tray. She frowns to herself at the question she was trying to avoid. After her decision to pursue other interests when she goes off to college, she was stuck with two: Art or dancing. Film was more Odd's thing, and more or less, she was often his assistant. Dancing was something she loved doing, but drawing was also something she liked doing...

Well, dancing could be considered a hobby...but so could art...

She sighs, putting a hand to her head. "No..."

* * *

Milly and Tamiya are heading for the showers when Tamiya notices something blocking their path. "Hey, what are they doing there?" She points to Kiwi and Kiki staring at them. Milly gasps sharply at the sight of them.

"If Jim sees them, Amy and Odd are gonna be in big trouble!" She is a reporter looking for a scoop, but she also doesn't want them to potentially leave school, so they had agreed to say nothing when they found out. She wants honest news, not something that could get people into trouble. That's not what Kadic News was about.

"I'll take them back to Odd's room. Amy can pick Kiki up after dinner," Tamiya suggests.

"I'll meet you in the showers," Milly replies as she enters the girls' bathroom.

"Good doggies," Tamiya walks up to the possessed dogs, but she can't see the symbol in their eyes. "Come on, guys." She reaches out her hand to the growling dogs, Kiwi barking loudly and biting her hand. "Ow! Oh."

She suddenly starts to feel dizzy as the room was spinning. She holds her head, eventually opening her white eyes.

While Milly is showering, she doesn't sense the incoming danger, letting the water hit her. She sighs in relaxation at the hot water hitting her. She hums as the door opens, someone slowly approaching. Milly hears something and turns off the water.

Suddenly, Tamiya comes out of nowhere, her skin pale green as her teeth and fingernails are sharp. Milly screams at her appearance, grabbing Tamiya's arms and throwing her to the ground. She quickly grabs her bunny bathrobe and runs off panting. She throws open the door, shutting it behind her.

* * *

Rosa is cleaning up behind the counter as Odd puts down his empty tray. Yumi has already left for home.

"So you're not gonna be finishing your chocolate pudding?" Odd asks Aelita.

"Isn't that your fourth one?" She asks in surprise.

"Odd is like a cow. He has more than one stomach," Ulrich tells her, Aelita chuckling.

"How do you put up with that, Amy?" She wonders, Amy shaking her head as she sits next to Ulrich.

"I've seen Odd eat since my first day at Kadic. _Nothing _surprises me anymore," Is all she says, Jeremy and Ulrich chuckling.

"The better to pig out with, my dears," Odd teases as someone screams outside.

"Help me!" Milly enters the cafeteria in fear. "Tamiya came after me!" Odd, Amy, and Aelita gasp in shock at Tamiya's actions. "She looked so strange and-and her eyes were completely white. And they were horrible! She looked like Dr. Shrank!"

"Who's Dr. Shrank?" Jeremy asks curiously.

"The psycho TV brain surgeon in Hospital of Horrors," Odd explains, Aelita glancing at the others. Just by the description alone, she has her doubts.

"Smells like XANA, doesn't it?"

Jeremy opens his laptop. "I'm launching a superscan."

"Calm down," Rosa tries to quiet Milly. "It'll be alright. You must've had a bad dream."

"No!" Milly shouts in protest. "I didn't, it was real!"

"Activated tower," Jeremy reports as they can hear the beeps.

"Let's head for the factory," Odd whispers to the others, Ulrich pulling out his phone.

"I'll let Yumi know."

* * *

Her phone rings as she's eating a quiet dinner with her family. "Ulrich?" Mr. Ishiyama looks up as he hears the name. "Uh huh. I understand. Uh huh, yeah. Okay. No problem."

Hiroki stares at her smugly the whole time she's talking. She hangs up the phone. "Was that Ulrich, your boyfriend~?"

"Hiroki, for the hundredth thousandth time, he is not my boyfriend!"

"Yumi's in love!" He sings as she stands up. "Yumi's in love! Yumi's in love!"

"Hiroki, leave your sister alone," Mr. Ishiyama scolds him.

"You are such a pain!" She shouts at her younger brother. "I'm going to bed!" She storms off, but she was only faking so that she can sneak out and head to the factory.

* * *

Milly can't stop crying as Rosa looks to Sissi. "I think it's serious. Sissi, go get your father please."

"We'll go with you," Ulrich offers and she smiles at the fact that Ulrich wants to go somewhere with her. They're about to leave when they see Jim walking around.

"Hey Jim!" Sissi calls out, Amy staring as the gym teacher just stands there like a statue. "There's a problem with Milly Solovieff. Jim?"

He turns around to her, growling. He has the same look as Tamiya. She shivers at the sight of him and screams when he reaches out for her. She runs off in fear.

"Sissi, come back!" Ulrich shouts, running after her, leaving the others with Jim. "Meet up at the factory!"

Odd gasps at Jim, who advances towards Amy. He grabs her from behind. "Watch out!" He pulls her with such force that he's hugging her.

"Over there!" Aelita points to her right as there's more of them, including Tamiya. They all gasp at the sight of them. Not only are they scary, but they're actual zombies!

"About face, everybody!" Odd says, backing away to the doors while still holding Amy. She kicks Jim when he gets too close, knocking him to the ground. Aelita opens the door and they rush inside, Odd closing the door behind him.

"Hey, what's going on?" Rosa demands at why they're returning.

"Oh, nothing. We're surrounded by zombies, ma'am," Odd tells her.

"Zo...! Oh...!" She faints at hearing that, Christophe catching her with a chair.

Yumi jumps down from her window, gripping her backpack. She looks back at her house to make sure no one's watching before she takes off.

Sissi ends up in the park, hearing something move. More zombies await her in the bushes and she gasps in horror, hoping that this was a dream, but it isn't. She whimpers, backing away in fear.

"Help meeee!"

Ulrich suddenly jumps in, standing in front of her in a defensive stance. "Cool it, maggot faces!" The zombies slowly advance to him and he fends them off, Sissi beaming at the thought he came to rescue her. Ulrich punches down a zombie with glasses, turning around and crane kicking the last one. Sissi sighs in awe at him.

"Come on," He walks off.

"There, you see!" Milly points to the zombies trying to get in. "I wasn't dreaming!" She gasps in fear at the growling zombies and then they suddenly leave.

"I bet they'll be back with reinforcements," Herb says in worry. Rosa gains consciousness, sitting up.

"The problem with the living dead is that you can't kill them, because they're already dead," He chuckles at his joke, Rosa fainting again.

William is on the phone with the police while the four Lyoko Warriors are sitting down, looking at the activated tower. "No, I'm not joking! Hello?" He hangs up and tries calling again, sighing in frustration. "Zombies! That's right, like in out of the tomb!"

"I hope Ulrich got away alright," Aelita comments in concern.

"Don't worry, he's probably at the factory right now, and we've gotta join him ASAP," Odd is about to open the back door when William sees them.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, outside?" Jeremy asks like it was obvious.

"No way, it's too dangerous."

"That's our problem, William," Odd leaves it at that and turns to open the door, but William grabs his shoulder.

"Sorry. I'm the oldest one here, so I'm the one responsible for the group, and I'm telling you, you're staying here and waiting for help. I don't want the zombies to get you." There's strength in numbers, so the more people here, the better. "And what's more, if they attack the cafeteria again, we'll need as many of us here as possible!"

"William, let us go!" Amy yells at him, but he ignores her and turns to the others.

"Anyone who tries to get out has gotta get past me first. Understand?"

Nicolas glances at the others silently and he stares at all of them. The four glare at him. Without someone to virtual them onto Lyoko, they're stuck.

"Oh great. William thinks he's Bruce Willis. That's all we needed," Odd murmurs as Amy crosses her arms.

"G.I. Jerk!"

"Good one," Odd grins at her.

"Thanks."

Yumi is the only one to arrive at the factory, sliding down the rope.

* * *

The zombies are walking around, looking for victims. Ulrich peeks through the bush with Sissi. "What do I do now? Can't get through," He whispers as they're all over the park, meaning he can't get past to reach the sewers. He looks at Sissi. "Hey Sissi, listen, we've got to get to a safe spot. Let's get back to the lunch room, fast, and get some help, okay?"

"Okay," She whispers softly as he walks past her. She stands up and follows him, their groaning echoing louder.

The moon shines as a wolf howls.

* * *

"A supercomputer?" William narrows his eyes. They had no choice but to explain why they were leaving. Maybe if he heard it, he'd understand and let them go to the factory. "That lets you go into a virtual universe where you have to battle an evil enemy called XANA?"

"Uh, yes," Jeremy stammers at how crazy it sounds, "When you put it that way, I admit it sounds a little weird."

"If you wanna stop this zombie attack, Odd, Jeremy, Amy, and I have to get to the factory right now," Aelita crosses her arms as they hold their ground. They didn't care who he thought he was, this was serious.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I don't believe you, so we're all staying together."

"If you were sorry, you'd understand and let us leave!" Amy huffs as Aelita narrows her eyes in annoyance. She tolerated him, but now she outright dislikes him. Was it too much to ask to let them leave so that everything would be back to normal? This was even worse when her parents showed up. He wasn't sorry at all. He was just trying to be the big bad boss that they don't even like.

"Okay, Plan B. I'll distract him and you two take off with Aelita." He walks up to the boy. "Hey, Jackie Chan. So you think you're the boss around here or something?"

"Yes, and I want us all to get out of this unharmed," William answers, Jeremy reaching towards the handle.

"You gonna stop watching the-"

Herb hears the click, turning to William. "Look, they're getting away!"

"Jeremy!" Aelita calls out as she sees William approach. He grabs Jeremy by the collar.

"Hey you!"

"Get your hands off of him!" Amy pushes William away, Jeremy falling to the ground. "You don't touch my friends like that!"

"Sorry," He holds up his hands in defense. "But it's for your own good. You'll thank me when you get out of this safe and sound." He walks off, Jeremy glaring at him.

"Safe and sound. Yeah, thanks a lot," He mutters under his breath.

"Any chance we're allowed to give him up to the zombies?" Amy whispers to Odd, who tries to come up with another plan. William wasn't going to let them out, he made that clear. So what else was there...?

* * *

Yumi arrives in the lab, only to find she's alone. "Oh fantastic," She walks into the room. "No one."

"Hello? Anybody here?" A police car is parked outside the gates of Kadic Academy, having responded to William's phone call.

They glance around for anyone to come, Mr. Rouiller eventually arriving. "Yes?"

"Uh, good evening. We got a call alerting us about an attack, uh, by," She wasn't sure how to word this delicately. Also, she didn't want to alarm him and cause the man to panic. "By...well, anyway. You haven't seen anything suspicious going on around here on the campus? Uh, zombies, living dead?"

"Huh?" He asks in surprise, wondering who made that call. "No, but I haven't been out of my gatehouse. As far as I know, everything's normal."

"I told you it was just another stupid kids prank, right?" She turns to her partner knowingly. "Let's go. Thank you. Goodnight," They walk off, Mr. Rouiller looking around. He hears nothing to suggest that anything is wrong, certainly not for the police be involved with.

"Hey Jeremy, it's me," Ulrich is on the phone, running with Sissi. "Are you at the factory?"

"Still not there. This joker William won't let us out."

"And you can tell him how much he reminds me of my dad right now!" Amy whispers harshly, Jeremy cringing at the comparison.

"Right. I'll see what I can do," He hangs up.

"Hey Jim," Mr. Rouiller calls out. "You heard this thing about some...zombies? That's completely nutty." Jim and some other zombies approach him.

"Look!" Sissi points to the man as they've stumbled upon him. Ulrich comes to a stop as they gasp. Mr. Rouiller realizes that this is not a joke, gasping. Sissi covers her mouth in shock.

"Well, so much for the way out of here." Ulrich's phone rings and he answers it. "Yumi?"

"What in the world have you guys been up to? I've been waiting for you at the factory."

"Haven't you heard? It's a living dead convention over here," Ulrich explains, "I'm trying to find a way to get Aelita to the factory, but it's not gonna be easy."

"Okay, be careful," She warns him, hanging up. Odd peeks through the blinds as the zombies have unfortunately returned.

"They're coming from all sides." He turns back to William and hears panting. "Wait, there's Kiwi and Kiki, look!"

The two dogs are staring at them intensely. "They found us. See how smart he is?"

Jeremy and Amy glance at each other, wondering just how the dogs got inside. All the doors and windows are locked.

"Yeah, my little diggity dogs. Amy, why do you look so nervous? It's your dog."

"Hey," Milly recognizes them. "Those are the same dogs we saw in the hallway just before Tamiya got zombified." Odd starts to approach them. "Wait, Odd!"

He holds out his hand, only for him to get bit. "Ow! Kiwi, what's wrong with you?" He knows that the real Kiwi would never bite him. Then he notices the symbol in their eyes, grinning. "XANA..."

"What?! Oh no!" Amy exclaims that her dog is possessed. They walk away and Odd feels dizzy, holding his head.

"William, quick. We have to tie him up," Jeremy orders as Odd's face gets wrinkles. His skin turns green, his eyes white as he becomes a zombie.

"Odd, no," Amy whimpers, covering her mouth in shock. She fights back the tears. Jeremy rushes to grab him, but Odd pushes him onto the table.

"Hurry up!" William urges, him, Nicolas, and Christophe grabbing him. Herb, Aelita, and Milly look on, cringing at how Odd has to be restrained. Amy's actually crying as she tries not to look.

Ulrich and Sissi peek through the gates at their target: the cafeteria. "You got a plan?" Sissi glances at him.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure you're gonna like it."

Odd struggles to get out of his restraints, a gag over his mouth. "So you're saying that Kiwi and Kiki are possessed by this-this XANA?"

"Right, but now thanks to you, they're somewhere ready to bite us," Jeremy retorts as they stare at the zombie. "What's more, we're surrounded by an army of the living dead. If you had let us out before, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

William grabs Jeremy by the shirt, having had enough. "Listen, if you'd gone out, you might be a zombie yourself by now, idiot! I'm getting tired of hearing this factory and your supercomputer."

"And I'm tired of you bossing us around and getting rough with my friends!" Amy pushes him off as her eyes look tired. "This is all your fault! Jeremy's right, if you had let us leave, Odd wouldn't be a zombie!" She sobs and he stares at her. He did feel a little guilty; he knew how close Amy and Odd were. But his point still stood. If they were all zombies, there would be no one to help them. And then who was going to stop it?

They hear groaning as the zombies are at the front door. Ulrich glances at Sissi. "Are you ready?"

"Uh huh," She simply nods. He runs up to the zombies and starts moving like a madman.

"Kill the zombies!" He sings and they turn their attention to him, getting away from the door. "Come on, dead heads! Ha ha! Bleh bleh bleh!"

While he's doing that, Sissi runs up to the cafeteria door, which is locked. "Open up! It's me, Sissi!"

William walks up as she pounds on the glass. "Hey, open up, I said! I'm not one of them!"

"She's lying," Herb says suspiciously, walking up to her. "Prove it."

"Uh, I, uh, I have a subscription to Pretty Girl and I still sleep with Nin Nin, my stuffed moose."

"That has nothing to do with it. That just proves you're a lame-o," Herb comments and Sissi turns around as the zombies come back.

"You open this door, you bunch of pea-brained dorks!"

Nicolas nods at the insult. "No kidding, that's Sissi alright."

Herb opens the door for her, but when he goes to close it, the zombies come barging in. Jim growls, Nicolas holding up a chair. Jim smashes it to pieces with only his arm.

"Come on, it's now or never!" Jeremy grabs Aelita's arm, running to the back.

"I'll stay here for Odd," Amy glances at him. "I...I can't leave him like this."

The two nod in understanding.

Jim pulls William over to the zombies, Amy trying not to grin. The zombies surround him and Ulrich watches the two leave through the back, smiling in relief. It turns into a gasp when he sees a zombie heading right towards him. They corner him in front of the cafeteria and he sees William standing in front of him, as a zombie. William approaches him and Ulrich kicks him to the ground.

"That one's on me," Ulrich places his hands on his hips proudly.

Jeremy and Aelita run away as fast as they can from the zombies following them. Yumi defends herself from them, just as the two stumble upon her.

"Hurry up! Let's get back to the factory!" She tells them and they follow her further into the park.

The zombies are trying to get through inside the cafeteria, Ulrich pushing past the ones in front. He barges inside and helps slam the door shut.

* * *

When the trio arrive at the lab, Jeremy steps inside, turning to the girls. "Get into the scanners. I'll start the virtualization process." He sits into his chair and puts on the microphone. "Okay ladies, ready to roll."

They each step into one scanner, turning around. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization."

The girls appear in the desert sector, landing safely. "_And here's the Overwing." _The flying scooter virtualizes in front of them.

"Wow, you're getting better, Jeremy," Yumi compliments in satisfaction. "Soon we'll be landing right on top of them."

Aelita giggles in amusement and they jump on. "_Okay, on your way. And watch out for nasty surprises._"

* * *

Ulrich peeks out the window from the cafeteria, Amy staring at Odd in horror. She couldn't stand to see him like this...it wasn't her best friend.

"What are they doing?" Sissi asks in fear as she's holding Milly. Ulrich looks back to the window.

"If you ask me, they're preparing a final assault."

Milly starts to cry in fear, Sissi bending down to her. "It's okay." She looks back outside, unsure if they would ever get out of this. Amy goes into the corner to call Jeremy.

"Einstein, please tell me that you made it to the factory safely."

"We made it. Yumi and Aelita are on Lyoko now. How's Odd?"

"Could be better!" She wipes away the incoming tears. "The others are planning a final attack on us, I'm not sure how long we'll last. I can't believe my own dog and Kiwi got possessed and bit him...!"

Just by her voice alone, he could tell that she was struggling not to cry over the phone. He couldn't imagine what he would do if it was Aelita instead...and he could also tell that Odd and Amy really cared about each other.

"...We'll save him, Amy. I promise."

"Thanks Jeremy," She hangs up.

As the zombies are lurking around in the park, Kiwi and Kiki sniff the manhole cover. One of the zombies open it...

* * *

Aelita and Yumi fly over the trench to the tower. "Activated tower in sight." Three Krabs are also in sight, blocking their access to the tower.

"Krabs also in sight," Aelita notices the Krabs nervously. Krabs are probably one of the strongest monsters on Lyoko, that is before the Tarantulas came in.

"XANA's played his cards right. He wanted to bring you to Lyoko with the fewest bodyguards possible. That's why Kiwi bit Odd, but not you or me. And maybe he wanted Amy to suffer emotionally, to cloud her mind. Be careful."

Yumi flies around the tower as Jeremy gets an alert from the computer. He pulls up the security footage from the elevator. "But now XANA doesn't need me anymore." He sees Kiwi, Kiki, William, and the nurse.

"_What do you mean?_" Yumi asks in concern.

"You've gotta deactivate the tower fast. _If I get zombified, I won't be able to launch the return in time and then...I don't wanna talk about the mess we'll be in._" Yumi turns around to the Krabs, turning to her friend.

"Ready, Aelita?"

Aelita hums in response and Yumi swings around. "Okay! We're gonna try to push our way through."

"_That's suicide_!" Jeremy immediately protests. If Aelita disappears forever, the world will be stuck in a zombie apocalypse. "_If you don't make it, Aelita will be alone with the Scyphozoa!_"

Yumi doesn't listen and continues advancing towards the Krabs, sure in her plan. A Krab fires straight at them, the other two following suit. Yumi swings back and forth to avoid them, Aelita worried. The middle one fires again and Yumi pulls out her fan. She tosses it, destroying the middle Krab. The other two fire as she flies into the air, getting hit in the leg eventually. Aelita glances back at the monsters.

* * *

"Okay guys," Ulrich glances at a girl named Tania and Nicolas, who are all holding chairs. Rosa is still unconscious. "This is it. Christophe is holding a chair while Herb is holding frying pans. As the zombies are trying to get in, Amy glances at Odd, standing up and grabbing a chair. She had to help protect the group too.

Rosa finally wakes up, but upon seeing the zombies barge in, her eyes widen in horror. "Oh I think I'm..." She faints one last time.

"Poor Rosa," Amy cringes at her.

The zombies inch towards them, Ulrich glancing around nervously. He didn't know how this would go, so he just hoped that Aelita and Yumi were making progress...

* * *

The girls fly away from a Krab chasing them and Aelita looks back at it. "They're on our tail."

"_Ladies, I hope you know what you're doing_," Jeremy states uncertainly.

"Yeah, so do I, Jeremy," Yumi replies in the same tone as Jeremy. It was the only thing she could think of...

The Krab continues chasing them and Yumi approaches the trench.

* * *

The zombies advance towards the group, Jim grabbing Tania's chair and pulling her towards the horde of zombies.

"Tania!" Amy says in worry as she screams, getting surrounded by them.

"Help!"

"Oh no!" Herb drops his pans in fear as a zombie claws at the air.

* * *

Aelita glances back at the monster again, only to see the Krab firing another shot at them. Yumi swerves back and forth, glancing behind her as she enters the trench. The Krab fires again, Yumi looking at Aelita. "Take my fan. Hurry!"

Aelita does as she's told, as she trusts Yumi. She opens the fan and when the Krab fires again, Yumi spins so that she flies behind the Krab. "Now!"

Her pink-haired friend throws the fan, hitting the Krab dead on. She catches it and puts it back in Yumi's holster on her back. When they fly out of the trench, they're met with a Kankerlot who was waiting for them. It hits the Overwing, causing it to go out of control. Yumi barely manages to hold on as they fly into the trench, bump into a wall, and crash the Overwing. It explodes as the two crash into the sand, Yumi standing up with a clenched fist.

"Miserable Kankerlot. We'll have to go on foot."

They start running as fast as they can to save everyone, including Jeremy.

The zombies move towards Herb, William advancing further. They push him onto the ground. Next is Christophe as they surround him, Herb holding out a hand for someone to help, but no one does as he's turned. They surround Nicolas next, and the only ones left are Sissi, Milly, Ulrich, and Amy.

The last Krab enters the trench, chasing after the girls. It fires at their feet, Yumi leaping out of the way. It fires again and Yumi pants. She couldn't keep doing this, XANA's only trying to distract them as long as he can.

"Go ahead, I'll take care of it," She tells Aelita, letting her run forward as the geisha runs up the wall. She eventually pushes her feet back and lands on the Krab. She pulls out one fan and destroys the Krab, watching it explode.

Aelita comes to a stop, glancing behind her as she heard the explosion. She silently waits for Yumi, who shows up a few seconds later.

"Don't drag your feet!" They run out of the trench, but the tower has disappeared. They were in the right spot, that they knew, but the land and tower that was there isn't. "Oh no!"

"Jeremy, the tower has disappeared," Aelita informs, looking over the Digital Sea. Yumi glances behind her, hoping that they were wrong and that the tower was the other way.

"Maybe we went the wrong way."

"_No wait, the tower is there. I can see it on my screen."_

Aelita looks closer and suddenly she can see the tower. "You're right, Jeremy. It's straight ahead," Aelita points across. "How are we gonna get to it?"

Walking across it was definitely not the best way, not if they wanted to disappear for good. Yumi smiles as she gains an idea.

"I can teletransport Aelita."

"_You're crazy. If you fail, she'll fall right into the Digital Sea_!"

"You have a better idea?" Yumi wonders, as there was nothing else.

"I trust her, Jeremy," Aelita states and Yumi stands behind her. She presses her fingers to her forehead, lifting Aelita into the air. She smiles at Yumi, looking at the tower up ahead. Yumi focuses as hard as she can as Aelita is nearing the tower. Unfortunately, a monster decides to show up at the worst time...

"Yumi! Yumi!" Jeremy tries to warn her. "Behind you!"

The Kankerlot hits Yumi from behind, breaking her concentration. Aelita starts to fall towards the Digital Sea, Yumi kneeling. She then remembers Aelita and looks up, holding out her hand towards the girl and lifting her up just before she touched the water. Yumi continues to transport Aelita.

The elevator doors open, Kiwi and Kiki gritting their teeth. The zombies inch forward towards Jeremy, who doesn't see or hear them. He's too busy focusing on Aelita.

Yumi dodges the lasers from behind, turning back so that she can see Aelita. She throws her fan, but the Kankerlot leans away on purpose.

"Yumi!" Aelita cries out as she starts to fall again. Yumi turns back to the girl and focuses her power, kneeling. The Kankerlot fires again, Aelita falling towards the Digital Sea once again. She lands on her bottom right above the Digital Sea. She feels it underneath her to find that the ground is just invisible. "It's one of XANA's tricks."

Yumi sighs in relief, touching the ground. Unfortunately, this gives the Kankerlot enough time to devirtualize her.

"Aelita!" Jeremy pleads as the zombies are getting closer.

Aelita hears the Kankerlot coming for her and stands up. She rubs her bottom from the hard landing before running towards the tower, hoping that he won't get a shot on her.

Kiwi, Kiki, and the other zombies are very close to Jeremy.

Aelita is almost there as the Kankerlot is on her tail. A Krab virtualizes right in front of her, blocking the tower. "Jeremy, a Krab!"

"_Keep going. Normally it wouldn't dare fire at you._"

She hopes that he's right as she keeps running. She looks behind at the Kankerlot and runs underneath the Krab, entering the invisible tower. The Kankerlot reaches it, and hits it, causing the monster to fall and spin around.

"Yes!" Jeremy cheers once he sees that she wasn't hit. "Ha ha! Nice job! Ow!" Glancing down, he sees that Kiki bit his leg. "Oh no!"

Aelita reaches the center and starts flying to the top.

Milly is holding a frying pan, Sissi, Amy, and Ulrich holding chairs to defend themselves with. Milly glances around in fear.

"Don't you touch Milly, you hear?!" Sissi threatens, the girl surprised that Sissi actually cared. Odd has somehow gotten out of his restraints, tackling Amy to the ground.

"Odd, no!" Ulrich shouts as he's about to bite Amy.

Aelita is almost there as Jeremy turns into a zombie.

Sissi looks at all the zombies, Nicolas snatching her chair from her. Milly screams as they get closer.

Aelita reaches the top, walking up to the interface.

Amy tries to fend off Odd, struggling against his arms. Sissi and Milly hug each other as the zombies are close to affecting them.

Aelita signs in.

_Aelita_

"Jeremy, did you program the return to the past?"

_Code_

She gets no response as he's groaning. "_Jeremy?_"

Amy and Ulrich pull at Odd's arms, but he's too strong as he bites Amy on her arm. "Ow!"

"Amy, no!" Ulrich exclaims as Amy slowly changes.

_Lyoko_

Milly and Sissi squeeze their eyes shut.

"Tower deactivated."

"Aelita..." Jeremy is slowly losing himself as he presses enter, setting the return in time. "Return to the past now!"

* * *

Everything resets to when they had just left their classes. "You see? I didn't even get that!" Jeremy comments, Sissi walking past them again.

"Sissi, what do you think about your father's decision to set up a language exchange program with Frances? Our readers wanna know!" Milly asks again.

Sissi scoffs like last time, turning to them in annoyance. "My dear Milly, your paper doesn't have any readers. And anyway, I don't need the whole school knowing what I think, understand?" She storms off as Ulrich, Amy, and Aelita smile knowingly. "Coming?" She asks her minions.

"Oh, I hate her!" Milly complains.

"It's true that she's a pain," Ulrich places a hand on her shoulder. "But you know, deep down, I think she really likes you."

"And I really think that she can be very brave and a real nice person," Aelita adds in with a smile. "When she wants to be."

"What?" Milly asks in confusion as she stares at all of them. She didn't know that in the time before everything was set, that Sissi tried to protect her.

William walks past and Amy narrows her eyes in annoyance at him, remembering how he prevented them from leaving the cafeteria.

"Yeah. In fact you never can guess a person's true colors, can you?" Jeremy asks in amusement. Odd looks a bit guilty as he glances at Amy.

"Can I steal you away for a second?"

"Sure," She nods and when they walk off to a tree, the others smile widely. "What's this about?"

"Um...I'm really sorry that I bit you," He rubs his neck sheepishly at his actions.

"No worries. You weren't in control," Amy shrugs with a small smile. "Is Kiwi okay?"

"I checked on him before class. He's fine. And Kiki?"

"As energetic as double A batteries," Amy giggles a bit. "She wouldn't stop asking me to play. She kept whining with the ball in her mouth."

"Heh," Odd chuckles at the thought. "Italian's a beautiful language, isn't it?" He stares into her eyes, trying not to let his face heat up. He was adding that in casually because he actually wanted to tell her that she's beautiful, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Yeah," Amy smiles, suspecting nothing. "I really like learning a new language."

"Maybe we could study together?" He wanted to spend time with her, to get this whole...feelings or crush or whatever out of the way. Maybe if they acted like normal friends, it would go away and he wouldn't have to tell anyone.

"You? Study?" Amy laughs in disbelief. "Odd, since when do you ever study? Much less for Italian?"

"Hey, I've studied before," He pouts at her.

"Either way I can't. I promised Ulrich I'd help him do his science homework later so he can get at least one decent grade," She rolls her eyes and is about to leave when Odd reaches out a hand.

"W-Wait, did you decide? What's it gonna be, Ames? Art or dancing?"

"...Well, after thinking about it a lot...when I was a zombie," She smirks in amusement and he rubs his arm, cringing. "I decided that I want to be an artist. Drawing is just something I've been doing for a long time and it's my passion. I love doing dancing with Aelita, but I feel like it'll only be temporary. I have to go and get my notes. Bye," She waves at him, running off to go visit her dog really quick. Odd waves back slowly with a sigh. Was this how it was going to be with her all the time? Pining after her like some...love-sick puppy? And who's to say he even is love-sick over someone he knows really well? Ulrich walks up to Odd, hands in his pockets.

"What was that all about?"

"Save it," Odd grunts, Ulrich looking at him in confusion. The boy walks off, leaving Ulrich wondering if he did anything wrong to warrant that reaction.


	43. Ultimatum

The six Lyoko Warriors are gathered in the main level of the factory, talking about something that could potentially help a possessed person of XANA. "So you're saying that this thing can destroy someone who's under XANA's control?" Yumi asks in surprise.

"It isn't a thing," Jeremy corrects, holding up a finger. "It's an EMP bomb. It makes an electromagnetic explosion that affects anything electronic. And because the pixelated body of someone under XANA's control is held together by a force field, well-"

"Uh, Jeremy, we've got a class in 20 minutes, can you give us the Cliff Notes version?" Odd interrupts, Amy nodding.

"I don't wanna be late, Jeremy."

Odd just laughs.

"Bomb explodes, guy under XANA's control obliterated," Jeremy explains simply for four of them to understand.

"Great!" Aelita beams at him.

He glances away nervously, rubbing the back of his hair. There is only one disadvantage to this bomb that he forgot to mention. "Right, except for one little thing. We haven't come up with a mini version yet." He looks at the mini EMP bomb prototype.

In the ice sector, there's pulsations on the land as they lead to an activated tower past a tunnel, across some water, and down a long path to an ice cavern.

* * *

The first bell rings for class to start as Sissi walks up to Ulrich, Aelita, and Jeremy. Amy, Yumi, and Odd were with William in front of the science building. "Huh, what do you know? Yumi isn't here with you. Oh, of course not," She puts her hand to her forehead in exaggeration. "I just saw her with William, how stupid of me."

"You got that right."

Sissi just smiles innocently at her drama festering, walking away. "Why is it whenever you see Sissi, you feel like being nasty?" Jeremy wonders as they watch the trio leave.

"Maybe because being with someone nasty rubs off on you," Ulrich comments with a small frown. Of course Sissi bringing up William made him upset. Anytime Yumi was around him, it was like watching Hospital of Horrors.

Jeremy's laptop beeps and the genius looks at it. "An activated tower. XANA's on the move again. Too bad for our music class. Let's get to the factory," He closes his laptop, but before they can leave for the park, Jim just happens to be around.

"Where do you think you kids are going? That's the way to your classroom," Jim points to the other direction as Mr. Delmas walks right past him.

"Oh no," Ulrich comments at their misfortune.

* * *

Mr. Delmas has his sights set as he approaches the science building. "Well, we've gotta get to music class with the others," Odd sighs slowly. He wasn't really a fan of the class.

"Lucky you," William looks away in boredom. "We've got Chemistry."

"Let's go before Jim notices we're gone," Amy suggests, but Odd sees the principal approach.

"Ah! Visual on the principal."

"Out of his office when classes are starting? Why?" Amy raises an eyebrow.

"Good morning, Mr. Delmas," Yumi greets politely, "We were just on our way to class." She gets her arm grabbed by him. "Hey! That hurts!"

"What's the matter with you, sir?" William runs after the man as he has a hold on Yumi and Odd. "You can't treat students that way!" He places a hand on the principal's shoulder, not noticing the XANA symbol in his eyes. "What are you doing?"

The principal throws William through the door and he lands at the stairs.

"XANA," Amy gasps as she noticed the symbol for a split second. She chases after the principal, only for the doors to his car to open.

"Help!" Yumi calls out as the man has them underneath his shoulders.

"Help!" Odd cries out, Amy managing to catch up with them.

"Let go of me, sir! You're hurting me!" Yumi pleads as William limps. He sees Amy grab onto the principal's jacket from behind.

"Mr. Delmas, stop!" She demands, trying to distract him long enough to make him release her friends. He doesn't fall for it, however.

"Hey! Stop!" William screams and when the back doors are locked, Mr. Delmas turns around. He grabs Amy and throws her into the passenger seat. He puts on the seatbelt and closes the door. Starting up the car, the three look at him in shock as he drives off. William can only watch in shock as he limps after the car getting away. "Hey! Yumi!"

"William!" She cries out as she looks at him through the back window. Without anything to chase after the car, the only thing he can do now is call for help.

* * *

Nicolas plays Tutor 2000 on his Gameboy in the boys' bathroom. He'd rather be absent than attend music class.

"The principal's gone totally crazy!"

Nicolas looks up at William's voice outside. "He's kidnapped Yumi, Amy, and Odd."

Mr. Mirti plays the recorder, everyone looking absolutely bored. Nicolas suddenly opens the door, interrupting him.

"Delmas has just kidnapped Ishiyama, Della Robbia, and Smith."

"XANA," Jeremy places a hand on his cheek in horror as everyone else gasps.

"What kind of nonsense is this?" The teacher demands.

"But it's true, sir. He even beat up William Dunbar and Amy was trying to stop it." Sissi gasps at her father's actions, wondering what drove him to do so. She knows her father, and she knows that he would never kidnap anyone, much less people in her class.

"Don't you move," Mr. Mirti warns the class, "I'll be right back." He decides to go tell someone, leaving the whole class gossiping.

Aelita gasps in worry as Ulrich is calling his friends. "Yumi isn't answering, and neither are Odd and Amy," He whispers, Jeremy pulling out his own phone. He's just gotten a message.

From XANA.

"A message from XANA," He knows it's serious because XANA never sends messages. He makes his goals known through attacks, so there are a lot of things at stake here. Not only that, but it's his friends' lives on the line, and XANA knows that. "Aelita at 2 o'clock in the ice sector to give herself up to the Scyphozoa. If not, Odd, Amy, and Yumi will be liquidated."

The three all gasp at the consequence. If they do it, Aelita will lose all her memory. And if they don't...

Their friends will be gone.

Yumi, the most mature and the smartest. Odd, the walking stomach with sometimes good humor. And Amy, the outgoing budding artist...

They had to save all of them. And the only way was to go to the factory. "We don't have any time to lose," Ulrich stands up. "Let's go."

"Okay," Jeremy agrees, but unfortunately, the teacher arrives back.

"I want everybody in their seats right now!" Everyone immediately sits down, including a reluctant Ulrich.

"How do people expect us to save the world if they don't leave us alone?" Ulrich asks bitterly. First Jim, and now they can't leave class.

"And quiet down," Mr. Mirti closes the door.

* * *

At a warehouse, Yumi, Odd, and Amy are shivering due to the temperature. Yumi lifts her head up from Odd's shoulder. She had been unconscious for a while.

"Where are we?"

"Given the temperature, I would g-g-g-guess north of Siberia," Odd comments as a puff of cold air comes from his mouth.

"W-We're in a warehouse," Amy hugs herself. "We'll never b-b-be able to get past him," She jerks her head to the possessed principal, who's blocking the only way out. Yumi stands up, reaching for her pocket, but...

"My cell phone." It's not there.

"He must've taken them from us," Odd glares at the principal's back.

"How are we gonna get anyone to know we're here?" Amy murmurs as she shivers again.

"We've gotta get out of here ourselves," Yumi whispers to herself. "Before we freeze to death."

"Uh, M-M-Mr. Delmas, sir?" Odd tries appealing to him, only to get knocked back by an electric surge.

"Odd!" Yumi and Amy exclaim. Amy catches the boy as he lands in her arms.

"Are you okay?" She asks in concern and he snuggles into her for warmth.

"Yeah..."

She was not turning red because of how close he is right now. Nope. She's just...cold! Yeah, that's it. No matter how warm he was...

"I wouldn't count on his cooperating with us," Odd looks up at the girls, who look to each other in worry.

* * *

"Right then," Jim announces as everyone is escorted out of the building. "Everybody here? Classes are cancelled for the rest of the day. You can all go home. Sissi and William, the detective would like to ask you a few questions," Jim jerks a thumb at the policeman.

"Hey, what about those guys?" Sissi points to Aelita, Ulrich, and Jeremy attempting to sneak away. "You should question them too, they're always scheming with Odd, Yumi, and Amy."

"Stern, Belpois, and Stones," Jim calls out and they stop, a little annoyed at their bad luck today.

"Definitely not our day..." Jeremy murmurs in disbelief, Jim looking at them suspiciously. Come to think of it, he's always seen Amy, her boyfriend Odd, and Yumi with them...it wouldn't be a surprise if they knew something about the threes' disappearance.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they knew something about what happened to my father," Sissi frowns in worry. William says nothing as he doesn't have anything to prove they're not involved.

"Come on, you three. Follow me," The detective orders.

"Ready?" Ulrich asks the two.

"Go!"

The three run down the hall. "What?! Hey! Come on, get back here!"

They jump off the stairs, Jim and the police running after them. The three climb over the fence to the track field. Jim climbs and jumps over, the police coming in from the front. Ulrich takes the lead as Jim chases after them. When they turn the corner, Ulrich zips past four police officers. One of them goes after Ulrich.

"We got em!" Two of them grab Aelita and Jeremy, Jim running towards the park.

"I'll handle this!" He runs straight into a tree, falling onto his back. Ulrich escapes into the sewer tunnels, the police officer coming to a stop. He pants in exhaustion, looking around for Ulrich, who climbs down the ladder. He grabs his skateboard and skates down the stair railing.

* * *

Yumi shivers, Amy's teeth chattering as she hugs herself tighter. "My f-friends are really cold," Odd calls out to the possessed faculty member, who does not say a word. "Hey, XANA. Apparently you plan on keeping us alive. Well, you'd have already blown us away." Again he gets silence. "Uh, in case you didn't know, cold can kill us too, so if I were you, I'd do something about it."

Mr. Delmas realizes that eventually they'll freeze to death, and he needed them as leverage to get Aelita to Lyoko. If they were to find out that their friends had perished...

He throws his jacket to Odd, who catches it. He looks back only for a second as Odd puts the jacket over Yumi, who smiles at him. He looks at Amy on his right and takes off his own jacket, handing it to her. "Here."

Yumi and Amy both drop their mouths in shock that he actually took off his jacket. Amy slowly takes it and puts it over her tunic. "Thank you, Odd..." She places her head on his shoulder and snuggles into him on instinct, causing him to blush. He wraps his arms around her waist and presses himself against her to keep her warm.

Yumi smiles at them. If she had a camera, she'd snap a photo.

* * *

"Nice going, Sissi," Jeremy comments bitterly as they sit outside the principal's office. "You really messed up this time. It so happens we're the only ones who can help your father."

"What do you mean?" She raises a brow.

"Your father is, uh, p...possessed," Aelita tells her bluntly. If they lied, she wouldn't believe them, so the only option was to tell her the truth.

"Oh yeah, right. Like in Hospital of Horrors? And he's been taken over by a demonic entity who will make him do unspeakable things, huh?"

"Well basically, that's about it," Jeremy is slightly surprised by her specific choice in words. True, she knew about him before, but he's never gotten that kind of description from someone who didn't know about XANA.

* * *

In the warehouse, it's been almost quiet. Amy has fallen asleep on Odd's shoulders as she felt tired. Yumi hears a thump and looks down to see a cell phone between her and Odd.

"Ames," Odd whispers gently, shaking her. "You can't sleep now."

"Mm," She murmurs and he tries again.

"Come on, no sleeping. You can take a nap later."

She rubs her eyes and glances at the phone, looking back up at the principal.

Ulrich opens the door to the bridge and crawls onto the structure, running across.

Yumi slowly picks up the phone and dials Ulrich.

As he jumps to the elevator down below, his cell phone rings. He picks up upon seeing Yumi's name. "Yumi, are you okay? Where are you?"

"If you ask me," Yumi whispers, hiding her head underneath the jacket. "We're at the refrigerated warehouses on the wharf just on-" The phone flies out of her hand, along with Amy's and Odd's. "Hey!" They watch in shock as the possessed principal is using telepathy to lift up the phones. They're then brought to him and by making his hand into a fist, he crushes the phones to bits. They gasp in horror at his power.

"Yumi?" Ulrich calls out, but the line is dead. "Yumi?" He hangs up in defeat before eyeing the EMP bomb prototype...

* * *

"So, in order to help my father, you have to go and deactivate a tower that's in a virtual universe?" Sissi asks in disbelief.

"That's right," Jeremy confirms.

"My last question...why should I help a couple of complete wacko pathological liars, huh?"

"Keep it down," One of the officers warns them and Sissi stays silent with a huff.

"It's not us you'll be helping, it's your father," Aelita insists, trying to get to Sissi's soft side. She knew how much Sissi cared for her father, even if she was mean all the time. Surely she wouldn't turn down a chance to help her family. "You have to trust us, I'm begging you."

The door opens as William steps out. "Thank you. You can go home now," The detective sends him off. "Elizabeth Delmas, it's your turn."

Ulrich stares down at the prototype, with having no idea how to start it up. "Jeremy, next time leave me an instruction manual." He decides to just go for it and flip a switch. He flips the other one and some lights turn on.

"Yes!"

"It's true that my father's been acting kinda weird for a while now." The detective pushes his pen up and down as he listens. "He's taken to locking himself in the basement to tinker around and he says strange things too. The other day he told me he was fed up with life. I told him that it was only natural for a school principal with such a heavy load to feel that way. And then he started laughing in a really crazy way and said he did have a heavy load, but he hadn't decided where to set it off yet. And then I also heard him on the phone saying he'd gotten some material. I didn't really get what he said. It sounded like decorators or destinators or..."

The detective's eyes widen as he sits up in alarm. "Detonators?!"

"Yeah, that was it."

The detective opens the door. "Evacuate the school."

Jeremy and Aelita gasp in shock, looking up at a winking Sissi.

* * *

They run out of the administers' building, stopping at the park. "Thanks for trusting us, Sissi," Jeremy looks at her.

"Don't mention it. But if your story about a virtual world turns out to be phony, you're gonna regret it," Sissi warns him as he gets a phone call. He answers it.

"Ulrich, where are you?"

"On my way to the refrigerated warehouses. I'm gonna try and set Yumi, Amy, and Odd free," He drags the bomb prototype on his skateboard.

"XANA's ultimatum expires in 15 minutes," Jeremy glances at his watch.

"I'll go as fast as I can. Meet ya at the factory."

Jeremy looks back at Sissi, who's following the two. "Sissi, what are you doing?"

"I'm coming with you," She pants as she trails after Aelita. "Remember my father is involved in this. And I wanna check out this virtual world business you've been blabbering about."

"Oh, alright," He says in defeat. He'll have to launch a return to the past. They reach the manhole cover.

Ulrich drags the bomb, arriving at his destination, standing in front of the glass doors.

"Wow," Sissi comments once the three are in the lab. "I feel like I'm in a James Bond movie."

"XANA doesn't waste time," Jeremy looks at the screen. "Your friend the Scyphozoa is already waiting for you."

"How much time before the ultimatum is up?"

"Two minutes," He answers in worry. In the ice sector, the jellyfish monster is waiting in front of a tunnel.

Ulrich walks down the hall, opening a door. He closes it. He opens the next door. Zilch. He tries the third one and like the last two, he doesn't find his friends. No trace of the principal either. His phone rings and he answers it.

"Hurry! One minute to go, Ulrich."

"But Jeremy, there are dozens of cold rooms here," He gestures to the hall.

"I should've handed myself over to the Scyphozoa," Aelita laments.

"No. Ulrich's gonna make it." However, there are only five seconds left. "The ultimatum is up."

Sissi gasps in shock as they look at the zeroes. What could that mean for Amy, Odd, and Yumi...?

The possessed principal suddenly growls, turning around. Yumi, Odd, and Amy are sitting around silently, Amy still snuggled into Odd and in his sweater. He knows what to do as the others have wasted time.

He holds out his hand, Odd looking up.

Ulrich hears a scream, turning to his right. He recognizes it as it was Odd.

The principal is electrocuting Odd. "Odd!" Yumi and Amy stand up. "No, Mr. Delmas, stop!" He then electrocutes the girls, lifting all three to the wall. He watches them scream in pain with a satisfied growl. Ulrich has tracked them down using their screams, glancing around the corner.

"Jeremy, that bomb you made, it won't blow away the principal, will it?"

"Well, uh, theoretically speaking, no," Jeremy answers slowly. He hopes that it wouldn't. Technically, it shouldn't even harm a human, just only the ghost possessing them. He made it so that a human wouldn't be injured.

"Watch out!" Ulrich kicks the bomb underneath the man's feet, eventually exploding.

"Ulrich!" Jeremy calls out as he heard it. "Ulrich. Can you hear me?"

"You said that that bomb fried anything electronic," Aelita reminds him. "So that would mean cell phones too, right?"

"Oh, I'm such a dork!" Jeremy insults himself. "I hadn't thought of that!"

"Can't we find out if it worked? My father might be dead by now," Sissi places a hand on her cheek in horror at the thought.

"Or in great shape, giving Odd, Amy, and Yumi a piece of his mind."

Aelita frowns in worry.

The principal lays down, out cold. "It worked!" Yumi stares down at him.

"Yeah, but it wrecked my mobile," Ulrich looks at his busted phone. Without any phones, they had no way to call their friends. Odd groans as he sits up. Amy runs up to him.

"Odd, are you okay?"

"Yeah...you?"

Amy smiles softly at his concern. "Yeah...here's your sweater," She hands it to him. Ulrich gives a sound of shock that she was wearing it, Yumi giggling.

"I'll tell you and the others later," She whispers to him.

"What happened...?"

"I'll explain on the way. Come on, let's get to the factory," Ulrich leads the way and they run out of there...

Right before the principal opens his XANA filled eyes.

* * *

"Oh no," Jeremy paces around in worry. His friends could be hurt...or worse. "What rotten luck!"

"Uh, Jeremy?" He turns around to Sissi, who prepares her hands. She then kicks Jeremy's leg and punches him in the stomach, knocking the boy out.

"Nice job," Aelita compliments with a smile. "Where'd you learn to punch like that?"

"I took Penchak Silat classes, to impress Ulrich. But it didn't work," She frowns at the memory, hands on her hips. "By the way, why did you ask me to do that?"

"I have to help Ulrich, Odd, Amy, and Yumi," Aelita explains herself. She didn't want her friends to suffer just because of her. "Only I can deactivate the tower, and Jeremy would've never let me do it."

"Sissi, now!" Aelita calls out. She's set up the virtualization process. Now all Sissi had to do is press the button.

"Are you, um...are you sure?" Sissi asks nervously. She didn't know what it would mean for her father if she messed this up.

"Yes, Sissi. Do it," Aelita narrows her eyes. Sissi presses enter and watches in awe as Aelita is transferred, scanned, and then virtualized onto Lyoko. She lands in the ice sector like XANA wanted, landing on the path. She runs across and it doesn't take long for her to be attacked by three Kankerlots. She avoids them as best as she can.

* * *

Odd, Ulrich, Amy, and Yumi run across the bridge. Suddenly, the principal runs _on water _and jumps in front of the entrance to block their way.

"What?!" Amy exclaims in shock at him.

"Get to the factory, I'll take care of him," Ulrich jumps into the air and kicks the principal. He reaches out a hand and shoots a bolt of electricity at Ulrich, the others running past.

Aelita looks down at a slide, the only way out. She sees it leads to a tunnel and glances back at the monsters. She can't fight, so the tunnel is the only option. She jumps and slides down it. One of the Kankerlots slides to a stop. The second one bumps into him and then the third bumps into the second one, causing all of them to slide right off the edge. Aelita shouts nervously as the three Kankerlots follow her, their feet now on the path. She enters the tunnel and so do the Kankerlots one by one.

She slides to the right as the first Kankerlot fires wildly. Aelita ducks quickly under another laser, looking back behind her. The Kankerlot right behind her shows no mercy as it continues to fire. It tries to control its feet, flying out of control. Eventually the monster takes out one of his friends. Aelita turns back as she sees the exit approaching. She slides out into the open air as the second Kankerlot follows. Aelita crashes onto the ground near a mini glacier. The second Kankerlot hits it, destroying itself.

Aelita turns back to see the last one, who lands perfectly. It advances towards her and she backs away slowly. Then she hears a familiar noise and turns back to the Scyphozoa. It captures her into its tentacles, proceeding to steal her memory.

"Jeremy?" Sissi looks over him as he starts to wake up. "Uh, Jeremy? I think there's a problem."

"Oh," He holds his head. "Oh, my head!"

"Well, Aelita is there in-in the video game," She looks at the screen. "And with some kind of giant squid."

"Huh? What?" He stands up at her explanation, seeing Aelita's memory depleting. "Oh no! Aelita! Are you crazy?!" Hearing the doors open, he turns to Amy, Odd, and Yumi. "To Lyoko, fast!"

"What about my father? Is he alright?" Sissi asks in concern as she doesn't see him.

"Couldn't be better," Odd jerks a thumb to outside. "He's outside playing with Ulrich."

"No time to lose, let's go," Amy pushes the button.

They arrive in the ice sector, landing as their vehicles arrive. Odd backflips onto his Overboard. Yumi jumps onto her Overwing. Amy flips into the air, landing in her OverRunner. They take off down the path.

"_Aelita's on the plateau ahead of you._"

Yumi sees the tunnel Aelita slid down in front of her. "Odd, take the tunnel. Amy, you drive underneath. I'll keep going straight."

"Read ya loud and clear, chief," Odd salutes and she flies over the passage.

"Have fun, Odd," Amy smirks at him, revving up her car. She speeds up as she flies off the platform, landing on the surface below and following after Yumi. Odd turns around and uses the spikes behind him to do some tricks. He laughs in excitement at his skateboarding skills, flying down the path. He flies into the tunnel.

"Hurry up!" Jeremy looks nervously at the low amount of memory left.

The Kankerlot stares at the Scyphozoa, ready to attack in case Aelita somehow escaped. She closes her eyes as she feels all of her memory about to be lost.

Suddenly, a fan and spinning spear come in. The spear takes out the Kankerlot while the fan cuts the tentacles, releasing Aelita. Yumi backflips and jumps, catching her fans. Amy runs up and grabs her spear. Yumi lands safely, turning to the Scyphozoa with a smirk. Odd suddenly flies in from the tunnel. He fires three arrows, hitting the Scyphozoa in the head. Aelita shakes her head slowly, Amy bending down to her.

"Aelita, are you alright?"

She nods slowly. Yumi flies over to them. "Saddle up." Aelita climbs on behind her, Yumi taking them into the skies. Amy backflips into her OverRunner.

Ulrich is lifted into the air and thrown to a pole by the principal.

"_The activated tower should be straight ahead of you_," Jeremy reports as they fly across to another plateau. "_Watch it now! _Move it! Ulrich must be taking a beating up there." The elevator doors close. "Sissi, uh." He sees that she's no longer there. "Sissi?"

They see a structure in front of them with three pillars, but no tower. "Jeremy, there's no activated tower here."

"The scan picked it up. It has to be somewhere," Jeremy comments and sees three monsters waiting for them. "Your pals the Tarantulas are there."

"_Thanks for the tip," _Odd comments dryly. They fly around one of the pillars as three Tarantulas materialize over a hole. One of them sees the four pass by and starts firing at Odd. A laser hits him in the shoulder and he looks back at the Tarantula who hit him. Odd ducks under a shot as Amy and Yumi fly ahead. Yumi flies up into the air and Aelita sees the entrance.

"Look! Looks like the entrance to an ice cave."

Ulrich is being electrocuted by the principal. "Bonzai!" He turns to Sissi, who hits him with a stick, knocking him to the ground. She checks over Ulrich. "Ulrich, are you okay?"

Odd narrowly misses lasers as he and Amy distract the Tarantulas. Odd flies lower as Amy flies around the pillar again. Odd stomps down on his Overboard, tilting it. He flies up into the air and zips past the Tarantula, who looks up. He aims his arm and fires three times, the first shot destroying the monster. He spins the Overboard as the second one fires at him. The remaining Tarantulas stand up and fire at him as he goes back to the ground, speeding forward.

Amy lands back on the ground, skidding to a stop. She looks up at the Tarantulas and revs up the car, heading straight for the pillar. She drives faster and actually drives up the pillar at high speed, flying into the air above the monsters.

"Wow...!" Odd looks at her in awe, but one of the Tarantulas fires at her ride, devirtualizing it.

"Ah!" She starts falling towards the Tarantulas, who prepare to fire straight at her!

"Ames!" Odd flies in and saves her at the last second. She stands up, holding onto his shoulders.

"Thanks," She hugs him from behind.

"I hope I don't see you next fall. Who knows what kind of trouble my favorite girl could get into next time?" He winks at her and she rolls her eyes.

The principal sits up and Sissi holds out a hand. "Daddy, no!" He walks over and his hand electrifies. "Leave him alone!"

Odd flies over to Yumi and Aelita. "Amy, Odd, you get one of those Tarantulas, and I'll handle the other one."

"Okay," Odd gives her a thumbs up.

"You got it, Yumi!" Amy salutes to her and Odd flies them over.

"Aelita, you're gonna have to jump at the right moment," Yumi orders and she nods.

"_Hurry! Ulrich's getting massacred_! _And so is Sissi now_."

The principal hits Sissi with his electricity, knocking her away. He just laughs evilly as emotions from her are doing nothing.

The Tarantulas look up as Odd points his arm. "Laser Arrow!" He only hits the body, which is not enough. The Tarantula he hit fires at them. "Shield!" He crosses his arms in front of them, but he's hit in the arm, stomach, and devirtualized.

"Odd!" Amy exclaims and plants her feet on the Overboard, flying away from the Tarantula.

"Change of plans," Yumi looks at Aelita. "You take the controls." She lets go of the handles. "Let's go!"

Aelita takes hold as Amy flies down near Yumi, who pulls out her fans and spins them. She starts spinning around, landing in front of the Tarantulas. Amy backflips off the Overboard and lands in front of the second one. She spins her spear as Yumi continues spinning, holding up her hands and spinning her fans all around. The monsters fire, but she deflects every shot. Amy flicks her arm to avoid each laser in heading for her. Yumi stops spinning and throws one of her fans, hitting one Tarantula and destroying it. She catches her fan and looks at the last one remaining.

Amy holds out her finger. "Shattering Ice." A flurry of ice shards fires, but the Tarantula stands up, the shards only hitting the body. She grunts at it as it fires, Yumi absorbing the laser with her fan. It also knocks her back a little. When it happens again, she's nearing the edge.

"Now!" Yumi tells Aelita, who flies over the cave entrance and jumps. She slides down it safely, Amy sighing in relief. The Tarantula then turns around and devirtualizes Yumi.

"Yumi!"

Amy turns to the monster and holds out her left hand, a blue flame emerging from it. "Ice Flame!" She throws it at the monster and it explodes when it hits the eye. Amy sighs in relief, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

Aelita slides down the tunnel and rolls to a stop. She stands up and turns around...

Finally finding the activated tower. "Here's the tower!"

"_Hurry up_!" Jeremy urges and she runs inside, stopping at the center. She starts floating to the top.

"Daddy!" Sissi cries out as he turns his attention on Ulrich. He knocks the boy onto the ground.

Aelita reaches the top with a soft landing, walking up and logging in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The principal turns back to normal and falls unconscious in front of Sissi. "Daddy!"

"Tower deactivated."

"Ulrich." He opens his eyes at her voice. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks to you. Thanks a lot, Sissi."

She walks up to her father in concern as he's not moving. "Is he..."

"No, just knocked out." Just from here, he can tell the man is still breathing. "Don't worry."

"What's gonna happen to him now?" She closes her eyes, lightly touching him. "I mean, with the kidnapping and everything?" If her father went to jail not only for kidnapping students, attacking one, and also with him being under suspect for bombs, she'd be all alone...

"Everything's gonna be alright. No one will remember anything. Neither will you, for that matter."

She walks up to him. "And you?"

"I will. For me, it's not the same."

"Okay," She leans in towards him. "Then you'll remember this kiss." She kisses him on the lips, Odd on the phone as he saw the whole thing.

"You can go ahead, Einstein. I wonder which would be worse, being blind or having to see this."

The girls arrive in the lab, Jeremy having materialized Aelita and Amy. "See what?" Yumi asks curiously, but gets no answer as Jeremy launches the return in time.

"Return to the past now." It engulfs them, the bridge, and the school as everything goes back to normal.

* * *

Sissi walks up to the three like last time. "Oh, what do you know? Yumi isn't here with you. Of course not, I just saw her with William. How stupid of me."

Ulrich smiles, saying nothing as Sissi walks away. "Ciao!" Despite her still trying to cause trouble, he knew the truth.

"Uh, Ulrich?" Jeremy looks up at him. "Hello? You're still thinking about what happened on the bridge?"

"What happened on the bridge?" Yumi, Odd, and Amy arrive, the older girl demanding for an explanation.

"Yeah, what did happen on the bridge?" Aelita asks curiously.

"Nothing," Ulrich answers immediately, though he stammers a bit.

"Odd?" Yumi glances at the boy standing next to her.

"But it's true. Nothing happened," He denies as the bell rings. Jeremy closes his laptop.

"Okay, it's time for class."

"Something smells really fishy," Yumi murmurs as she raises an eyebrow at the boys' strange behavior. "What could they be hiding?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's just another boy thing," Aelita denies, but when Ulrich lets Sissi go inside class first, she can't help but narrow her eyes suspiciously.

"Amy, do you know?"

"Of course not," Amy shrugs slowly. "Like they said before, if nothing happened, nothing happened."

"You know too?!" Aelita asks in surprise. "How come they won't tell us?"

"Spill," Yumi places her hands on her hips.

"Odd was embarrassed enough telling me," Amy gestures to herself, biting her cheek at her lie. "I'm not breaking his trust over nothing happening." Odd had told her before he arrived with Yumi in her room, and made her swear not to tell anyone that she knew. She hated lying, but Ulrich would kill her if he knew she knows.

And she values her life.

"So," Ulrich sits down next to Odd. "What's going on with Amy?"

"For the hundredth time, nothing," Odd whispers at him.

"Yumi says you gave her your jacket. That's not nothing, Odd. You've got it bad for your best friend," Jeremy points to him with a smirk.

"I don't have anything bad, because there's nothing there," Odd insists, crossing his arms with a huff.

"Okay, let me ask you this," Ulrich leans forward with a serious look. "And answer honestly, Odd. No jokes. What do you feel when you first see Amy in the morning?"

"I, uh," He rubs his neck, hoping that he can make sense of what he's about to tell them. "My heart beats a little...but they're supposed to do that."

Jeremy facepalms, Ulrich shaking his head. "Okay, how do you feel when she's in danger?"

"I feel like I have to be the one to save her. Because without her, I wouldn't be me," Odd frowns to himself.

"What about if you saw her with another guy?" Jeremy rubs his chin.

"I'd pull her away and make sure that he stays away from her," Odd narrows his eyes at the thought. "She already has a best friend in the male department—me!"

"Okay, so let's recap what you just said," Ulrich counts off on his fingers. "Your heart beats when you see her in the morning, you feel like you have to protect her whether it's Lyoko or here because you'd be lost without her, and you admitted to being jealous if she's with another boy."

"Hey, I never said I was-"

"You technically did, Odd," Jeremy holds up a finger. "You said you'd make sure he'd stay away. Face it, buddy, you have feelings. For Amy."

Odd pauses at their arguments. Was it really so bad to deny? After all...he's never felt this way about any girls he's dated so far. Not like how he feels for the brunette. It was different...a good different.

"But she's my best friend. If I say I like her, it might ruin all of that...and I like what we have now."

"Odd," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "It's not really so bad to fall for your best friend. Even if she rejects you, which she wouldn't, you'd still be just as close. Think about it. Would you really stop hanging out with her if she said no?"

"Of course not."

"So...what are you gonna do about it?" Ulrich wonders.

"I think I'll just do nothing for now. I don't want her to suspect anything. I...need to find the right time," Odd glances at the entrance and shushes them. "She's coming in with Aelita now. And don't tell her we had this conversation."

"Alright, but if you don't tell her soon, we might have to," Ulrich tells him and he stays silent. That means he didn't have that much time...he'd have to confess to Amy. It wasn't the fact that they're close friends that worries him.

It was her reaction to when she finds out.

How was he gonna make everything normal again after this?


	44. A Fine Mess

A coin is flipped into the air as Ulrich catches it in his palm. He had recently been devirtualized and was waiting to see who would be next with Amy. He slams it down on his right palm. "Heads, it's Odd first for Amy. And for me, Tails it's Yumi." He looks at the side staring up at him. "Heads, Odd."

Yumi steps out first and Amy sighs slowly. Now she owed him five bucks. "Huh, Yumi. I win."

She looks at her hair strand, looking down at her hands. "Yumi, are you okay?" Ulrich asks in concern as Aelita and Odd exit the scanner.

"What am I doing over here?" It's Yumi's voice out of Odd's body, Amy's mouth opening in shock.

"Uh, I, uh, think we got a little problem here," Odd says out of Yumi's body.

"Huh...looks like I won after all," Amy looks back at Ulrich.

Jeremy looks at Odd and Yumi's DNA sequences, and the results don't look good at all. "Well?" Odd asks, crossing Yumi's arms.

"I guess there's a little bug in the rematerialization program," Jeremy comments to Yumi/Odd's dismay.

"You call this a little bug? We can't stay this way!"

"Well, what if we went back to Lyoko and devirtualized all over again?" Odd/Yumi wonders. There should be no problem in that, right? "Maybe everything will go back to normal."

"And what if the program messes up again and you don't have any bodies at all this time?" Jeremy looks at the red warning mark.

"Uh, okay. Bad idea," Odd/Yumi comments sheepishly.

"Uh, so what do we do then?" Ulrich asks. He certainly didn't want his friends stuck like this for possibly forever. It would be too weird.

"Gotta fix the program."

"How long will it take you? A couple of hours at the most?" Odd/Yumi asks him.

"Um, if I work through the night, it might be ready tomorrow morning," Jeremy replies, Yumi/Odd glaring at him.

"What?! You mean I'm gonna have to sleep in a guy's body?!" Not only that, but she couldn't go home to her parents like this, meaning she'd have to stay at the dorms.

With Ulrich.

Alone.

She knew that it wouldn't be that awkward since it's Odd's body, but still. Not exactly orthodox.

"Well I'm not gonna get any sleep at all, I'll have you know," Jeremy retorts back.

"Jeremy, you barely sleep at all to begin with," Amy rolls her eyes.

"If you haven't noticed, I have a dynamite body!" Odd/Yumi tells Yumi/Odd. "Isn't that right, my favorite girl?" Odd/Yumi puts an arm around Amy's shoulders.

"Uh, no," She gently pushes his arm off. "Touching me as Yumi is too weird..."

"It's still better than yours," Odd/Yumi scratches at something from the black sweater. "For example, something's itching in my back. It's, uh, I think it's the strap to your..." He realizes what it is, looking at Yumi/Odd. Amy sighs slowly, a hand on her forehead in annoyance.

"Don't you _dare _take it off, you hear! Or else Amy and I will make sure you regret it!" Yumi/Odd threatens.

"Why are you getting me involved?!" Amy gestures to herself in disbelief, Ulrich, Aelita, and Jeremy glancing at each other knowingly. The girls were silently on the sides trying to get Amy to see Odd as something more rather than a best friend, but Amy didn't seem to get what they were doing most of the time. They know that they can get to Amy eventually and have her admit her feelings. Odd had technically already done it as phase one, now it was time for phase 2...hopefully.

"Don't you guys worry about it. I'll be helping Jeremy tonight. Everything will be fine by tomorrow morning," Aelita calms them down.

"I hope so."

"Not as much as I do," Yumi/Odd mutters bitterly.

* * *

They exit the sewers, Yumi/Odd exiting first. "Okay, so what's my schedule for this evening?"

"Well, try the three B's: Bacon, bath, bedtime," Odd/Yumi counts off. "What about me?"

"Same here, but Japanese-style. Just try not to say anything stupid in front of my parents. Can you eat with chopsticks?" Yumi/Odd glances at him.

"Yeah, as long as they look like forks," Odd/Yumi stands up.

"Ha ha, very funny. Don't do anything stupid with my body, either," Yumi/Odd warns as Ulrich and Amy step out.

"Mine's still under warranty."

"I think you better brush your teeth and go to bed early tonight," Yumi/Odd suggests, as she didn't want him to do anything risky.

"Isn't it tonight the night you're supposed to break up with Magali?" Ulrich approaches Odd/Yumi. Amy frowns at the name to herself. She...was his friend, so the only thing she could do was support Odd in his decisions. Of course he'd never go out with her. He probably thought it was too weird to date his best friend...

She was sure in her decision, but it still hurt to think about.

"Yeah, that's right. And with Claire, too," Odd/Yumi glances at Amy. The real reason why he was breaking up with them is because of Amy. It felt...wrong to date other girls when he had true feelings for her. Then again, he never felt anything for any previous girls before...dating them was no harm done as long as nothing happened...

Right?

Maybe he should date other girls just to be sure that Amy is the one for him. That's what he'll do. He'll go through the rest of the girls and then focus on Amy. Of course he cared about her feelings too, but it was too soon to confess to her. He just had to get the other girls out of his system.

"You're going steady with two girls at the same time?" Ulrich gives Odd/Yumi a disapproving look. "I didn't know _that_."

"Neither do Magali and Claire. Up till now, that is."

Amy sighs in relief. She knows perfectly well that Odd is gonna go through the rest of the girls; she has known him for over a year. Well, except for Aelita and Sissi. He would never do that to Jeremy and Sissi was a never. More like he'd rather see Hospital of Horrors than to date her. And if that was his decision...

She supported it.

Granted, she is a little hurt by it, but it was his life.

She just wondered if he would ever see her in that way...

* * *

Ulrich flips a coin as Odd/Yumi is sitting next to him. "Hey. I've got a great idea. You're always too shy to ask Yumi out, right? Now you can practice on me!"

"Odd, that's not a great idea, it's a stupid idea. And anyway, I'm not _that _crazy about Yumi."

"Yeah, right. Tell me about it. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you to give it a shot without really sticking your neck out. And this way, I could give you some pointers too." He's had a lot of ways of asking out girls, so Ulrich could really use one of them.

"Pointers? _You_? Need I remind you, Casanova, that you haven't told Amy your feelings yet."

Odd/Yumi grunts as he looks away. The last thing he needed was to be reminded about that. He just wasn't comfortable yet...

"Come on. Ask me out," Odd/Yumi encourages, avoiding the subject. "I'm waiting."

"Well, look who's here," Sissi walks up to them. "Romeo and Juliet."

"Sissi. I can't believe it. What a lamebrain," Odd/Yumi whispers to himself.

"My dear Ulrich, when will you understand that I am the girl for you?" Sissi asks hopefully. "What do you see in this stringbean anyway?"

"At least I don't have the mind of a vegetable!" Odd/Yumi retorts back and she looks surprised at the low tone in 'Yumi's' voice. "Give it a rest, Sissi," Odd/Yumi uses a more higher pitch, "Ulrich and I were made for one another. You got that?" He glances at Ulrich, who wonders what he's doing. 'Yumi' then places her head on Ulrich's shoulder lovingly.

"Why that-that...that's disgusting!" Sissi shouts in horror, storming off. Tamiya just happens to see them from inside the cafeteria, snapping a photo.

"Oh wow. The scoop of the year, I've got it!" She sees Yumi hugging Ulrich.

"What?!" Ulrich exclaims in disbelief.

"Hey, now I see why Sissi's so crazy about you," Odd/Yumi comments.

"Do that one more time and you're dead," Ulrich threatens, narrowing his eyes. Amy shows up and when she sees the two, her eyes widen, dropping the books she was holding. "Oh no...Amy, please don't tell Yumi."

"Trust me, I won't..." Amy murmurs as he storms past her, angry at Odd.

"Well! You try to do a friend a favor, and that's the thanks you get..." Odd/Yumi comments to himself.

"Um...Odd?" Amy asks slowly and he looks up, his eyes wide as he sees her. "What did I just see...?"

"Oh no. Uh, Amy, wait! It wasn't like that!"

"Yeah, uh...I'm just...gonna go now..." Amy slowly backs away and he pouts. Now it's gonna be awkward the next time he spoke to her...

* * *

Kiwi growls at Yumi/Odd, as he doesn't recognize her. She rummages through Odd's drawer as he asked her to find something for him. "No, that's not it," She throws a tube over her shoulder. "Cut it out, Kiwi. There's no reason to growl, it's me, Yumi. Ah," She holds up a green item. "This should be it. Time to go. See you later, Kiwi."

When she leaves, Kiwi runs up to the door, only to hit the metal, whimpering. "Be a good dog now. Goodbye, Kiwi."

"Odd?"

"What?" Yumi/Odd gets slapped by Magali.

"I know all about Claire. You are so despicable. I hope you and Amy are happy together!" She storms off, leaving her confused.

"Odd?" Then Claire shows up. "I know all about Magali. You sneaky rat!" She slaps the right cheek and Yumi/Odd stares in shock, wondering what just happened.

"Odd?"

Yumi/Odd holds an arm in front of her in case another girl decides to slap her. Sissi approaches her from behind. "You can tell Ulrich he'll have to beg for a date with a real flower once that stringbean veggie drops him." She only nods her head, watching Sissi leave.

"Hey," Ulrich opens the door. "Yumi. What are you doing? Did you find it?"

"Uh, yeah here it is," Yumi looks at the alligator stick she's holding. "Sissi just told me to tell you something. Something about veggies? I didn't get it. What's going on?"

"Nothing," He denies immediately. "Are you coming? Let's go to the cafeteria."

Tamiya snaps a photo, Milly right next to her. "Ulrich, do you mind answering a few questions for our Academy Gossip Column?"

"Yes, I do mind," He says, walking past them.

"What has gotten into you now?" Yumi/Odd whispers at his attitude.

"Ask that imbecile Odd," Is all he mutters as they approach Odd/Yumi and Amy. Ulrich rubs his neck sheepishly at how Amy saw them. Odd/Yumi managed to calm her down and explain what he was trying to do, so she was no longer uncomfortable.

"Well, did you find it? I've had it ever since I was really little."

"That's as much as time you've had Kiwi," Amy giggles at the thought of Odd being littler than he was now.

* * *

"Why, Yumi, what's the matter?" Mr. Ishiyama asks in concern. It's dinner time as Odd/Yumi tries to hold food in chopsticks...and then it falls into the broth, spilling some onto the table. He then remembers what Yumi/Odd said earlier.

"_Only in case of emergency, okay?_"

Food was an emergency, right? And Yumi could just convince her parents that she was just going through a phase...

He smirks and pulls out the alligator stick from Yumi's pocket. He opens it to reveal that it's actually a fork. The Ishiyama family stare in utter silence as Odd/Yumi laughs it, capturing some sushi in the fork. He takes a bite, humming as he tries to not drive too much attention to himself, but the damage has already been done...

"Uh, actually, I'm not very hungry, so I better go to bed," He stands up, saying something in Chinese and leaving.

"Why is she speaking to us in Chinese now?" Mr. Ishiyama wonders in confusion.

"It's love~" Hiroki teases, laughing. "Oh, Ulrich, I looove you."

"Hiroki!" Mrs. Ishiyama scolds him.

Odd/Yumi switches on the bathroom light, using his hands...or rather Yumi's. He looks up at himself, turning off the water. Suddenly, his hand flickers and becomes partially transparent. He stares at it in shock, but then it turns back to normal.

* * *

In Ulrich and Yumi/Odd's room, she pets Kiwi, calming him down as he was growling. Clearly he didn't recognize his master. "You'll see, you'll get used to me in no time. Nice puppy," She says and just like with Odd/Yumi, her hand becomes partially transparent too. She gasps sharply as she stares at it. Her hand turns back to its original state just as Ulrich comes in, having returned from the showers. He sees her troubled look.

"Yumi? Are you okay?"

"I-I thought my hand was disappearing for a minute...I must've imagined it," She decides to ignore it for now, hoping that it wasn't going to be a problem.

"Oh," He closes the door behind him. "Don't worry, you can tell Jeremy about it tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, I guess it can wait," She proceeds to remove one of Odd's shoes.

"Watch yourself," Ulrich warns, holding up a finger.

"Watch what?" Her question is answered a few seconds later. "Oh! Ohhh! Oh, gross!" She then faints from the smell of her body's feet.

"I warned you. Heh, it's more powerful than a laser arrow!" Ulrich chuckles at the thought. He honestly had no idea how Amy hasn't complained about it.

* * *

The next morning, Jeremy is still hard at work in the factory. He hadn't left all night. "I was right, Aelita. It's definitely a bug in the rematerialization program." He's confused when Aelita doesn't say anything, nor does he feel her presence. "Huh? Aelita?"

Turning his head, he sees Aelita on the ground. She had fallen asleep. He decides to let her sleep, as it was a long night.

Kiwi wakes up at the sun shining down, yawning. He walks up to Yumi/Odd. Ulrich had tucked her in early when she passed out. He starts licking her forehead.

"Oh, please, Kiwi," She pushes him away gently, though she was silently glad he wasn't growling at her anymore. Her hand disappears again and she gasps in shock that it's happening again. What did it mean? "Ulrich."

He wakes up at her voice and sees her hand being transparent. It stops, but it doesn't cease their concerns.

"I hope that Jeremy found the bug."

* * *

Coffee is being poured by drips at the Ishiyama house as Mrs. Ishiyama puts down some bread in the toaster. When she walks to the microwave, the toast pops out, some of it black. She stares at it, shrugging.

"Yumi, are you up? Could you give me a hand with breakfast?"

Odd/Yumi doesn't answer as he stares at his disappearing hands. "Uh, yes. If...if I had a hand to give you..."

His hands go back to normal. He really hoped Jeremy could make some sense of this, or else Amy won't have a best friend to hang around with!

* * *

"It only lasted a few seconds, but my hands completely disappeared," Yumi/Odd holds up her hand as she walks down the hall with the others. Odd/Yumi hadn't arrived yet.

"Strange. I'll be a lot happier when both of you are back in your own bodies. I fixed the program. We just need to restart it from Lyoko. We'll go to the factory at lunch time," Jeremy explains, glancing back at Yumi/Odd. Ulrich places a hand on her shoulder.

"See? Everything's fine."

"Uh, no," Yumi/Odd sees something horrible up ahead. "Everything's very bad."

They stare in shock at Odd/Yumi. He's wearing black pants with a Kiwi charm, an orange/green sweater, and a black hat with pom poms hanging from it, which has cat ears on top of it. Fingerless fishnet gloves are on his hands.

"Ni Hao!" He greets them.

Their mouths open in shock as they say nothing. Ulrich didn't even think Yumi had that kind of outfit. She normally wears black, not...that.

"First of all, that's Chinese, and second of all, what is with that outfit?!" Yumi/Odd demands angrily.

"Well, they're your clothes," Odd/Yumi reminds her like nothing was wrong. "Cool, huh? Looks really good."

"For you, Odd. Not for Yumi," Amy drags a hand down her face. "Did you forget that she wears all black?"

"You are so lucky that you're in my body right now," Yumi/Odd storms up to the idiot. "Or I will beat you to a pulp! Go home you hear and change before the entire school sees you!"

Tamiya just happens to come in and snap a photo, to Yumi/Odd's dismay. "Yumi Ishiyama!" Milly claps at the headline, "Transformed by love! Cool headline."

"It'll double our circulation," Tamiya says happily.

Yumi/Odd stares at them for a few seconds, whipping back around to Odd/Yumi. "What are they talking about with this love thing?!"

"Um, no time to explain." Yumi would absolutely kill him if she found out about the first school headline from yesterday... "I don't wanna be late for math class. Sayonara!" He sings, walking off. Yumi/Odd sighs in defeat. She'll let it pass for now since she did not want him to be late. But soon, she was gonna find out what was going on...

* * *

Odd/Yumi throws down the hat onto the table, William staring at her in disbelief. "Take out your pens, please. Pop quiz on linear functions."

He gasps in shock. He was already bad at 8th grade math, how was he gonna get through 9th grade math? Not only is he bad at math, but he didn't know anything about linear functions! Too bad Amy's not in this class, math is one of her strongest subjects besides art. He's seen her do 9th grade math on college practice sheets her father gives her.

Mrs. Meyer hands out the papers, Odd/Yumi staring at it. "Oh man. Not great. Yumi's gonna kill me."

"Do you always have conversations with yourself?" William asks in confusion. The Yumi he knows hasn't done that so far.

"Well, yes, they call it a split personality, but nothing to worry about," Odd/Yumi immediately dismisses.

"Hmm, right. Is that why you're dressed like that?"

"Well, um, kind of." He stares down at the quiz paper, just as his hand starts disappearing again. He gasps quietly in concern, standing up and raising a hand. "Uh, ma'am? I have a sore throat, can I go to the infirmary?"

"Uh, yes, of course, Yumi." Mrs. Meyer can obviously tell from Yumi's voice that she's not lying. "Go ahead."

Odd/Yumi leaves the room as quickly as possible to talk to Jeremy.

* * *

"And no one noticed anything in class?" Jeremy asks as they're walking in the park.

"No. They were all concentrating on the math quiz," Odd/Yumi tells him.

"Huh? There was a math quiz this morning?" Yumi/Odd asks in slight fear. She knows how bad Odd is at math. "Did you manage?"

"Well, if you mean sharpening my pencils and all that, yeah."

"What do you think the problem is, Jeremy?" Aelita changes the subject.

"Odd and Yumi have been rematerialized in bodies that aren't their own, and so they aren't stable," Jeremy opens the manhole cover.

"And?" Ulrich asks expectantly, hoping for a simple answer.

"What happens if they stay like this for much longer?" Amy wonders curiously.

"Well, if we don't take care of the problem immediately, their atoms might split," He starts climbing down the ladder.

"What do you mean, our atoms might split?" Odd/Yumi wonders, as he's not good at science either.

"Complete disintegration," Jeremy answers solemnly, Amy gasping in horror.

"Great," Yumi/Odd sighs slowly.

They enter the lab, Jeremy turning to them as he enters. "Get to the scanner room. I'm sending you down to the ice sector." He gets into the chair, putting on the microphone. "You'll have to get to a way tower due north from where you'll arrive. Aelita will reboot the program from that tower and the nightmare should be over. Aelita, Amy, and Ulrich, you'll go in first."

He wanted to make sure that nothing else happened if he sent the other two in there. The scanners close the three in. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. Virtualization."

They land in the ice sector on a plateau safely. "Transfer Odd. No, I mean that is, uh, Yumi, uh no, wait! Umm...oh, whatever. Transfer, scanner, virtualization," He quickly does the process before he gets even more confused.

The two land as Ulrich spins his sword. He looks at them as Yumi/Odd looks at herself. "And now let's hear it for Catwoman?" Being in Odd's body on Lyoko was just as weird as being in his body on Earth itself.

"Hey, just because you're in Odd's body doesn't mean you should crack jokes," Amy glances at her. Odd/Yumi tries to walk in Yumi's heels, but he trips, falling on his butt. They all laugh at him.

"There's the tower," Aelita points to it in the north direction like Jeremy said.

"_Hurry up. XANA might wanna send a welcome committee_."

Ulrich takes the lead, Yumi and Odd running like they normally would in their own bodies. Amy has definitely seen enough weirdness for one day...

Aelita also looks at Odd/Yumi weirdly, silently hoping she could find the right solution in the tower, and soon.

The tower glows blue as they reach it. The other four come to a stop. "Be right back," Aelita runs inside and disappears.

Yumi and Odd's bodies start disappearing just like with their hands. They gasp sharply, looking at themselves.

"Oh no, now it's all of you instead of just your hands," Amy says in worry.

"I hope Aelita makes it fast. This is turning into an emergency here!" Odd/Yumi comments, Amy hearing some noises behind them.

A laser shoots right past them and they duck, Yumi/Odd backflipping and rubbing her back when she lands.

"Kankerlots," Ulrich says, Odd/Yumi pointing his arm. "That's all we need."

"Gee, thanks for the heads up, Jeremy." He looks at his arm.

"Sorry, but watch it. Whatever happens, Odd or Yumi can't be devirtualized. If they go, it's bye bye for good."

"Oh, how swell," Amy deadpans, "How can this possibly get worse?"

"Laser arrow!" Odd/Yumi shouts, but nothing happens. It's only then that he realizes that Yumi's body doesn't have laser arrows, not like he would on his arm. "Hey...! Oh no, I forgot."

The Kankerlots attack again, Odd/Yumi ducking and sliding to a stop in front of Ulrich, who absorbs a laser with his sword. He giggles sheepishly at the samurai.

Aelita does a flip as she's almost at the top. She reaches it softly and goes to find what she's looking for.

The four are hiding behind a small ledge as the lasers shoot right past them. Ulrich jumps onto the platform.

"Super Sprint," He speeds over to block the shots away from his friends. Amy backflips and runs towards the Kankerlots. Yumi/Odd tries to fire the arrows, but she can't.

"Odd, how do the arrows work?" She asks, dodging a couple of shots.

"Well, you imagine you're firing. You concentrate a little bit and bingo, it fires," Odd/Yumi explains as best as he can. Yumi/Odd looks down at her arm, trying to do as he said, but it doesn't do anything.

Ulrich speeds over and jumps, slicing a Kankerlot and destroying it. "Like this?" It fires and zips right past Odd/Yumi's head and Amy, who was near the tower.

"Hey!" Both Amy and Odd/Yumi exclaim in unison.

"Oops. Sorry," She says sheepishly. Odd/Yumi silently calls her an idiot by twirling his finger against his forehead. Amy runs up to a Kankerlot and jumps, holding out her finger.

"Shattering Ice!" A dozen mini shards hit the Kankerlot, destroying it.

"Uh, Jeremy, we've got a big problem," Aelita says nervously, getting the boy's attention. "I can't do anything from here. The program's being run by inhibitors."

"We have to deactivate them. I'll try to find them," Jeremy types away, but he can't access anything to do so. "Oh no!"

Yumi/Odd narrowly ducks her head from a projectile, looking up at a stray Kankerlot that managed to slip past the others. Ulrich speeds in front of her and destroys it.

"Thank you for caring," He glances back at her.

"We're doing all we can, you know?" Odd/Yumi speaks up with a shrug. It wasn't his fault he's stuck in another body.

"Ulrich, they need to know each other's style of fighting," Amy walks up to them. "Preferably before either one of us gets devirtualized trying to help you two."

"Noted," The two say in unison.

They hear Aelita getting out of the tower as she runs up to them. "Hurry, we have to get to Sector Five."

"Huh? But what for?" Odd/Yumi asks in confusion.

"I'll explain on the way. I'm bringing up your vehicles," Jeremy materializes them.

Ulrich and Aelita take the Overbike, while Yumi/Odd sits on the Overboard. "Are you absolutely sure that we have to go into Sector Five?" She asks, Odd/Yumi flying the Overwing with seemingly no problem and Amy driving up behind her.

"We don't have time for to try and crack the millions of codes to find those inhibitors," Jeremy tells her. "_Remember, if you don't get back into your own bodies quickly, it means disintegration!_"

"I don't know about you two, but I don't wanna say goodbye while we're still teenagers," Amy glances at them.

"Aw, will you really miss me that much, Ames?" Yumi/Odd teases. "You care so much, it's tear-jerking!"

"Odd! Of course I care," Amy shrugs like it was nothing. "You and Yumi are my friends, after all. Do me a favor, though, don't call me any nicknames while you're still in Yumi's body." Her mouth turns into a weird frown. "It's kinda unsettling. Like earlier."

"Right, right. Sorry," He rubs his neck sheepishly.

"And what's more, seeing how you handle those arrows, you might accidentally kill Odd before then," Ulrich jokes, Aelita giggling.

"Are you ready? I'm entering the code Scipio," Jeremy types it in and the transporter arrives for the waiting Lyoko Warriors. Suddenly, a monster comes in behind them. Ulrich glances behind him and sees the Megatank.

"A Megatank!" He pulls out his sword, but gets devirtualized by the circular laser, also managing into destroying the monster.

"Ulrich!" Yumi/Odd calls out in concern just as the transporter takes them in.

The scanner opens and Ulrich groans. "I can't believe I could possibly be so dumb!" He walks off to join Jeremy.

Past the ice sector through the tunnels and down the path is the entrance to Sector Five. They enter the wall of codes and past the Celestial Dome, they arrive in the Arena. The room spins around as the room is online.

"Holosphere system connected."

The transporter lands, spinning around to let them out. Yumi/Odd groans, holding her stomach. "I think I'm gonna be sick..."

"Oh yeah, the transporter does make me feel like throwing up. Tough break for ya," Though, he is silently happy that he didn't have to experience it this time.

"Think of this way. You won't have to deal with it forever," Amy shrugs at Yumi/Odd.

The walls are slowly starting to come to a stop.

"Watch out, the wall is about to open," Aelita warns and the wall slowly opens. They run through and come to a stop to another wall. It opens up and spins, making it a hallway with platforms to jump on. They start jumping back and forth.

Ulrich enters the lab. "Well?"

"The countdown has started, so hurry it up! And watch out for the Scyphozoa," Jeremy warns them. They run into a room with lots of platforms, a Creeper crawling underneath the one they're standing on. The four jump down three times and continue to run, not noticing the monster following after them. Another one crawls on the ceiling as they race into the next room...but it's a dead end as the entire room is empty of platforms to jump on.

"Problem here!"

"XANA's a pretty lame architect. He forgot to put the stairs in!" Yumi/Odd looks down, confirming her theory. There's no way below them either.

"There's the key," Aelita points across the room to see it on the other wall.

"Great, anyone know how to fly?" Yumi/Odd asks sarcastically before smiling sheepishly. "Oh, right...sorry Amy."

"Blame the rules," She sighs slowly. Her wings could've been useful here if she was allowed to have them in Sector Five. "How are we gonna get across to press the key?"

A creeper arrives into the room and they turn around in shock. It fires Yumi/Odd slightly pushing Aelita out of the way. She fires at it, but misses.

"Great shot," Odd/Yumi teases, "You missed a creeper ten yards to the hallway?" He throws Yumi's fan, but it spins around back to him. He ducks his head, Yumi/Odd catching it with a chuckle. She throws it, but she also misses.

"Real nice aim," Amy deadpans to both of them, pulling out her spear. Before she can hit the Creeper, it crawls underneath, disappearing. Odd/Yumi looks around suspiciously, knowing that it wasn't destroyed. So where could it have gone?

He shrugs to the others, looking over at the front. The Creeper appears a few seconds later, firing at Odd/Yumi. He stumbles back and tries not to fall, but when the monster hits him, he goes flying over. Yumi/Odd spins around, firing and hitting the Creeper. Odd/Yumi mimics swimming.

"Wow, cool!"

"_XANA's modified the gravity in this room_."

"Well, at least we can get the key now without worrying about falling over," Amy watches Odd/Yumi. He pushes himself against the platform, trying to 'swim' over to the key. Another Creeper appears behind the trio.

"Hey!"

A laser fires right past them and Yumi/Odd turns around, destroying the Creeper with one arrow. Odd/Yumi tries to reach the key, but he doesn't have enough momentum.

"Odd, move it! We're coming to the end of the countdown."

"Darn, I didn't get enough momentum," He tries to move, but he can't.

"Odd, what are you doing?" Yumi/Odd asks impatiently. She didn't want to know what would happen if they didn't get the key in time.

"Can't you see?" He asks as another Creeper arrives. "I'm swimming through guacamole." He looks back at the Creeper.

"Shield!" Yumi/Odd throws her arms in front of her, creating a purple shield. Amy jumps into the air, spinning around and destroying the Creeper. "How many life points do you have left?"

"Lots. Why?"

Yumi/Odd fires, hitting Odd/Yumi in the back. This brings him closer to the key and he pushes it.

"Great job!"

"Yeah!"

The door opens. "Bullseye!" Yumi/Odd cheers, but nothing else happens to help them get across. Odd/Yumi goes over to the door, landing there carefully.

"Look out! Creepers behind you!" A Creeper fires and Yumi/Odd grabs Aelita, firing at the monster. They end up flying into the air as she tries to get a shot, but fails. When one of the laser arrows hits the back, the Creeper hits Yumi/Odd in the stomach, knocking her away from Aelita.

"Aelita! No!"

"Aelita, the Scyphozoa!" Jeremy calls out.

"Oh no!" Odd/Yumi exclaims as the two start disappearing again. "Not now!"

A Creeper arrives into the room and it hits Amy in the back. She turns around to deal with it. The Scyphozoa appears in the middle of the room in front of Aelita. Amy jumps away from the Creeper as it was firing at her, and she's right in the direction of the Scyphozoa. To Odd/Yumi and Yumi/Odd's shock, it grabs her AND Aelita, starting to steal their memories.

"Aelita!" Jeremy cries out, Ulrich's mouth open in shock.

"Why would it go after Amy too?" He asks, Jeremy holding his head.

"I don't know, but I don't wanna find out what happens to Amy if she loses her memory too!"

Odd/Yumi's body goes back to normal and he pulls out Yumi's fan, throwing it and freeing the girls. "Yes!" He ducks his head as the fan zips over him. Yumi/Odd fires at the jellyfish and it sinks towards the ground. Jeremy sighs in relief.

"You okay, girls?" Yumi/Odd asks in concern.

"Yeah."

"We're fine."

"Ames, push Aelita towards Yumi," Odd/Yumi orders and before she can, Amy is devirtualized by a Creeper. "Oh no!" He moves back and runs, jumping to Yumi/Odd. She kicks him towards Aelita. He grabs her with a laugh, kicking her towards Yumi/Odd. She swims over to Aelita and kicks her towards the door.

"Here I go." She runs off towards the Celestial Dome.

"Jeremy, every time we dematerialize, it lasts longer and longer," Yumi/Odd explains in concern.

"_Aelita better find the code, and fast_."

"Is Ames okay?" Odd/Yumi asks worriedly.

"I'm fine," Amy smiles into the microphone.

"That's really weird that a monster who's usually after Aelita would grab you too," Ulrich rubs his chin.

"...I know. And the Scyphozoa only attacked you in Sector Five, so that must be a clue."

"Why Sector Five, I wonder," Amy murmurs to herself.

"Careful, a Creeper!" Yumi/Odd points to the monster across from them.

Aelita reaches the room with the elevator. She watches for it and jumps off. It takes her downwards.

"Aelita, what's going on?"

"_I'm almost there_!" She runs through the open wall and finally enters the Celestial Dome. She starts using the interface.

"_Quick, deactivate the inhibitors as fast as you can and don't hang around there too long. Things are gonna get messy."_

Aelita nods, hoping that her friends can last that long.

The Creeper fires, the two narrowly missing it. Yumi/Odd prepares to fire, but their bodies start dematerializing again. While she's distracted, the Creeper hits her in the stomach.

Aelita is rushing as fast as she can. "_Aelita, hurry! _They're in the final stage of disintegration." Ulrich and Amy gasp in horror.

Aelita focuses on the interface and nothing else. She's so close to being done, she hopes that she can do it in time.

The monster hits Yumi/Odd again.

"_Hurry up, Aelita_!" Jeremy urges, not wanting to lose his friends. She manages to finish.

"That's it. Done, Jeremy. You can take over again now." She gives control back to him.

"Okay, I've got it. I'll transfer back to the rematerialization program." As soon as he says that, one final shot devirtualizes Yumi/Odd.

"Yumi, no!" Odd/Yumi cries out before he's devirtualized too.

"I sure hope the tweak on the materialization program worked," Jeremy says to the two.

"We're going to the scanner room." They walk off and arrive in time to see the two on the ground. The two gasp and run over to their friends.

"Odd...is it...is it really you?" Amy shakes his arm gently and he opens his eyes at her voice.

"Of course. What's the matter with you? Don't you recognize your own friends?" Odd says in his own voice.

"Dork," Ulrich chuckles at him. Amy just laughs in relief, engulfing Odd into a hug. He hugs her back.

"_It's okay, Jeremy. We got full recovery_," Ulrich reports to Jeremy.

"Great!" He smiles in relief.

* * *

Ulrich flips another coin as they're standing in front of the vending machines. "Heads, it's Yumi who shows up first. Tails, and it's Odd. Tails."

"Tails it is," Jeremy replies, Ulrich and Amy smirking at each other. Odd arrives a few seconds later.

"Yumi wasn't too mad at me in the end. I mean, about her parents, or the math quiz," He flips Ulrich's coin into his hand. "Or for the clothes or for taking a couple of slaps. She is really cool."

"I win again, Ulrich," Amy smirks in amusement.

"That's it, no more bets," He grumbles, giving her another five dollars. Odd inserts his coin and gets hot chocolate.

"You oughta go out with her," Odd winks at Ulrich.

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Jeremy whispers to Ulrich, who just smirks.

"Speaking of, uh, did you tell her what happened between us?"

"No way!" Odd denies immediately. "I plan on staying alive, good buddy."

"Why? What _did _happen between you?" Aelita asks curiously.

"Oh nothing," Amy, Odd, and Ulrich all say in unison.

"You know too?" Aelita asks in surprise. "What else aren't you telling your own roommate?"

"Aelita, even I have my own secrets," Amy winks at her, making the pink-haired girl laugh. Jeremy glances behind him to see Yumi approaching...holding the school paper.

"Hey, speaking of Yumi, look she's over there with the school paper."

"Uh oh," Odd says slowly, remembering that Tamiya caught them. Yumi comes to a stop, blinking at the photo of 'her' and Ulrich hugging. She looks up at the smaller boy. "I don't like this."

"Odd..." She replies slowly.

"Ulrich, Amy, help me!" Odd pleads with them.

"I warned you," Ulrich holds up a hand. "Sorry I can't give you any good pointers, good buddy."

"Hey, you made your own grave, now you'll possibly have to lie in it after Yumi's done with you," Amy walks away. She did not want one of her best friends being angry just because she witnessed it. She'd rather be alive.

"Don't leave me!" He tries to run after her, but an angry Yumi blocks his way.

"OOOOODD!"


	45. XANA's Kiss

**Angel: Happy new year, everyone! This episode I find ironic because it has to do with kissing, which is a tradition on New Years!**

It's early morning at Kadic as the three boys are walking down the halls to the showers.

"Jeanne?" Ulrich asks Odd.

"Yup!" Odd confirms. The two were asking if Odd really did date every girl in the 8th grade.

"Azra? Claire? Lola?" Jeremy counts off the names off the top of his head.

"Yep. Double yeah!" Odd smirks, confusing Jeremy.

"So you've dated every girl in the 8th grade?" Ulrich asks in disbelief.

"Everyone except Heidi Klinger."

"Are you trying to set a record or something?" Jeremy holds open the door as Odd walks in first.

"No way. I'm just searching for...true love."

"Odd. There's one other girl we still haven't talked about," Ulrich smirks to himself, Jeremy humming in amusement. Odd stares at them dumbly.

"I missed one?"

"Well, besides Aelita and Sissi, you haven't dated Amy," Jeremy crosses his arms with a smug look. "I wonder why."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Odd immediately denies, looking away from them. He had avoided the subject about having feelings for Amy a while now. He was putting it off because...well, he was really close with Amy. To mess that up was just...

He couldn't even find the right word for it. One thing was sure, though.

"Even if I wanted to, I don't want to treat Amy like the other girls. She's...special."

"Special because she's the last girl besides Heidi?" Ulrich raises a brow.

"Or maybe because he does like her, but he doesn't want to confront his feelings, so he's using all the other girls as of now to get it out of his system," Jeremy rubs his chin. "Or at least, try to."

Odd's mouth drops open at Jeremy's deduction of what he was doing. This is why they called him Einstein.

He sighs, turning away from them. "Okay...I admit it. I don't want to hurt her like the other girls. I can't do that to her. So I just want to be sure that she's the actual one I want to date."

"Aren't you hurting her either way by still going through it?" Ulrich looks at him disapprovingly. "What if by the time you've gotten over Heidi, she might lose those feelings for you?"

"Do you really think that'll happen?" Odd frowns in concern.

"Well, knowing her, she probably wouldn't say anything directly," Jeremy glances up at the ceiling in thought. "But if I were you, I'd stop after Heidi."

"I agree," Ulrich nods at Jeremy. "If you really feel like you won't be sure until after Heidi, then just date her and get it out of your system."

Odd says nothing at their advice as he starts to grow worried. Was Amy really going to stop having feelings for him after Heidi? She already knows how his love life works, and most of them she's shown no problems with it. Sam, she didn't really like, but that was the only girl Amy really had a strong feeling about. She didn't bat an eye after Sam. He really hoped that she wouldn't forget about him so that he can deal with these feelings for her.

"Well, look who's here," Sissi is standing near the boys' bathroom. "My dear Ulrich." He freezes at the nickname, inwardly groaning. Why couldn't he be like Odd instead of having Sissi follow him around? No, scratch that. He didn't want a reputation like Odd. "Wanna go see a movie with me this afternoon?"

"That would depend on what's playing," He replies thinly.

"Adventure in the Tropics," Sissi twirls a strand of hair, Herb frowning to himself.

"Aw, no. What a bummer. I've already seen it," Ulrich lies through his teeth. "Shame." She gives a disappointed sigh as the three walk into the bathroom.

"I'll go see it with you," Herb immediately offers, tugging at her sleeve.

"See what?"

"The film," He answers hopefully.

"Great!" She smiles widely. "Let's go, then!"

"Hey, do you really mean that?" He giggles in excitement.

"Not!" She says after a few seconds, storming off. He watches her leave in disappointment, Nicolas laughing at his epic fail.

A way tower in the desert sector turns into an activated one.

As Herb enters the bathroom, he can see Odd and Ulrich brushing their teeth. "You actually went to see Adventure in the Tropics?" Odd asks in surprise. Ulrich barely leaves the school enough as it is, not as much as Odd would take Amy out.

"You crazy? I'd rather study for a math quiz than to go to the movies with Sissi," Ulrich denies, checking his teeth.

"You make me sick, Stern!" Herb spits out, turning around to him in anger. "You really think you're hot stuff! I'm gonna knock that smile right off your face!"

"Oh yeah?" Ulrich turns around to him confidently. "Well go on then. What are you waiting for?"

Herb weakly kicks the air before karate chopping on the sink. He grabs his throbbing hand in pain. "Ouch. Now that has gotta hurt," Ulrich points at Herb with his toothbrush. He already knew that Herb was just as athletically challenged as Jeremy, so he wasn't worried about getting a black eye or anything like that. Odd says something, but it's muffled by the toothpaste in his mouth.

"What?" Ulrich asks in confusion.

Odd spits out the toothpaste as Herb exits the bathroom with Nicolas. "I said jealousy makes people go bananas!"

"Yeah, love plays tricks with your mind," Ulrich agrees with him.

"Great. I gotta go get Aelita. I promised to give her my croissants. She likes croissants with her hot chocolate!" Jeremy says with a dreamy look on his face, leaving the bathroom. Odd glances at Ulrich after a few seconds.

"What were you saying about love? What does it do to people's minds?" Odd asks his friend as Ulrich grabs the door handle to the showers.

"Looks like there are no exceptions to the rule!"

They turn on the water and proceed to get themselves clean. "Speaking of hot chocolate, I gotta get moving. I finally got a date with Heidi."

"You're gonna give her your croissants?" Ulrich asks with a teasing tone.

"You must be joking! A guy's gotta eat, doesn't he?" He wouldn't tell anyone that Amy is the only girl he shares food with. Sharing food with her...felt nice.

An electrical outlet near the sinks sparks, a specter crawling out from it.

* * *

Heidi is waiting for Odd in front of the cafeteria doors when she sees Jeremy. He sees her and she smiles friendly. "Hi Jeremy. You haven't seen Odd, have you? He promised to have breakfast with me."

He says nothing as he stares at her. Jeremy suddenly grabs her shoulders as Odd and Ulrich approach the cafeteria. The boys both gasp as Jeremy KISSES Heidi on the lips! Odd gives a hurt look. That was the last girl left that he hadn't dated and now he'll never know if Amy is the right girl for him. Jeremy lets go of the girl and upon seeing his friends, he runs out of there.

"I can't believe that!" Odd exclaims in disbelief that Jeremy would kiss a girl he's into and then just bolt.

Matthias is at the vending machines as Yumi stands behind him. "Hey there, Yumi. Say, you wouldn't have the answers to the math quiz, would you?"

As William is walking past, he sees Yumi kissing Matthias! He gasps in shock at her action and then she leaves a stunned Matthias. "Oh wow. I sure am glad I brushed my teeth this morning."

"Huh?" William narrows his eyes at what just happened.

Jeremy and Aelita are heading towards the cafeteria when Heidi confronts the boy. "Jeremy, would you mind telling me why you kissed me in front of Odd?" She crosses her arms angrily to Jeremy's confusion.

"What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?"

Aelita seems to believe it as Heidi wouldn't make a serious accusation if it didn't happen. The blonde girl storms off with a scoff and Aelita leaves too. "Aelita!" He calls out, but she doesn't listen, leaving him confused. "Oh no..."

He had no idea what was going on, but he was darn sure that he never kissed Heidi.

Odd is pacing around, wondering what he just saw between Heidi and Jeremy when Ulrich's eyes widen. "Huh? What?"

"What is it?" Odd turns to his direction...

To see Amy kissing Christophe.

Their mouths open in shock as she pulls away and then leaves. "...Yes!" Christophe pumps a fist. He hadn't told anyone, but he's had a crush on Amy for a little while. She was younger, but that didn't matter to him because she just kissed him!

"First Jeremy and now my best friend..." Odd looks really upset, Ulrich putting a hand on his shoulder. How could Amy kiss another guy? Does that mean...

She's moved on?

* * *

Jeremy and Amy approach the table. "Hey everyone. Slide over and make me some room."

The silence is tense until Odd turns to them. "Don't you wanna sit with Heidi? She's all by herself," Odd points to the girl. After what happened with Jeremy, the date was cancelled. He glances away to see Heidi staring blankly to nothing, playing with her soup. "And what about you and Christophe, Ames? Or should I say Amelia?"

"Christophe? What's he got to do with anything?" She raises an eyebrow in confusion.

"We saw you kissing him," Ulrich tells her, her eyes popping out of her head.

"Kissed him? Do I have to remind you he's a year older? I wouldn't kiss him."

Odd says nothing else as he ignores her explanation, Amy giving him a hurt look. Did he not trust her? She thought he did...but now with this supposed Christophe thing, it was looking like Odd is starting to hate her...

Jeremy sits next to a silent Aelita. "Listen, I don't know what all of this is about, but I swear to you that-"

Aelita stands up sharply and leaves, Odd sipping the rest of his soup.

"You know something, you sure threw me a real curveball there, Mr. Romantic!" Odd stands up, pushing past Amy a bit roughly. She stares after him sadly. For Odd it was like a million laser arrows stabbing him in the heart to see her kiss Christophe. Just when he was finally accepting his feelings for her, too...

"But we..." Jeremy looks to Ulrich, hoping that he believed them.

"Guess you won't be needing this croissant," Ulrich takes it from Jeremy's tray. "Later."

Amy sighs sadly, sitting across from Jeremy. "Did you really kiss Heidi?"

"Did you really kiss Christophe?"

"No."

"Then why are they all saying that it happened?" Jeremy asks himself, Amy closing her eyes. She'd never seen Odd this upset with her before...

Aelita and Odd leave the cafeteria as William approaches. "Hey Ulrich. Glad I ran into you. In case you haven't heard the latest news, Yumi's going out with Matthias Durel."

"What?!" Ulrich moves the croissant away from his mouth in shock.

"Morning everyone," Yumi greets cheerfully as she arrives. She snatches the bread away from Ulrich's hand. "Hey, thanks Ulrich."

"So, uh, you really like Durel, do you?" Ulrich asks slowly, his arms crossed.

"He's a nice guy. Why?"

"How does he kiss, huh?" William accuses to her confusion. She had only just arrived, she didn't kiss anyone.

"Kiss?! How should I know?" She asks, raising an eyebrow at their hostility.

"Cut off the acting, Yumi. William saw you," Ulrich storms off.

"I saw you," William gives Yumi a slight glare as everyone leaves her.

"Huh? Wha-"

William turns to give her another glare, making her silent. She watches him walk off as Jeremy and Amy leave their table. "Uh, rumor has it I'm dating Matthias Durel?"

"No kidding," Jeremy shrugs at her. "Well, rumor has it that I kissed Heidi Klinger."

"And that I kissed Christophe M'Bala," Amy sighs slowly. She raises a brow, knowing that they wouldn't kiss other people. Not when they already had love interests.

"Croissant?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Me neither...Odd hates me," Amy frowns to herself.

"Oh, that's not true," Yumi puts an arm around her.

"Then how come he won't listen to me?" Amy starts to cry. "He's really upset over nothing happening..."

Jeremy and Yumi glance to each other sadly. It is true that the kiss did sever the bond between them...

* * *

Yumi walks into a girls' bathroom, except that she's not Yumi, proven by the XANA symbol on the forehead. She transforms into Ulrich, grinning evilly. He then walks outside to cause more trouble.

"Ulrich will never go out with you. He said so, I heard him," Herb insists to Sissi, who's just smirking. She decides not to listen as he was wrong. 'Ulrich' approaches them. "Hey, speak of the devil, there he is. Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Instead of saying anything, the fake Ulrich marches right up to Sissi.

As Jeremy, Amy, and Yumi are walking through the hall, Amy and Jeremy glance away, an eyebrow raised. "Hey."

Yumi turns around to see Ulrich kissing Sissi. Yumi's eyes turn into hurt as the fake Ulrich walks away. Sissi grins widely, giggling.

"What were you saying?" She walks off, Herb sagging.

"How does he do it? What does he have that I don't?" He asks bitterly.

"Everything, except for your gross pimples," Nicolas comments smugly. Herb's eyes widen as he rolls up his sleeves.

"I dare you to say that again!"

Nicolas punches him in the face.

"Hey Yumi. Everything okay?" Sissi brags. Yumi gives an uninterested hum to her, trying not to let Sissi know she's actually bothered by it.

"More kissing drama?" Amy sighs slowly, dragging a hand down her face. She didn't know how much more of this she could take today...

* * *

The bell rings and Aelita walks past Jeremy. "Uh, yes, right. Last time we were discussing the causes of World War I."

"Aelita, can we talk?" Jeremy calls out.

"We're in class," She glares at him, meaning no. She sits down away from him as Ulrich takes his seat next to Jeremy. Amy sits in the back of the class next to another girl so Odd wouldn't have to see her. Odd glances at Jeremy coldly.

"Why did you kiss Heidi?" Ulrich whispers, noticing Odd's look.

"I did not kiss Heidi," Jeremy denies for what felt like the hundredth time.

"I saw you," Ulrich points to his eye. "It wasn't a very nice thing to do to Odd. And neither was kissing Christophe," He glances at Amy, who glares at him.

"For the last time, I did not kiss a boy older than me! I would never do anything to hurt Odd. That's the last time I'm going to talk about it," She crosses her arms angrily at Ulrich's accusation.

"And what about you?" Jeremy changes the subject as Ulrich wasn't exactly innocent either. "Kissing Sissi to get back at Yumi? You call that nice?"

"What?" Ulrich's eyes widen in alarm. The last time he talked to Sissi was this morning, before he took a shower. Other than that, he didn't speak to her for the rest of the morning, let alone kiss her. "I didn't kiss Sissi."

"Amy and I saw you," Jeremy pushes up his glasses.

"And now my first question is, when did Gallieni die?" Mr. Fumet puts down his chalk. "Well class, I'm waiting. Ulrich, uh, when did Gallieni die?"

"Duh?" Ulrich focuses on the teacher. "Uh, well, um...at the end of his life?"

Mr. Fumet looks flabbergasted as the whole class laughs.

Jim is walking around to make sure no students are around. "Stern! What are you doing here? You should be in class!"

'Ulrich' starts running backwards to his shock. He starts chasing after the boy, skidding to a stop when he sees Yolanda, the school nurse, walking up to him. "Oh, uh, is that you, Yolanda?" She reaches out and kisses him on the cheek, the man smiling at how nice it felt.

* * *

The bell rings for the end of class, Amy immediately leaving the area as Jeremy waves to Aelita. She's standing near Nicolas.

"Hey, Aelita!"

She says nothing as she stares at him, glaring. She then grabs Nicolas by the hair and pulls him in, kissing him. She pulls away and leaves, to Jeremy's shock.

He storms back to his room, upset over what he saw. "Jeremy?" The double doors open and he looks up to see Aelita. "You wanted to talk to me?" She was no longer angry, but she still wanted an explanation over what happened.

"Yeah, let's talk about you and Nicolas?!"

"Huh?" She's been in her room for a while now, not remembering that she spoke to Nicolas. She was trying to console Amy just now.

"I sure hope he's better at kissing than he is at math!" Jeremy exclaims, Amy peeking out from the doors.

"What are you talking about? I never kissed Nicolas."

"I don't believe this!" He turns to her angrily. "First you kiss the biggest loser in the whole school and then you lie about it?"

"But Jeremy..." She says slowly. "Trust me."

Amy covers her mouth in shock to hide a gasp. Aelita supposedly kissed Nicolas? But that can't be true, Aelita's been in their room with her for the past hour or so. She wouldn't have the time to kiss Nicolas...

"Incredible! You make a fool of me in public, then you lie to me, and now you expect me to trust you?! How could you do that? You really let me down. You have no idea how much, either..." He goes into his room and slams it. Aelita runs out the building, not even noticing Amy when she left.

Jeremy sighs in frustration, throwing his pillow at his closet.

Aelita runs towards the forest, wanting to be alone.

An alert goes off from his computer and he stands up. "Oh no!" He dials Ulrich, who's arguing with Yumi.

"I'm telling you, I never kissed Sissi." He picks up his phone as Amy walks past them, Yumi glancing at her. "Hello?"

"XANA's attacking."

"Okay, let's meet in the park."

Jeremy hangs up and calls Aelita. "Hello, this is Aelita. Leave me a message."

He sighs, knowing that he upset her...

* * *

Aelita runs into the forest as Jeremy meets up with the others. He pants to catch his breath. "Right, I can explain everything," He pushes up his glasses. "All this kissing is another one of XANA's schemes."

"That doesn't make any sense. He can't control us," Odd brings up the point that when the scepter tried, it failed.

"I know that, but I also know that I did _not_ kiss Heidi, so there must be a Jeremy clone somewhere."

"And a Yumi clone," Yumi smiles in relief at Ulrich.

"And an Ulrich clone also!"

"And an Amy clone..." Odd murmurs, Amy rubbing her arm nervously. She says nothing as she glances away, feeling awkward around Odd. So the kiss didn't happen, but he was probably still angry with her...

"Right, and I bet they're all just one big polymorphic clone," Jeremy deduces.

"A poly what?" Odd asks in confusion.

"A polymorphic clone. It can change its appearance at will. XANA must've sent a kind of ghost that can look like anyone it wants to."

"But why?" Yumi leans in towards Ulrich.

"To make trouble in our group, to divide and conquer," Yumi elaborates.

_Well it worked. _Amy thinks to herself.

"XANA's really smart. Not like us."

Jeremy nods in agreement. "Guess Odd was right! Jealousy makes people crazy."

"Listen, we gotta go to Lyoko to solve this. Hey, where's Aelita?" Odd looks around the park.

"Gone. And all because of me," Jeremy says in guilt.

"Oh, bravo. Where did she go?" Yumi asks, crossing her arms.

"Hmm," Jeremy taps a finger against his chin. "I think I might know."

"Guys, can you give Ames and I a minute? We'll catch up with you," Odd suddenly speaks up. Amy's eyes widen at how she would be alone with him...after what he's heard, she's not sure if he'll be angry or if he'll stop being her friend all together...

"Sure," Yumi nods in understanding.

"Hey, good luck," Ulrich whispers to Odd, who nods. The three leave, Amy and Odd now alone. She scratches the side of her neck at the silence. It felt tense to her and she was hoping that they could move on from this.

"Ames..." Odd sighs slowly, sitting against the tree. "I'm really sorry I got angry over Christophe."

"Angry? Why?" She asks, sitting next to him. "You know you can tell me anything." She places her hand on top of his.

"I know...I just snapped. Seeing you with him...just sparked something in me. Because..."

He pauses and she stares at him, wondering what he's going to say. "Because...?" She asks slowly.

"...Never mind," He smiles softly. "Friends again?"

"Of course, Odd," She decides to ignore it as it probably wasn't important. "Best friends," She hugs him and he hugs her back, eyes growing sad.

"...I really missed you," She whispers, tightening the hug. His eyes widen at her confession, smiling to himself. Maybe she really does have feelings for him...if so...

He needed to get the courage to actually tell her his feelings. And soon.

* * *

Aelita has retreated to the Hermitage, holding her head. She couldn't believe the words Jeremy said to her. He wouldn't listen to her at all and didn't believe her either. And to think that she wanted to listen to him explain about Heidi...

"Aelita?"

She gasps at his voice, looking back to see him. "Jeremy?"

"I'm really sorry, Aelita," He says earnestly.

"You're...not angry at me with me anymore?" She asks skeptically. Something felt off about Jeremy for some reason.

"No. I figured it out," He approaches her. "You see, XANA was using a polymorph that can change its appearance at will."

"So you didn't really kiss Heidi?" She asks hopefully, thinking that this was a dream.

"No. Let's go now. We have to get to the factory fast," He holds out her hand. He pulls her up. "You're not too upset with me, are you?" He leans in and kisses her, to her surprise. Jeremy kissing her was almost impossible, but he just did it. "Let's go!"

He leads her out of the Hermitage.

"Aelita!"

She sees another Jeremy waiting for her. "Jeremy. But-"

"It's XANA!" Jeremy 1 pushes her to the side. "He made a clone of me to trick you."

"Don't listen to him, Aelita," Jeremy 2 tells her. "He's XANA!"

She stares at the two, confused on who to believe. There was no way to tell them apart, how was she supposed to know who is the real one?

The others catch up to Jeremy 2. "If I've got this straight, one of these two is-is the poly dorking clone, right?" Odd asks as they stare.

"The polymorphic clone, Odd," Yumi corrects him.

"Which one is which, though...I have no idea," Amy comments as they try to determine which one is their friend.

"Aelita, trust me," Jeremy 2 gestures to himself.

"Don't listen to him!_ I'm_ the real Jeremy. You know I am, I kissed you!"

And that's when she knows who is who, letting go of his hand. "That's right," She smirks at him. "The real Jeremy would not have kissed me like that." If anything, he wouldn't even make the first move. He'd just freeze up.

The polymorph reaches out and grabs her arm.

"Keep your hands off her!" The others jump in to get him off Aelita. Odd and Jeremy stand up, watching the fake Jeremy going into static.

"Quick, to the factory!" Aelita urges, Odd standing up.

"You guys go on. I'll take care of him."

"Be careful, Odd," Amy leans in and kisses him on the cheek. His eyes widen at her action and before he can question it, she runs off with the others using the secret entrance. He can still feel the tingle of her lips...

"What was that back there?" Aelita asks Amy with a smirk.

"It was just for...good luck," Amy lies through her teeth, but she wanted to do it. If Odd got hurt, she wanted to leave him something that he'd remember...

Polymorph Jeremy flies onto his feet, Odd taking a stance. He turns into Mr. Fumet, then Ms. Hertz, and lastly Jim, walking up to Odd.

"Oh, no. Not the big tough guy," Odd complains.

Odd ducks from a punch, only for Polymorph Jim to knee him in the stomach. He slides into the stairs, clutching his stomach.

The five grab their rides as they ride down the sewers.

Odd quickly gets up before Polymorph Jim could grab him, jumping into the air.

They reach the lab. "Head for the scanners," Jeremy walks inside and they all nod. He gets into his chair and slides to the computer. The four reach the scanners. "I'm launching the virtualization process. The girls will go first."

Amy, Aelita, and Yumi step inside. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Virtualization," He presses the key and they feel the blast of cold air.

They land near the tower on a platform as pulsations are booming in the desert sector. "_The tower isn't far away. Direction north northeast._"

"There," Aelita points across to it as Ulrich lands behind them. "Across the bridge."

Yumi, Amy, and Ulrich eye the tower, narrowing their eyes suspiciously. Usually when there were no monsters around, that meant a trap. Aelita runs past them and they follow her, deciding to ignore their suspicion for now.

Odd slides into an old couch at the Hermitage. His hair is slightly messy. "Hey, XANA," He pants in exhaustion, "If you're gonna keep changing appearances like that, do me a favor and turn into a wimp next time."

Polymorph Ulrich turns into a polymorph Odd as an answer. "Oh no, not him. I know his kind. Small, but tough as nails."

And he's right as his own polymorphic self backflips and hits him.

Jeremy eyes the four dots on the screen. "Hurry up!" He urges as he doesn't know how long Odd can last against a polymorph.

As they're running, six Hornets fly behind them. Amy glances behind her, gasping. "Watch out!"

Yumi looks behind her, only to be hit in the shoulder by a stray laser. Aelita gasps, but Yumi places her hands on the platform, frontflipping back onto her feet. She continues running past the lasers.

"Aelita, head for the tower," Ulrich orders as he stops. "I'll take care of them." He pulls out his sword, Yumi and Amy joining him.

Odd is kicked into the fireplace by the polymorph. "What did I tell you?" He closes his eyes and his clone goes off to the factory, the symbol in his eyes flashing...

Yumi turns around to the approaching Hornets, pulling out her fans. She throws them one by one, watching as only one destroys one of the Hornets, the other ones dodging the first one. She catches both and when they fire, she absorbs the shots. She flips past more and they turn around as she pulls out her weapons again. She turns around and flicks her fan again, but they dodge right past it again. Ulrich and Amy deal with the Hornets as she catches her fan.

"_XANA's sending a monster!_"

A single Tarantula virtualizes behind her and she hears it roar, turning around. It gets onto its knees and fires.

Aelita glances behind her to check on her friends, almost at the bridge. She runs across it.

"You're almost there, Aelita," Jeremy tells her.

When she gets off the bridge, it completely disappears.

The polymorph Odd runs across the bridge to the factory.

The Hornets continue their attack on the two, Ulrich and Amy blocking with their respective weapons. Ulrich gets hit in the shoulder, Amy also taking a hit to the leg. The Hornets surround them and they glance to each other, silently agreeing to a plan. Ulrich would take the right, and Amy would take the left.

"Super Sprint!" He leads the ones on the right away while Amy turns to the Hornets, spinning around her spear to deflect the lasers.

Polymorph Odd swings across the rope.

Yumi slowly moves before frontflipping over the attacking Tarantula. She lands right behind it.

Polymorph Odd lands in front of the elevator, walking up to it slowly.

The Tarantula turns to Yumi, who flips and pulls out one fan. She throws it, but the Tarantula fires, making the fan fly out of range.

Ulrich runs, glancing back at the three Hornets. He looks up and sees Amy flying away from the other two. Ulrich comes to a stop, the three Hornets circling him. He deflects two lasers at every angle, only to get hit twice.

"Ulrich!" Yumi looks behind her.

The two Hornets fire at Amy's wings, making her roll into the sand. She groans as she sits up, backflipping from another laser.

Polymorphic Odd reaches the elevator.

Yumi's fan destroys a Hornet and Ulrich looks to the girls. "Let's swap monsters!"

"Okay!" The girls agree, Yumi running to the other side. Ulrich and Amy duck, running to the other side.

The elevator is about to reach Polymorphic Odd.

Yumi backflips as Amy and Ulrich run up to the Tarantula. It fires at the two, Ulrich whisking his sword around to block the lasers. "Here we go. Amy, I need a distraction."

"I hear you loud and clear, Ulrich," She nods at him.

Polymorphic Odd presses the button to the elevator once he's inside.

"_Careful, Yumi. At ten o'clock!_" Jeremy warns and the geisha looks up to see the Hornets advancing towards her. She blocks a shot with her fan, throwing one and missing. It comes back and she realizes that with the Hornets, she doesn't have the advantage on land.

"I'll materialize the Overwing," Jeremy notices it too and starts to program it. Yumi backflips past the incoming lasers. She flips and pulls out her fans, absorbing more lasers. Jeremy presses enter and the Overwing appears flying in the air.

The elevator descends down into the lab, the XANA symbol flashing on Polymorphic Odd's eyes...

As the Hornets relentlessly attack Yumi, she gets hit by a stray laser. The Overwing flies over and catches her. She stands up as it continues to fly, taking a hold of the controls. "Thanks Jeremy."

Amy and Ulrich see Yumi flying past, the fairy preparing to distract the monster. It gets onto its knees, ready to fire again.

The Hornets fire at Yumi, who uses the Overwing to swerve back and forth. She glances back at them, only to get hit in the arm. Her vehicle spins out of control and she struggles to hold on. She falls off and the Overwing catches her. The monsters fire again and she flies higher into the desert air. She throws her fans, unfortunately missing again. She catches her weapons and flies further away.

Ulrich blocks all of the shots and turns to Amy. "Now!"

"Sandy..." Amy holds out her hands, sand starting to form around her. "Storm!" She flings it at the Tarantula, surrounding it in a sand storm. As it's distracted, Ulrich runs up behind it, moving when the Tarantula looks around. Two Hornets virtualize behind him.

"_Careful, behind you, Ulrich! Hornets!"_

Ulrich gets tackled by one, leaving Amy with a single Hornet and Tarantula. She can't bring up her wings, so she slides underneath them, running to get them away from Ulrich. She throws her spear from behind, but misses.

Ulrich looks behind him to see the Hornets still trailing after Yumi. She gets surrounded by them and she pulls out her fan swiftly, throwing it. She destroys all of them in one single swoop. She looks down and sees that her friends are in trouble, the Tarantula firing at Amy. One laser hits her shoulder, knocking her to the ground. The Tarantula and Hornet fire, but she flips onto her feet, avoiding them.

Yumi turns around to help, swooping above Amy. The Tarantula fires rapidly at her and she throws her fans, one laser knocking one away. The other one only damages the Tarantula. It then devirtualizes her ride and she falls.

"Yumi!" Amy and Ulrich exclaim. She lands in the sand, a Hornet in front of her. Ulrich destroys it, but is unable to stop the other one from devirtualizing Yumi.

Ulrich looks up to see Amy running away from the Tarantula, the Hornet flying after him now. Ulrich runs away from it.

Yumi sinks her knees into the scanner, exhausted as she gets the strength to stand up.

"Aelita, hurry up," Jeremy says as he sees Yumi's dot disappear.

"_I'm nearly there_," She reports, but a certain sound makes her stop in her tracks. She looks to her left and gasps in horror, backing away. "Jeremy."

The Scyphozoa approaches her and she looks to the bridge, only to see that her only way out is no longer there. "I'm trapped!"

Polymorph Odd turns into a Polymorph Yumi as it growls in annoyance. "Why isn't this elevator working?" It tries to make it function, but what it doesn't know is that the real Yumi is trying to use the elevator. She looks at it in confusion, wondering if it was broken...

Or if someone else was using it.

"No..." Aelita gets grabbed by the Scyphozoa, Jeremy gasping.

"Ulrich, Amy, the Scyphozoa's attacking Aelita. Forget about the monster for now."

"_Hey, it's no picnic out here."_

"_The monsters aren't exactly making things easy for us."_

Yumi steps out of the elevator. "You okay, Yumi?"

"Mmhm," She nods at him. He glances at her for a second and turns back to the computer, Yumi joining him.

The four Hornets and Tarantula fire at the two as they run away from them, but they see the bridge is out. "Jeremy, we're gonna need the Overbike and OverRunner."

"Quickly!" Amy urges as she still can't use her wings.

"You got it, guys," He prepares to bring them up, Yumi placing a hand on the back of his neck. "Don't worry, Yumi, we'll manage."

However, electricity comes from Yumi, or rather, the Polymorph Yumi. It throws Jeremy away, storming up to him.

The real Odd has woken up, knowing that the clone has set its sights on his friends. He silently hoped that Amy was okay as he comes to a stop. "Okay poly whatever, I'm gonna transform you now!" He says angrily that he was tricked into thinking Amy kissed someone else.

The Tarantula stands up, continuing to fire. The two glance at the monsters behind him. They sigh in relief as they look ahead. Their vehicles materialize in front of the bridge, Aelita's memory slowly depleting by the minute.

Polymorph Yumi throws Jeremy into the wall, knocking him out. Polymorph Yumi sits into the chair, undoing the process of the vehicles. "Devirtualization."

Their vehicles disappear just as they were about to climb onto them. "Hey Jeremy, what's going on? _Jeremy?_ _Answer us!"_

"_Jeremy? Jeremy, can you hear us? What's happening?"_

They don't know that their friend has been knocked unconscious. Yumi arrives in the elevator, standing up. "Jeremy?"

Ulrich and Amy are about to reach the gap as the monsters attack them. "We'll have to do this on foot."

"You need any help?" He asks her.

"No, I can do it. Sand Boost!" Her feet start running fast like Ulrich's as he uses Super Sprint, the sand trailing underneath Amy's feet. They stomp and jump across the gap, barely reaching it as they hold onto the edge.

"What did you do to him?" Yumi demands to the polymorph clone.

"Yumi!" They both look to see Odd standing there. He had used the ladders to get in.

"Odd, help me. It's XANA," Polymorph Yumi lies, pointing at the real one.

"You're not gonna believe this polymorph, are you?" Yumi asks and he narrows his eyes, jumping towards her. "Odd no, cut it out, pea brain! I'm the real Yumi!"

"Yeah right. You expect me to fall for that old one? On three, we pulverize you," He grabs her collar and she smirks, seeing in his eyes that he believed her. "One, two, three." They jump towards the polymorph, knocking it down only for a few seconds. It sees Yumi looking down at Jeremy.

"Jeremy, you've gotta wake up."

Amy lifts up her legs and pushes them back against the rock, backflipping onto the platform. She helps Ulrich up.

Jeremy puts the microphone to his ear, having woken up. "Amy, Ulrich, hurry up. Aelita's hardly got any memory left."

"Drop her, fishface!" Ulrich threatens, him and Amy throwing their weapons. They slice off the tentacles, Aelita slowly falling to the ground. "You okay, Aelita?" Ulrich bends down to her. He stands up, seeing the tower up ahead. Amy turns around and throws her spear. It flies towards all the monsters, defeating all of them in one throw.

Jeremy glances back as his friends are dealing with the clone. It kicks Yumi into the wall. "Aelita?"

"_I-I'm okay,_" She stammers as Odd is thrown into the wall near Yumi. Odd stands up, leaning against the wall.

"Well, I'm not feeling so great."

Ulrich and Amy stop as Aelita continues on to the tower.

Polymorph Yumi throws Odd into the wall again.

Aelita enters the tower.

"Aelita, quick!" Jeremy tells her and she floats up to the top.

Jeremy is grabbed from behind.

She continues flying.

Jeremy wiggles around as Polymorph Yumi is sparking with electricity, growling at him.

Aelita flips and lands on the pad. She walks up and presses her hand against the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

The eyes in the polymorphic turn to normal as it drops Jeremy. It turns into the specter and flies into the air, eventually exploding into nothing.

* * *

"That's very sweet of you, Jim," Yolanda blushes a bit in the infirmary. Jim is holding a flower for her. "But as I already told you, I'm engaged to be married."

"But if that's true, Yolanda, why'd you kiss me?"

"I...kissed you?" She doesn't recall ever doing that. She would never kiss someone and do that to her fiancé. He nods at her. "You should get some rest, Jim." She puts a thermometer in his mouth. "Now be a good boy and let me take your temperature, alright?" He must be feverish to think of such a thing.

"How did you guess I was the real Yumi?" Yumi asks at the vending machines.

"Because you called me pea brain. XANA would never call me that," Odd explains. "He's got too much...respect for me."

"Oh no, XANA just doesn't know you as well as Yumi does," Jeremy chuckles at the thought. Aelita smirks to herself.

"Jeremy? Would you come with me for a minute?" She leads him slightly away from the others. He stands up and walks over to her. "I, uh, I'd like to check something, you mind?"

"Uh, no. Go ahead. Check what?"

Aelita cups his cheeks and gives him a brief kiss. He freezes up, as she expected, like a statue. "I knew it," She smiles in amusement, walking away. She high fives Amy as she passes by.

"Uh, Jeremy? Come back down to Earth," Odd calls out teasingly. "Well, let's hope that XANA leaves us alone for a little while. I think Jeremy's gonna need some time to get over that one, huh guys?"

They all laugh, staring at the frozen Jeremy.

Odd glances at Amy and she notices him looking at her, smiling. He smiles back, glad that they worked things out.


	46. Vertigo

**Angel: Tomorrow I have way too much stuff to do for me to update the story, so I'm updating it today. I have orientation early in the morning, I have an appointment right after that, and then I gotta do shopping for my mother...I wouldn't even know when I'd get home for me to upload anything, so I'd rather be safe than sorry.**

The Lyoko Warriors are in Sector Five on a mission. "Holosphere system connected," Jeremy looks at the Celestial Dome coming online. The transporter spins into the Arena, letting out all five of them. "_Welcome to Sector Five_."

They look at the wall slowly coming to a stop, Jeremy glancing at the screen.

"The wall's gonna open any second now," Yumi eyes it and they slowly stop spinning, the wall opening just like Yumi said. "Let's go!" She takes off first, the others running after her. They stop at the wall and the passage forms.

"Three minutes to find the key, go!" Jeremy tells them as they run down stairs this time. When they enter the Core Zone, the key is high up on a wall. All of the doors close, putting them on alert. Usually that didn't happen.

"Uh oh. The doors are in the wrong place," Odd comments and a Creeper arrives from across the room.

"Here come our old friends," Yumi notices.

"Creepers. They just can't stay away from us," Odd winks at Amy, who rolls her eyes playfully.

"Remember, guys, the clock is running."

"_We get it, Einstein_," Amy replies as he scans the room for the key.

"Let's see...I found the key at 2 o'clock directly above Yumi."

Amy, Yumi, and Ulrich pull out their weapons while Odd aims his arm. Amy glances at the key above them. "That's a job for a cat," Ulrich hints, looking up. A Creeper fires, hitting Odd. Another one fires and Yumi flips to the edge, hanging on as she moves so that the Creeper doesn't see her. The monster scans around, distracted as Ulrich approaches it from behind.

Odd climbs up walls and platforms, flipping to another one and landing safely. A laser knocks Ulrich's sword out of his hands. Odd jumps onto another platform. Ulrich reaches out and takes his sword back.

"Not so fast, dummy!" Yumi flips back onto the platform, throwing her fan and destroying it. Another one fires, hitting Odd. He trips, but uses his claws to latch onto the wall.

"_Odd, you're running out of life points_," Jeremy warns him as he looks down below. Yumi throws her fan again, getting rid of the other creeper. She catches it as another Creeper appears from behind Odd.

"Odd!" Aelita calls out, but it's too late for him as he's hit by the laser. However, he manages to hit the key just before he's devirtualized.

"Nice one," Jeremy smiles and Amy throws her spear, getting rid of the Creeper that devirtualized Odd. The door opens behind them and they take the path to the elevator. Aelita looks down as they wait.

"Now!" Ulrich shouts and they jump off, landing safely. The elevator spins around the dome and comes to a stop at the Celestial Dome. They stop at the closed door and it opens, allowing them to enter. Aelita stops at the edge of the platform to begin searching.

"I'm connected, Jeremy."

"Come on, Aelita," He urges, "We gotta gather the data before the Flying Mantas come. _The Mantas are about to hatch! Five, four, three, two, one. Now!_"

The three look around as the Mantas merge into the Dome. Three of them exact fly around, but to the others, they're nowhere to be seen. "Hey Jeremy, I don't see any Flying Mantas," Yumi explains as all they can see are the walls of code.

"_Strange, I can see them on my screen_," Jeremy replies in confusion, none of them noticing a Creeper right behind them. "_Stay on your guard. They may come from the other end of the sector_."

A Creeper hits Yumi from behind, Amy and Ulrich immediately turning around to it. Ulrich blocks a laser with his sword as the Creeper relentlessly fires at them. Ulrich gets hit in the shoulder and Yumi is devirtualized. Amy gets hit in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. Aelita glances at the spot where Yumi disappeared, working as fast as she can.

Ulrich dodges the incoming lasers, throwing his sword into the air. He spins it around when he catches it, throwing his weapon at the Creeper. It gets destroyed in front of them, making them cover their eyes.

"Done, Jeremy. You can take over again," Aelita reports as she stops touching the interface.

"Okay, I'm on it. I'm programming the Overbike and the OverRunner."

The vehicles appear in front of the edge, Ulrich and Aelita jumping on. Amy backflips into her race car. "Hang on, princess," Ulrich revs up his bike, driving to the tunnels. Amy follows him, but so do the Mantas. Jeremy opens up one of the tunnels.

"Okay, the passage is open."

"Jeremy, we've got a problem," Ulrich and Amy finally see the Mantas. "We just found the Flying Mantas."

"So that's where they were hiding," Amy narrows her eyes. Aelita looks away from them.

"_You should be able to lose them._"

The two drive faster, trying to evade them. Aelita looks back to see something hatching from the Mantas.

"_But...what is that?_"

"All I know is it's not good!" Amy drives ahead as small skulls appear, exploding.

"Mines, Jeremy! They're hatching flying mines!" Aelita explains, Ulrich and Amy moving back and forth. They narrowly miss each one, driving into the tunnel and escaping. Jeremy sighs in relief, placing his hands behind his back with a proud smile.

* * *

"Well," Jeremy says once they're back in the lab, "These are codes for XANA's subsystems. I cracked them three weeks ago. Hey yeah! This one looks like the source code to a virus! I might be able to use it! If the virus inside you is anything like this one, I might be able to free you from XANA!"

"You mean..." Aelita smiles at him. "Like soon?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, we're outta here. There's a big climbing competition tonight," Odd smiles, grasping Ulrich's arm. "Gotta practice."

Ulrich snatches his hand back. "I already told you, I'm not doing it."

"Really?" Yumi asks in surprise. "Why not?"

"Cuz," He says simply.

"At least come and watch me," Odd suggests, Yumi walking over to him.

"Come on, Ulrich. For once, Odd's found a sport where being scrawny is a plus!" Yumi jokes, Amy stifling a laugh.

"Hey, I am _not_ scrawny!" Odd glances at Amy and then back at Yumi. "Ha! I'm svelte! It's not the same," He crosses his arms with a slight huff. "You don't think I'm scrawny, do you, Ames?"

"Of course not," Amy shrugs at him. "I'm barely taller than you and I'm doing it too. I have to support all my svelte friends."

"Now that's a real friend!" Odd smiles, putting his arm around her shoulders. She bites her lip as she blushes to herself. It did not make her heart race, it did not, it did not.

* * *

In the gym, Odd is climbing up the rock wall. "Come on, keep it steady," Jim is of course supervising. Odd's going against Herb, which means he had this in a cinch.

"You should've left your zits down there, huh Herb?" Odd continues climbing. "You're too heavy!"

"Della Robbia, I'm gonna-" Distracted by the trash talk, Herb lets go and falls onto the mat. Odd laughs as he reaches the top. Herb glares up at him.

"I'm the king of the world!" Odd shouts and Amy laughs, clapping for him. Jim glances at Ulrich.

"Okay, Stern. The wall."

"Um," Ulrich looks away, not wanting to. "You see, Jim..."

He doesn't get to finish as William stands in front of him. "First one to the top!"

Ulrich looks up at him, annoyed by that dumb smile of his. "Sorry. I don't climb." Not only that, he didn't want anyone to know...

"Are you scared?" William teases, leaning in towards him. Yumi raises an amused brow at Ulrich, who definitely doesn't want her to figure it out.

"Come on, William, leave him alone," Amy speaks up as she could sense the real reason why Ulrich doesn't want to climb.

"No, I'm not scared, I..."

"Come on, Stern," Jim interrupts, no one was getting out of it. "Show us what you got. Get up that wall, hurry up!"

Ulrich glances at Yumi and stands up, walking up slowly to the wall. Odd jumps down in front of him. "Hey man, humiliate this guy and let's go eat," He places a hand on his friend's shoulder, walking over to Amy.

"That was great, Odd," She smiles up at him.

"Who's scrawny now?" He winks at her and she chuckles, Yumi smiling in amusement. "You were good earlier too."

"Oh yeah?" Amy raises an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were watching."

"O-Oh," Odd didn't mean for that to slip out. He rubs his neck in embarrassment. "Well...I, uh, just happened to notice when you were going against Nicolas. You know your stuff."

"Thank you," She smiles softly at the compliment.

"Oblivious," Yumi fake coughs into her fist. Amy hides her blush, elbowing Yumi slightly in the arm.

Ulrich stares up at the wall, and to him, it looked like his whole world was crashing down.

* * *

"Ready Aelita?" Jeremy looks at her and she nods with an encouraging smile. He does the test on the virus to see if it would work. A few seconds later, he beams. "Yes! The test worked. It's unbelievable!" he stands up, holding her hands.

"We did it! We've got the antivirus!" She smiles as they spin around slightly. Then she gets a great idea. "Jeremy, what if-what if you injected me right now? We could surprise the others!"

"But isn't that a little risky?" He hasn't had a chance to see if there was a bug or if there was something he missed. If he administered it to her, something could happen, and he couldn't bare to have that guilt on him.

"It'll be just as risky in two hours, or in two days," She replies.

"Okay," He nods in agreement. "Go to the scanner. I'll start the process."

* * *

Ulrich grips the plastic as he struggles to keep it together. William has a bit of an advantage as Odd, Amy, and Yumi watch them. Ulrich whimpers to himself as he climbs slower.

"What is he doing? Hey, come on, Ulrich! Move it!" Odd was hungry, and he needed some lunch from good old Rosa. Ulrich reaches out, but he looks down at how high he is, shaking. He looks at the panel in front of him, not sure of how long he can last in front of everyone.

"You can beat him! Go for it, Ulrich!" Yumi encourages, the brunette frowning. If she told them not to cheer him on, that'd be suspicious. It was better if Ulrich told them himself...

All Ulrich can focus on is the sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Come on, huh, Spiderman? You spin a web or did you fall asleep?" William mocks, Amy putting a hand to her forehead. She already knew how this was going to end.

Badly.

"Hey, Stern, what's the matter with you?"

All of the demands and urging from them makes him shake and he lets go, falling onto the mat. He opens his eyes as his friends are staring down at him.

"Oh, I get it," Odd walks up to him. "A little nap before lunch, right?"

"Leave. Me. Alone," He spits back.

"Ulrich..." Amy murmurs in concern as he stands up, dusting himself off. Yumi noticed the shaking, the hesitation, and the slowness.

"Y-You've got vertigo...is that it?"

He glances at her and doesn't answer, looking at the wall. He storms off without another word, confirming their suspicions.

"Ulrich, wait!" Yumi is about to go after him, but the other two stop her.

"Let him chill out a while. Give him time to get over it," Odd stares after where Ulrich left.

Amy rubs her arm as she sees Ulrich leave and the other two notice her off look. "Did you...suspect it?" Yumi wonders curiously.

"I did, but...I didn't want to talk about it behind his back. My mother had a fear of heights. She wouldn't go on planes, she would always take a cab or boat if she went overseas. Seeing Ulrich like that...reminded me of her. The scared look in his eyes...how much he wanted to hide it. He was probably too ashamed to tell us..."

Yumi frowns at Amy's explanation. Ulrich had nothing to worry about. She wasn't ashamed of him. Everyone had a fear, and it was natural to be ashamed of it.

"What's your fear?" Odd asks the brunette.

"...Wolves. Like the ones from the visions I shared with Aelita. I kept it hidden because most of the time I don't let it bother me. But everyone handles their fears differently..."

Odd smiles a little at her that she's willing to be brave. That was Amy, alright. It took a lot for her to admit it and to still be strong for herself.

* * *

"_Ready?_" Jeremy asks as Aelita is in the scanner. She's enclosed in for the scan.

"Yes. Do it," Aelita smiles happily. Soon she'd be free of XANA and they'd be able to shut down the Supercomputer. She could have a normal life...like she's always wanted. Jeremy presses enter and she spins around in the scanner, the antivirus being administered. Just as she's being given the antivirus, something goes wrong, making Jeremy leave his chair.

The antivirus enters Aelita as Jeremy enters the scanner room. He pulls apart the doors with all the strength he has and Aelita falls into his arms. "Aelita! How do you feel? Say something."

She leans in with an amused smile. "Something."

"Heh heh. If you could make jokes as bad as Odd's, then you must be okay. I thought only Amy could use them."

"She let me borrow some," Aelita winks up at him.

* * *

Odd peeks into his room after lunch. "Ulrich?" He looks to the girls as the boy isn't there. "Maybe he went to the factory to mope."

"We use that all the time, though. If he really wanted to be left alone-"

"Hey, we've got great news!" Aelita interrupts as she and Jeremy run up to them.

"We found the antivirus! And I've already given it to Aelita," Jeremy gestures to her.

"You what?!" Odd asks in shock.

"That's so great!" Yumi beams at them. Amy jumps forward and hugs Aelita.

"I'm so happy for you, roomie!"

"Aw, thanks, Amy," Aelita giggles as she returns the hug. "All we have to do now is shut down the supercomputer, and it's adios to XANA!"

"Okay, but not without Ulrich. We have to find him first," Yumi explains. Doing this without Ulrich just didn't feel right. He was a part of this as much as they were.

"Why? Where is he?" Jeremy wonders, thinking that something must've happened to Ulrich to make him disappear.

"Off somewhere hiding. I mean, sulking," Odd holds up a finger, Amy rolling her eyes.

"Let's just say he'd rather not talk about it."

"Uh, in that case, he's in the forest. He always goes there when he feels like moping," Jeremy explains. He's seen Ulrich go off into the woods once when Yumi 'kissed' Matthias.

* * *

Ulrich breaks some sticks in half. He couldn't believe that he let everyone see his vulnerable side...especially Yumi. It's not like he wasn't planning on telling them, he just...

He just couldn't do it.

Being so scared wasn't something he was proud of. So now he just wanted to stay here until maybe dark. Or until he gets over it.

Probably the former.

He breaks another stick, hearing a weird noise behind him. He sees nothing out of the ordinary, however, but that doesn't ease his nerves. There's a growl he could've sworn he heard, making him stand up. He looks around, surprised to see Yumi, Amy, and Odd approaching him. How did they knew where to find him?

"So, back to your usual cool self yet?" Odd asks casually.

"Not a hundred percent," He turns away and at his response, Amy cringes a bit. At least he was actually speaking?

Yumi walks up to him, placing a sympathetic arm around him. "Well, this might help you to quit sulking. We've got some incredible news!"

* * *

"I don't believe it," Jeremy is in his room, typing on his computer. "I don't believe it. I'm actually writing the final entry in the Lyoko travel log book. Can you imagine?" He asks in excitement, hearing a groan from Aelita. "Aelita?" He turns around to see her holding her head, looking the opposite of fine. "Aelita, are you okay?"

"I...I..." she couldn't really describe what was happening to her.

"Do you think it's the antivirus?"

"No, it's just an energy slump. I'll go and lie down in my room for a minute or two," She stands up. There's no way this could be connected to the antivirus. She's fine, right? After all, she was just given the one thing that freed her from XANA, the computer program who was determined to destroy their world. It was one big step towards her freedom.

So why was she still doubtful?

Jeremy stares after her as she leaves, hoping that she'd be okay. After all, she'd been through so much as both a human and a virtual being...

Aelita still has her doubts as she walks down the hall. She holds her cheek, still feeling dizzy. Suddenly, her hands start disappearing and she gasps. Her left hand disappears completely and she gasps as she sees Sissi stepping out of her room.

"Oh, Aelita. I didn't even see you standing there," Sissi smiles a bit, but not because she's happy to see Aelita. "But that's hardly surprising, you're such a wallflower."

Aelita glares at her. She didn't have time for Sissi's insults, not when her body parts had just disappeared.

"How can you expect a guy to notice you someday? I'm not talking about Jeremy, of course, he's already married to a computer chip. It's so weird how Amy hasn't helped you with this. I mean a real guy, you know. Look at me, for instance." Aelita's right hand disappears and she gasps quietly. "I'm really pretty and attractive." Aelita's legs disappear, but thankfully Sissi's not looking at her. "I'm also funny, and intelligent and sweet." Aelita disappears completely into thin air. "And, very attentive to others."

Sissi looks back to see that Aelita has gone...

Or has she?

"Uh, just what I was saying. She's so unremarkable, you don't even realize that she's gone!" She leaves the dorms.

"Oh no!" Jeremy exclaims, his door opened by no one.

"Jeremy, this is awful!" Aelita exclaims in horror.

"It sure is, XANA is attacking," When he turns around, he doesn't see Aelita. He raises his eyebrows in confusion. He could've sworn he heard Aelita's voice. "Aelita?"

"I'm here."

"You are? Where?" All he sees is the open door.

"Right in front of you! But I'm...I'm invisible!"

"You what?" He reaches out to touch her.

"Hey!"

"Oop," He leans back in his chair, silently embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Could this be XANA's attack?" She wonders if the antivirus had XANA written all over it. She wouldn't put it past him.

He narrows his eyes at her question. It would be a perfect distraction, given that he doesn't know what effect this would have on Lyoko. "Quick, to the factory."

* * *

Yumi, Odd, Amy, and Ulrich are walking through the woods to get back to the school. There's a rustle in the bushes, causing Ulrich to look around. A twig snaps and the others stop, turning around. Someone approaches and it's enough to make Amy go pale.

"Uh oh. What's that?" Odd is looking straight at a wolf. "A nice little doggie, I hope."

Then there's the XANA symbol in its eyes. "No, a big bad wolf, Odd," Ulrich steps back a bit, Amy shaking in fear. She could just imagine being in the wolf's mercy, sweating. More of them appear, snarling at them. Amy feels like she's about to soil her underwear at this point. And seeing the XANA symbol only makes things worse.

"Uh, when you're faced with a pack of wolves, what do you do?" Odd looks at the others, noting how scared Amy is. He takes a hold of her hand and his touch is enough to make her stop shaking. She feels...safe all of a sudden.

"You run!" Yumi shouts and they do just that. The wolves chase after them, Odd still holding onto Amy's hand as he pants. He takes the lead, trying to get Amy far away from them as possible. Maybe if she wasn't close to them, she'd calm down a bit.

An invisible Aelita takes the lead as Jeremy dials Yumi, only to get her voicemail.

"Konnichiwa. You've reached Yumi's mobile. Leave me a message."

"Yumi, meet us at the factory. There's a bug," He hangs up, hoping that she'll listen to it. Aelita stops at the ladder, Jeremy stopping behind her.

The wolves continue chasing after the four, Ulrich coming to a stop. "Oh no..."

"Let's go, come on!" Odd urges as Ulrich is looking at a small mountain.

That they'll have to climb.

While being above the ground.

Nevertheless, it was either that or risking his life with the wolves, so he follows after the others. Yumi, Odd, and Amy start climbing the rock. Ulrich stops, wondering if he could really do this. He looks back at the wolves arriving and starts climbing as fast as he can.

Yumi almost reaches the top, Odd looking down at the already behind Ulrich. Yumi grips the edge of the cliff, Amy following soon after. She bends down and helps Odd up, Yumi seeing Ulrich's dilemma.

"Ulrich, hurry up!"

He continues, trying to keep it cool when a wolf jumps up and grabs his shoe.

"Ulrich!" Yumi calls out in concern. Ulrich kicks the wolf off him, which whimpers and falls to the grass below. He's almost there as he grips another rock, letting go. He glances at how...high...

"Don't look down," Odd advises him.

"Trust me, it'll only make it worse if you think about it," Amy calls out, biting her lip at the wolves. She was just glad that she's on a cliff and they can't climb.

Ulrich's vision starts getting blurry at all the rocks below him. He squeezes his eyes shut, not wanting the height to distract him.

"Concentrate on your hand grips, and don't think about anything else!" Odd calls out, Yumi only watching. Amy bites a fingernail, hoping that Ulrich could get it together.

Feeling slightly encouraged, Ulrich continues on. "Yeah, that's it! Keep climbing!" Odd tells him, Yumi reaching out her hand.

"Just a little further!"

He grips the rock in front of him, but he slips, Yumi grabbing his hand before it was too late. "Gotcha." With Odd and Amy's help, they pull him up to the top. He breathes a sigh of relief.

Finally, he could breathe again...

* * *

"I'm here, Jeremy," The invisible Aelita reports as the scanner closes. She's scanned for the problem. "It isn't XANA," Jeremy places a hand on his cheek in guilt. "It's a bug in the antivirus. _I have to deactivate it, but it's gonna take a little while_."

Aelita steps out of the scanner, silently hoping that it could be fixed. "What about the activated tower? What's the attack?"

"I have no idea," He says honestly. There's been no calls back from any of the four, which worries him a bit. But that bit of worry is diminished when Yumi calls back. "Yumi."

"We've got a big problem, Jeremy. We're in the forest, with a pack of wolves possessed by XANA."

"Oh no! Aelita can't go and deactivate the tower by herself."

"We'll do our best. I'll keep you posted," She hangs up and he places a hand on his forehead at how bad things are right now. First an invisible Aelita, and now his friends are in danger...

"_Jeremy, virtualize me on Lyoko so I can deactivate the tower_," Aelita speaks up.

"No way!" He shakes his head immediately. "We have to wait."

"_Wait for what? For them to be devoured? We have no choice."_

He had to admit that Aelita was right...if his friends were seriously injured by those wolves, Aelita would have to go by herself either way.

He just hoped that the Schyphozoa wouldn't attack.

* * *

"Your foot okay?" Yumi asks Ulrich as they're looking over the cliff. The wolves haven't left, unfortunately.

Ulrich simply nods, not wanting them to know how...scared he was.

"Good thing you weren't wearing sandals," Odd comments, Amy laughing a bit.

"At least the wolves can't climb..."

A growl interrupts her thoughts and they turn around in surprise to see another pack. "Oh great. A flying wolf."

Amy gasps sharply, panting as she's holding her beating heart. All she could do was stand there as the wolf advances towards them.

Aelita is sent to the ice sector and lands, visible. "Jeremy, I'm here. It's good to be visible again," She looks over herself.

"_I programmed the Overwing for you_," Aelita jumps onto the flying scooter once it appears. "_And the activated tower shouldn't be far._"

She takes off towards a plateau, determined to rescue her friends.

The wolf gets closer and Amy looks behind her at the edge of the cliff. She knew that if she moved one step further, she'd fall into another pack of wolves. Even if she wanted to move, she couldn't out of fear. Odd places an arm in front of her, blocking the animal from her.

"Back off, mangy mutt! This is when the kind hunters usually come to the rescue, right?"

The wolf pounces towards Ulrich, causing him to move backwards and to fall off the cliff. The three stare at him in horror. He falls through a small tree.

"ULRICH!" Yumi shouts and when he lands...

He phases right through the wolf.

"But...!" Odd stammers in shock.

"Huh?" Ulrich punches through a wolf and it goes to static, eventually fading away. "It's a decoy! They-They're just images!"

Odd turns around to the wolf in front of him, kicking the leg. Just like with Ulrich, it disappears. "That XANA's even slyer than I thought! Making Amy scared for no reason!"

Amy sighs in relief, hugging Odd. "Thanks for protecting me."

"Oh, uh, no problem, Ames," Odd mutters shyly, rubbing his neck. Yumi just smiles at them.

"No Scyphozoa in sight, Jeremy," Aelita moves past a rock. She scours the area. No monsters in sight.

"_Anyway, be careful_," Jeremy warns her. Knowing XANA, he always has a plan...

Four wolves walk up to them, Yumi kicking through one when it jumps towards her. It disappears and Ulrich goes to punch one, but it dodges its attacks, unlike the other ones.

"Uh oh. This one's real."

"So are these two," Yumi says as they back away slowly. Amy hits the rock as she starts silently panicking again. Yumi's phone rings and she answers. "Jeremy."

"_How's it going?_"

"It sure is no picnic over here," Yumi looks down at the wolves.

"_Hang on, Aelita is almost at the activated tower._"

She hangs up and Odd places a comforting hand on Amy's back. "Breathe, Ames. Breathe."

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

Aelita flies down the path and stops at the entrance. The tower is just inside the ice cave. She runs inside past the waterfall and jumps onto the rocks. However...

She hits the tower, rubbing her head. She looks up, wondering what just happened. "What's going on?" She touches the tower, but is unable to phase through it. Usually, when she touches it, she's able to enter.

"Jeremy, _we've got a problem_..."

"Yumi?" Jeremy dials her as soon as he figures out the problem with Aelita.

"Yeah?"

"The antivirus I injected into Aelita has modified her virtual signature. The tower doesn't recognize her any longer!"

"You mean she can't deactivate them anymore?" Yumi asks in surprise.

"Exactly. That is, until I manage to extract that dumb bugged virus," He tries to get rid of it, only to get another error message. "_But she's all alone on Lyoko, and I can't devirtualize her._"

"Okay, we'll be right there," She hangs up, turning to the others. "Aelita needs our help."

"Glad to hear it, but how do you plan on getting out of this jam?" Odd looks back to the wolves.

"We split up. I'll take care of them," Ulrich speaks up to their protest.

"Are you crazy?!" Yumi exclaims at him.

"Need I remind you that these are real WOLVES?!" Amy stares down at them, shivering.

"Go on, I said, okay? I may have vertigo, but I can handle a few flea-bitten mongrels," He picks up a stick from the ground. "On three, get going."

"You mean one two and go, or do you mean one two three and go?" Odd asks, making Ulrich roll his eyes.

"GO!"

"Oh." The three run off, leaving Ulrich to slowly move in front of the wolves.

The Scyphozoa enters the cave. "_Calvary's on the way, Aelita_. Careful, behind you!" He sees that it's the same monster he didn't want to attack. "NO!"

Aelita turns around to the Scyphozoa, eyeing it nervously.

Ulrich swings the stick, but it breaks in half once it hits the wolf. The leader snarls its teeth.

Aelita backs away, only to hit the water slightly with her foot. She holds out her hand, using her creativity to incase the monster into a block of ice.

"You can start the process, Jeremy," Yumi informs as the three enter the scanners. They're enclosed in and Jeremy starts it up.

"Transfer Amy. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Odd. Scanner Amy. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

They close their eyes as they disappear into Lyoko.

Aelita presses a hand to her forehead, using her creativity once again to make a path of rocks. She smiles at how it worked and jumps from rock to rock, running away from the monster. The path disappears and she comes to a stop when she sees two Hornets in front of her.

"You know what you have to do. Your vehicles are on the way."

The vehicles land in front of them as they land onto the ground. Odd backflips onto his Overboard, Yumi jumping onto her Overwing. Amy backflips and lands into her OverRunner.

"_Follow the trail. The activated tower is inside the cavern_."

The three take off down the path, thinking about how Ulrich sacrificed himself so that they could get there. Without him, they wouldn't be there right now. "_How's Ulrich?_"

"No news," Jeremy reports gravely.

Ulrich is running in the forest, the three wolves pursuing him. He pants as he goes through the street, a bus passing by behind him. He runs straight across.

The Hornets are _blocking_ Aelita's way, so she turns around and runs back inside. She gasps in fear as one of the Scyphozoa's tentacles are moving. Another one moves and it eventually breaks free. It flies up to her and she backs away slowly.

"Yumi, Odd, Amy, move it!" Jeremy urges as a Megatank appears. It blocks their path as it opens up.

The two Hornets fly after Aelita, stopping right behind her. "Jeremy..." She steps onto a rock, Jeremy cringing.

The laser fires from the Megatank and they move out of the way, the Overwing getting destroyed. The other two look back to her, looking at the monster. They get up and try to help Yumi, but it's too late as another laser hits her and devirtualizes her in one hit.

"Yumi!" Amy calls out and they move around the monster. It fires and Amy swerves out of the way, almost nearing the edge. She sighs in relief and Odd flies back to the Megatank. He flies straight at it and jumps, his Overboard destroying the Megatank.

"_Well done, Odd_," Jeremy congratulates as Odd lands safely. Amy comes to a stop in front of him.

"Need a ride?" She winks.

"My favorite girl coming to my rescue. Usually it's the other way around," He smiles in amusement and she tries to hide a blush.

"Just get in."

He jumps in behind her and she starts up the racecar, zooming down the path. Both of them hoped that they weren't too late.

"Guys, you're the only ones who can do anything now," Jeremy tells them.

Aelita is lifted up into the air by the Scyphozoa.

Ulrich dials Jeremy, running near the factory. "Jeremy, how's it going?"

"A complete mess. And you?"

"Ditto!" Ulrich runs into the entrance of the factory. The wolves are right on his tail and the leader pounces, knocking him down. His phone slides all the way back and he cringes.

"Ulrich!" Jeremy cries out but gets no answer. He taps into the cameras and sees the wolves surrounding Ulrich.

Amy drives as fast as she can and Odd points forward. "There's the cavern. Come on, Ames."

She narrows her eyes and goes even faster. She comes to a stop nearby. "Never know who could be around," She jumps out and Odd follows after her as they enter. The Scyphozoa proceeds to attack Aelita and the two come to a stop as they see the Hornets. Luckily, their backs are turned and they can't see the duo.

"Oh no," Odd turns to Amy. "They've got guard dogs."

"I told you," She only shrugs. "There's no way we'll be able to get past them without the Hornets seeing us. We need to get sneak past and get to Aelita."

Odd looks down at the water and then at the Hornets. He touches it and yelps, Amy covering his mouth and looking back towards the Hornets. They don't hear them and Odd shivers at how cold the water was...but Amy's hand felt different from the cold. He takes a deep breath and jumps in. Amy does the same and they swim underneath the Hornets, who don't suspect a thing.

They suddenly appear underneath the Scyphozoa. "Laser Arrow!" Odd fires both his hands at the tentacles, causing it to release Aelita. Amy throws her spear at the monster and it leaves. Aelita rubs her head, landing on a rock in front of Aelita. "You okay? _Jeremy, how's it going with the antivirus_?"

"_Ulrich isn't going to last much longer_!"

"I'm working on it," Jeremy reports, Yumi walking up to him.

"What about Ulrich?" She asks him and she leans in, seeing the footage. Ulrich holds his leg and jumps, hanging onto the rope, sliding to the bottom. Jeremy and Yumi both watch in anticipation until he lands on the ground, due to the pain in his leg. "Ulrich! I've gotta help him!"

"Wait," Jeremy gets a green exclamation point. "The antivirus is deactivated. Aelita, you can get into the tower now. Hope this works..."

Aelita looks up, having recovered from the attack. She steps onto the rocks and successfully enters the tower. Odd holds out a hand to Amy and helps her out of the water, holding onto her. If he was able to smell, he would enjoy her strawberry scent...

He sighs in relief once Aelita has gone into the tower. "It's okay, Jeremy." He wraps his tail around Amy's waist and she smiles at him. Neither of them notice the Hornets approaching.

Ulrich gets surrounded by the wolves, unable to get up.

Aelita walks up to the middle, letting herself fly to the top.

The wolves are right above him, growling.

She lands on the top pad, Ulrich cringing to himself. Aelita walks up to the interface.

The wolves start to gnaw at Ulrich's clothes.

Aelita signs in to deactivate the tower.

Ulrich whimpers as a wolf is tugging at his pants.

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated..."

The wolves all fall unconscious around Ulrich. "Launch a return to the past!" Yumi cries out in worry for Ulrich. "Hurry up!"

"Return to the past now," Jeremy presses the button and everything is engulfed in white, including Ulrich and the wolves around him.

* * *

When they return back, it's the climbing competition again. "First one to the top," William smiles down challengingly. Ulrich looks up at him. "Well?"

"No thanks."

"You chicken?" William teases him. "You got vertigo or what?"

"Yeah," Ulrich smirks at him. "What about it?" He was no longer going to deny it. Fears didn't make him as different as anyone else. "No worse than being afraid of spiders."

"Mm?" William raises an eyebrow in surprise. Both Yumi and Ulrich smirk knowingly. "Hey, how did you know that?"

"I have my spies," Ulrich looks away and he sees Sissi giggling a bit. "Anyway, see you around, Spiderman."

"Hm," Yumi smiles in amusement, following after him. He huffs and watches the five leave the gym. Jeremy is waiting for them outside.

"So, Aelita, what's it like being invisible?" Odd asks once they step out. "I always wanted to be like...you know, Sue in the Fantastic Four?" he chuckles and Jeremy smiles to himself, walking after them.

"Well, whatever it was like, I don't wanna know. I'd rather be able to see myself," Amy flips her hand behind her. "And besides...it's better than being able to see Sissi everyday."

They all laugh at her remark.


	47. Cold War

**Angel: I apologize for the late update, I had school early this morning. And I was in the middle of trying to find good prices for textbooks, which is a struggle, so I just gave up for the time being on that task.**

**Please understand that school is starting, and I'm gonna be busy after I get out of school for the next few months, so updates might get delayed because of that.**

In the ice sector, a tower is activated...

Jeremy's computer beeps and he wakes up at the sound, putting on his glasses. The superscan doesn't show the exact tower, instead it keeps scanning. "Something is not right here." He attempts to find out the problem, but nothing happens.

"What do you mean, clack?" He takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "An alarm signal and no activated tower? That's weird," He goes to lay down on his bed, telling himself that he'd take care of it in the morning.

* * *

The next morning, Yumi rushes into the dorm, running up the stairs.

"And you're sure about the alarm last night?" Aelita asks, Jeremy having told her his concerns.

"Not 100 percent. I was pretty groggy. Odd, could you make a little less noise?" Jeremy places a hand on his cheek in annoyance.

"No!" Odd shouts back, digging through Jeremy's trash. "If I don't find the DVD of my short film in the next three seconds, I'll turn into a pumpkin!"

"That'll be the day," Amy snorts to Ulrich, who's sitting on Jeremy's bed.

"Which short film? Natural Grandeur Two or I Guess Our Guest is a Ghost?" Ulrich wonders and Odd looks up.

"I Guess Our Guest is a Ghost," Odd tells him. Jeremy places a hand on his cheeks in disbelief. "If you want me to become rich and famous, I absolutely have to give it to T.V.!"

Jeremy takes a deep breath. "T.V.? Who's T.V.?" Aelita asks in confusion.

"His real name is Thomas Vincent," Odd stands up. "But everybody calls him T.V., because he's the famous news reporter on TV," He kicks away Jeremy's trashcan. "TV, get it?"

Yumi opens the door. "T.V.'s gonna be here in five minutes."

"My career is nicked in the bud!" Odd laments, sagging his body into Jeremy's desk. He starts fake crying and Amy stands up, picking up a DVD.

"Odd," She holds it to his eyes.

"Hey," He takes it from her. "Yes! Fame, fortune, and glory are mine. Ames, I could kiss you!"

"That'll be the day," Ulrich teases back to Amy, who glares at him, blushing when Odd has his back turned. Jeremy, Aelita, and Yumi all giggle.

* * *

A high-tech car pulls up in front of the faculty building, the car door lifting up. T.V. pulls down his glasses with an uninterested frown. He gets the door opened by Jim when he approaches the building.

"My dear T.V., on behalf of the students and faculty, we're very honored that you-"

"Okay, okay," T.V. interrupts Principal Delmas' written introduction. "No big deal, time is money." He gestures to a shorter woman who has light brown hair to a short bob, a brown jacket with a red shirt, blue jeans, and is holding a camera. "Uh, this is Edna, my camera, uh, woman, person, whatever. Never on time. Show up late one more time, and you're finished! I've got a hundred and fifty cameramen who'd kill for a chance to work with T.V."

"Hmm," She glares at him. She needed the money, but working with this jerk is slowly starting to make her question her sanity.

"You, sweatshirt, park my car out of sight from the kids. I don't want them scratching it," T.V. throws his car keys casually to Jim. They hit his face before he catches them in his hand.

"Uh, whoa." When did he become a valet?

* * *

"Now, let's continue with our study of plant life," As Ms. Hertz is talking, Sissi eyes a dripping faucet in boredom. "After our field trip last week, I asked you to calculate the yield of the field of corn that we visited." Nicolas casually has his fist to his cheek. Odd clicks his pen as Amy is taking notes right next to him, to the right of Ulrich and Jeremy. Aelita is sitting behind them. "Now, who can give me the answer?"

Nicolas accidentally hits his face with the book as he drops his arm. "Poliakoff?"

"Wha?" He looks up in confusion. "Yeah," He flips through his book quickly. "One thousand five hundred and twenty seven tons!"

"Really, Nicolas?" She raises an eyebrow, amused. She then claps and he grins widely. "Well done. You've solved the problem of world hunger."

The whole class laughs at him and he drops his smile. "Quiet down."

T.V. comes into the class and she turns to him. "Yes?"

"Give me a panorama shot of the kids," He orders Edna, microphone in hand. Ms. Hertz steps up to him, wondering what he's doing.

"Ahem." Sissi walks up behind her. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. Get out of the shot," He tells her rudely. She huffs at his manners. He turns to the camera. "Do our schools still provide a future for all youth faced with the teacher's last attitudes? We have reason to doubt." He walks past Jeremy. "To see how bad it's become, all you need to do is pick out a student at random and ask him his grade point average." He gestures for Jeremy to speak, holding the microphone to him. "You, for instance."

"99.87 out of 100."

T.V. looks at him in shock, Ms. Hertz humming in confirmation. "Okay, cut. That's too high."

Edna cuts and then turns the camera back on. "Who here has a below 60 average?"

Odd raises his hand, Amy shaking her head. She thinks back to how her dad once wanted her to beat Jeremy's score, but to do that, she'd have to be a robot.

Or, just be Jeremy himself.

Even she knew she couldn't pull that off, which is why she's happy with her 96.8 average. Anything to make her father's face go red was worth the B from history.

"Okay son," T.V. walks up to him. "So you're flunking out of school, right?"

"Me? Not exactly. On the other hand, I have this great DVD to show you," Odd grins, holding up his short film.

"Oh, this cannot be happening," T.V. comments to Odd's dismay. "What's with this bunch of-"

The bell rings and they all cheer. The five walk out of the building. "I'm so disgusted!" Odd frowns deeply. "T.V. didn't even wanna see my masterpiece."

"Is that what it means to be a starving artist?" Aelita asks him.

"Aw, I wouldn't worry about it," Amy wraps an arm around Odd. "He doesn't know what he's missing out on."

"Really?" Odd looks up at her.

"Of course. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. You're too good for him. He's just an idiot who doesn't see your talent."

He smiles at her encouragement. He was gonna show T.V. that he could make it big and then he'll see what he missed out on! If it wasn't for Amy, he'd still be doubting himself. But the girl just cheered him up like it was nothing.

"Oh no!" Jeremy exclaims in horror.

"What?" They turn around to him. Jeremy pulls out his beeping laptop and opens it.

"The alarm. XANA's gone on the attack," He closes it.

"I'll warn Yumi," Ulrich pulls out his phone.

"Well I sure hope this goes quickly, because I don't wanna miss today's meatballs and gravy!" Odd catches up with them. "They've been at them for ages."

"Ah, Rosa can make anything better...except for maybe T.V.'s stuck up personality," Amy rolls her eyes at the mention of him. She never liked him, she's heard how nasty he can be. And his attitude in science class only proved her point.

* * *

"Virtualization," Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich land in front of Amy and Aelita in the mountain sector. She turns around and they run down the long rock pathway. The tower is just in their sights as Amy takes herself into the sky with her wings.

Jeremy watches, noting that there's no sign of monsters so far. A second later, his suspicions are diminished. "Watch it, you've got company."

"Aelita, stay behind me," Yumi pulls out her fans. Ulrich pulls out his sword and Odd readies his arm. Amy pulls out her spear. It's a horde of Hornets. Ulrich speeds up.

"Everyone bring their pesticide?" Odd asks them. They separate and three of them attack Ulrich. He blocks the shots with his sword, destroying one when he reflects the projectile back to the monster. Yumi runs up ahead as two circle Ulrich, Aelita following behind.

Yumi looks up at three Hornets, watching them circle back to behind her. They fire at her from behind and she runs past the shots, absorbing some with her fans. They continue their attack on her and she continues absorbing them with her weapons. Aelita watches her.

"Yumi!"

She looks up ahead at Aelita's warning to see three rock platforms up ahead. She jumps, spinning around and holding out her fans. She blocks the shots, reflecting them back to two Hornets, getting rid of them. She flips and lands on one of the rocks, still spinning. She gets herself to stop just as she was about to fall off. She gasps in slight shock, three Hornets approaching Odd.

He backflips as they were planning on ambushing him, firing one arrow. It destroys the one on his left.

Amy comes to a stop as three Hornets are flying straight towards her. She flips into the air, holding her spear. She rolls towards them, destroying a Hornet in the middle when she passes right by it. She flies underneath the rock, two Hornets following after her.

Yumi backs away slowly as a Hornet is approaching her. She then starts running forward and jumps, spinning around as she throws her fans. "Ya!" One fan gets hit by a laser while the other destroys the Hornet. Yumi lands on the next platform and catches her fans. She backflips back onto the path.

Ulrich blocks another laser before speeding up. "Super Sprint!"

The Hornets chase after him and he jumps onto the first platform with a yell. He spins around while he's still in the air, getting rid of both Hornets.

Odd runs as two Hornets are firing at him. He jumps and turns back to them. "Laser Arrow!" He fires twice, getting rid of one.

"Ya!" Yumi throws a fan right past Odd's face and it destroys the third Hornet. Odd looks back to see her catching the fan, Aelita standing next to Yumi. Odd lands in front of the three.

"Thanks Yumi. Hey, where's Ames?"

He gets his answer as Amy flies right past them, looking back at the Hornets still chasing her. "Rock Spear!" A duplicate of her spear made of rock appears and it flies right into the Hornets, destroying them. One final Hornet looks down at them as Amy flies up to her friends.

"Hey! Bunch of chickens!" Odd shakes a fist, Amy stifling a laugh.

"Weird. I guess XANA is not up to snuff today," Yumi comments on how the Hornet just left.

"Well, weird or not, it's better for us, because we have something waiting for us," Odd looks to all his friends. "Meatballs and gravy!"

"So hurry up," Jeremy smiles softly. They continue down the pathway, jumping over two more platforms. They reach the tower and Odd looks to Aelita.

"Well, my lady, your tower is served," He gestures to it.

"Aelita, wait," Yumi stops the elf girl before she could enter. "Look!" She points up to the tower, which self-deactivates. "The tower is deactivating itself."

"Huh. You don't see that everyday," Amy stares at it.

"Well, what do you know?" Ulrich asks.

"_What does that mean, Jeremy?_"

"I wish I knew," Jeremy scratches his head in confusion.

* * *

When they return back from materialization, Jeremy is staring at another activated tower. He holds his head. "Oh no! Another tower activated in the ice sector." However, like last time, it disappears. "Again? Unbelievable!"

"What's going on?" The others enter from the elevator.

"The tower just deactivated by itself! I don't get this at all!"

"Do you think it's a bug in the supercomputer?" Aelita wonders, as it's happened before.

"Or a new plot by XANA," Odd suggests, smiling a bit.

"Go to lunch," Jeremy waves at them. "I'll stay here and try to work all this out. If anything happens, I'll give you a shout."

Yumi nods at them and he hears them leave. "I'll stay with you," Aelita places a hand on his shoulder. "With the two of us, it'll go faster."

He smiles gratefully for the help.

* * *

A student walks off with his lunch as the other four are next. T.V. cuts in line in front of Odd. Rosa gives him a big smile, planting some meatballs and gravy onto his tray. "What's with these little mini servings? Come on, cookie, don't be shy," He snaps his fingers. "Load up the meatballs."

She gives him more meatballs and he walks off. "Let me tell ya, sure is no picnic being a field reporter."

Amy sticks out her tongue at him in retaliation. Rosa gives Odd less meatballs than she would usually give him. "Wait, what? Where are all the meatballs?"

"On T.V.'s tray," Rosa looks up at the man, who tastes the meatballs and spits them out in disgust.

"Oh, oh, this is awful!"

They just stare at him for his...high tastes.

"Any guy who had wheels like this, I'd go out with in a heartbeat," Sissi smiles, touching T.V.'s car.

"Okay, I'm outta here. I'm starving," Nicolas walks off and Sissi huffs at him. Herb smiles widely that he's alone with Sissi.

Jeremy stares at another activated tower, rubbing his chin. "It's starting up again. Should I tell the others?" Aelita wonders.

"Hang on," Jeremy leans back in his chair. "It might deactivate by itself again."

However, it doesn't, as the satellites are affected. A specter flies out from them into the clouds, causing a storm. They dark the skies and the buildings underneath...

Ulrich takes a sip of his water as it starts to snow. "Look!" He points outside. "It's snowing!"

"Right on!" Odd cheers, the other students cheering too. Amy smiles, looking outside. She loved snow ever since she was a little girl. In the winter, she'd go with her parents to a cabin and just play in it all day...

That was when her parents were still happy together.

Jim looks outside. "Calm down, everyone. Stay in your seats."

Aelita and Jeremy, unaware of the snow, are looking over the statistics. "The subsystem seems okay too..."

She eyes the right screen, seeing that the tower is still activated. "Jeremy, the tower is still activated."

"Uh oh, bad news. Maybe this time XANA really is attacking," Jeremy puts the headphone to his mouth. It would've gone away after a few seconds like the last two times...

The students are out playing in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other. "That's enough now," Jim claps his hands. "Everyone inside."

He gets a snowball to the face, looking towards the principal. He puts his hands behind his back innocently, glaring.

Yumi runs past as Ulrich is holding a snowball, chuckling. Odd and Amy throw snowballs at each other.

"Hold still, Ames!" He chases after her and they both trip, laughing. Odd glances at the smiling girl. Some snow is in her hair as some of it falls down onto her cheeks. She looks...really pretty in the snow all of a sudden...

He had to resist the urge to touch her snowflake-decorated hair.

"Yes Jeremy?" Yumi holds the phone to her ear, backing into a tree. Ulrich stands behind her, snowball ready. Odd prepares to hit Ulrich with a bigger snowball once he's gotten up, Yumi hanging up the phone. "XANA's attacking."

Odd drops the snowball. "Aww...okay," Amy pouts and Odd grins at her.

"Think of it this way, we can play in the snow in the winter time."

"Yeah!" She smiles in agreement. Suddenly, the wind blows the snow harder, some of the students covering themselves.

"Inside, on the double!" Jim calls out, the principal helping two students into the dorms. Jim helps out a crying student.

"Come on, I got you." He picks him up as the snow doesn't let up, the four Lyoko Warriors helping other students inside. Yumi closes the door as Odd and Ulrich drop Milly and Tamiya. They look to see everyone else sitting on the stairs.

"We have to get to Lyoko," Yumi tells the three, frost coming from her mouth.

"Yeah, you're right, and I bet the weather's better there," Odd comments as it's just as cold inside as it is outside.

Amy calls Jeremy. "Einstein, we can't get to Lyoko. We're stuck at school because of a blizzard. This must've been XANA's doing."

"What a nightmare! XANA's back to his old self!" Jeremy holds his head in dismay. If they couldn't get there, Aelita is all alone...

* * *

Herb tries to open the door to the gym, but it's locked. "Closed. Now what?"

"Follow me," Sissi shivers from the cold. They get inside T.V.'s snow-encrusted car, shivering. Herb tries to start up the car to get the heat on, but the snow has already gotten to the engines. Sissi tries to turn up the AC, but with the car off, it's no use. Herb tries again, but nothing. Eventually, he gets it on, the heat melting some of the snow.

"Cool, the Subsonics!" Sissi holds up a DVD and they play it as they wait for someone to help. The wind stops blowing, but the snowflakes still fall, the whole school covered in at least 2 inches of snow.

* * *

The students shiver as Jim walks by, handing them coats, hats, and blankets. He's wearing a yellow coat and a blue hat on his head. He hands Yumi, Amy, Odd, and Ulrich jackets. Yumi gets a dark blue jacket with a pink hat, Odd gets a light blue jacket and pants, and Ulrich gets a grey hat and a red jacket. Amy gets a pink jacket and pants like Odd's, blue earmuffs over her ears and a green scarf around her neck. All of them have goggles, Yumi's being decorated to look like a ladybug, and Amy's decorated to have a cat design, with the ears above her eyes.

"Here, Mr. T.V.," Jim offers a hat. "This will keep your hair in place."

Edna puts on a green blanket, giggling at her boss. He's frowning as he has a red and green hat, kind of like an elf hat for Christmas.

"Very good, Ms. Hertz," Mr. Delmas is wearing a beige coat and red scarf. "You did well to take the children safely to the basement of the science building." He hangs up, frowning in worry.

"Look, Mr. Delmas," Jim holds up a tiny device. "I found the weather station. I got this free with my Sumo Mag Subscription. Up there, it shows the temperature outside," He gestures to the top number. "Uh, it's 4 degrees below zero. And down here," He points to the bottom temperature, "Shows the temperature in here, 37."

"37 degrees?" Mr. Delmas asks in shock. Usually the dorms don't get that cold, even during a storm. "Come on, let's go down to the boiler room," He walks up to the door, Jim turning to everyone else.

"Okay everybody."

* * *

The car has run out of battery from the radio and AC, leaving Herb and Sissi in the cold again. "It's a scientific fact that if we huddled together, we'll keep warmer," Herb suggests, a loud smack being heard from inside the car. "Ouch!"

"It's a scientific fact that a good slap will keep your cheek warm," She retorts back.

* * *

Edna is recording the students trying to keep warm in the boiler room. "I'm setting it on maximum," Principal Delmas is standing in front of the heater. "That should warm us up a little." She zooms in on Amy and Odd. Odd is hugging Amy as they're huddling together to keep themselves warm. She has her head rested on his chest.

T.V. stands in front of the camerawoman. "Edna, stop wasting film. An unbelievable deep freeze has taken hold of the city and what are you shooting? Four brats in a basement! It's not even PG-13! People expect spectacular TV from T.V., so let's get out of this rat hole and go where the action is, the city!"

Edna puts down the camera, crossing her arms. "Not with me." She's had enough of his bossy attitude and his opinion of children. Besides, she thought that Amy and Odd were cute together.

"Oh yeah? Fine. YOU'RE FIRED!"

Ulrich, Amy, Odd, and Yumi watch in shock. T.V. snatches his camera back. "Can't have cold feet on this job."

Edna grits her teeth at him. She's glad that she doesn't work for him anymore, the jerk. He eyes Odd and Amy snuggling, rolling his eyes.

"Disgusting."

He walks up to Jim, who's blocking his way. "You can't go outside," Jim shows his device. "It's 40 below out there."

"My car keys," He was not staying in some rat hole school when he could be getting quality TV.

Jim digs around for them, smiling innocently. "Um, I think I left them in the ignition." He smiles widely.

"Idiot!"

It was payback for making him a valet and for his attitude. He silently hoped T.V. got what was coming to him as the man storms out.

"Did you hear that?" Ulrich asks the others. "40 below, and there's no reason for XANA to stop there."

"The only solution is to deactivate the tower on Lyoko, but if we go out, we'll end up as...ice sculptures!" Odd says and Amy looks up at him.

"If we don't, Aelita's all alone and we'll freeze either way. She needs us. We have no choice..."

"Amy's right, we have to try," Yumi agrees with her. "We'll sneak out of here and search the rooms for warmer gear, and then we'll run over to the factory."

"Okay," The other three nod at her plan.

* * *

Herb and Sissi shiver in the car. "I'm warning you, Herb, if you fall asleep...I'll slap you again!"

He recoils back at her threat. The door opens, covering the top of Herb's hair with snow. A snow-decorated T.V. leans in towards them angrily.

"What do you think you're doing in my car?! Get out of here!" He yells at them.

"Hey, you're not gonna leave us in this blizzard, are you?" Sissi asks him, her nose with snow on it.

"Fine," He agrees reluctantly. "I'll drop you off. Get in the back and don't get my soft leather seats dirty, got it?" He gets in and the door closes. He takes off, snow trailing behind the car. As the four escape from the boiler room into the outside, the car swerves due to the snow in the tires. The four come to a stop in front of a small hill. T.V. tries to gain control.

"Stupid power steering!" He swerves narrowly past a tree, but crashes into the next one, the snow falling onto the windshield.

"Did you see that?" Ulrich asks them. They recognize the high-end car as T.V.'s.

"We gotta go and help him."

"As much as I hate the news, I don't want him to freeze to death..." Amy murmurs at Yumi's suggestion.

Ulrich slides down first, followed by Odd, Amy, and Yumi.

* * *

Jim looks at the device, sitting between Christophe and Milly. "Sir?" A student wearing a dark puple coat walks up to him.

"Yes, Michael?"

"How c-c-cold is it?"

Jim's hand shakes as he looks at it. "58 degrees below zero outside t-twenty-three degrees in here," He stammers as frost comes onto his face. Michael gasps in shock at the lowered temperature. Who knows how long they had before it got worse...

"The deadly cold snap has hit the city, which was buried under ice and snow in a matter of minutes," Aelita and Jeremy are watching the news for the status. Luckily, the factory wasn't affected. "The authorities have put the emergency cold weather on action, but chaos has broken out nonetheless. Telephone lines-" The footage stops there, as the snow has affected phone lines and satellites at this point.

* * *

Ulrich stomps his foot into the white substance, Yumi, Amy, and Odd helping out a cold Herb and Sissi. T.V. steps out, shivering.

"I-It wasn't my fault. It was the p-power steering, I..."

"Yeah, right," Yumi interrupts sharply, just as fed up with him as Edna was. "Why don't you make yourself useful in the meantime? Get Sissi and Herb into the boiler room, fast!"

"Go on! Go!" Amy shouts at him and he walks off, escorting the two away.

"Now that's authority," Odd comments, impressed at how Amy took charge. Ulrich glances a tree, which starts breaking apart due to how cold it is.

"Ulrich! Look out!" Yumi pushes him out of the way without a second thought. The tree falls as Ulrich lands in the snow. Odd and Amy stand up from the white substance.

"That was close," He rubs his head. Amy turns around and her eyes widen in horror.

"Yumi!" Ulrich shouts as Yumi is stuck underneath the fallen tree.

"Oh no, Yumi," Amy runs up to her, Ulrich wrapping his arms around her.

"This is why...I like bonsais better," She comments at her situation, looking up at them.

"We'll get you out there," Ulrich assures her. "One, two, three." Amy, Ulrich, and Odd try pushing against the tree to free her, but it's too heavy. It doesn't move an inch.

"Forget it," She tells them, knowing that she can't escape. "It's much too heavy. Go to the factory, that's more important."

"We just can't leave her. She won't last long in this cold."

"Yeah," Amy frowns down at Yumi.

"You two get to Lyoko," Ulrich tells them. "I'll stay here with her."

"Good luck," Odd and Ulrich pat each other on the shoulder. Amy bends down and hugs Yumi as best as she can.

"We'll go as fast as we can. Don't fall asleep on us," She smiles weakly, running after Odd. Ulrich bends down, placing his hand on Yumi's back.

"Hang in there. I'm gonna go look for something to get you out of there," He gives her a thumbs up and she returns it. She watches him leave and hugs herself, feeling colder...

Ulrich walks into the shed for something to get the tree out.

* * *

"We have no choice, Jeremy!" Aelita tells Jeremy sharply, as she's trying to convince him to let her go.

"But that's exactly what XANA's waiting for, Aelita: for you to go to Lyoko, so he can steal your memory," Jeremy replies back. He did it when he sent Krabs to Earth, and XANA can surely do the same tactic again.

"If someone doesn't go and deactivate that tower, Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Amy will die of cold!" Aelita argues, "And the entire city with them!"

Jeremy holds his head in shock. The chances of the four getting out of the school were slim right now, and eventually, the city would be affected too. As much as he didn't want to put Aelita at risk, he didn't want his friends or anyone else to die.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll launch the virtualization process."

Aelita walks off to the elevator, glad that she's doing her part to help.

* * *

Ulrich drags a pulley that's already starting to freeze. He sees Yumi's eyes are closed. "Yumi!" He rubs her goggles.

"Let me...sleep," She opens her eyes weakly and he shakes her awake.

"No! No, you can-you can sleep later, okay?" He throws the chain over a branch, connecting the chain to the pulley. He attaches another chain around the tree and starts pulling. The chain starts to freeze as he continues pulling, but the tree doesn't budge. The chain slips from his hand and he kicks the snow in frustration.

* * *

Aelita drives the Overbike to the activated tower up ahead in the ice sector. "_Look out, Aelita. Hornets on the way._"

"I can't see anything for now," She doesn't notice any Hornets...

Because they're not Hornets.

She recognizes the shape of the monster, looking up in surprise to see a Flying Manta! "They're not Hornets. They're Flying Mantas!"

"Huh?" Jeremy asks in shock that he didn't notice them from the screen. What's more... "But...they never leave Sector Five."

Aelita eyes them closely, wondering why they're here. Either way, it was a big step up from XANA. She narrows her eyes and speeds up. "We have to face facts. XANA is getting more and more powerful."

"_About face, Aelita, fast!_"

The three Flying Mantas surround the activated tower, flying around it and stopping right in front of them. If Aelita dared to go through, she'd be fired at. She comes to a stop and turns around.

"No!" Her mouth opens in horror at the Scyphozoa approaching her.

Jim turns up the boiler, shutting it closed. He stands up, hands on his hips. "Well, that's it."

Mr. Delmas looks at his phone, which is now inoperable due to the weather.

"Think about warm things, Amy," Odd tells the girl as they're slowly walking to the factory. "Tahiti, sauna, heat wave, fireplace..."

Amy falls onto the ground behind him, too cold to walk any further. "Huh?" Odd looks down at her, "Ames!"

"O-Odd...I-I'm too...cold...go on without me."

"No way!" He helps her up onto his back, carrying her across the bridge slowly as she passes out.

Aelita drives away from the Flying Mantas. She sees them hatching something, gasping. "Flying Mines!" She drives up ahead.

Ulrich pulls the frosted chain, which eventually breaks from the frost. "Yumi," Ulrich cries out that he's unable to help her. He crawls up to her. "Stay with me."

The Mantas fly around the Scyphozoa, trapping Aelita inside a circle of mines. She narrows her eyes at the trap and revs the bike, having a plan.

Sissi shivers next to her father, Jim's device on the ground. The temperature drops even further. "Okay, no sleeping," Jim claps to get everyone's attention. "Everyone listen up. I'm gonna tell you a little story." He paces around. "And it's from when I was a volunteer research subject, for the space exploration program."

T.V. smiles when no one is looking, snatching Milly and Tamiya's blanket for warmth.

"_Aelita, what are you doing? You're going straight to the Scyphozoa_!"

Ignoring Jeremy's warning, Aelita uses her creativity to make a ramp. She speeds up and flies over the Scyphozoa, crashing the Overbike and sliding onto the ground.

"Hot springs, g-glass furnace," Odd presses the button. He feels Amy's head drop and he gasps. "Ames, no! Wake up, wake up!"

He shivers, a tear falling down from his eye. "Please...wake up..."

"And b-believe it or not," Jim stammers, frost from his mouth. "Major Santana really had it."

Edna slaps T.V., knocking off his glasses. "No sleeping!" She glares at him, grabbing the blanket. She wraps it around the girls. He stares at the woman in shock, holding his warm cheek.

Aelita looks up at the disappearing mines, the Scyphozoa approaching her. "_Aelita, behind you_!"

She turns around, gasping sharply to see the jellyfish holding out his tentacles.

"Please, hang on..." Ulrich begs as he's hugging Yumi. "I'm sure Amy and Odd are already on Lyoko."

In fact, they're the opposite as they enter the lab. "M-Magma..." Odd falls onto the ground.

"Odd! Amy!" Jeremy rushes to their side, trying to get Odd up.

"D-Don't help me, help her," Odd slowly points to Amy on the ground next to him. "She p-passed out..."

Aelita runs from the Scyphozoa, who's gaining on her.

Jeremy and Odd help Amy into a scanner as best as they can. He then helps Odd into the other one as Amy's cheek rests on the cold metal.

Aelita gets captured by the Scyphozoa from behind. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Amy. Virtualization!"

They materialize into the ice sector, Odd landing on his Overboard. Amy lands behind him and she wakes up at the landing.

"Are you okay?" He asks gently as she stands up, holding her head.

"Yeah..."

"Don't fly or drive, okay? You're still dizzy. I'll take care of us in the meantime," He then sees the ice sector. "Oh no, more ice."

"Come on, Aelita needs our help," Amy tells him, wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug. She rests her head on his shoulder and his eyes widen. "Thanks for helping me through the cold..."

"Heh heh..." He rubs his neck sheepishly. "You're welcome. Alright, we've got a job to do." He takes off with Amy towards the activated tower. They see Aelita getting her memory taken by the Scyphozoa.

Ulrich continues hugging Yumi. "Leave me," She looks up. Aelita needed all the help she could get, and there was no way he was gonna get her free.

"You won't get rid of me that easily."

She smiles softly at him.

Odd fires his arrows. "Laser Arrow!" They hit the jellyfish and Amy makes her spear into a bow.

"Sapphire Arrow," Multiple ice arrows hit the monster and he releases Aelita. Odd flies over to her and she lands behind Amy.

"Can I drop you off at the next activated tower, perhaps?" Odd offers her.

"I wouldn't say no," She smiles in amusement and he flies to the tower.

"_Look out behind you_!" Jeremy warns as the two didn't know about the Mantas. They fire at them and they look behind to see the monsters appearing.

"Mantas in the ice sector?!" Amy exclaims, turning to Odd. "That's just what we needed."

"A-And so...there I..." Jim falls next to his device, shivering.

Odd zips past the lasers behind them, flying down and spinning in a circle. Aelita yelps at the speed and Odd spins around another one. The Mantas fly past them, letting out the mines and surrounding the tower with them.

"_Another field of flying mines!_"

Odd turns around to the two. "Hang on."

He zips past the mines like it was nothing.

"Please...Yumi..." Ulrich tries to keep his eyes open. "Don't give up...we need you to fight against XANA..." Frost comes from his mouth as her eyes are also closed.

The Mantas fire from behind. "Odd, Amy, the Flying Mantas are behind us!" Aelita warns the two. He ducks underneath the mines where it's safe, the Mantas following after them. He heads towards the tower, one of the Mantas falling to the ground, destroying itself. The other two follow and Odd continues ahead of the flurry of mines. A Manta appears right in front of them. It fires and Odd just chuckles, moving past them.

"Right where I want them." He aims his hand at the one firing at them. "Here we go!" He fires three times, hitting one of the wings. Amy throws her spear, hitting the other one. The Manta spins around, falling straight into mines. It explodes, causing a chain reaction of mines being exploded. It creates a path to the tower.

"_Yes! There's an open passage!_"

Odd stops in front of the tower. "Hurry! We'll cover you!"

Aelita jumps off, running towards the tower. The Manta fires at Odd and he fires back. "Shield!" He makes a shield with his arms, but eventually gets devirtualized.

"Odd!" Amy cries out, looking down at Aelita. The Manta chases after the girl, but she enters the tower safely. "Frosty Vine!" Ice vines surround the Manta before it's completely destroyed. Amy sighs in relief, flying around the tower and coming to a stop.

Aelita runs into the middle and flies to the top.

Ulrich silently cries, a frosted tear running down his cheek. "...I need you..." He whispers, but Yumi is already passed out.

Aelita lands at the top, walking up to the interface and signing in.

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated," She watches the codes disappear.

The sun comes out and Ulrich feels the snow off of him melting. "Yumi?" He sees that she hasn't woken up. "Yumi!" He bends down and doesn't hear her breathe. He tries to call, but the satellites were still busted from the weather. "Oh no...NO!"

Odd and Amy appear in the lab. "Jeremy, hurry up. Launch a return to the past. Yumi's in trouble."

"Okay," He presses enter. "Return to the past, now!" He snaps his fingers, engulfing everything.

* * *

It's back to the cafeteria. T.V. walks up to Rosa, cutting in line again. Rosa smiles widely and gives him a small portion. "What's with these little mini servings? Come on, cookie, don't be shy. Load up the meatballs," He snaps his fingers.

Odd winks at her, silently encouraging Rosa that she didn't need to take that from T.V.

"Do you_ really_ want it?"

"Oh yeah. What are you, deaf too?" He narrows his eyes in annoyance. At that, she dumps some meatballs on him. "What the-"

Odd laughs at him. "And if you're still hungry, there's seconds."

The others all laugh at him, Amy and Odd high fiving. Odd knew better now. He wasn't going to waste time on some jerk.

And, seeing him covered in meatballs was a little payback.


	48. Deja Vu

Amy sits up in her bed, sweat beaming down on her forehead. She can't sleep, not tonight. It's 3:34 in the morning at Kadic. She'd been up since it was time for sleep.

"I can't do this," She whispers, biting her lip.

She couldn't tell the one she liked how she felt, so now she has to hide behind the computer to do it. She'd been Odd's 'internet girlfriend' for a few days now, sending him poems from books. It wasn't from the heart, but they got the point across.

Every day so far had been the same, she'd give him a poem, but she wouldn't say who she was, simply let Odd know it was for him. But it's been harder, he's fallen for 'her,' which is almost destroying Amy's heart. Lying to him felt just as bad as hiding behind a computer.

He was thinking that they were from someone else, but it was Amy.

Today, however, things would be different. Later on, she'd tell him.

"I can do this," She whispers to herself. She prepares to text Odd.

_So, where do you go to school?_

She takes a deep breath and a few minutes later, a ping comes from her phone.

_Kadic Academy. I have the greatest friends there, especially Amy. What about you?_

"Okay, ease into it, Amy..." She takes a deep breath.

_I go to Kadic Academy, too._

_Cool!_

_Aelita opened the door to the Hermitage, paper being flown to the side. The place was still as empty and creepy as ever. She walked forward, touching the dresser. It emitted dust and she stopped, seeing three black-suited men. _

_Amy walked up to her from behind, confused on how she got there. "Aelita?"_

"_Amy..." The men walked forward and they both screamed._

Aelita sits up in bed, surprising Amy. She turns on her lamp. "...Another vision?"

"Yes, but this time...you were there."

"Me?!" Amy asks in shock, wondering what exactly that meant...

"So, I appeared in the Hermitage with you, and then it ended there?" Amy asks as Aelita is washing her face in the bathroom. Sissi walks in and Amy scowls at her.

"Was that you screaming, huh?" She narrows her eyes in annoyance.

"It's, uh," Aelita starts crying as she remembers what happened. Amy hugs Aelita, glaring at Sissi.

"I think that's the least of your problems, Sissi!"

Sissi looks at her in surprise. "Sissi, what's all this about?" Jim arrives at the door.

"It's Aelita Stones, Jim. She isn't feeling well," Sissi answers, not wanting to cause more trouble.

"What about you? You're not sleeping," He walks up to the girls.

"Me? Uh, well...uh, she woke me up."

Amy gets a vision of a man in black and grows a bit pale.

Jim escorts the girls past Jeremy's door and the boy opens it. "Aelita, Amy, what's going on?"

"It's, uh...nothing," Aelita immediately denies, not wanting others to hear. The doors down the hall open, people peeking out in concern.

"Okay, go back to bed, everybody, go on," Jim tells them and the students do so.

* * *

The same morning, Aelita has told the others about her nightmare. "It was daytime. There were these men in black, coming after us. It was horrible."

"You must've had a nightmare," Yumi assumes, smiling a bit. "You shouldn't get worked up, it happens to everyone."

"Yeah, that's right," Odd is leaning his arm on Ulrich's shoulder. "Happens to me all the time. One night, I dreamt I was on a date with Sissi. Can you think of a worse dream?"

"Ew," Amy scrunches up her nose in disgust. "Don't remind me of her. Last night she was all bitter because Aelita woke her up. But why would I appear? That's never happened before," Amy thinks to herself.

"Speaking of which, how's your internet dating going, Odd?" Yumi wonders and Amy cringes to herself.

"Great. There's this fantastic girl that I've really flipped over, too. And I just found out that she's a student right here at Kadic Academy! It's totally crazy," He looks away, wondering just who it is. Amy scratches her cheek at how smitten he seems to be. Way different than any other girl, not even Sam has that same effect on him.

Ulrich, Jeremy, and Yumi notice Amy's silence, looking to each other. She doesn't seem to bothered by it, unlike with other girls. In fact, it's almost as if she knows this girl.

"I see her every day, and I have no idea who she is!"

"And what's worse, he stayed up all night exchanging chat messages with her. I didn't sleep at all thanks to him," Ulrich jerks a thumb at Odd. He then notices the bags under Amy's eyes. She looks like she hadn't slept either.

"She sends me these messages that are so romantic. I mean, like poems. Listen to this," Odd looks at his phone. "Love is not looking at one another-"

"It's looking together in the same direction, huh?" Jeremy guesses in amusement.

"Hey, how do you know that?" Odd looks down at him.

"It's a poem by the guy who wrote The Little Prince. She may be romantic, but she's not very original!"

"Ha ha," Amy mutters under her breath. Poetry was not something she was an expert in, so she just took the random book from her bookshelf and went from there.

"Okay, it's time to get wet. Are you gonna cut swimming again, Einstein, huh?" Ulrich asks. Jeremy has been cutting swimming for a while. Anything athletic he would cut.

"No, I can't," Jeremy answers reluctantly. Just like with gym, he would usually avoid it and do something else that involves Lyoko. "Jim has already warned me. 'No more dumb excuses, ya hear?' "

"Great, we finally get to see that buff athletic body of yours. I can't wait!" Odd teases him.

"You may be surprised," Jeremy gives him a thumbs up.

"I gotta text my girl that there's not much to see," Odd whispers to the others, walking away. As soon as he's gone, Ulrich raises a brow at Amy.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know this girl, would you, Amy?"

"No," She immediately denies, trying to keep a straight face.

"Then why do you look so tired? What kept you up all night?" Yumi leans in closer and Amy stands up.

"I was...studying."

"We don't have a test," Aelita replies in confusion.

"I'm not studying for a test, I'm studying for, uh...uh, it's not important," She walks off to her room, the others eyeing her suspiciously.

Until Amy came up with a solid alibi, they were going to keep a close eye on her and her electronics...

* * *

At the pool, Jim stands in front of them, giving a lecture. "The human body is made of 90 percent water, and that is why it floats. Because, contrary to what you might think, water floats. Don't forget Archimedes principle. Any body plunged into a liquid and...wait, is uh...a, uh..."

"Comes out wet?" Odd jokes, glancing at Amy. She has a green one piece swimsuit with a butterfly logo where her chest is. Her hair is in a high bun. He blushes, trying to keep himself calm about her legs...and her hair...

But then his internet girl comes to mind and the images go away for now...

"Uh, yeah right. No, that's not it." Jim grunts in frustration. "Now, no one has to be scared of the water. Unless of course you're lost at sea somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In that case, you would certainly have the right to say 'wow, that's a lot of water!' "

"Tanya?" Odd murmurs to himself, trying to guess who his internet girl could be. "No...I know who it is! Yeah, sure, it's Sophie! She kind of fits the profile of all those chat messages."

"What makes you think it's a girl in _our _class?" Ulrich whispers to him. "It might just as easily be Milly or Tamiya."

"Which reminds me of when I was a salvage diver!" Jim paces in front of them.

"You used to be a salvage diver, Jim?" Nicolas raises a brow.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Jim glances at the blonde.

"Azra? No...no way, she's not a first-year student, either. I forgot," Odd looks to Ulrich.

"Maybe she's in Yumi's class," Ulrich chuckles at the thought. "And what if it's Anais Fiquet? To her, you're a real shrimp!"

Amy rolls her eyes in amusement at how clueless they are.

"Stern and Della Robbia!" Jim points to them accusingly. "Uh, I'm sorry if I'm boring you. Alright, on deck. Let's see what you can do."

Aelita holds her head as it's pounding. Amy rubs a temple, getting the same feeling. Jeremy glances at Aelita. "You okay?"

Aelita opens her eyes, not answering. "You too?" Jeremy notices Amy's state.

Odd and Ulrich step up to the platform, and Amy tries to pay attention, but she couldn't. Her head is just not letting her concentrate all of a sudden. Jim blows the whistle and the two jump, diving in. Aelita holds her head again, squeezing her eyes shut. She sees the men in black again and so does Amy. They run away, Amy taking the lead. She grabs Aelita's hand and they run down the stairs to another hall. They see something and run the other way, the men chasing after them.

The two suddenly get up and fall into the pool, sinking towards the bottom.

"Aelita!" Jeremy shouts, pinching his nose and jumping in. Odd sees Amy falling and swims towards her. Jeremy swims towards Aelita. He wraps an arm around her neck, swimming towards the top. Odd grabs Amy's waist and swims to the surface.

* * *

"This time it was much more detailed," Aelita explains once they're in their room. "There was still the men in black, but it was at the Hermitage with Amy again."

Odd is chatting with his online girlfriend. Amy is underneath her blanket, hiding herself from them.

"The doctor said you two passed out from the cold," Yumi explains.

"That may be, but...what about the visions? Where are they coming from, Jeremy? And now Amy's appearing in them?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. Although, I'm sure that it's no big deal. The best thing is for you to get some rest now. We'll talk about it later," Jeremy suggests.

"Right," Yumi looks at her phone for the time. "I've gotta go. I'm already late."

"Us too," Jeremy looks at his watch. "Ms. Hertz is gonna kill us!"

"Wait a minute," Odd calls out. "I'm just about to find out who she is."

"Come on, Odd," Ulrich closes the laptop. "You can talk to your cyber girlfriend after class."

"Take the computer with you," Jeremy offers.

"Thanks," Odd walks past him.

"See you two in a bit, girls. Odd and I will come back again and check on you after science," Jeremy closes the door, Aelita waving to them. Amy sighs in relief as she lifts the blanket off of her.

"So," Amy yelps to herself as Aelita is smirking. "You're the mystery girl Odd is flipped over?"

"Oh no..." Amy murmurs, placing a hand to her head. She's such an idiot, why did she make it so obvious? "...Well, you've caught me. Yes, it's me."

"So you finally admit you have feelings for him?" She asks in surprise, sitting up happily. "Oh, that's so great! I thought Yumi and I would have to create an intervention sooner or later."

"Heh...yeah..." Amy looks at her phone nervously.

"But why do you have to hide it?" Aelita wonders, tilting her head. "Why not just tell him?"

"I'll get to telling him eventually, Aelita, it's just...complicated. What if he's angry that I tricked him?" Amy frowns at the thought. Odd was already mad at her once, she couldn't go through with that again if he never wanted to speak to her next time.

"Come on, you know that's not true, Amy. I can tell he likes you too, and not just because you're talking to him online."

"...Do you think..." Amy looks up at her roommate. "Do you think that he'll be happy it's me?"

"I'm sure of it. Why wouldn't he like you? You're a great friend to him and a sweet, fun girl. Any guy would be lucky to have you," Aelita smiles at her and Amy smiles back at the praise.

"...Just not Jeremy or Ulrich," Amy chuckles at the thought.

"Agreed," Aelita smiles a bit and she gets up outta bed. "Now come on."

"What?" Amy asks in confusion. "Aelita, what are you doing?"

"The only way to make sense of these visions is go to the source. I know you're curious about them too, Amy, and I wanna find out what's going on. Aren't you wondering how you play a part in this too?"

"Of course, Aelita," Amy closes her eyes. "I've been asking myself how it's possible for a while now, but...we need to rest. We could've drowned if it weren't for Odd and Jeremy. Maybe we should hold off on it."

"I'm going with or without you, Amy," Aelita narrows her eyes. "I need to find out the truth."

Amy sighs at her argument. If she didn't, Jeremy might blame her...well, he'd blame her regardless of her decision. And...she has been wondering about this mystery for as long as she can remember. Ever since Aelita was brought to Earth, she's been having the same visions as her...and she still doesn't know why. The Scyphozoa attack on Sector Five, the effects she had when the supercomputer was breaking down...

She doesn't have the virus. That, she's sure of. But the connection to Lyoko was clear. She had something to do with Sector Five, and Aelita was obviously involved too. How, she had no idea.

So, her final answer?

"Okay. I'll go. But only because I wanna know too, and someone needs to look after you. Every time you go off alone anywhere, you can never escape trouble."

Aelita giggles in amusement and they change clothes to head off into the forest.

* * *

Science class is starting as Sissi takes out her books. Odd bumps into her. "Hey. Can't you look where you're going, you clumsy dork?"

"Oh, sorry, Sissi. I mistook you for a door post," He chuckles, walking to his desk behind Jeremy. He puts down the laptop and opens it. He starts chatting with his internet lover again. "Hey, she's in our class. She said that she's not here, but she's scheduled for science now with Ms. Hertz."

"That's weird, why wouldn't she come?" Ulrich raises a brow. "Most of the time, everyone's here." Come to think of it, the only ones not here are Aelita and Amy, making the suspect list very small now. But that couldn't be possible, Aelita doesn't internet date...

So that left only Amy. Though, unless she figured out how to chat message from a phone, there's no way it could be her...

"Odd, pass me the computer," Jeremy snatches it back to Odd's protest. He was just about to ask why she wasn't here...! "I forgot to check something."

Ms. Hertz slams down the stick on her desk. "Settle down and be quiet, please! Open your books to page 99."

To Jeremy's worry, there's an activated tower. "Oh no! An activated tower."

"Huh?" Ulrich asks in surprise. Jeremy raises a finger.

"Ma'am, can I go to the bathroom?"

"Uh, me too?" Ulrich also raises a finger.

"Uh, me too!" Odd chimes in.

"No, no, you don't. It's always the same with you three. You should have gone before class!" Ms. Hertz scolds. "And put that computer away before I take it away!"

* * *

Aelita and Amy walk into the forest together, heading to only one destination. Amy sighs slowly at her phone as Odd has logged off. She figured out how to direct chat messages to her phone since she only has a desktop computer and not a laptop. It was like clockwork.

Aelita has her eyes closed as she sees the men in black again. She then sees the Hermitage and they see the old house in their sights.

"...I can't believe you talked me into this," Amy turns to Aelita.

"You just say yes to me too often," Aelita winks at her.

"Mercury freezes at 38 degrees below zero Celsius," Ms. Hertz draws diagrams and formulas. "At room temperature, it is therefore in a liquid state. We use it in certain devices such as thermometers for instance, because it expands with heat."

Jeremy glares down at his watch, silently hoping for the end of class. With the time advantage, XANA could do anything he wanted to...

* * *

The two girls approach the stairs, walking up to the entrance. Aelita peeks through the upper window before Amy opens the door. They glance around the messy entryway, suddenly envisioning how it used to be...

They glance at each other before continuing on. All of a sudden, Amy somehow knows what this old house used to look like. But that shouldn't be possible, because she's never been here before...

Not that she knew of, anyway.

They walk forward and stumble upon the kitchen. The two stare at it, wondering why it all looks so familiar...

They walk up to the living room.

_Franz Hopper played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star from the piano. Amy and Aelita walked up to him, noticing his fingers moving eloquently._

Amy shakes her head, snapping out of it. "Calm down, Aelita..."

"You saw that too, right?" Amy murmurs at her, Aelita nodding.

* * *

"Also, a very heavy metal, which means what?" Ms. Hertz turns around to her class. "Sissi?"

She draws a heart, looking up. "Um...uh...it means...that a pound of metal weighs, uh, nearly a ton?"

The class laughs, Ms. Hertz giving a look of unamusement. The bell rings and Jeremy immediately stands up, rushing out of the room.

"Warn Yumi," He tells Odd and Ulrich once they're out of there. "I'll go get the girls. We'll meet up at the factory."

Ulrich dials the Japanese girl, waiting for her to answer.

* * *

The two walk out of the living room, walking up the stairs now. They look down the hall, gasping to see two rooms right next to each other. One of them is pink, with childhood toys. They then see the room back in its original state, looking around. Aelita holds her head, Amy placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down..."

Amy walks out and sees the other room, which is slightly larger and seems to be fit for an older girl. She tilts her head at it in confusion.

* * *

"Aelita," Jeremy knocks on their door. "Amy." He opens it to see Mr. Puck left behind on Aelita's pillow, with Amy's family photo from the Hermitage laying on her bed. He dials Aelita to see where they went.

Her phone ringing snaps Aelita out of her thoughts. She picks it up. "Jeremy?"

"Aelita, where are you? And Amy's gone too, is she with you?"

"We're at the Hermitage," She explains in worry.

"But you two should be resting!"

"These visions are haunting us. We've gotta know where they're coming from," She tells him, Amy re-entering the room.

"Right, anyway, listen. You both oughta know that XANA's on the offensive. The others are already at the factory. Don't move, I'll come and get you both."

"We're big enough to make it to the factory ourselves," Aelita defends, Amy crossing her arms. She didn't need an escort. "Amy can look after me, she's old enough."

"Okay, but hurry."

She hangs up and she turns to her roommate. "XANA's launched an attack. We've gotta get to-" She looks back outside and envisions the men again, yelping. She backs away in horror and Amy raises a brow, looking outside. She sees them too, covering her mouth in fear.

"Aelita? Amy?"

They gasp at the voice, turning around to Franz Hopper. "Come, quickly." He then disappears and Amy rubs her eyes.

They look to each other silently. "Hello? Is anyone there?" They walk out of the room, descending down the dusty stairs. When they reach the bottom, their eyes widen as they see the men in black again.

"Oh my god. Move!" Amy grabs Aelita's hand, rushing down the stairs with her. The men advance towards them and they appear in the same hall that they saw in their visions. They run down to the end, opening the door. Amy points to the secret entrance, seeing Franz waving them over.

"This way."

To Amy, these visions are getting more and more confusing. Nevertheless, she runs with Aelita inside, looking down at the stairs that lead to the sewers.

* * *

"Just 30 seconds more and you can head for the scanners," Jeremy tells the others. Amy and Aelita hadn't arrived yet.

The girls jump, holding onto the ropes. The elevator opens and they land safely. Amy pushes the button and they descend down to the lab.

"What are Amy and Aelita up to?" Ulrich asks curiously.

"They said they'd be right over. I should've gone to pick them up," Jeremy explains and the door opens as soon as he finishes his sentence.

"Ah, there you two are at last. Hey Cinderella, we said midnight on the dot."

"Funny," Amy snorts quietly at him.

"Girls," Jeremy notices their troubled states. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Aelita and Amy walk up to them. "We had some more visions. Um, we saw a man, and it was-"

"Who?" Jeremy interrupts Aelita.

"Franz Hopper," the two say in unison.

"Huh? Are you sure?" Yumi questions them.

"We know it sounds crazy...but we're sure it was him," Aelita replies, Amy nodding.

"We're not lying. It was him for sure."

"What if this is XANA's offensive?" Odd suggests.

"What?" Aelita turns to him, a little hurt that they don't seem to believe them.

"I mean, these strange visions."

"Exactly," Jeremy points to him, Amy only staring in hurt. "XANA is perfectly capable of stimulating your cerebral cortex, through the virus that links Aelita to him. Not sure how it can affect Amy, but maybe it's part of his attack on her. And from that, he can paradoxically simulate an artificial sleep, and the involuntary psychic activity that goes with it."

"In short, you mean XANA is showing you free movies," Odd glances at the others.

"Does it look like we're sleeping?!" Amy asks them in disbelief.

"But why?" Ulrich asks Odd, ignoring Amy.

"Let's not hang around to find out. Let's go deactivate the tower," Odd walks forward and Amy grabs his arm.

"Odd, please. I'm not crazy. I was there with Aelita, and...and it's not because of XANA. I can feel it. Please, you have to believe me..." She whispers softly and his eyes soften at her tone. He stares at her in the eyes and he can tell that she's genuinely curious about why this is happening.

"Okay," He whispers back. "I believe you two."

"Thanks," She murmurs as they enter the scanner room.

"_Ulrich and Odd first._"

Odd rushes towards a scanner, stepping into one. He's closed in as Ulrich steps in front of the opening scanner. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich." Jeremy presses enter. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization."

They land in the desert sector, landing safely to wait for the girls. "_The activated tower is due south. Here come your vehicles."_

All four vehicles appear behind the boys.

Yumi, Amy, and Aelita step in next. "Virtualization."

The three virtualize in front of the boys. "_Okay, you're all there now. Don't waste any time_."

They land softly with a thump, the four jumping onto their vehicles. Aelita still looks unsure as she watches Odd, Amy, and Ulrich going up ahead. "Coming, Aelita?" Yumi offers and she snaps out of it, jumping behind the geisha.

Ulrich zooms over to the tower, Odd swerving back and forth in front of Amy. Yumi follows after them. "_XANA's monsters up ahead. See them_?"

"We'd have to be as nearsighted as you not to see them," Odd replies as there's two Bloks and one Tarantula standing guard.

"Odd, Amy, you both handle the Bloks. Yumi and I will take care of the Tarantula," Ulrich orders and the two take off.

"You got it."

"Uh huh," Amy salutes as Aelita jumps off the Overwing. She glances at the edge, turning back to the others. They charge straight at the monsters.

"Ground and air attack," Yumi tells them. Ulrich and Yumi jump off their rides, Amy flying her racecar over. Odd fires rapidly at a Blok, only hitting the top. Amy throws her spear, but misses. They fly around the tower, the Tarantula standing up as it fires at the two. Ulrich blocks the shots away from Yumi as the Tarantula gets back down. They nod to each other, charging forward.

The Bloks fire at Amy and Odd, who swerve to avoid them. Odd gets rid of one Blok. "Piece of cake."

"Easy for you to say. His friend doesn't look too happy," Amy points to the second Blok, who fires at her. She makes her racecar jump above it.

Ulrich runs around the Tarantula, blocking stray lasers. Yumi frontflips while the monster is distracted, landing inside the triangle. She throws her fan, hitting the symbol dead on and destroying the Tarantula. Aelita steps closer on the platform.

"What's going on?" Jeremy asks in confusion.

"Hm?" Amy looks up as Aelita is nearing the edge of the sector. "Aelita?" Amy backflips out of her racecar. She starts walking up to her, seeing the transporter arrive, confusing the fairy. "What...?"

"The transporter. But I didn't call it up!" Jeremy says, equally confused as Amy. "_Aelita, what are you doing_?!"

"Sorry, Jeremy...but I want some answers. I have to find out where these visions are coming from."

"Aelita, don't do it, it's a trap!" Jeremy tries to warn her.

"Aelita!" Amy calls out, running up just as she disappears into the transporter.

Odd flies around the tower as they're dealing with the last Blok. It turns to Amy and fires straight at her as Yumi lands on top of it. She throws her fan downwards and backflips just as it explodes.

"Way to go, Yumi," Ulrich praises, Odd looking around for Amy. He gasps once he sees her.

"Amy, move!" Odd shouts as he realizes that Amy is standing right above the Digital Sea. Before she can turn around, the laser hits her. He can only watch as she falls off the platform. Jeremy sees Amy's dot disappear right off his screen.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Odd screams as he looks at the Digital Sea, no sign of Amy anywhere.

"Amy!" Ulrich calls out.

"Oh no!" Yumi tries not to cry.

"_What happened?"_ Jeremy asks as Odd sobs.

"Ames...she fell into the Digital Sea!" Odd's knees sink to the ground, watching the spot where he saw her...saw her disappear...

"Oh no!" Jeremy tries to search for the girl as quick as he can. "That's just what we needed! And XANA's succeeded. Aelita's gone to Sector Five."

"Jeremy, you have to do something about Amy!" Odd pleads and Jeremy notices his serious tone, which is almost unheard of.

"Okay, okay," Jeremy tries to calm down. "I think I can bring her back, but I would need data from Sector Five for the program. So you're gonna have to go there fast, find Aelita, and get it."

"Without Amy?" Yumi asks in disbelief.

"_I'm sorry, but...but you'll have to leave her there. Without that data...I don't have a chance of bringing her back."_

Odd clenches a fist, narrowing his eyes. He didn't want to leave Amy all alone, but he didn't have much of a choice. His friends needed his help...Amy needed his help...

"Let's go," He walks up to the edge of the sector. Amy was everything to him, and he should've realized that sooner...he was going to meet his computer girlfriend, to tell her that he likes someone else. That no one else was for him besides Amy...He hopes that he can see her again, and tell her that in person.

Ulrich and Yumi glance at the edge sadly, then look at Odd. It hurt to see him look so dejected. Jeremy frowns to himself. They had no choice. It was the only way.

Jeremy enters the password dejectedly. The transporter arrives and the three look one last time at the Digital Sea before they're gone. The transporter takes them all the way across to the center, where they're met with walls of code. Inside the Celestial Dome, the Arena room spins around.

"Holosphere system connected," Jeremy stares at the map. The transporter drops the three off, Odd feeling sick already. He takes a deep breath to snap out of it. This was for Amy...he had to see this through.

Yumi turns around as the wall opens and they run through it. The wall opens up. "The corridor's still there!"

"That's because the countdown is still ticking, hurry!" Jeremy urges to them. Aelita has already been captured by the Scyphozoa, who proceeds to start stealing her memory. Jeremy's mouth opens in shock. "Oh no! Aelita! _The Scyphozoa has taken over Aelita's memory!_"

"We're almost there," Ulrich reports as he's using his Super Sprint. They come to a stop as they're in a room full of pillars.

"Great. A leap frog contest," Odd comments, frowning to himself. If Amy were here, she'd laugh...

Across the room is where Aelita and the jellyfish are. They can just faintly see them. "There's only one way. One," Ulrich backs up a bit. "Two. Three!" He super sprints forward, shocking Odd and Yumi. He lands on top of a pillar. Yumi backs up, realizing what to do. She jumps and her hands catch the edge of a pillar.

Ulrich jumps across, Odd doing the same.

Aelita's memory is almost gone. "Hurry up," Jeremy says in worry. Ulrich backflips onto another one.

"You think this is easy?" He retorts back. Yumi flips and lands on a pillar.

"At this rate, we'll never make it in time!"

Odd looks across the room to see an opening across from him. He concentrates his aim. "Odd, mind telling me what you're doing?" Jeremy asks in confusion.

"Saving the day," He whispers to himself, firing one arrow. It flies across the room, hitting the jellyfish on the head. It drops Aelita and she lands on her butt.

"Yes!" Jeremy cheers and Odd gets devirtualized when he's crushed between two pillars.

"Odd!" Yumi cries out. She knew how much he wanted to help Amy out.

"_Odd, are you okay_?" Jeremy asks once the scanner opens.

"Oh!" He groans to himself, "Sector Five is even worse than Ms. Hertz's class!" He steps out, deciding to wait in the scanner room. All he could think about was Amy...was she suffering? In pain? Does she even know what happened to her...?

Ulrich jumps across pillars as the Scyphozoa isn't gone yet. He lands in front of Aelita and slices tentacles off. The monster then leaves the room.

"_Only ten seconds before the end of the countdown._"

Yumi flips onto a pillar, launching herself onto another one. She spots the key and presses it with her foot. All the pillars are lowered to the ground, making it flat.

"Let's go, princess," Ulrich replies as they start running to the elevator. It starts up as soon as they walk into the room.

"Here comes the elevator. Now." They jump off and are taken to the Celestial Dome entrance. They run up to the wall.

"As soon as you get to the Celestial Dome and get the information needed to bring Amy back, get out of Sector Five and head for the desert sector, fast. Okay, Aelita?"

"Get Amy back?" Aelita asks slowly in fear. "W-What...What happened to her?"

Yumi glances at Ulrich, silently telling him that she would break the news. "...She fell into the Digital Sea...when she was wondering why you took off."

"Oh no...! Amy...!" Aelita whispers in horror. This was her fault. If she hadn't insisted on going to the Hermitage with Amy, she would've never fell into the Digital Sea...

They run through the door, where the vehicles are waiting. Aelita walks up to the interface to find the program that would bring Amy back. She soon finds it, but she stays on there a little longer than she usually would.

"Aelita! What did I tell you? We're not getting any data except for the materialization program!"

She doesn't listen and keeps going.

"You have to deactivate the tower!"

"Aelita," Ulrich tries to tell her to get on, but she ignores them.

"This will only take a few seconds. I've already found the program," She insists to them.

"It's one of XANA's traps, Aelita! He created these visions to lure you over to Sector Five and to make Amy fall into the Digital Sea! Give me the controls!"

Yumi and Ulrich look around for the Flying Mantas, who hadn't arrived. "_Do you hear me_? _Aelita! Ulrich, Yumi, drag her out of there by force!_"

The two did not feel like doing that, and they don't have time to think about it as the Flying Mantas arrive. "What do you want us to do? Knock her out?" Yumi asks sarcastically.

"It won't be necessary," Aelita tells them. "I'm sure I'll find I'm looking for, and for Amy too! She's my best friend and I can't leave her with these haunting visions like mine when we bring her back."

The two glance at each other, deciding to trust her. They nod in unison as they could sense Aelita's guilt for what happened to the fairy. They take off to deal with the Flying Mantas. The three monsters fly around.

"Aelita," Jeremy tries to reason with her. "Even if you do find the origin of these visions, what's the point if XANA takes your memory away from you? And what about Amy? The next time, she might not be so lucky. What if he does something worse?"

She says nothing and continues looking.

Yumi pulls out her fan and throws it, hitting one symbol in a straight line. The Manta explodes into thin air.

A laser narrowly missies Ulrich and he glances back at the Manta. He drives up ahead, only to see that the Manta is releasing flying mines.

Jeremy gasps, holding his head. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take Aelita's stubbornness. "I'm almost there," She doesn't see the Scyphozoa right behind her.

"Yumi, Ulrich! We've got trouble. The Scyphozoa's got Aelita."

Ulrich looks behind him to see a mine following after him. He swerves to the right, but the mine follows his movement. He speeds up, but it still persists. "We gotta deal with the Flying Mantas first."

He looks up at the Manta flying above him and he sees a mine...right behind Yumi. He gasps and he speeds up, Yumi flying right in front of the Manta. The mine following her hits the Manta on its belly, destroying it.

"Yeah!" Ulrich cheers for her. He sees the mine still following him and three more appear. He narrowly avoids them and tries to get rid of two more.

"Hurry up, Aelita's about to lose all her memory!" Jeremy tells them.

"What about the program to bring back Amy?" Yumi asks him.

"I'm working on it," Jeremy tells her as he gets to work.

Yumi dodges a laser from the last Manta, flying past the Scyphozoa. She turns around, only for the Manta to hit her Overwing. She struggles to hold on as the Manta comes back, firing at her. She holds out her fan, but gets hit in the stomach, letting go of her vehicle.

Ulrich looks up and sees her falling. He speeds up and catches her, riding back to Aelita. Yumi glances back at the mine and Ulrich drives above the jellyfish, the mines hitting the monster. It drops Aelita and he grins, Yumi jumping off to tend to Aelita.

"You okay, Aelita?"

"It's time you deactivated the tower," Yumi tells her as she jumps onto the Overbike. Ulrich takes off and Jeremy opens one of the tunnels.

"The tunnel's open. And I'm almost done with the program to bring back Amy."

The tunnel to the desert sector opens and Ulrich drives through it.

Aelita walks through the tower once she's returned. She flies to the top, doing a flip before she lands at the top. She walks up and signs in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

Jeremy sighs in relief.

* * *

"I'm starting the program," Jeremy says once the others have returned. "I just hope it works..."

"It has to," Odd whispers as he's staring at one of the scanners. Jeremy starts it up, crossing his fingers as the others gather around Odd. They wait in anticipation as the scanner starts up and it opens, Amy falling into Odd's arms. "Amy!" He pulls her up into a sitting position.

"Is she...?" Aelita didn't want to finish the question. Slowly, Amy opens her eyes to see her friends.

"Hey guys."

Odd throws his arms around her, tears streaming down his face. _She...she was so close to..._

Amy looks shocked for a moment before hugging him back tenderly. Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi all smile at the pair.

"I...I thought you were gone forever. You gave me a heart attack!" Odd exclaims in fear. _Thank god...she's still right here...with me..._

"I'm okay," She pats his back, "I'm okay, Odd..." They continue to embrace, Odd clinging onto her with shaken arms.

"We thought you were a goner," Ulrich chuckles at the two.

"I'm not going anywhere," Amy smiles up at them.

"Jeremy, it worked! Amy's back!" Yumi cheers, Jeremy smiling in relief.

* * *

They return back to school as Aelita walks up to them alone. Odd is on his laptop. "Hi Aelita. Well, any more visions?"

"Gone," She sits down.

"You see? It was just a trap made in XANA," Jeremy replies knowingly.

"I guess..." She doesn't seem too sure. "But I still would really like to know where those memories came from."

"I think that XANA must've made the whole thing up," Ulrich theorizes.

"Or maybe the memories came from someone else," Yumi suggests, "Implanted in you by XANA in order to scare you and Amy."

"That could be it," Jeremy agrees with her.

"It's very strange, though," Aelita speaks up, "I was really under the impression that I was reliving the events that I was seeing," She closes her eyes. "And by the look on Amy's face, she was going through the same thing too..."

"That, however, can't be," Jeremy denies.

"Yes, I know."

"Hey, where is Amy, anyway?" Yumi glances around for the girl.

"She was gone by the time I left," Aelita tells her.

"So Odd, how's your cyber sweetheart?" Ulrich leans in with a grin.

"She is too cool. I've really got it bad this time, guys," Odd smiles at them, Yumi's mouth open in shock. She never thought she'd see the day where Odd has actually fallen for a girl. Aelita winks at them, leaving the other three confused. "I'm gonna meet her."

"When?"

"Now, at the vending machines," Odd takes the computer. "Later!"

Aelita smiles to herself. Looks like Amy finally got the courage after all.

Odd walks up to the vending machines, and what he sees shocks him to his core.

Amy is hugging her phone, twiddling her feet. She doesn't have to look up to know that it's him. "I don't...what...Amy...?"

Ulrich catches up to him, his mouth open in shock. "It was her?!"

"Oh, how embarrassing!" Sissi just happens to be there, her, Herb, and Nicolas laughing at her. Amy frowns, looking up at Odd, who's confused. "Odd's cyber girlfriend is his own best friend. How pathetic!"

"Ames...it was you...?"

_No, I can't do this. I have to be anywhere but here._

She backs away slowly towards the park and Odd realizes what she's doing.

"Amy, no!"

She runs off into the forest without looking back. Odd and Ulrich stare after her, shocked.

"Amy..."

* * *

Amy leans against a tree in the forest, hugging a leg to her chest. She breaks apart a stick, letting it fall in front of her feet. How could she do that? She should've never suggested that they meet...how was she going to face him in class? On Lyoko? What if he's mad that she technically tricked him?

"Ugh," Amy covers her face with her hands. She wished her life could be normal. Instead all she had were fighting parents, attacks from a demonic computer program, and now she just embarrassed herself in front of the boy she liked...

What was she going to say about this when she returned back? She already knew she had to return; she wasn't skipping school for the rest of her life, no matter how much she wanted to.

But to see his face...and for Sissi to laugh...

"Hey."

She gasps at the voice, looking up to see Odd. Her heart beats a bit faster when she sees he has a rose in his hand.

Biting her lip, she watches as Odd walks up, sitting next to her. "Hey."

They fall into an uncomfortable silence after the quiet greetings until Odd breaks it.

"Ames...about what happened...why didn't you just tell me? You didn't have to hide it."

"W-Well...because..." Amy blushes at his question. "Because I thought that you wouldn't feel the same way...we've been friends for over a year, Odd. I didn't think you'd ever...have those kind of feelings. Especially since you were trying to date every girl at school...so I didn't think you'd want me. I...did it because I wanted to get your attention..."

She looks away, trying to focus on another tree when he gets up all of a sudden, sitting in front of her. He smiles widely as he leans forward, resting his arms on his legs. She freezes, blushing at him.

"You're adorable," He grins and her face turns into a tomato again. He holds out the rose.

"Odd, what are you doing?"

"Well I have to get you to look at me somehow. It's driving me crazy. I wanna talk to you and I've always wanted to make you like me, but from what happened, I already know you do," He chuckles and she plays with the necklace that he gave her for Valentine's Day.

She hadn't taken it off since then.

"Will you stop that?" Her face gets redder as he gets even closer.

"Stop what?" He asks innocently.

"Making me blush."

He laughs at how embarrassed she is. "Okay, how about this?" He covers his eyes. "Better?"

"A little..."

"Good, now I can properly ask you out. Although, I hope you don't blush all the time. If you do, I refuse to be blindfolded for the rest of my life," He says with a grin.

Her heart flutters and she wonders if she'll even make it back to her room without melting.

"You...wanna ask me out? But why?"

He laughs at her. "I meant what I said when I was talking about my internet girl—well, you. I don't know...I just...fell in love with that girl kind of. You're the first girl I really felt a connection with when we met for the first time. And when I saw that it was you, I was really happy because I've had feelings for you for a while now. When you fell into the Digital Sea...I realized just how much you mean to me, and how much I don't want to lose you like that ever again. Not to mention you're all kinds of beautiful. So...can I take you out this Saturday? I promise we can just start over and be us," He blushes, peeking through his fingers.

She's too breathless to speak even though she wants to answer.

He uncovers his eyes and studies her expression, smiling bashfully. "So...is that a yes?" He smiles at her genuinely, holding out the rose again.

"Well...I...am a bit concerned about all those other girls that you wanted to date." She takes the flower into her hands, sniffing it. "When we go to 9th grade...are you going to keep doing that? If that's the case, I wouldn't want to stand in your way."

"Listen Ames," He drops his hands. "I've been thinking about that lately. The reason why I was dating all those girls was because I was looking for something. But when I met you I realized that I wasn't looking for something. I was looking for someONE. I was looking, for you. And now that I've found you, I promise I'll never go looking again."

"You better not, because my answer is yes," She grins at him with a wink.

Odd smiles again, blushing. "Great! We can go to the movies."

"Yeah..." Amy beams at him and he stands up, offering his hand.

"Well, better get back before we get caught by Jim."

She smiles at the offer and takes his hand. Together, they take their time walking back to the school, talking about anything they wanted to. She was...shocked, but happy.

Maybe now she could have just a slice of normal life with Odd by her side...


	49. Tip-Top Shape

"This new stuff will get rid of my unsightly zits for sure," Herb says to Milly. All the 8th grade students are in the infirmary for their annual physical.

"You should've seen them."

"You'll get back together again."

Ulrich glances at a boy next to him, who is reading a paper. "Hey Julien, you mind telling me what you're studying?" The boy's been like that for a while, and it was honestly weird.

"The eye chart," He turns the paper around to reveal it's a make-shift eye chart. "I'm nearsighted, but I don't wanna have to wear glasses. That'd be too lame."

"Oh, you're right," Ulrich narrows his eyes in amusement. "Being blind as a bat sure is a lot more cool." He smiles, putting his hands behind his back. He glances to the other side to Odd. "Holding up the wall, huh, Odd?"

"No, push-ups," Odd does push-up against the wall. "Why? Can't you tell?"

"No," Ulrich replies back.

"I'm sick of hearing Yolanda telling me I'm scrawny," Odd complains. Every year, it was the same thing.

"But you are scrawny," Ulrich tells him.

"I am NOT scrawny, I'm svelte. At least my favorite girl thinks so," Odd winks at Amy, who smiles at him.

"Of course I do. Size doesn't matter to me, Odd."

"Just be glad that you've got a girl who likes you no matter what," Ulrich shakes his head, looking around to make sure no one heard him. They hadn't announced yet that they were a couple because they wanted to ease into it. Their date was tonight, so they would take things one at a time.

Amy and Odd wink to each other. They were planning on showing their affection later on.

"Ulrich," He glances at Sissi. "Wanna look over my health record with me?"

"Uh," He stammers as she sits down with a smile.

"Look at my weight curve," She opens it up. "Just right. And my growth curve, just right."

Ulrich glances away, hoping that his turn would come up soon. "Perfection is really wonderful, isn't it?"

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Amy rolls her eyes at them.

"You and me both, Ames," Odd tells her. She grins when he's not looking. Ever since that night, he's been calling her that in a more affectionate way. She loved all the nicknames he gave her, and it was even better to hear them now that they were an item.

"You don't understand, Aelita," Jeremy is talking to Aelita in concern. "You don't have a health record. You've never even been vaccinated! What if the nurse finds out that you're not really human?"

"You mean you don't find me very human?" She asks and he looks away.

"Well sure I do, but...that's not what I meant."

"Jeremy, relax," Aelita assures him, "Don't get so carried away." She highly doubted that the nurse would do an investigation on her just because she doesn't have a health record.

"Alright," Yolanda steps out of the infirmary. "Jeremy Belpois," Jeremy's eyes widen at his name. "Odd Della Robbia, and Julian Xao."

"Go on, Rambo," Ulrich calls out to Odd as the blonde walks in. "Blow 'em away." Both he and Sissi laugh, Amy rolling her eyes.

"Good luck, Odd," She waves to him and he waves back. Yolanda closes the door when all three boys walk in. Yolanda uses her stethoscope to check Odd. She turns him around.

"You've got the heart of an athlete, Odd, but you look a little skinny to me." Odd raises an annoyed brow at that. "Are you sure you're eating enough?"

"By enough, do you mean more than an elephant?" Jeremy asks, smiling.

"I eat a lot," Odd explains to Jeremy's question.

"Ah. In that case, it must be your metabolism that keeps you so scrawny." Odd glares up at her, but she doesn't notice it as she turns to the other two boys. "Okay, your turn, Julian."

"I am NOT scrawny," Odd mutters as he walks away. "I'm svelte!"

Julian walks up to the nurse, standing up straight. "Alright," She turns him to the eye chart, which is slightly different from the one he had. "Read the top line, please."

"Uh..." He could barely read them as his vision is blurry. " Z!" He says quickly.

"Jeremy," Yolanda turns to the blonde. "What do you see on line one, please?"

"H, B, P, V and L," He recites, Odd glancing at him.

"Really Julian," Yolanda places her hand on the embarrassed boy's shoulder. "Not only are you near-sighted, you've got a bad memory too."

Odd and Jeremy chuckle. "Jeremy." They stop laughing when she says his name. "Your turn."

He steps onto the weight scale. "Ma'am, is it bad if we forgot to bring our health record and if we haven't had all our vaccinations?"

"Well, yes it is," She takes note of his weight, "But don't worry, you're completely up-to-date."

He wasn't exactly asking about himself.

Julian opens the door and the other two step out. "Elizabeth Delmas, Aelita Stones, and Amelia Smith, please."

Aelita winks at Jeremy to reassure him that nothing will happen. Jeremy leans in towards Amy. "Hey Amy, can you make sure nothing goes wrong?"

"Jeremy, it's me," Amy gestures to herself. "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"See you soon," Odd smiles softly at her and she smiles back, trying not to blush as the three walk inside.

"Not to worry, Einstein," Odd could tell Jeremy was worried too. "She thought you were human, didn't she?" He chuckles, punching Jeremy slightly.

"Hilarious," He deadpans to his friend.

Meanwhile, XANA has already activated a tower in the forest sector. The two hear the beeping from Jeremy's bag and they run up to it. Jeremy opens it and gets out his laptop. Ulrich runs up to them and Jeremy looks up. "An activated tower." He closes his laptop.

"In the middle of a medical check-up?" Ulrich asks in disbelief. XANA didn't do this last year when they had their physicals. "XANA has no respect for anything."

"Ulrich, stay here and wait for the girls," Jeremy tells him. "Bring them to the factory as soon as they get out. Odd and I, we'll head over there now."

They run off through the doors. Luckily, the three boys have already had their physicals.

* * *

Yumi is in gym class as they're running track. "Hey, quit dawdling. This is a hundred meter sprint, not a chorus line!" Jim yells at them.

"Okay Jeremy," Yumi is talking to the genius. "I'll be there as soon as I can." She hangs up, bending to her knees.

"Next." Yumi gives a determined look as Jim looks at them. "Go!" As soon as he starts the watch, Yumi takes off at a speed faster than her opponents. She speeds right past Jim. "Yeah!" She has a time of 14.35 seconds. "There you go. Someone at least is putting their back into it! Wow, Yumi, you just broke the school record."

He glances around, but the Japanese girl is already gone. "But...hey. Yumi!"

* * *

Elizabeth steps onto the scale, disappointed. "What?! Ah, your scale must be broken. That's five pounds over."

"The scale is perfectly accurate, Elizabeth," Yolanda tells her.

"It's Sissi! This is outrageous. I'm gonna tell my father."

"I'd run over to his office, if I were you. It might help you lose a few pounds!"

Amy laughs as Sissi gets dressed. "I can't wait to tell the others."

"Your turn, Aelita."

"I'm really sorry, ma'am," Aelita walks up to her. "But I forgot to bring my health record."

"Oh, it's no big deal. I'll just put your results on a separate piece of paper that you can staple into your file later on," She smiles gently, Amy winking at her roommate.

"I should've left my health record at home too!" Sissi says bitterly as she puts on her shirt. Anything was better than knowing she was...was...

Overweight!

The lamp starts sparking with electricity. A specter comes out from it, Yolanda shouting.

"But why?" Aelita asks her as they're not paying attention.

"Well, can't you guess? My ultra perfect weight curve has just been wrecked by these five extra pounds!" Sissi retorts as she puts her skirt over her pants.

"Well, you can't tell by looking at you," Aelita comments and Amy leans in.

"That's because it's somewhere else, maybe?"

Sissi growls her teeth at her. "Oh yeah? I bet you're 25 pounds over!"

"Doubt it, but thanks for boosting my self-esteem," Amy winks at her. Sissi grunts at the fact that Amy didn't seem bothered by her comments at all. The specter enters the nurse and she looks at the girls, with the XANA symbol in her eyes.

Sissi screams, getting the attention of people outside. Ulrich steps in to see a shaking Sissi. "There!" Sissi points to the window. "There, the nurse, she-she-Aelita, Amy."

"Okay, I get the picture," Ulrich jumps out the window, landing on the grass. Sissi is still shaken up by the recent events.

* * *

Ulrich runs through the forest to track down the girls. "Yolanda has been possessed by XANA!" He reports to Jeremy, his headphone in his ear.

"She'll probably try to get to the factory so she can transfer them to Lyoko," He looks to the elevator as Odd and Yumi appear. "And then deliver them to the Scyphozoa."

"Them?" Odd asks in confusion.

"I'll try and stop her," Ulrich hangs up.

"Odd...Yolanda has Amy too."

"What?!" Odd asks, upset that he wasn't there to stop it. "But why?"

"I wish I knew. I don't get it. There's something there about why Amy's suddenly a target, but what..."

"Whatever it is, XANA's gonna wish that he didn't mess with my Ames," Odd clenches a fist.

Ulrich climbs down the ladder.

"Without Aelita, we can't deactivate the tower. And without Amy, we're down a person."

"Uh, how about we block the elevator? That might buy us a little time," Odd suggests, hoping that Amy was okay.

"Okay," Jeremy gets to work on it. He makes the elevator go all the way down to the lower level. "But it's only gonna give us five or six minutes, no more."

"So what do you suggest?" Yumi wonders.

"Well, we could do battle with Yolanda," He gives a little smile. "On equal terms."

"Say what?" Yumi didn't really know what he meant by that.

"I've been studying XANA's specters for a while now," Jeremy explains to the two. "I think I could manage to pixelize you."

"Oh, you mean you're going to turn us into people like the ones possessed by XANA?" Yumi asks slowly.

"Instead of being XANAified, we're gonna be Jeremified!" Odd glances at her. "Do you get it, guys?"

"Couldn't that be a bit risky?" Yumi asks in concern. It was their first time activating a tower, and who knows what it could do to them, or potentially anyone else.

"I could say, no, but I'd be lying," Jeremy answers skeptically. Yumi and Odd glance at each other. What other choice did they have? Their friends were in danger.

Ulrich skates down the railing in the sewers.

XANA Yolanda has arrived at the factory, an unconscious Amy on the ground next to her. Aelita is over her shoulder as she presses the button, but it doesn't work. She blinks at it as she tries again, but nothing happens. She clenches her fist as she's wasting time.

She glances at the factory area and picks up Amy over her other shoulder. As she's walking over, Ulrich comes in and sees her taking the other way.

"Jeremy, Yolanda is heading for the corridor," He reports into his phone.

"Hold her off as long as you can," Jeremy orders and Ulrich stands up.

"How much time you need?"

"Ideally, about three months, but I'll see what I can do to speed things up," Jeremy replies back.

"So how do you plan on pixelizing us, Frankenstein?" Odd asks teasingly.

"First step, activate a tower," Jeremy types away.

"You know how to do that?" Yumi questions in surprise.

"Well, theoretically, uh, yes." He just hoped that he could actually do it.

Ulrich jumps off the first floor, grabbing the rope and landing safely. He heads for the possessed nurse.

"It doesn't work," Jeremy frowns to himself.

"Yes it does, look," Yumi says and when he does, a tower in the mountain sector turns green.

"I, uh, I activated a tower!" He murmurs in awe. "Now, thanks to this activated tower, I'm gonna send a digital impulse, which will travel at hyper speed through all the networks and gather huge amounts of energy! I'll guide it by remote control towards the exit I choose. Like the cables on my screen, and the impulse will come out as a specter!"

"Ah," Odd speaks up in confusion. "English translation, please?"

"Well, I'm gonna send a specter, and you'll become invincible," Jeremy dumbs it down.

"I'll do it!" Odd volunteers in determination.

"Are you sure?" Yumi asks him.

"I've got a little score to settle with Yolanda Paradin. Looks like It's up to Ames' knight in shining armor to save her again."

Jeremy and Yumi smile in amusement.

* * *

XANA Yolanda walks through the hall.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Ulrich speaks up, hands on his hips. "But you forgot to give me my check-up."

XANA Yolanda turns around to him. "And I remembered to bring my health record and everything," He winks playfully. The possessed nurse drops the girls, staring at Ulrich through the symbols. She holds her fists into the air as she makes a yellow energy ball.

Ulrich backs away slowly, staring at the energy ball. XANA Yolanda then throws it, knocking him to the ground. She smiles at the interference being dealt with. When she looks behind her, she sees that the two girls are gone.

"Okay, guess my reflexes are pretty good," Ulrich stands up, rubbing his head. XANA Yolanda growls as she turns around. "How about testing my eyesight now?"

She grits her teeth in annoyance.

Amy and Aelita try to get the door open to the boiler room, to no success.

"Come on, come on."

XANA Yolanda throws another ball of energy as Ulrich is running.

They jiggle at the doorknob, only to see smoke. Aelita pulls out her phone and calls Jeremy. "Jeremy?"

"Aelita, are you okay? Is Amy with you?"

"Yes, and she's right here, but we can't get through the corridor."

"We're coming," Jeremy turns to his left. "Get ready, Odd. This is gonna be big time."

"If this ends badly, Jeremy, you promise to look after Kiki, Kiwi, and Amy?" Odd asks curiously.

"If this ends badly, there'll be nobody left to look after Kiki, Kiwi, and Amy!"

XANA Yolanda makes another energy ball with her right hand, throwing it at Ulrich again. It hits him and he's sent flying to the ground. Once she sees that he's not getting up any time soon, she turns around to find her captives.

Jeremy taps enter and a specter enters Odd. Yumi and Jeremy can only watch as Odd has an orange aura around him. The genius looks at his levels as it goes up to 100 percent. Odd lowers his arms, eyes closed. He opens them.

"Odd? How do you feel?" Yumi asks in concern.

"Fully charged," His voice sounds a bit different due to the process.

Amy pounds on the door as Aelita tries again to get it open. They stop suddenly, turning around to see XANA Yolanda approaching.

"Please hurry up. Jeremy, I...she's here!"

Amy stands in front of Aelita and she drops her phone. XANA Yolanda stomps on it and they both cringe as she reaches out to them.

Suddenly, she gets tackled by Odd, who had arrived just in time through the door. He looks back to see Aelita waving, walking through the door. "Ha. So, Miss Nurse, do you think I look scrawny now?"

XANA Yolanda glares at him, making her hand into a fist. A ball of energy appears and a shield from her knocks Odd out of the way. He backflips and lands in front of Amy.

"Odd! What happened to you?" She asks in surprise.

"A little Jeremification, my little Ames. I'll explain later. Get to the lab."

"And leave you behind? No way!"

"Okay," He nods at her. "But stay behind me."

She stands behind him. "This way, nasty nurse! Catch us if you can. Hang on, Ames." He grabs her hand and runs through a door, Amy surprised at his speed. Whatever Jeremy did, it was being very effective. She narrows her eyes at them.

"Aelita, do you read me? Aelita?" Jeremy tries to call out, but he doesn't know her phone is now broken.

"I'm here," She climbs down to him, both him and Yumi sighing in relief.

"Aelita, are you okay?"

"I'm alright," She walks up to him. "Amy is too, she's with Odd trying to buy some time with Yolanda."

"What about Ulrich?" Yumi wonders and the boy crawls down the ladder.

"Here I am. Am I dreaming or has Odd turned into a superhero?"

"Jeremy's managed to Jeremify him," Yumi explains.

"Oh yeah? That's weird," Ulrich comments, walking up to them.

"Yeah, but I don't know how long he can last against Yolanda. So we have to deactivate the tower that's controlling her."

The couple end up in the sewers as Yolanda fires another ball of energy. Odd takes Amy into his arms as he jumps up into the air and throws a ball of his own, knocking her into the water. Odd smiles as he lands safely with Amy, who smiles at him, impressed.

"Better and better."

"My super charged hero," Amy leans in and kisses him on the cheek. Odd laughs bashfully, rubbing his neck.

Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita enter the scanners. "Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization."

The trio land in the forest sector in unison. "The Overbike and the Overwing are on the way."

The two vehicles virtualize in front of their owners. "_The activated tower is above the forest in front of you_."

"Let's go!" Yumi jumps onto the Overwing, Aelita jumping behind her. Ulrich jumps onto his bike.

"Any news from Odd and his private nurse? Last time I checked, the atmosphere was electric," Ulrich has a teasing smile on his face.

"_He should be hanging in there. For now, that is_. But you guys better be careful. XANA's sent out some monsters to stop you from reaching the tower."

"Wow, isn't that a surprise?" He should've known this was too easy. They take off down the path.

Odd lands with his arm wrapped around Amy's waist. They look down at the water. He puts his hands on his hips as Yolanda hasn't turned up. "Think we got rid of her?" Odd asks Amy, who shrugs. When they start to leave, the nurse jumps out of the water, punching Odd and knocking him down.

"I'd say no," Amy comments nervously as she looks over his cheek. She rushes towards them, but Odd grabs Amy and jumps over the projectile. He makes another ball of energy, but it suddenly disappears from his hands. He looks at them nervously. Now that he thinks about it, he's running a little low on power.

"Uh oh."

She knocks them backwards and when they get up, Amy calls the lab. "Jeremy, Odd's starting to lose power. Something tells me that's not supposed to happen."

"Uh," Jeremy looks at Odd's power slowly depleting.

"I thought so. You're using that 'I hate to say it, but Odd bombed his exam' voice." She hangs up, glancing back as XANA Yolanda steps closer. They run off, but she throws a ball of energy straight at them. Odd pushes Amy to the ground and they both land behind a wall.

"Odd, Amy? Guys, can you hear me?" Jeremy calls out. "Guys! Guys! Amy, Odd, can you hear me?"

He gets no answer because XANA Yolanda makes their phones lift into the air. She then breaks them into pieces. The signal gets lost from their phones.

A Krab appears, standing in the trio's way as they come to a stop. Ulrich turns his back on them.

"Yumi, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Jeremy," Yumi stops near Ulrich.

"_It's about Odd. We got a big problem."_

Another Krab appears behind them. "Yeah? Well, it's not too easy at this end, either," Yumi turns around to the other monster, which fires at the same time as the first one. The two separate in opposite directions so that they each have one Krab. Ulrich pulls out his sword, swerving around to avoid the red projectiles. He drives underneath the Krab and slices through it, cutting it in half and destroying it. A Kankerlot appears right behind him and hits him in the arm. He turns around and drives straight for the monster. He slices through it and stops as it explodes. He then drives in the other direction.

Yumi swerves to the right and pulls out her fan. She throws it, hitting the Krab. She flies above it as it explodes.

The tower that Jeremy activated slowly turns red. Jeremy sees Odd's power going out faster. "Listen, XANA has taken control of the tower I activated for Odd, and there's nothing I can do to stop him."

"Whenever you and Odd start messing around, it means trouble for us," Ulrich calls out.

"But how is that gonna affect Odd? Will XANA take control of him too?" Yumi asks in concern.

Jeremy looks into it, and it's not good. "Well it looks as if he'd rather just pump all of his energy."

"You mean...until he...?" Yumi couldn't even finish her sentence.

"Yeah," Jeremy closes his eyes gravely. What's worse is that he can't even tell Amy...

"Where's the other tower?" Yumi wonders. Odd was first priority now. They couldn't just leave him like this...and Amy wouldn't be able to handle losing him. She's already losing a parent through their divorce.

"_In the mountain sector. There's a way tower to the west._"

"Got it. I'll go with Aelita. Saving Odd is top priority now," Yumi heads west off the path.

"Stay here and clean up." Ulrich sees a Krab guarding the activated tower from XANA. He skids to a stop. He starts up the bike again and spins, heading towards the Krab. He dodges left from the lasers and pulls out his sword again. He jumps up from his bike, stabbing the monster right in the eye symbol. He backflips and lands on his bike just in time to see the Krab explode.

Aelita and Yumi continue on to the tower.

A trio of Kankerlots appear and Ulrich glances back at them. He spins around as they fire, jumping up and letting his Overbike take care of them.

Odd looks up to see XANA Yolanda planning to attack him again. Amy pulls him out of the way and he lands right on top of her. They blush at how close they are before seeing XANA Yolanda jumping into the air and firing another energy ball. Odd quickly gets off and runs with Amy in tow.

"Yumi," Jeremy speaks up, "Aelita, hurry up. Odd doesn't have much time left." Odd's at 75 percent out of power. Yumi and Aelita fly into the way tower and go downwards. They pass through the walls of code before flying out the entrance and into the mountain sector. "Okay ladies, the tower's dead ahead of you. Can you see it?"

"_Uh, no. To tell you the truth, we can't see anything_."

All they can see is fog and nothing else. Not even a platform. "XANA has already pulled this one on us," Aelita replies and they hear buzzing.

"Hey, watch out."

A stray laser from the clouds fires and they jump off as it hits the Overwing. "You're right at the edge of the cliff. You have to hang on_ real _tight."

They wait for him to give the signal as they continue to fall. "_Now!_"

Yumi hangs on and so does Aelita. They can't see it, but they can at least feel it. Yumi glances at Aelita. "Listen to me, okay? I'll guide you. _The path leading to the tower is dead ahead of you, Yumi._" The two stand up. "_Keep walking straight ahead until I say stop._"

They walk slowly for precaution, Yumi waving her hands around. "_Stop!_"

Yumi slips at the end of the platform, but Aelita helps her up. "Next time, Jeremy, give me a little more warning, okay?"

"_Sorry! I can't judge distances too well on my screen. Now, turn right_."

They run to the right.

Odd runs, holding onto Amy's hand. She looks back to see XANA Yolanda on their trail. She fires another ball, hitting Amy and knocking her down. She slides to a stop in front of Odd, who stops at his tracks immediately.

"Ames!" He bends down to her as XANA Yolanda approaches. Odd grabs Amy and slides over to the wall, whimpering as he hugs the brunette tightly to protect her. She turns around...and suddenly starts going in the other direction. They stare at her in confusion.

"_What's XANA got in store for us next_?" Yumi asks in disbelief at the fog and invisible ground.

"You're gonna have to go around a rock. The best solution as I see it is to go around to the left."

They come to a stop, Yumi reaching her hand out. She feels something hard and recoils back a bit before touching the invisible rock again. They start moving to the left.

"Jeremy? Are we there yet?" Yumi asks impatiently. She was getting tired of invisible stuff lately.

"After the rock, it's straight ahead to the tower," He informs them. "You're almost there. Oh no!"

"_What_?"

"You've got company. _Hornets_."

"Where?" They look around, but they can't see them due to the fog.

"Duck!" He shouts at them. "_Watch it_!"

They duck out of the way in opposite directions. She can hear them now, but she still can't spot them.

"_Okay, run straight ahead to the tower_!" They get to their friend and start running again.

Odd starts shaking, hugging Amy as he starts to feel weaker. "Odd?" Amy asks in concern. She had no idea why this was happening, or what would occur if he loses anymore power...She hugs him close and he rests his head on her lap, closing his eyes. "No, don't close your eyes. Sleep later."

The Hornets fire again and they narrowly miss them. They come to a stop, looking up. "Where are they, Jeremy?"

"_I don't see them. I do now. They're diving down straight at you!_"

Yumi looks up and yelps, running forward as a flurry of lasers is fired at their feet. "_Aelita, run to the tower."_

Yumi pulls out her fans, blocking the lasers away from Aelita. She backs up as she continues blocking them, only to get hit in the stomach. She rolls away from a laser, doing it again.

"Hurry up!" Jeremy urges Aelita. "_You're in front of the tower!_"

Aelita comes to a stop, glancing behind her to look at Yumi. She enters inside and Yumi smiles up in relief. Aelita walks slowly to the center just as Odd's power gives out.

Odd's arm falls and Amy hears the thump, turning her head to him slowly. "Odd...?" She gets no answer. "Odd?!" She shakes him and hears his heart is barely beating. "Odd...no..." She starts crying and the tears fall down onto Odd's shirt.

Yumi rolls away from more lasers and falls off, gripping onto the edge.

Aelita does a flip and lands at the top.

Yumi continues dodging lasers.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface.

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The mountain sector goes back to normal as the fog disappears and the land comes back. Yumi's just actually above another platform and she lets go. She sees the two Hornets.

"Spotted."

She throws her fan, destroying both of them in one go. "Jeremy, any news from Odd or Amy?"

"No." He's tried their cell phones, but they're still inactive.

"_Aelita's coming out of the tower. We're going back to Ulrich right away._"

"Okay, I'll program the Overboard for you. Ulrich, do you read me? Aelita and Yumi are on their way to you."

Ulrich looks behind him as a Krab approaches. "Good, the three of us could use a few ladies around here."

Two of his clones are there as they're facing one Krab, one Blok, and three Kankerlots. The Blok fires and Ulrich's first clone jumps into the air to dodge it. He lunges forward and stabs the Blok in the eye, destroying it.

XANA Yolanda busts the door open and walks down the stairs.

"The girls are coming, we better clean up," Ulrich says as he swings his sword around to dodge the lasers. The second clone runs up and lands on the leg of the Krab. He jumps up and lands on top, stabbing the symbol and jumping off. He lands in front of his creator.

The Kankerlots fire and the last Ulrich dodges them. Ulrich runs up and gets rid of two. The last one sees all three and looks around in confusion, trying to determine which one is which. It doesn't have time to find out as one of the Ulrichs kicks it into the air. Ulrich then slices it when it soars towards him.

"Fusion."

He turns into one Ulrich.

XANA Yolanda climbs into the lab and holds out her hand towards Jeremy. She fires a ball of energy and Jeremy jumps out of his chair.

Yumi swerves around on the Overboard, jumping off and landing in front of Ulrich with Aelita. "It's about time. I was getting a little lonely out here by myself."

Yumi glances around and sees no more monsters unlike before. Ulrich shrugs with a small smile. "What about the monsters?"

"What monsters?" Ulrich asks innocently. Yumi rolls her eyes playfully.

Jeremy looks up nervously at the powerful XANA Yolanda. She steps forward.

"It was pretty rude of you to leave us there in the middle of our conversation, nurse Yolanda." She turns around to see Odd and Amy standing there, smirking.

"Oh, guys! Am I glad to see you!"

"Yeah, I'm glad to see us too," Odd replies smugly. Amy rolls her eyes, smiling.

"Yep. We're both a-okay," She gives Jeremy a thumbs up.

XANA Yolanda jumps into the air, firing a ball at both of them.

"It's getting pretty hairy over at the factory," Ulrich reminds Aelita and she runs into the tower. Like before, she goes up to the top.

Jeremy Odd, and Amy hug each other as XANA Yolanda prepares to fire the final blow.

Aelita lands at the top again and walks up. She presses her hand into the interface.

_Aelita_

The three cringe, closing their eyes.

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

Yolanda goes back to normal, holding her head. She then falls unconscious on the floor. "I really think XANA needs to work on his bedside manner, don't you?" Odd turns to the two, who chuckle.

"Don't scare me like that ever again, Odd," Amy frowns at him a bit.

"Don't you worry, Ames, I never will," He hugs her and she smiles, hugging him back gently.

* * *

"Yolanda turned into this weird super scary demon and jumped out of the window!" Sissi is explaining her story to Jim and her father. "That's what happened."

"Reminds me of when I worked at a psychiatric hospital," Jim replies.

"You worked in a psychiatric hospital?" Mr. Delmas asks curiously.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Jim closes his eyes.

"But it's the truth, I tell you!" Sissi insists, hands on her hips.

"Listen Sissi, dear, stop this nonsense and tell me what really happened!"

The door opens behind them. "Why don't you ask Yolanda?" Ulrich asks, him and Jeremy helping out the nurse.

They stare at her, Sissi with her arms crossed.

"Ms. Paradin wasn't feeling very well, so she went out for some air," Aelita lies to the principal. Yolanda has gotten some rest.

"Out the window?" Mr. Delmas asks slowly.

"Uh...yes, of course. Why not?"

"S-She didn't want to leave the students concerned," Amy smiles widely.

"Is that really what happened, Yolanda?" Mr. Delmas asks for her side of the story.

"Well, uh, yes, I-I mean...I don't really remember," She closes her eyes, but she assumes that's what must've happened. "It's as though I blacked out. But I don't see why Aelita or Amelia for that matter would want to lie."

The two girls smile at the principal.

* * *

"Nice one, girls. You were perfect," Jeremy congratulates as they walk out of there scot-free. Odd and Amy are holding hands.

"You know, anybody that lies _that_ well could only be...human. Right, Jeremy?" Odd winks at Ulrich, who laughs back with a wink.

"Hold it!" Sissi shouts, running after them. "I am NOT crazy. There are some super weirdo things that happened in that infirmary! There's even something weirdo going on right now!" She points to Odd and Amy holding hands. Some kids gather around, whispering around.

"Are Odd and Amy a thing?"

"Wow, it finally happened!"

"They're so cute together."

"Relax, Sissi," Jeremy tells her. "We understand how it would make you crazy to be five pounds overweight."

The crowd around them starts laughing at her.

"Ah! I am NOT five pounds overweight," She denies, Odd smiling widely.

"No, no, come on. Don't worry. You know, nobody's perfect."

"Speak for yourself, scrawny!" She runs off, not wanting everyone else to talk about it.

"I AM SVELTE!" Odd shouts after her. Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremy laugh at him.

"Amy, Odd?" Milly walks up to them, microphone in hand. Tamiya is filming them. "Could you answer some questions about the Kadic News? Everyone's been talking about the new power couple!"

"Ah, sure?" Amy asks slowly, wondering how that got around so fast.

"Great!" She pulls out a pen. "Who confessed first?"

Odd raises a hand. "How long have you liked Amy?"

"Uhh," Odd scratches his nose, trying to think. "I knew she was beautiful from the start, but she was playing hard to get, so I made the first move."

Amy rolls her eyes playfully.

"And Amy," Milly speaks up when she's done writing. "How long have you liked Odd? Was it love at first sight for you?"

"I didn't really start having feelings for him until a party at Yumi's house. He listens to me and comforts me in my time of need," She smiles softly and Odd kisses her cheek. Tamiya snaps a photo.

"What a scoop! This is gonna go on the front page!" She smiles at them.

"How would you describe your relationship?" Milly asks them, their friends looking on.

"Do you think they made the right decision announcing it now?" Yumi wonders, seeing how happy they are.

"Of course. But you know what that means, boys?" Aelita smirks at them and they sweat a little. That's when they realized...

They lost the bet.

* * *

Amy and Odd are laughing together as they approach Amy's room. She smiles at how their night went. They went to see a horror movie, and she might've...screamed a bit. But Odd was also there to comfort her through the whole thing. To her, it was so nice to know what having a sense of normal life is like...

Even if it's short-lived.

"Well, this is me," Amy stops in front of her door, Odd smiling as he holds her jacket.

"Here, Ames," He puts it on her.

"Thank you," She smiles at him. He raises his hands to her cheeks, staring into her eyes. Her lips look soft and inviting. He couldn't hold it in any longer. He connects their lips into a passionate kiss.

Butterflies flew in their stomachs as they pull each other close. An explosion of happiness explodes in Amy's chest as she smiles. Odd moves his hands to her waist as their kiss becomes more passionate. She wraps her arms around him and soon, they pull away for air.

Both of them are smiling stupidly at what just happened.

"Heh," Amy laughs giddily. She felt like an actual schoolgirl...which, technically, she is.

"I, uh, had a great time with you," Odd confesses bashfully.

"I did too," Amy places her hand on the doorknob.

"I'll pick you up early tomorrow so we can go to breakfast together," He offers and her heart lit up at the thought.

"...Okay!" She answers excitedly. He didn't want to, but he lets go of her hand slowly. They watch to each other as Odd walks through the double doors. She sighs happily, opening the door. She's immediately met with an excited Aelita.

"You're back!" Aelita hugs her and Amy chuckles in embarrassment. Given that it's almost 11 at night, Aelita must've stayed up to wait for her. "Yumi and I can't wait to hear all about it!" She holds up her mobile and Amy rubs her neck.

"Gosh, even Yumi stayed up...?" Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Kiki sleeping in her drawer.

"Of course! Do you know how long we've been waiting for this?" Yumi replies back and Amy sighs at her, putting down her jacket. She sits down on her bed and Aelita sits next to her, waiting patiently with a huge smile on her face. To Amy, it honestly creeped her out a little bit.

"Well...we went to go see a horror film that was playing. He said...that I looked beautiful," Amy blushes at the thought. "I thanked him and we walked to the theater together, enjoying the sights. We laughed...we can talk about anything for hours, Aelita. We like dogs, we like types of art, and we like the same music," Amy smiles fondly. "And he was a total gentlemen, he held the doors open for me and he paid for everything, even though I insisted on it. He doesn't care that I'm rich, he likes me for me. And...I really like being with him," Amy squeezes her eyes shut in glee, glad that she's not dreaming.

"That's so great," Aelita smiles, feeling happy just seeing Amy like this.

"Yeah, we really like you two together," Yumi chimes in. Amy grins, going off to take a shower. "And we won the bet too."

Aelita chuckles as now the boys have to wear chicken hats to class tomorrow morning...


	50. Is Anybody Out There?

Out in the courtyard, the students are talking amongst themselves. "A horrible tragedy may explain the rumor that there's a ghost somewhere at the Kadic Academy," Sissi reads the daily news. "Back in 1905, while the building was under construction, one of the workers, Leon Corbet, is said to have been buried alive under the foundations."

Herb gasps sharply at that. "In the boiler room area, to be precise."

"Heh, now do you believe me?" Nicolas asks knowingly, Herb shaking his head.

"Get real," He denies it. The bell rings and their recent tests are handed back to them by Ms. Meyer.

"Emily, 77, good work. Jean, 87, very good. Elizabeth, a quadrilateral is not a quadrant you do later. 10."

Sissi pouts at the F. "Jeremy, I deducted two points for the ketchup stain on your diagram. 98."

"Huh?" Jeremy looks at his paper.

"Amelia, 95. Ulrich, there's some good, but not enough to make up for what's bad. 58."

Ulrich looks at his paper in dismay.

"Herb, 93. Excellent. Not as good as Jeremy or Amelia, but excellent nevertheless."

Ulrich eyes a folded paper on his desk and opens it. "Meet me in the boiler room at midnight? Sissi?" He turns around to the girl, who looks up with a small smile.

* * *

"May I remind you that in the evening, girls and boys are prohibited from straying from their respective floors," Jim walks past all the boys. He's giving them the nightly speech that he gives to both floors every night. "Okay, for any of you who might be thinking of trying to pull anything, remember that the floors are different from each other in that they are either upstairs from or downstairs from the one above. Girls are upstairs, and boys downstairs. Comings and goings from upstairs to downstairs and from downstairs to upstairs are strictly forbidden."

Odd yawns to himself. Jim leans in towards him. "If I ever catch anyone going from downstairs upstairs or anyone going from upstairs to downstairs, he or she is really going to regret it stairs! So, for example, Della Robbia, I better not catch you and your girlfriend Smith in the same room!"

"She's not my girlfriend yet," Odd mutters to himself, blushing. Just hearing her name made him melt inside. He was just glad to be dating her.

"You've been warned. Dismissed!"

* * *

Odd is texting Amy, Ulrich laying in the bed next to him. He glances at the time, 11:30 PM. He sneaks past Odd, who pays no attention to him.

He knew that Sissi was the last person that he would want to meet up with. But he was curious to know what was her angle here. But if she ended up tricking him, that'd be the last time he'd listen to her.

He glances around for Jim and sees no one. He silently closes the door behind him and walks down the stairs. Ulrich reaches the boiler room and knocks twice.

"Password?"

"Uh, you didn't give me one," He answers in confusion.

Sissi opens the door with a smile. "Correct! Come in," She moves aside and he walks in. She closes the door and he steps into the room with her.

"Isn't this a bit square for you?"

He's looking at a star that's in the middle of a circle on the floor, which is surrounded by candles. Herb and Nicolas are sitting outside the star inside the circle. He swore he thought that this was some freaky séance or something.

"It's not a square, it's a tempogram."

"Pentagram," Herb corrects her.

"Whatever. Thanks to this, and my psychic powers, I'm going to conjure up the spirit of that poor Leon Corbet. I'm sure if we communicate with him, he can finally rest in peace."

"I can't wait to see this," Ulrich chuckles in disbelief. Never did he think that Sissi Delmas was superstitious. He can already tell that this was doomed to fail.

"Okay, now stand inside the pentagon with me," She gestures to the pentagram. "We will bring together our ping and pong energy and summon up the dead man's ghost!"

"You know what? I think you forgot the paddles," Ulrich laughs at her words. She grabs his arm and pulls him forward with a huff. She holds his hands as they stand between Nicolas and Herb.

"And now, let the ceremony begin!"

"De profundis tenebrae! De profundis tenebrae! De profundis tenebrae," Herb and Nicolas chant in unison. "De profundis tenebrae. De profundis tenebrae."

"I summon you, Leon Corbet!" Sissi declares, purple electricity flowing to the furnace. They see it, her minions standing up.

The door closes and Ulrich narrows his eyes suspiciously. No way did he believe ghosts were real, they're purely science fiction. And he's seen a lot of things that would purely come from science fiction. He couldn't believe that he was even doing this, but he wanted to see how this would play out.

"Yes, Leon? I'm listening," Sissi replies in excitement. The door suddenly opens with a specter forming out of it. Herb and Nicolas scream, running off. Sissi and Ulrich stare up at it. "Don't step out of the pentathlon, Ulrich. It protects us! Uh, Leon...Corbet...?"

It jumps forward and then disappears into thin air. "Darn it, he's gone. He doesn't wanna speak to me." She gasps as she sees the specter looming over Ulrich. "Look out!"

He turns around and yelps. It leans in towards him and he steps out of the circle. Sissi screams as it gets closer to her.

"Let's go, quick!" He grabs her arm and runs out of there with her. The specter lands on the ground as they run out the door, shutting it behind them. Ulrich pushes the lockers to the door to block it inside. "Come on," He grabs Sissi's arm and pulls her away.

* * *

"It was horrible, Jim!" Nicolas exclaims to Jim as they're trying to tell him what happened. By the look of his face, he doesn't seem to believe them. "No, really, I swear! It's true!"

"Come on, you two, calm down," Jim stops them. He just wanted them to get to the point of this.

"The ghost of Leon Corbet came after us in the boiler room, Jim," Herb explains.

"If anyone's after you two, it's a gym teacher in a tracksuit holding a red pen, which he's gonna use to give you four hours of detention," Jim holds up his pen.

"We better go upstairs, fast." Ulrich peeks through the window to see Jim, and he didn't have time to deal with him.

The ghost phases through the locker, flying up towards the stairs.

Ulrich opens the door to his room, looking at Sissi. After the warning Jim gave before bed, they'd both be in trouble if Sissi, the principal's daughter, was caught on the boys' floor. And with XANA still around, Ulrich couldn't afford to get into detention. Not only that, his parents, I.e. his father, would kill him. "Sissi, you better go back to your room."

"No," She grabs his hand to his confusion. "Don't leave me all by myself, please?"

He stares at her for a few seconds as he could tell she looked genuinely scared. He shushes her and leans back. "Alright. Come in, then."

She beams in relief and they sneak past a now sleeping Odd, who's holding onto his phone. "Wait for me here. I'll be back," Ulrich shuts the door to go warn Jeremy.

Odd opens his eyes as he feels someone else in here who's not Ulrich. "Am I dreaming or what?" He sits up to look at her.

"I'm scared, Odd," She admits to him, "Mind if I sit near you?" He glances at his phone. Amy must've fallen asleep too, because there's been no recent texts from the girl. Either that or she knew that he would fall asleep.

She knows him so well, his little Ames.

"Oh, it's just the nightmare and soon I'm gonna wake up," Odd places a hand on his head, leaning back onto his pillow. And if it's not a nightmare, it's about to become one.

Hopefully Amy will understand...

* * *

"Jeremy," Ulrich shakes his shoulder and the boy sits up, looking at him. "I think that XANA has just launched an attack."

"Uh, the laptop," Jeremy points to it, bending down and grabbing his glasses. Ulrich hands it to him. "We'll know in a minute."

He opens it up and Ulrich's suspicions are shot down a few minutes later. "Nope. There are no activated towers."

"It looks like we've got a real ghost on our hands, then," Ulrich comments.

"A what?" Jeremy asks in confusion.

Jim is walking down the halls as the ghost is lurking around for prey. The gym teacher walks around for anything suspicious. Now, he didn't really believe the boys...but it couldn't help just to make sure. He hears a whoosh and yelps, turning around to see nothing. Nothing to make him believe there's an actual ghost.

He narrows his eyes as he swore he heard something. He decides to ignore it, though, and continues walking. There's a thud behind him and he's already had enough. "Someone around here is gonna be in real trouble!" He announces, whipping around quickly.

There's still nothing and he puts his hands on his hips with an annoyed growl. He's suddenly lifted into the air.

"So Leon's ghost came out of the boiler and he was so ugly that even Nicolas and Herb started screaming!" Sissi is explaining to Odd when they hear a scream. Ulrich and Jeremy rush into the hall to see Jim floating in the air. He's screaming as he's trying to reach towards his neck.

"Hey!" He tries to fend off the ghost as Sissi and Odd appear. Sissi screams upon seeing him and he falls flat on his back.

"Jim!" Odd cries out and Sissi runs away. "You okay, Jim?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright." They then hear moaning.

"What's that noise?" Ulrich asks, Jim looking up.

"I don't know, but it's getting closer," Odd points out. The ghost gets closer and snatches Odd by his foot.

"Odd!" Ulrich grabs his hand, but he slides as he tries to help his friend. Jeremy grabs a fire extinguisher, running towards them. Jim stares in confusion before he leaves too. Jeremy sprays the area above Odd's foot and the ghost lets go.

Amy suddenly enters the hall, her mouth opening when she sees the ghost. It disappears after a few seconds.

"You saw right," Jeremy speaks up, the boys and Amy turning to him. "The monster did pixelize when I hit it."

"It's gotta be one of XANA's," Odd assumes, as real ghosts don't really exist.

"So why didn't the super scan pick it up, then?" Ulrich wonders.

"I wish I knew," Jeremy puts down the fire extinguisher, hands on his hips. "We better head for the factory. Let's get Aelita."

Odd turns to Amy. "Hey, how'd you know to come here?"

"You butt-dialed me," Amy holds up her phone. "Sissi was talking about the 'ghost' and I wanted to check things out for myself."

They run forward to go downstairs.

Sissi is shaking in a closet. She gasps as the ghost phases through the door. It stands up and she covers her eyes, whimpering. This was it, this is how she's gonna die. The ghost stares at her in the eye before phasing right through her, leaving through the wall. She looks up and sighs in relief...

She then faints from shock.

* * *

Yumi is reading a book in bed when her phone rings. She picks it up from the floor. "Hello?" She sits up.

"It's me. There's a big emergency," Ulrich states as Amy opens the door to her room. "Meet us at the factory."

"Got it."

Aelita opens her eyes, looking up. "Jeremy? Amy, what are you doing out of bed?"

"Aelita," Jeremy steps closer. A ghost enters one of the empty rooms in the floor, jumping through the ceiling to grab the blonde genius. He falls onto the ground.

"Jeremy!" Aelita calls out in concern. He crawls around to get the ghost off of him. Amy runs up to the light switch and turns it on. Odd and Ulrich come in as they heard his screams. The ghost is attempting to choke Jeremy.

Ulrich grabs Amy's ruler and stabs the ghost with it. Jeremy coughs as it disappears and Ulrich helps him up. "Hey, this is no time to hang around."

They run out of the room, heading for the factory.

The ghost reappears, trailing after them.

* * *

They reach the woods, Odd opening the manhole cover. He puts his arm around Amy's waist. She yelps in surprise, but he climbs down before she can say anything. He needed her to be safe and not be choked by that ghost. Who knows what it could do if it got its hands on her?

Aelita follows after the two.

"Hurry, it's coming," Ulrich glances back at the trees as he can hear the moans. He closes the manhole cover when Jeremy gets through, climbing down last.

Yumi sits in the lab as the door opens. "What took you so long?" She glances at them.

"XANA's attacking us. But the super scan didn't detect anything," Jeremy walks up to the computer.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Ulrich asks Yumi.

"No," She denies with a scoff.

"Wrong answer."

Jeremy examines the program. "Hey, that's weird. XANA's managed to corrupt the super scan. There's an activated tower. But it can't detect it..." That means he's unable to locate it...

"So what do we do now?" Ulrich asks Jeremy. It'll take too long to fix it with that ghost running around.

"Yumi and Aelita, get to Sector Five as quickly as you can and try to fix the super scan. Amy, Odd, and Ulrich, in the meantime, you can check out the other sectors. With a little luck, you'll be able to spot the activated tower."

"Negative, the specter will strike back soon. I'm staying with you," Ulrich denies, Amy nodding.

"That way, Odd will still have help," She glances at the boy, smiling.

"And who better than my favorite girl?" Odd smiles back, taking a hold of her hand.

"Well, okay," Jeremy agrees with them.

The three girls and Odd enter the scanner room. "The girls will go first. I'll launch the process."

Amy, Yumi, and Aelita step into a scanner. "Transfer Aelita. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Amy. Virtualization." He taps enter and with three whooshes, the girls land in the desert sector.

The fairy looks around, hoping that the tower wouldn't be too hard to find. Between four sectors and dozens of towers, this was going to take a while. Odd lands behind her. "Oh, nice to see you without your pajamas on," Yumi teases him.

"Hm, nice of you to notice," Odd plays with his collar, placing a hand on his hair. He hums playfully, looking around for something. "Jeremy, I'm gonna need a-"

The Overboard and OverRunner materialize behind their owners. "Okay, forget it."

Amy chuckles and jumps into her racecar. Odd jumps onto his board, both of them flying into the air. "Later!"

They take off to search the sector. Yumi and Aelita run in the opposite direction to the edge of the sector. They reach it and wait for Jeremy to do the rest.

"Can you bring up the transporter, Jeremy?" Yumi asks as she looks up at the sky.

"It's on the way," He inputs the password and the transporter arrives in front of them, opening up. It captures the girls inside and they travel all the way to the other side to the center. The walls of code greet them and the transporter goes inside the Celestial Dome. It zips through the Core Zone and into the Arena, dropping off Aelita and Yumi. The wall spins around before slowly coming to a stop.

"The countdown has started," Jeremy announces, "Remember, you only have three minutes to find the key."

They run through the door and the wall opens up into a hallway.

"Jeremy," Ulrich turns to the elevator as he hears the ghost. It enters through the ceiling and jumps over to them.

"What do we do?" Jeremy asks in fear.

"Come on," Ulrich takes off into a run. Jeremy places down the microphone and follows him up the ladder. The ghost follows, looking up to where they're going.

Odd flies above the ground, Amy driving near him. They see the last deactivated tower. "The desert looks normal. Let's move onto another sector."

"I think I saw a way tower on our way here," Amy points to the other direction.

"I'll follow you anywhere, my lady!" He calls out and she laughs, taking the lead.

Ulrich and Jeremy run down the hall, panting. "We can't shake him!" Jeremy glances behind him. The ghost phases through the wall behind him. "There's no point running, he'll catch us everytime!"

"You've got a better idea?" Ulrich asks as they run up the stairs. The ghost hits the floor, rematerializing back into itself.

Aelita and Yumi run down the hall, coming to a stop to see a room with no obstacles. Yumi looks up at all the cubes, as this could be a booby-trapped room.

"I see the key," Aelita points across the room to the opposite side, where the key sits on the wall. They run forward, but come to a stop as they hear a weird noise.

"Too good to be true," Yumi replies knowingly. She gasps as the floor forms into steps. Aelita turns around and gasps.

"Look out!" She warns and Yumi slips as the platform underneath her foot moves. Aelita pulls her by the sash, placing Yumi back on her feet.

* * *

Amy and Odd reach the way tower, entering. Amy cringes as she's never used the OverRunner to enter a way tower, but you only live once...

She drives into the entrance as Odd flies inside. Amy drives off the platform, following Odd as they fly through to the other tower. They exit into the forest sector, Amy sighing in relief.

"That was a close one," Odd comments to her.

"True, but you're not losing me anytime soon," She winks up at him.

"I better not!" Odd points at her playfully. "Who else is gonna keep me on my toes?"

"Don't you mean claws?"

"Touche, my little Ames. Touche."

They look around for any towers, but so far see none. The two speed up to fasten the process.

* * *

Yumi leaps into the air, landing on a platform safely. She looks behind her to see Aelita jumping towards her, her arms reached out. She catches the edge, but can't hang on for much longer.

"Yumi!" She slips, but Yumi quickly steps in and grabs her arms, pulling her onto the platform. They both pant as they're now standing on a platform...with nothing else to jump onto. "Jeremy, how much time do we have left?_ Jeremy? Jeremy_?!"

Aelita walks towards the edge, looking down. Yumi follows her gaze...to see a Creeper. That was just what they needed.

"This is getting creepy," Yumi comments as there's not one, but four from all sides. "Great. That's all we needed." She spins around, pulling out her fans swiftly.

* * *

Odd and Amy's eyes pop out of their head as they think they see it...

But it's not it.

"Darn it! Still no activated tower!"

"Aw man. I hope Jeremy and Ulrich are hanging in there, because so far, this search party is a bust!" Amy pouts as they go to the right.

* * *

The Creepers are closing in on them when Yumi throws a fan, but a laser knocks the fan away. It hits a platform from the ceiling and Yumi catches it.

"I must be jinxed!"

"Wait," Aelita holds up a hand. "I have an idea." She starts singing, bending to the ground. Aelita makes a platform right behind them.

"Alright," Yumi winks in realization. "I get it."

They jump over a Creeper and the rest of them reach the top, firing at the girls. Yumi presses her hands to her forehead to move them over to the key. What they don't know is that they only have 24 seconds left...

The four Creepers continue to fire at them. Yumi pulls out her fans and blocks the lasers from behind. 13 seconds are left and they've almost reached the key. Aelita ducks from a laser, but time is up. Yumi presses the key, and it goes in, but the room doesn't change.

"Shouldn't something be happening here?" Yumi asks in confusion as they're still stuck where they are, with the monsters still attacking. They gasp sharply, turning around to the other side of the wall, where they came in. It starts to close. And that's when they realize...

"NO!" Yumi slams her fist on the activated key, knowing that it was too late.

And now they have no way to get out.

"Concentrate," Aelita points to her forehead. "There's still time to get out of here."

Yumi narrows her eyes in determination, nodding. Yumi uses her telekinesis to move themselves over the Creepers. The door is almost close to locking them in. Yumi pulls out her fans, blocking the projectiles. She gets hit in the stomach and is sent flying off the platform. She lands on a Creeper's head, jumping on another before backflipping back to Aelita. She puts her fans down and moves all the way to the door.

The ghost peeks into a room where the boys are hiding. It looks around the abandoned office, seeping over the desk and finding Jeremy. He whimpers in fear as the ghost approaches him.

"Ulrich, I would mind a little help right now!" He calls out. The ghost looms over him and he screams.

Odd and Amy are still searching in the ice sector for the deactivated tower. Amy comes to a stop as a Tarantula is not too far away. Luckily, it didn't sense her.

"Hm, where there's smoke..." He grins down at Amy and she presses a button. Her tires lift up from the ground and turn to the side so that they're hover wheels. She flies above the ground so that the Tarantula didn't hear her coming up. They follow it through an ice trench.

Aelita runs through the closing wall, looking back as it's starting to get closer. She makes it out safely. "Come on, Yumi! You can make it!"

Yumi pants as she runs as fast as she can, but unfortunately, she's squished between the wall just as she reaches the exit.

"Yumi!" Aelita cries out as she's all alone. And without Jeremy, there was no way to get Odd and Amy over.

"Jeremy, we didn't get the key, I'm all alone," Aelita whimpers in fear. She knows that without anyone, the Scyphozoa will follow...

Ulrich thrusts down electric cables onto the ghost, electrocuting it. He ducks as it swings at him, and it eventually disappears into thin air.

"Man, he was a tough one," He looks down at Jeremy.

"Let's get to the lab. The others probably need us."

They run through the double doors, not noticing the ghost reappearing...

* * *

The Tarantula continues crawling through the trench, Odd skating against the walls. Amy spins around above him and he looks up, surprised by her move. She winks and flies in front of him, looking down at the monster. Odd chuckles as they finally stumble upon the activated tower!

"Jeremy, we've found the tower! Jeremy?"

"Jeremy?" Amy calls out in concern, but there's no answer. She glances back at Odd, both of them shrugging in confusion. They fly in the Tarantula's sights and it fires at them.

"Uh oh."

The Tarantula fires at them repeatedly. Odd charges at it as Amy is distracting the monster. He flies into the air above it, flying around the tower in a circle. Amy holds out her hand. "Ice Flame!"

A flaming ice ball fires at the Tarantula, but it fires at the projectile, destroying it. "Oh icicles," She mutters under her breath. Odd flies away from the monster, only for his tail to be hit by a stray laser. "Odd! Are you okay?"

He looks at his tail and wags it to douse the fire coming from it. He sighs in relief, staring at his black-tipped tail. "I'm fine, Ames," He tells her and their eyes widen as they hear another roar. Another Tarantula appears from behind the tower. "Jeremy, what's going on?!"

"Odd, I think something might've happened to him," Amy says in worry.

* * *

Jeremy and Ulrich run to the elevator, Jeremy getting grabbed by the ghost. He screams as he's lifted in the air.

"Don't panic, I'll get you out of there," Ulrich declares, clenching a fist. He didn't know how he would do that, but he had to trust his instincts on this one. He does a few poses and jumps into the air, kicking the ghost, but he lands back on the ground. The ghost laughs as Jeremy continues struggling with a scream. Looks like hand-to-hand combat wasn't going to help him out this time...

The two monsters fire as Odd swerves back and forth, firing Laser Arrows twice. "Jeremy! I don't like the looks of this!"

"We just have to hold on!" Amy tells him, pointing her finger at one of the Tarantulas. "Shattering Ice." The dozens of ice shards fire, but the Tarantula moves out of the way, dodging all of them. Her mouth opens in shock at the move.

Odd and Amy fly around the tower as the Tarantulas fire again. He jumps off his Overboard, preparing to pounce, but one hit devirtualizes him immediately.

"Odd! Oh no!" Amy calls out as his Overboard hits the tower, devirtualizing it too. She cringes at the monsters down below. What good would come out of going to Sector Five herself? She has no way to call the transporter, but if she tries to fight those Tarantulas herself, she'd be gone too. And she had a feeling that Aelita was in trouble.

She had no choice but to go back.

Amy revs up her car and drives up to the Tarantula. She jumps out of it just as it crashes into the monster, devirtualizing only one of them. Her wings appear behind her as she's still in the air and flies off to the edge of the sector.

Odd appears in the scanner room in his pajamas, holding his head. He gasps sharply as Yumi is laying there on the ground. The walls squishing her in Sector Five had taken a toll on her.

"Yumi!" He runs up to her.

"Aelita's all alone in the Arena. Hurry up," She mutters under her breath. Odd nods slowly.

"But Amy's still there. She can make it! I know she can!" Odd clenches his fists faithfully. He rushes to the elevator.

"Jeremy," Aelita whimpers as she turns around to see the Scyphozoa. She gasps in horror as it floats in front of her. Aelita backs away to the wall, trapped. "Jeremy...!"

Amy lands at the edge of the sector, looking around. "Okay...how do I summon the transporter with Jeremy gone? Aelita did it once, I should be able to do it too..."

She closes her eyes in concentration, trying with all she can to make it appear. She doesn't see the white orb floating in front of her.

Odd walks into the lab to see no one. Not even the ghost. "Jeremy?" He looks around. "Ulrich?"

"Help me!" Aelita calls out and he rushes to the computer. He puts on the microphone.

"Oh man. How does this thing work?" He scratches the side of his head. He's the one with the least amount of experience with the supercomputer. He had no idea what buttons to push or even how to see Aelita. He tries a key and the TV screen appears.

"Well, Fritz Huckleberg has done it again! His third straight title, what a champ! He's amazing!"

"Wow, he even has TV on his computer," Odd comments in awe.

"Jeremy?!" Aelita calls out at the voice.

"Huh? No, it's not Jeremy, it's Odd."

"Odd, type in the code Scipio. Quick," Aelita tells him, the tentacles about to touch her face.

"Uh, but I don't know how to do that, Aelita."

"_No need!"_

"Huh?!" Aelita and Odd gasp in shock as another dot appears on the screen. Amy spins around from the ceiling, landing on the Scyphozoa.

"Amy!" Aelita cries out in relief. Amy pulls out her spear and throws it, slicing off the tentacles. She lands in front of Aelita and the Scyphozoa leaves, Amy smiling with her hands on her hips. "But...how did you...?"

"Easy. I called the transporter from when I reached the edge of the sector," Amy shrugs at her. "No biggie."

"But no one's ever been able to do that besides Aelita!" Odd comments in shock.

"Well, now I'm the first," Amy rubs her chin, wondering how she was able to call it at beck and will...oh well. "Come on, let's get out of here before the Creepers show up."

Aelita nods and the wall to the Arena opens. They run through it and end up at the entrance again. "Odd, type in the code Scipio, quick. We have to deactivate the tower."

"Uh, I'd love to, but how?"

"Third window on the second screen," Aelita tells him. He looks to the right screen to see the password box.

"Okay. I got it. S-c-i-p-i-o. There."

The transporter appears and they're sucked into it, disappearing. "Aelita, Ames and I spotted the activated tower in the northwest part of the ice sector."

"_Okay, we'll go. But where's Jeremy? And Ulrich_?"

"Are they there with you?" Amy calls out.

"Uh, no idea. I'll go look for them. Ames, protect Aelita and guide her to the tower."

"Okay," Amy nods as they're back on the ice sector. "Good luck, Odd."

"_You too_."

Amy opens her wings and holds Aelita's waist, flying over the land.

Ulrich rushes towards the ghost, stick in hand. He yells as he jumps into the air, going to hit the ghost, but it flies the stick out of his hand. It then thrusts an arm towards Ulrich, grabbing him by the waist and capturing him like with Jeremy. Ulrich pulls out the arm, but it's too rubbery.

The two reach the tower, Amy looking over the edge to see the lone Tarantula.

"Ohhh, shoot. I forgot about him," She facepalms, turning to Aelita, who growls in frustration at all she's been through today. First the difficult room, then Jeremy, not being able to press the key, losing Yumi, almost getting her memory taken away, and now a Tarantula.

She really, really hated XANA today.

"Dang it!" Amy shouts at her faulty memory, punching the ground before taking a deep breath. It's almost as if she and Aelita were feeling the same thing, it was kind of weird and familiar... "I'll distract it, you head for the tower."

"But Amy..." Aelita frowns in worry as she'll surely be devirtualized.

"Listen, Aelita. You know that you're the only one to help Ulrich and Jeremy. Just trust me. Someone has to help."

"Okay," She nods at the brunette, inspired by her words. Amy backflips into the air, the Tarantula firing at her. Aelita runs for the tower past the Tarantula while it's distracted, Amy getting hit twice and then devirtualized. She runs into the tower safely, finally, _finally _reaching the center of the pad. She flies up to the top.

Ulrich and Jeremy continue to struggle from the ghost, Odd just arriving. He picks up the stick and goes foe it, yelling. He stabs the ghost, but it does nothing to stop it. The ghost turns around to Odd.

"Well. Feeling so cocky now, are we?" Odd teases, but the ghost hits him, knocking the boy to the ground. He tries to get up, but the blow was too strong.

Amy falls onto the ground in the scanner room.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code _

_Lyoko_

Ulrich and Jeremy are released, falling onto the ground with a thump.

"Tower deactivated."

Odd rubs his head as he gets to his feet. He walks up to the others. "You okay, guys? Say something."

"Something," Ulrich replies with a smirk.

"Hey, no stealing my jokes, okay? I only let my favorite girl do that," He warns them as they sit up.

"Since we didn't fix the super scan in Sector Five," Jeremy speaks when they're all back in the lab. "We have no choice. We've gotta launch a return in time."

Unfortunately, since everyone except Ulrich was on Lyoko, they couldn't go back, making the super scan irreparable. And they couldn't waste time waiting to go back and fix it, not when XANA is still out there. The return in time was the only thing that could fix it now.

"Oh great. XANA gets an advantage because of his own dirty tricks on us, and I get even more fuel to the mystery of me," Amy places a hand on her head in dismay. She would question summoning up the transporter further, but it would hurt her brain and she's gotten little sleep tonight.

Jeremy launches the time return. "Return to the past now."

* * *

Everything is reset to the séance. "And now, let the ceremony begin," Sissi announces as she's holding hands with Ulrich.

"De profundis tenebrae," Herb and Nicolas repeat again. "De profundis tenebrae. De profundis tenebrae. De profundis tenebrae. De profundis tenebrae."

"I summon you, Leon Corbet!" Sissi holds out her arms.

"De profundis tenebrae!"

"Who dares call my name?!"

Ulrich says nothing at the familiar voice, which the others don't recognize. "Well, I do," Sissi answers bravely.

"Beat it, Miss Delmas. You don't know who you're dealing with!"

Her eyes widen in fear. "SCRAM!" Thunder strikes at the threat.

Herb and Nicolas scream, running away. Sissi follows them and Ulrich chuckles, turning to the boiler. "You can come out now."

Odd peeks his head out from behind the boiler, Amy giggling as she's holding a recorder.

"Well, I don't think she's gonna try to wake the dead again!" Odd chuckles as he and Amy high five their friend.

"Nice thunder sound effect," Ulrich winks at Amy as they walk away.

"Thanks. Got it from Jeremy. He created the sound for me," She smiles widely. And all she had to do was help him the next time he's trying to create the anti-virus for Aelita...a noble sacrifice indeed.

When they leave, the boiler room door closes on its own with a creak once the three are gone...

Amy yawns and stretches her arms. Odd sees just how tired she is. "I think it's time for Sleeping Beauty to get her rest," Odd places a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, we'll go to my room."

"Odd!" Amy takes his hand off her shoulder in surprise. "We'll get in trouble."

"But I wanna cuddle with my Ames," He wraps an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm leaving before I become the third wheel," Ulrich walks off.

"Well...okay, but I'll be gone in the morning," She tells Odd once he's gone.

"As long as I have you tonight, I don't care."

Ulrich is asleep once they arrive back, wearing his pajamas. Amy has changed back into hers. She turns around as Odd changes since he took a shower long ago.

"Don't you wanna see?" Odd winks at her and she crosses her arms, blushing.

"Isn't being in your room enough already?"

He chuckles, sitting down as he's fully clothed. "Alright, come on."

She slips into his blanket and he follows after her, cuddling the brunette. His head rests above her hair as they're covered in a layer of blanket and each other's warmth. He presses his body against her in a comforting way before they both fall into a peaceful slumber.


	51. Franz Hopper

Yumi's phone rings late at night as she's asleep. She picks it up while her eyes are closed. "Uh huh?"

"Yumi, it's Jeremy." She narrows her eyes in annoyance at the urgency in his voice. It could only mean one thing. "We need you to come to the factory right now. The super scan has just picked up an attack from XANA."

Jeremy localizes the tower while he's in his room, fully dressed. "And this one looks like big trouble."

There's not one, but five different towers activated. "Why?"

"Because believe it or not, there are FIVE activated towers!"

* * *

The boarders reach the factory as the elevator opens. Amy yawns as she stretches. She had been up working on a new piece of art, and hadn't gotten a chance to sleep yet.

"I've got a bad feeling about this one," Jeremy comments in worry. He couldn't help but feel that something was off. XANA wouldn't activate five towers at the same time without attacking them, but he also didn't want to take the chance of waiting to find out what his plan is.

"Oh relax, Einstein. We'll take out your five towers in no time."

Yumi slides down the rope, landing safely. "I got here as quickly as I could."

Ulrich smiles a bit and they enter the elevator, descending down to the lab. Amy rubs her eyes to keep herself up. Odd rubs her back as he could tell how tired she was. She worked hard on her new project, and he would know. He helped her out.

The elevator doors slowly open, and they're surprised to see that someone else beat them here. He types away at the computer. Jeremy glances at Odd, who just shrugs in confusion.

"Ah, there you are," A man turns around. He has gray hair, a black beard, glasses, a white lab coat, and an orange sweater. "I've been expecting you."

They all glance at each other, wondering just who he is and how he got into the lab.

"That XANA. Blocks the door, leaves the window wide open." He makes all the activated towers deactivate with no problem whatsoever. Jeremy walks up to him.

"Uh, but, but I mean...what-what are you doing here?" He narrows his eyes in annoyance. Not only did he infiltrate the factory, but he's using Jeremy's computer! He could be implanting a virus or bugging up a program.

"I'm deactivating the towers," The man says simply.

"Without going to Lyoko?" Jeremy asks in surprise. He didn't even know how to do that.

"Of course." Aelita and Jeremy look back to the others.

"But, uh, who are you?" Aelita asks slowly. He turns to her, staring.

"What? Haven't you understood yet? I'm Franz Hopper."

Aelita gasps at the name they've heard for so long. And yet somehow, here he is...alive! "I'm the one who created Lyoko. And XANA too. But then I lost control of it. In the very beginning, it was a program that I designed to counter a military project, based on a multi-agent system."

"Well, what about me?" Aelita gestures to herself. If he created Lyoko, how did she come to be?

"I created you, to be the guardian of Lyoko. But I never though I'd see you one day in flesh and blood."

She smiles gratefully, glad to have some answers. "But then where have you been for these last few years?" Ulrich asks skeptically. It's a little hard to believe that a man such as Franz Hopper would simply allow XANA to run free. He'd know if XANA was still online, and he has been for over a year now.

"Well, let's say I was a kind of...prisoner who finally managed to escape."

Yumi gasps at the word prisoner. "What now, then?"

"We've got to destroy XANA once and for all."

"We'd love to, but XANA's given Aelita a bug. If we switch the Supercomputer off, then Aelita switches off too."

"And Ames too," Odd calls out, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "She has connections that prove she's connected to Lyoko too. But we don't know how or why."

"Hm. I'm afraid I don't have the answers myself. I've never heard of you," Franz looks down at Amy, who frowns at the lack of answers for her. "But we'll find the antivirus, you'll see."

"Sure," Jeremy says slowly. "But how?"

Franz Hopper places a hand on his shoulder. "Well, that, young man is why I came. I'm here to help."

"Hmm," Jeremy smiles in relief.

"Are you sure you don't know anything about me?" Amy asks sadly. "You had a picture of me from when I was born. You have to know something!"

"I'm sorry for the confusion, but you must have me mistaken with someone else."

* * *

"He's very fatherly," Aelita says to Jeremy. They've left Franz to do the work. "Actually, in a way, he is my father. He's the one who created me."

"That's true. I adore my own dad, but he's sure no genius," Jeremy chuckles at the memories of his dad trying to work a computer like he has. "This Franz Hopper is a real live genius! I feel bad that he doesn't seem to know Amy, though...weird. I thought for sure he'd remember her, since her photo was at the Hermitage."

"Yeah...but she'll be okay. She's got us," Aelita stands up. "That's it for me. I'm gonna go to bed and break up her date with Odd."

"Okay," Jeremy snickers at the thought, "Good night."

"Good night, Jeremy," She says back, closing the door. He turns to his computer.

* * *

The next morning, his phone rings as he fell asleep at his computer—again. He lifts his head and answers it. Luckily, it's not class time yet.

"Jeremy? It's me."

"Franz?" He asks, still kind of out of it.

"No, Michael, your father. You know why I'm calling?"

His friends quietly open the door, Odd giggling. "Happy birthday, big guy."

He hears something and turns around. "Happy Birthday, Einstein!" The five cheer to him. They laugh and he turns away, glancing up at the ceiling. He forgot about his birthday. With all the craziness with XANA, the virus, and now Franz Hopper, it completely slipped his mind.

"By the way, your mother is worried about you. You should call us more often."

The others congratulate him. "Now, have you thought about that school for gifted children?" Aelita kisses him near his ear. "Jeremy?"

"Um. Yeah, sure. Okay, Dad. Sure. Uh, listen, I have to go. My friends just came in. Talk to you soon."

He smiles and hangs up. That school was the last thing on his mind. If he left, who would ensure that his friends go to Lyoko to fight XANA? That's why he tries to avoid the subject as much as possible with his parents. With XANA, the antivirus, and his friends, he had no time to call. As much as he wanted to, XANA was never going to stop.

"Here," Odd holds out a present for him. "A present."

Jeremy smiles up at them. "What are you waiting for? Go on, open it," Ulrich encourages and he does so, Odd giggling.

"Wow!" He says in awe at the drawing of him and his friends. Odd and Amy are holding their dogs, Ulrich has his hand on a smiling Jeremy's shoulder, Aelita is giggling, and Yumi has her arm around Aelita's shoulder. "It's great!"

"Yeah! And Ames and I drew it from memory," Odd smiles, crossing his arms proudly.

"That's why I was so tired. We stayed up to finish it," Amy grins at him. "Too bad I don't have any paint."

"So you can imagine how much effort it took for Odd," Ulrich jokes, the others giggling.

"Thanks, everyone," Jeremy says gratefully. "Hey, how about going over to the factory now? I can't wait to see Franz again."

They nod at his request as they wonder what else he had in store for them. Aelita smiles at the thought of seeing her father again. Yesterday, she didn't even know if she had a family, but now she knows another part of her life.

* * *

"You use the scanners to virtualize human beings?" Franz asks in surprise. Amy raises an eyebrow in confusion. It sounds like he's never used the scanners on himself...she wonders why he never considered it.

"Well, yes. It's the only way we could find to deactivate towers on Lyoko," Jeremy explains.

"The virtualization process was not ready for that yet. It's a very dangerous procedure with serious side effects."

"Such as?" Yumi wonders, knowing fully well that nothing had happened...besides feeling the effects of being devirtualized, there was nothing to suggest anything else.

"Cell degeneration."

Jeremy glances at the girls. As in, their cells could be damaged? Why is he learning about this just now?

* * *

Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd are scanned for any symptoms. Amy has already been scanned, shown to be perfectly fine. "Odd seems okay. Ulrich too. But, Yumi..." Yumi's ID card beeps.

"No! It can't be!" Jeremy cries out in horror, covering his mouth. He looks to Aelita.

"I can't believe it," Yumi tries not to cry. "What a nightmare."

"Nice one, Einstein. Dr. Shrank transplants animals into human beings, but compared to you, he's small-time!" Odd retorts to Jeremy.

"I...I-I couldn't have known, I..." He had no idea what to say. All this time, and they never knew... "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Ulrich asks in disbelief and anger. "Well, that's not gonna help cure Yumi."

"Yumi, I..." Jeremy couldn't say anything because he knew it wouldn't help matters; there's nothing he could do. Yumi stands up.

"Leave me alone, Jeremy. I need to be by myself. You coming, Ulrich?"

Jeremy watches her as Ulrich gives him an angry look. Aelita looks at Jeremy, who hangs his head.

* * *

At dinner time, the tension is still in the air as Jeremy slowly picks up a meatball. "I'm sure there's a way to cure Yumi."

"We don't even know exactly what's wrong with her," Odd glares at him.

"I'll work it out, I promise I will."

"I think you've done enough damage as it is," Ulrich speaks up. Odd glances at Amy, who's quiet. He could tell she didn't know who to believe; Franz or Jeremy. The evidence is clear, but to be mad at Jeremy...he didn't know the side effects, and he also didn't look up on them.

"What do you mean by that? Everything's been my fault right from the start?!"

"You're the brains in this outfit, Einstein," Ulrich reminds him. Jeremy simply stands up and leaves, Aelita giving the boys a look of disapproval.

"You know, Ulrich, if it weren't for the scanners, I wouldn't be here!" She walks off, Odd's hand on his cheek.

"This is so messed up," Amy sighs to herself, a hand on her forehead. Did it matter that Jeremy didn't know? Maybe. Was it his fault? No. She just wanted everyone to get along. Right now, the tension is just like with her parents, and it was proving to be too much to handle...

She stands up, deciding to go to her room. She needed to find out what she could do...but one thought came to mind.

Funny how this all started when Franz Hopper came into the picture...

* * *

Mr. Ishiyama takes a bite out of his noodles, slurping them. Yumi just stares into her bowl. She didn't feel like eating.

"Yumi, are you okay?" Mrs. Ishiyama notices how silent she is.

"I'm...not very hungry tonight," Yumi smiles weakly. She couldn't even tell her parents about this...

Hiroki laughs at her. "Oh, Ulrich, I looove you!" He teases, Mrs. Ishiyama giving him a look.

"Hiroki!"

She stands up, walking off. "I'm going to bed."

Mrs. Ishiyama sighs slowly. "That's it, then. We're in the thick of it now."

"Of what?" Mr. Ishiyama asks in confusion.

"A teenage crisis."

* * *

Jeremy stays up, the photo near his computer. He couldn't sleep, not when it's his fault that Yumi is in fatal condition...

Amy and Aelita stare up at the ceiling, hearing an owl. First she gets little sleep because of Jeremy's birthday, and now this whole conflict with Jeremy...

Odd and Ulrich couldn't sleep either. Kiwi snores on Odd's bed.

Yumi's phone rings and she glances at it. She picks it up. "Hello?"

"Yumi, it's Franz." She silently wondered how he got her number, but that wasn't important right now. "I have some good news. Tell the others and meet me first thing tomorrow at the factory."

"_Okay, we'll be there."_

He hangs up with her.

* * *

The next morning, they arrive at the lab. "I now know how to program the antivirus," He says as soon as they step in. "Which will free Aelita. All I need now is the data from Sector Five."

"Great!" Aelita says in relief, as Jeremy stands by with his arms crossed. "We'll go and get it, then."

The others smile at something good happening. "I thought the scanners were too dangerous to use," Jeremy walks up to him, having his doubts.

"If we wanna get to Sector Five, then we have no choice."

"It'll be our final mission!" Odd declares, Amy smiling weakly.

"Okay, then what am I supposed to do?" Jeremy wonders as he had the feeling Franz has been in that chair ever since they met him. Even Jeremy takes breaks.

"If I were you, stay out of the way," Franz replies with hostility.

"It's not fair!" Jeremy points at him accusingly. "Everyone blames me for everything. And after all, we all turned the supercomputer back on together!"

"Perhaps," Franz turns to him as no one says anything. "But you were the one who played the Sorcerer's Apprentice. You're the one who put your friends' lives at risk, and you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!" He turns back to the computer.

"Fine," Nothing he could say would change the fact that Yumi was still in trouble. He knew that. If they weren't going to listen, then what was the point? "I get it." He storms off to the elevator.

"Jeremy," Aelita runs after him, but he closes the door before she can get through. She turns back to the others, who have their arms crossed. She could tell they were still angry.

"Right. Shall we?"

Odd and Ulrich smile.

* * *

Jeremy stares at the photo he got for his birthday. They were friends, how could they turn on him like that? He turns to his phone and dials someone.

"Hello?" Michael Belpois answers.

"Dad, it's me."

"Jeremy?" He's surprised to hear his son's voice.

"You know that school for gifted children that you were talking about?"

"Yes?"

"I wanna go." He was sure in his decision. If his friends wanted Franz, they could have him. "Can you come and get me?"

"When?"

"As soon as possible." They wouldn't miss him if he left.

"Okay. I'll be there tomorrow."

"Oh, right." He should've known that it takes a while for his father to come here. Not only that, but he'll still have to see his friends around again. "Alright then." He hangs up, staring down at the phone.

He just hoped that they would be alright...

* * *

Franz gets to work on virtualizing the others. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Odd. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

They virtualize right into Sector Five. "Hey, we've arrived directly into Sector Five," Ulrich comments in shock.

"Of course. It was a direct access. The transport is a little...outdated."

"Cool!" Odd replies as they're still spinning. Yumi turns around to the wall as it opens. Amy lands behind him, feeling that something was off...

* * *

Jeremy holds his head as he remembers what Franz said. It was all he could think about.

"_And you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!_"

"Franz Hopper's diary," He murmurs to himself as he remembers finding the briefcase. It was a huge lead back then...but unless Franz secretly put video cameras everywhere, there was really no way he could've known about his destroyed files. "But how could he know the diary was destroyed?"

He opens his closet, taking out the briefcase.

"_Maybe we'll find out more about the mysterious owner of the Hermitage," Yumi spoke as Jeremy inserted a DVD into his laptop._

"_And maybe he knows something about me," Amy murmured in thought._

"_Everything is encrypted. I have to decode it."_

Jeremy opens up the briefcase. "_And you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary_!"

He inspects a CD to see the XANA symbol on the back. "How could Franz Hopper know that?" He hasn't left the lab all this time to search for the diary if it was that important to him, and no one told him that they even had his diary...

"_XANA took control of you," Aelita explained to his shock. _

"_He destroyed all of Franz Hopper's CDs," Ulrich closed his eyes. "Apparently he had a problem with his notes."_

Jeremy gasps as there's only one way he could know. "_And you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!"_

"XANA!" He was the only one that destroyed it, and besides them, the only other person who knew about the destroyed CDs.

His friends are in trouble...!

* * *

"The countdown has begun. Clean up, and I'll send Aelita over."

"Alright," Ulrich calls out as they run down the hall.

Jeremy rushes over to the factory, laptop in hand. He opens the cover and looks down. He really hoped that his friends weren't in danger.

The four come to a stop, gasping. "Franz, I don't mind cleaning up, but we're gonna need some industrial strength detergent," Odd says as they're looking to at least a dozen Creepers.

"_No problem. I programmed you some new weapons._"

"Uh, I don't see what's new about this," Odd replies as they look over themselves. They just have their regular weapons. Odd fires as the Creepers were about to attack, his Laser Arrow flying and destroying another one. He cheers as a third one is destroyed. "Moving darts!"

A Creeper fires and he dodges out of the way. He fires again and it soars to a Creeper above them. It zips past Odd and hits two more Creepers behind him.

Jeremy runs across the bridge, panting.

Ulrich's sword glows and he swings it, an energy slash hitting two Creepers. They fall to the ground as they explode. "Yeah! Wow..." He looks at his sword in awe.

Yumi throws her fan and it flies around, cutting three Creepers. She reaches up and catches it.

Amy's wings appear and she flies into the air, shouting in surprise. "Huh? My wings!" The tip of her spear suddenly glows and her Sapphire Arrows appear, firing at two Creepers and destroying them. "No waaay, my powers are back!"

Ulrich swings his sword again, getting rid of a Creeper in front of him. He looks up at the ceiling.

"There's the key!"

"I'll get it!" Amy calls out, flying past Ulrich. Odd fires his arrows as Yumi lands in front of him. She throws her fans, destroying two Creepers. They come back to her.

"Amy, how you doing?" She turns to the fairy. Amy flies over the two Creepers guarding the key.

"It's going great," She swings her spear and Heat Wave appears, the Creepers bursting and turning into balls of fire. She looks in surprise as the fire balls fly around and destroy two more Creepers. She's never been able to do that before with this attack...

She flies up to the key and presses it. She lands as the door opens to her left.

"_Well done, Amelia."_

Jeremy pushes the button to get to the lab.

The opposite door closes as the Creepers fire. Yumi looks at her nails as she dodges the lasers without a care. "Alright."

Odd lands next to her and fires into the air. The arrow flies and comes back to hit the Creepers from behind. "It's almost too easy. I want more Creepers!"

"Don't worry, Odd. It's not over yet. I've got more surprises in store for you," 'Franz' says as he prepares the virtualization process. "Aelita, are you ready for virtualization?"

"Yes," She tells him as the doors open behind her. She turns around, gasping sharply as Jeremy appears. He shushes her and she gives a look of confusion as to what he's doing.

"Here we go. Transfer Aelita. Scanner. Virtualization."

He taps enter and Aelita lands in the desert sector instead of Sector Five. "Yumi?" She looks around for her friends, but doesn't see them. "Ulrich? Odd? Amy?"

She's standing on a lone platform, with no way to get out. "Franz, I'm not in Sector Five. What's going on?"

The doors open as a frowning Jeremy stands there. "Everything's under control," He assures her, turning around to the boy. "Jeremy. What are you doing here?"

"I just came to see how you're managing...XANA!"

The symbol is shown on his glasses as he glares at Jeremy. He steps forward to defend himself, but XANA Franz shoots electricity at him. Jeremy is knocked into the wall.

"You're very clever, Jeremy. But you're too late." He makes sure Jeremy won't move before turning back to the screen. Jeremy sits up as Franz starts modifying a program.

The four run into another room with Creepers, one behind them. "Hey, wanna make this a contest? Whoever gets the most wins." Odd prepares his claw as Amy rolls her eyes in amusement, flying above them. He prepares to fire...but his arrows don't budge. "Huh?" It was like they were jammed.

Ulrich, Yumi, and Amy pull out their weapons, but they suddenly disappear from their hands. "What's going on?"

Amy's wings devirtualize and she glances back at them. "What?" She then falls, screaming.

"Ames!" Odd jumps forward and catches her, using his claws to slide to a stop on the platform.

"Franz?" Yumi wonders in concern, a Creeper hitting Ulrich in the stomach. Odd climbs back up, putting Amy on the ground.

"You okay?" He asks Amy gently and she nods. He turns to Yumi. "Something's wrong."

A Creeper fires at Odd, who backflips over and barely lands on a platform. He balances himself, backflipping onto his feet. "Let's get outta here!"

The others jump down to him as the Creepers attack. Odd runs on all fours as Ulrich passes him.

"I get the feeling we've been double-crossed," Yumi tells them as Ulrich jumps up to the open wall. Amy, Yumi, and Odd follow, Odd saluting to the Creepers.

"Bye!"

He runs through the door, but the Creepers follow after them. "Now your friends are in a little trouble," XANA Franz says to Jeremy, who has gotten up. "I've fixed things so that they can never rematerialize! No more life points and it's bye bye. And now, for the grand finale."

Aelita turns around to see the Scyphozoa heading straight for her. She backs away to the edge, kicking a small rock. It falls into the Digital Sea. She turns back to the jellyfish.

"What now?" Ulrich asks as they run into another room.

"Well, there's only one thing to do. Franz, we need help!" Odd calls out for him.

"No, not Franz. XANA," Yumi says as they're looking at an activated tower in Sector Five.

"Huh? This must be the surprise," Odd comments and Amy grunts in realization.

"And without Aelita, Franz can do whatever he wants now. What do we do?"

Two lasers from Creepers fire at them from behind. They duck out of the way.

The Scyphozoa has captured Aelita and it seems to be all over for the heroes.

Jeremy stands up, gasping as XANA Franz looks at the heroes' life points.

Odd ducks a projectile aimed at him. He looks up at the Creeper, staring at his right hand. Since he can't aim laser arrows...

Maybe it was time to change fighting skills.

The Creeper growls at him as Odd moves around like he's in a boxing match. He punches the air and a bell rings. Odd ducks from another laser as he gets closer. The Creeper just stares at him, wondering what he's doing. It roars and fires, but Odd ducks his head. He then punches the Creeper in the face. He punches it again and again, punching his fists together. He then rolls his fists, knocking the Creeper in the face. Odd holds its head and slams his own against it. He waves at the Creeper when it's disoriented, lifting its head up.

Odd rolls his fist and punches the Creeper again. The monster's head stays up in the air. "Hello? Had enough?" Odd looks over him. He imitates the Creeper's stance. Amy giggles at him, clapping at his moves.

Yumi flips over a laser, backflipping when another one is fired at her feet. She backflips over to Ulrich, turning to the monster again. It fires and hits Ulrich in the stomach. She flips over to it, kicking it in the head. She lands near him.

Amy flips over a laser, running up to a Creeper. She spins around, kicking the Creeper away from her and through the door.

The Creeper roars at Odd and he roars back. Rolling his eyes, it's time for round two. He points at the Creeper, egging it on as he waves his hand. The Creeper fires, Odd punching it again. He stares at the monster in the eye before kicking it. The Creeper rolls his head around and Odd taps his chest. The Creeper hits him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.

Ulrich flips over and knocks it to the floor. He glances at Odd, chuckling. The Creeper fires and Ulrich narrowly misses, spinning and kicking it in the face. The Creeper falls off the platform.

"Ciao," Odd waves to it. The two boys look behind them to see three Creepers surrounding the girls. One of them fires at Amy, sending her flying into the tower.

"Amy!" Odd calls out.

Aelita is almost out of memory. XANA Franz glances to Jeremy, who is standing around doing nothing. "Admit you're defeated, Jeremy."

Jeremy just smirks. "No. Not this time."

XANA Franz narrows his eyes suspiciously. He turns back to Aelita as her memory is gone. She drops to the ground with a thump, struggling to breathe. The Scyphozoa seems to be bugging as it moves around.

"What's the meaning of this?" XANA Franz demands.

"A decoy," Jeremy reveals smugly. The real Aelita is still in the scanner room, monitoring her clone from Jeremy's laptop. She smiles at their plan working.

"Huh?! Nooooooo!" XANA Franz exclaims in shock, Jeremy chuckling. He growls at the boy before he slowly disappears. Jeremy stares at the specter leaving the lab.

"Wow."

He runs up to the chair once the specter is gone, jumping into the chair. He gets to work on helping his friends.

The Creepers crawl up to them. "I've often wondered how this would all end. Now I know," Yumi frowns at their situation. "This is it."

The Creepers all fire and they duck, not sure how much longer they'll last. Jeremy gasps at something and presses enter. As the monsters get closer, they all fire at once, hitting all three in the shoulder. Ulrich falls off the platform, devirtualizing.

"No! Ulrich!" Yumi cries out as they watch him disappear.

Amy rubs her head as she sits up, the center lighting up when her feet touches it. She starts floating to the top.

"What the...?"

"It can't be!" Odd says in dismay for Ulrich.

"_Come on, don't be so pessimistic, Odd._"

They gasp, looking up as they hear the voice. "Jeremy!" Yumi says in relief.

"Yes, I'm back. Come on, let's start over." He makes Yumi's fans reappear. She throws one, destroying a Creeper. Odd fires an arrow, getting rid of the other two.

"Heh heh heh. Nothing like my trusty old gear," Odd chuckles before he remembers something, glancing back at the tower. "But what's holding up Ames?"

"And what about Ulrich?" Yumi asks in concern, hoping that he's back in the scanner. They don't notice a Manta appearing right behind them.

"_All's well. I managed to reprogram the materialization just in time_."

Ulrich arrives in the scanner room, holding his shoulder. Aelita runs up to the boy, catching him. "He's home. Ready Aelita?"

"Yes Jeremy," Aelita walks up to the scanner, Ulrich taking a deep breath.

"All we have to do now is deactivate the tower. I'm sending you Aelita. Virtualization."

Aelita appears in the ice sector. She lands safely, hoping she's not too late.

The Manta hits Yumi in the back. The Creeper hits Odd in the stomach. Yumi throws her fan and destroys he Creeper.

"Aelita, I'm entering the code Scipio," Jeremy reports as the specter comes back.

Amy lands at the top pad, confused on what's going on. She would leave, but there's nothing to catch her and she doesn't have her wings. The interface pops up in front of her, surprising the fairy.

Aelita waits for the transporter and sees it arrive. It spins around and catches her, heading all the way to the center.

The specter enters Jeremy's ears. He can only sit there as it enters him. He falls to the ground, trying to catch his breath.

Aelita arrives in the Arena as the transporter leaves. The wall slowly spins and comes to a stop. She watches as the door opens.

Jeremy tries to get his breath back as it felt like the specter was slowly taking his life away. The elevator opens and Ulrich sees him struggling.

"Jeremy?" He runs up to him. "What's going on, what can I do?"

"Jeremy," Aelita calls out. "I'm in the Core Zone."

"Aelita?" Ulrich asks, grabbing the microphone. He puts it on. "Deactivate the tower, hurry up."

Yumi looks up at the Manta as it flies past her. Aelita arrives, running past them. "Hurry! Jeremy's in trouble!"

She comes to a stop as she sees the gap between her and the tower.

Amy presses her hand against the interface as it felt like that's what she's supposed to do.

_Amelia_

"Huh?" She murmurs in confusion that the tower would recognize her name.

Jeremy chokes as Ulrich bends down to him. "Jeremy!"

The Manta flies by the tower, Aelita backing away.

_Code_

"Hang in there, please," Ulrich begs Jeremy as he's slowly losing his breath.

_Lyoko_

Jeremy takes a breath of air, suddenly fine. Ulrich steps back as the specter leaves Jeremy's ears and finally disappears.

"Don't worry, buddy," Ulrich smiles in relief. "Everything's okay now."

"Aelita, wait!" Yumi stops the elf, putting an arm in front of her. "Look!"

Odd and Aelita gasp as the tower deactivates. "The tower...deactivated itself?" Aelita asks slowly.

"No, it couldn't have," Odd shakes his head. "Because Amy's still in there..."

"Wait," Yumi steps up to them. "So you're saying Amy deactivated a tower? How is that even possible?"

The Manta flies right in front of the entrance. Amy jumps out, landing on the Manta. She then jumps onto the platform.

"What just happened?" She asks them.

"I was hoping you could tell us," Yumi replies, equally confused.

"Amy...you deactivated the tower?" Aelita asks slowly. "How?"

"It just...came to me," Amy looks down at her hand.

* * *

"Of course I'm not angry with you. What's more, I checked out your bio schematic during your rematerialization phase. There's no sign of alteration whatsoever," Jeremy explains to Yumi once they're back in his room.

"Oh, what a relief," Yumi smiles at him. "He really had me scared, that Franz Hopper."

"That _false_ Franz Hopper," Jeremy holds up a finger. "The real one is still somewhere on Lyoko."

There's a knock on the door and they stare at it, wondering who that could be. Michael Belpois opens the door with a gentle smile.

"Dad!" Jeremy exclaims in shock. He forgot to tell his dad he wasn't leaving!

"Are you ready, son? Let's go."

"Wait," Jeremy stands up before anything serious happened. "Things have changed. Let me explain."

"Huh?" Odd asks in confusion. Jeremy shuts the door.

"You're sure you've thought it over?"

"Yes," Jeremy tells him. "I'm really sorry I made you come all the way out here for nothing."

"Don't you worry about it," He smiles, placing a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "And don't forget to give us a call from time to time."

"I promise," And this time, he means it. Michael smiles before he walks down the hall. Jeremy smiles in relief at how everything worked out. He turns back to his room, everyone staring at him.

"Hey, what's going on here? Where were you going?" Odd demands for an explanation.

"Nowhere," Jeremy lies with a smile. They were better off not knowing.

"Your father seems like a really nice guy," Aelita smiles at him.

"Yeah, I love him. He's great!"

"Like father, like son," Ulrich recites knowingly. Jeremy smiles and steps forward, showing them the framed drawing. They all laugh and he smiles, glad to have them back.

"Thank you for deactivating the tower, Aelita. I thought I was done for," Jeremy sighs slowly, rubbing his throat. The five glance at each other and then at him.

"Uh, well, uh..." Odd rubs his neck.

"It was...Amy actually who deactivated the tower," Aelita reveals and the girl smiles sheepishly.

"What? Really?" Jeremy asks in surprise, raising his eyebrows. "I thought only Aelita could deactivate them."

"I thought so too, but apparently, Sector Five is an exception," Amy rubs her chin.

"Wow...you deactivated a tower..." Jeremy murmurs, sitting down on his bed. "Do you know what this means? The fake Franz Hopper was lying; if you could deactivate a tower like Aelita, then he must know you!"

"Most likely he was, but Amy's not like Aelita," Ulrich points out.

"Right...I feel like we're so close to figuring this out," Jeremy stands up. "But eventually, we'll know the truth!"


	52. Contact

It's another day at the factory as Jeremy tries to get something to work. "Come on, come on!" He urges, but then he sighs. Another error message. "Oh, I'm so darn lame!"

The elevator doors open as Yumi and Ulrich walk up to him. "Hi Einstein."

"Hey," Yumi greets as they come to a stop. She notices his disappointed look. "You look awfully down today, what's the problem?"

"I've been spinning my wheels for days now on Aelita's antivirus and trying to decode Franz Hopper's diary," He explains in frustration.

"It's just a question on time."

"You think so?" He turns to look at her. "Even with the latest data we got from Sector Five, I haven't moved ahead one micron! What if I'm just...I'm just not good enough?"

"Uh oh, okay, I think I know someone who needs to air out his neurons a little," Ulrich warns him. Jeremy not being good enough to figure this out was like saying Odd was good at jokes. "And here's how to do it, tonight. Odd is screening his short film."

"Anyone seen any of it?" Jeremy smiles a bit.

"He wouldn't let us. Not even Amy, not that she's in the mood to," Yumi cringes at Ulrich, both the boys sighing. Amy's parents have started the trial...for custody. For the past few days, she's been in her room after classes were over. She wouldn't even come to lunch or dinner anymore. Just the thought of the arguing escalating after whoever got custody...

She doesn't want to choose between them, she loves them. But it's clear that soon, she'd have to deal with whatever the judge decided...and it's not helping, at all.

"Do we know who's in it, at least?" Jeremy asks curiously.

* * *

Odd knocks on Amy's door, holding a bouquet of lilies. "Uh, Ames? Can I come in?"

Amy sits up, rubbing her tired eyes. She looks at the time, noting that it's almost time for the premiere of his film. Their friends were already at the classroom waiting.

She really didn't want to get up, but she had to. When she gets to her feet, she steadies herself. Note to self, go out on a walk tomorrow morning. It might just help her clear her head...

Amy opens the door to see Odd, who holds out the lilies to her. She smiles at his attempt to cheer her up, taking the flowers. "Thank you, Odd. They're beautiful."

"Are you...gonna come to support me?" He rubs his neck sheepishly. "I really want you to be there, Ames."

She could tell that he really meant it, and sighs at how she's been lately. Well...she could use some time with her friends and Odd...it might do her some good. As long as she didn't have to talk about it, maybe she'd be fine for tonight...

"Okay, I'll come. I just have to brush my hair."

Odd smiles softly as she walks into her room, brushing her hair quickly. She adjusts her clothes and runs out the door, closing it softly behind her. Odd holds out an energy bar.

"Here. It's not much, but I'll take you out after the film. You can eat then."

"Thanks," She grins at how sweet he is, taking the bar. "But you don't have to take me out to eat, Odd."

"Nonsense! You can pick," He tells her sharply. "It can be whatever you're in the mood for."

She can't help but smile as it sounds fun. "Okay. So are you gonna tell me what it's about? Your film?"

"Patience, my favorite girl," Odd leads her to the double doors. "It's a virtue!"

* * *

"Humbly speaking, I don't think it's unfair to say that this first role will reveal to the entire world," Sissi says to the camera. "My true star personality."

"Can you sum up the story for us in just a few words for the Kadic News?" Milly asks curiously.

"Uh, well...that is, uh, it's..." The truth is, she didn't know herself. "It's a love story, and at the same time, it's a thriller! With suspense, and of course, it's got a good dose of Psychology, and-and and it's very funny." Sissi chuckles, not trying to let them know that she didn't have a clue. "A real comedy, and quite satirical."

"So, you have no idea," Milly states knowingly. Sissi cringes at the fact she's been busted.

"Uh, I gotta go. Someone's calling me."

Milly and Tamiya giggle as she races off. Odd and Amy enter the building, the two girls rushing over to them. "Amy, Odd! Would you say that this film is based off your budding relationship?"

"Uh..." Amy stammers as Odd didn't tell her what the film is about.

"Erm..." Odd glances at her and they both smile widely.

"Nope!"

"We don't need a film to show how much we like each other," Odd gestures to himself, Amy smiling at him. She was grateful he said that, it's just what she needed to hear after her mother called a few days ago...to tell her about the trial.

"How sweet!" Milly cheers happily.

Mr. Chardin walks up to the podium as Ulrich, Aelita, and Jeremy take their seats. He clears his throat into the microphone. "Welcome, to the Kadic Academy Cinema Club's Short Film Night!" He starts reciting other directors as Ulich joins Amy and a nervous Odd.

"How's it going, Odd? No butterflies yet?"

"No, I'm-I'm-I'm cool," Odd stammers, silently worried about everyone's reactions.

"You'd never guess," Ulrich smirks at Amy, who giggles.

"Odd, relax. I'm sure it'll be a great film," Amy holds Odd's hand. He smiles in relief, holding her hand back.

"Full-length features, which is also why I'll be..."

"Relax," Herb whispers to a worried Sissi. She had no idea how this would go, as Odd kept his editing a secret. She had no idea how this film would play out. "I'm sure you're gonna be great!"

"Thanks, that's sweet," She replies sarcastically, "But move your hand or lose it at the elbow!"

He frowns and does so, gulping. "The short film is, was, and always will be, an important art form. Which can say as much as our full-length feature! Our first film is by Odd Della Robbia. And it is titled, rather poetically, Natural Grandeur!"

"You hear that, Odd?" Amy grins at him, grasping his hand. "He said poetically!"

"At least I know I have one fan," Odd wraps an arm around her shoulder. She leans her head on his shoulder, enjoying his warmth.

"No one has seen it yet, but is it hard to imagine a subject perhaps on the fragility of our ecosystem, which-"

The projector turns on, interrupting him. "Uh?" He gets the hint and sits down next to the podium. The film starts with Odd's eyes looking up at someone. Sissi raises her eyebrows at the silhouette, Jim and the principal staring.

"Help!" Odd backs away while in the dorms. "Heeelp! She's awake, oh no!" He stops in front of someone wearing a red jacket.

"What's all this racket about, huh?" Romain Le Goff is playing Jim. The students laugh at his imitation of Jim's voice. Jim is laughing too until he realizes they're laughing at him. He glares at the students, unamused. He crosses his arms.

"We have to get out of here!" Odd cries out. "S-She's coming! I tell you, she's as big as her ego!"

He looks back to the other side of the building. "That's impossible," Romain places his hands on Odd's shoulders. "You know how big that would make her?"

They laugh again and Sissi raises a brow, wondering who she's playing. "I think you've lost your senses."

Sissi narrows her eyes suspiciously. "Alright, let's go to the infirmary," Romain leads Odd away, the students still laughing at his impression of Jim, who frowns deeply. Odd laughs along with the students, Amy giggling.

"Nooo!" Odd begs not to be taken outside. They both stop and gasp as the ground shakes. Sissi approaches them, walking slowly. "It's too late!" They both back away in fear. "She's found us!"

Sissi gasps in horror, glaring. The Sissi on film then looks at her hand. "Ooooohhhhh raaaaatsss, IIIIIII juuuuust broooke a naaaail."

They laugh at how stupid Sissi sounded and she grits her teeth, glaring at Herb. "I didn't know you could be so funny!" He comments and she storms off.

Odd and Romain scream as the giant Sissi gets closer and then the film cuts off there. They turn to see Sissi standing near the projector, furious. She growls and storms up to Odd.

"Odd, you are nothing but a-" A specter suddenly comes in, slinking around her. "Nothing but a..." Her body statics and she looks around in confusion. She stammers as she stares at them. "B-bist...bist soi..."

She walks up to Jeremy, talking in gibberish. Mr. Delmas walks up to her, placing his hands on her shoulder. "Is something wrong, sweetheart?"

She says something, but it's not understood as it sounded like jumbled letters. Jeremy stares at her, feeling like there was something more to what she's saying.

"I'll take care of this, Mr. Delmas," Jim approaches Sissi, who cringes at him. "I think you've lost your senses. Alright, let's go to the infirmary."

Some students laugh as it's exactly how Romain said it. He walks off with a stammering Sissi.

"Alright children, I want each of you to go quietly back to your rooms," Mr. Delmas orders them. "Jim, take care of the students. I'll take Sissi to the infirmary."

"You think it's..." Yumi leans in towards them. "XANA?"

* * *

Jeremy inspects the super scan, but nothing. "Nope. No activated towers. XANA's got nothing to do with it."

Yumi opens the door to his room. "The nurse said that Sissi received an electric charge. She's in shock, but fine. There's nothing to worry about."

"Oh, poor Sissi," Odd fake laments, a hand on his cheek. "I have to admit that her acting was really electrifying."

"Right," Jeremy grins in amusement. "False alarm. We can all sleep easy now."

"Yeah," Ulrich stretches his arms. "That works out just fine because tomorrow is Sunday, and on Sunday..."

"We sleep in," Odd finishes, hands behind his head. He lays down in bliss and Amy chuckles. "Well," He sits up, "Time to go, Ames. We have a reservation."

"Oh la la, going out in the town?" Yumi teases them.

"Odd's taking me out. We're going to a pizza place," Amy smiles at them. "Don't wait up."

"Bye, have fun," Aelita waves as they leave the room. "I hope Amy can feel better about the trial."

"Her parents are fighting over her. I don't think it'll take a dinner to get her back to normal just yet," Jeremy points out.

"Yeah, but it's Odd. She'll be her old self again before we know it," Yumi winks at them.

* * *

Someone opens the door as Jeremy is fast asleep. The intruder looms over him and he opens an eye to see an open-mouthed Sissi standing there. "Huh?"

She says something and he sits up in surprise. "Sissi!"

She won't stop speaking in that same weird language. "Sissi, what has gotten into you?!" He exclaims in confusion. He thought that some rest would snap her out of it, but that doesn't seem to be the case. He watches as she walks up to his computer. He puts his glasses on to see her picking up a pencil. She writes on a piece of paper.

Jim enters the room. "What's all this racket about? Sissi? You should be in the infirmary. Your father's gonna have my head again." He grabs her shoulder and she drops the pencil in a daze. Jeremy watches them leave and picks up the paper. He glances at his door and then back at the handwriting.

He narrows his eyes. Obviously it was important if Sissi had to come up here alone...

* * *

The phone rings and Ulrich moves his arm around for his phone. He picks it up from the ground, whining. "Jeremy, it's Sunday," He places the blanket over his head. "Okay...we're coming."

"A message in code?" Ulrich asks in confusion when they're all at the lab. "Written by Sissi?"

"Uh huh. I ran the supercomputer all night to translate it." The handwriting is translated into what Sissi was trying to say. "And look what it turned up."

Sissi's mumbled words repeat, but then it's all muffled into a deep voice that says one thing. "I can help you."

"I can help you?" Yumi raises a brow.

"It has to be a trap by XANA. He must've managed somehow to possess Sissi without activating a tower," Ulrich suggests.

"But the super scan isn't bugged up, and we would've known by now if XANA attacked," Amy points out.

"Amy's right, I don't think so. Otherwise, Sissi would've gone after us. She would've tried to get Amy and I out to Lyoko, so that the Scyphozoa could steal my memory and whatever Amy has that's so important to him," Aelita gestures to the brunette.

"They're right," Jeremy looks to the others. "If you ask me, someone or something wants to contact us through Sissi, but it's not XANA."

"Well then, who is it?" Odd asks curiously.

"No idea. To find that out, we'll have to talk to Sissi again." Jeremy jumps off from his chair.

"I'll bring her over. Anyone care to join me?" Yumi offers.

"I will. I'm your man, Yumi," Amy and Yumi give Odd a look. "I mean, you know what I mean."

"I'll go too," Amy raises a hand.

"I'd better go and take a look around Lyoko. I still wanna make sure that XANA isn't setting some sort of trap," Ulrich voices his concerns.

"I'll go with you," Aelita offers to Jeremy's dismay.

"With the Scyphozoa and everything? It's too risky."

"Jeremy, stop worrying about me," She smiles at him and he gives a reluctant look.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Aelita. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization."

The Overbike materializes at the same time as Aelita and Ulrich do. They land behind it, Ulrich standing up with a small smile.

"Great timing. Nice work, Jeremy."

"Thanks," He replies, "Okay, make it fast. It's just a reconnaissance mission." He says that to himself rather than his friends.

"We know. Relax," Ulrich and Aelita jump onto the bike. "We won't go crazy." They take off down the path.

* * *

Yumi, Odd, and Amy run across the bridge, stopping at the open passage. Yumi and Amy go first, climbing down into the sewers. They skate down the opposite direction, jumping when they reach the intersection. Amy climbs up first when they arrive at the park, followed by Yumi and Odd. They run towards the infirmary...only to see an ambulance sitting in front of it.

Sissi is escorted inside. Odd dials Jeremy. "Jeremy, bad news. Sissi's going to the hospital."

"Oh no! We have to bring her back here."

"No sweat. I've got an idea," Odd hangs up.

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Yumi asks slowly.

"Yeah. Good thinking. Ames, I hate to ask you this, but...we need your dad."

"I see what you mean," She sighs slowly. She didn't want him ranting about college and how her mother isn't fit to take care of the 'next CEO', but it was a sacrifice that needed to be made...

* * *

"Ulrich, Aelita, everything okay with you guys?" Jeremy asks into the microphone.

"To tell you the truth, I have no idea. Has the super scan picked up an activated tower?"

"No, still nothing, why?" He wonders.

"_Well...hang on. I'll send you a visual."_

She does so, and he sees a tower with a white halo. "What the heck is this white tower supposed to mean?"

"_I was about to ask you the same thing_," Ulrich tells him. He slides to a stop a few feet away from it. "Do you think this tower has something to do with Sissi? Or with the being who's trying to contact us?"

"_I don't know,_" Jeremy answers truthfully.

"Come on, I'd like to see this close-up," Aelita suggests to Ulrich. He nods and backs up, taking off for the white tower. Two monsters appear on Jeremy's screen.

"Ulrich, behind you!"

They glance behind them to see two Megatanks rolling after them. Ulrich twists the handle and goes faster. The Megatanks roll after them like bowling balls.

"Faster!"

He presses on the pedal, glancing at it. "I've got it floored!"

She glances around for any paths and taps his shoulder. "Turn left."

"Whoa, are you sure? There's nothing to the left!"

She sings, using her creativity. She glances at the Megatanks as Ulrich smiles, going to the new path Aelita made. They barely scrape against the Megatank as he slides to a stop, panting. The Megatanks oddly don't turn around to attack. Instead, they head straight for the white tower.

"Well done, Aelita, but it's really weird that they didn't come back to attack you," Jeremy notices that they're still going. They stop and open up in front of the tower, firing at it. "_Something's not right_."

"Jeremy, it wasn't us they were after," Aelita and Ulrich watch them attacking the tower.

"They're trying to destroy the white tower!" Ulrich informs the boy.

"Hold them off," Jeremy tells them. In the meantime, he'd try to figure out the purpose of that tower. If XANA was attacking it, then it had to be significant.

"Feel like a game of bowling?" Ulrich asks Aelita.

"A what?" Aelita is confused by the term.

"Forget about it, it's a bad joke," Jeremy tells her.

"Sometimes I really crack myself up," Ulrich smirks and turns around. He turns to the left and pulls out his sword. He comes to a stop near the Megatanks as their circular lasers hit the tower, damaging it.

Sissi's heartbeat is normal, but it does nothing to assure her father. "Well, what's wrong with her?" He asks the doctor, holding his daughter's hand.

"I haven't the slightest idea," She stands up, frowning at him in concern. "We'll keep her here under observation for a few hours and then we'll see."

"Oh, very well," He doesn't bother arguing. "Let me know what the first sign of a change in her condition."

"Of course."

He gets up and leaves the room silently. He walks up to the vending machine.

* * *

Jackson, the family chauffeur, drives the SUV. He's a 6 foot Caucasian man with cropped black hair and chiseled muscles. He wears a black suit with a white shirt and black tie. His eyes are blue and he looks to be 30 years old. He looks up at the rearview mirror at Yumi and Odd, Amy sitting next to him. He's been their driver for years, and he loves his job. Amy could trust him, because he's very loyal and would do anything for her.

"Amelia, can I ask why I'm driving you to the hospital and not to tell your father about why you're going?"

"Jackson, please," She begs him. "She's a classmate of mine, and I don't need Dad lecturing me about it. He already gave me a hard time when I asked him to get you to drive us. Please don't tell him, it'll just make him mad."

"Just for visiting the hospital?" Yumi asks in surprise.

"Have you just met her dad?" Odd whispers to her.

"True."

"Mm, alright. But only because you remind me so much of my little Lily. And I'll drop you off back to Kadic when you're done. I have a feeling that you'll go off and do something to, I don't know, save the world, perhaps?"

He winks at Yumi and Odd, who glance to each other. None of them implied that they were going to spring Sissi from the hospital to go to the factory...Amy just stares at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"I used to be from the CIA, remember? There's nothing you can hide from me. But nothing to worry about. I'm sure you'll do just fine on Lyoko."

Their mouths open in shock that he knows about that. Amy clamps her mouth shut, silently glad that he won't say anything. Yumi and Odd sigh in relief.

"Oh, and Mr. Della Robbia?"

"Y-Yes?" Odd stammers nervously.

"Take good care of Amelia," Jackson places a hand on Amy's shoulder. "She's a sweet girl."

"I will," Odd promises him. He leaves them with their thoughts and stops in front of the hospital. "Um, thank you, sir."

"Of course," Jackson tips his hat off to him. "And don't worry, Ms. Ishiyama and Mr. Della Robbia. I can keep a secret."

"He's a nice guy," Yumi comments as they walk into the hospital. She walks up to the desk.

"Are you guys mad that he figured it out?" Amy asks skeptically as they walk past the principal, who doesn't notice them.

"Not really," Odd shrugs at her. "He's just looking out for you."

"Yeah, and I can tell that he's not a jerk like he who shall not be named," Yumi winks at Amy when she returns to them, who sighs in relief.

"So what did the girl at reception say?" Odd whispers to Yumi.

"Room 237."

Jeremy sees an activated tower, the last thing he needed.

They reach the room just as Yumi's phone rings. "Jeremy?"

"I've just located an activated tower. XANA is on the offensive."

A scream is heard from Room 237. "Jeremy, I'll call you back."

They storm into the room to see the doctor attacking Sissi, the XANA symbol behind her glasses. Sissi screams as she tries to defend herself.

"Stop!" Yumi steps forward and the doctor makes a fist. She punches Yumi to the ground, picking her up by the collar and lifting her up. Odd and Amy hit the doctor from behind and half her body disappears. She falls onto the ground.

"Poor thing, she had hypertension," Odd jokes as the doctor falls face-plant onto the floor.

"Not anymore," Yumi stands up. "Quick!"

They escort Sissi out, Odd pushing the wheelchair. "It's okay, Jeremy, we've got Sissi."

"Great. Bring her over to the factory and hurry up!" He says with a small smile, eager to know who's trying to contact them.

"It won't be that easy. There's a doctor possessed by XANA who doesn't seem to like the idea," Yumi explains as they walk out of the hospital. Jackson is waiting for them outside.

"Ouch," Jeremy cringes at the news. The three step into the car, the chauffeur helping Sissi inside.

"Ulrich, I've got some bad news."

Aelita is now driving the Overbike, with Ulrich as the passenger. "Hang on," Ulrich drags his sword on the grass as Aelita drives. They zip past the Megatanks, getting their attention. Their lasers miss the bike as Aelita comes to a stop. Ulrich jumps off, super sprinting up the tower. He jumps off, landing on top of the Megatank. He stabs the symbol and jumps off as the monster explodes. "So Jeremy, what were you saying?"

"_Activated tower in the ice sector_," Jeremy reports as the second Megatank closes itself.

"What should I do with Aelita? Protect this tower or deactivate the other one?"

Aelita glances to the Megatank as Ulrich isn't paying attention to it; it's about to fire. "Ulrich," Aelita murmurs in concern, speeding over. The laser fires and Aelita drives in front of it.

"Huh?!" Ulrich jumps into the air, landing behind Aelita. "Jeremy, what do we do?!"

"Uh, protect the white tower. If Amy can deactivate a tower in Sector Five, she should be able to do it in the ice sector...theoretically speaking."

"Theoretically speaking?! If it doesn't work, the others could be in trouble," Aelita protests to him as Ulrich jumps off the bike. "You know, I could go deactivate that tower."

"All alone?! No way!" Jeremy immediately protests. "It's too dangerous."

The Megatank fires and Ulrich jumps out of the way. Aelita gasps in concern, but Ulrich lands safely.

"I'll get rid of this one, and after that, we'll go together," Ulrich suggests to ease Jeremy. She smiles, but it turns into a gasp.

"Look!"

Two more Megatanks appear, surrounding Ulrich. "Aelita, stay next to me," He warns as he turns around.

"No, Aelita, don't do it," Jeremy disagrees.

"Aelita," Ulrich turns around to see her leaving.

* * *

Amy, Odd, Yumi, and Sissi run across the bridge. An ambulance arrives at the entrance to the bridge. "Let's get out of here! Here comes Dr. Doom!" Odd calls out quickly. The doctor growls as she continues driving. They enter the factory, but the ambulance comes charging in.

"Look out!" Yumi warns and Odd pulls Sissi out of the wheelchair just in time. The ambulance lands on the second floor. They look down at it as they see no one moving.

"I hope she was wearing a seatbelt," Odd glances at Sissi, who stands up slowly. She walks up to the rope and safely slides down. Yumi, Odd, and Amy glance at each other. They didn't know she was already well enough to move.

* * *

A Megatank looks around in confusion as Ulrich speeds around. He stops in front of one and ducks out of the way as another one fires. It hits against the first one, pushing it all the way to the edge. It falls into the Digial Sea.

"Cool," Ulrich comments in shock, rushing to deal with the others.

Amy presses the button and the elevator comes up. They glance behind them to see the doctor out of the ambulance. She picks up a manhole cover and throws it. Amy pushes Odd and Sissi out of the way as it hits a pole. The door opens and they rush inside, Yumi pressing the button. The doctor punches through the metal door, shocking them. The elevator goes down, Sissi staying quiet.

"Phew," Odd says to the others.

"That was too close for comfort," Amy sighs slowly, a hand on her forehead in relief.

Ulrich runs up to a Megatank, which fires its laser. However, it turned out to be a clone.

"_Ulrich?_" The real one is running up a tree.

"Relax, Jeremy, I'm on it!"

A second Ulrich runs up another tree. They jump, a laser destroying the clone. The real Ulrich lands and stabs the symbol, but the monster closes itself, capturing his sword with it.

"That has gotta hurt." He tries to pull it out, but it explodes, sending him onto the grass. His eyes widen and he rolls out of the way as the sword lands where he was.

While they're heading for the lab, there's a thump. The three look up, Yumi turning to them. "Quick!"

The doors open, thankfully, as they step out. "Ah," Jeremy turns to them in relief. "Finally!"

He stands up and Sissi walks over. Yumi presses the button. "Yumi? What are you doing?" Odd asks in confusion.

"I'm buying time," She says simply as the doors close.

"Sissi, I believe that-" Sissi walks past him. "Hey!"

"Sissi, now what's the matter with you?" Odd calls out as she takes a seat in Jeremy's chair.

"Hey, don't-!"

"Wait," Jeremy interrupts Amy as Sissi starts typing. "Let her go."

She types rapidly, Jeremy wondering just what she's planning...

Aelita makes it to the activated tower, where there are no monsters. She narrows her eyes in determination.

Suddenly, a screen pops up as a monster is following Aelita. "Aelita, look out!"

A laser hits the Overbike, knocking her to the ground. The vehicle slowly comes to a stop as Aelita continues sliding down the ice. Jeremy, Amy, and Odd gasp in concern.

"Get to Lyoko, quick!" He urges them and they run to the ladder.

As Yumi is trying to get back to the main floor, the shaft opens to reveal the possessed doctor. She growls at the Japanese girl, who backs away. They reach the top and Yumi jumps out the elevator just as the doctor jumps into the elevator.

She shouts in surprise as the doctor stands up, narrowing her eyes. She grabs Yumi by the collar, throwing her to the wall.

A Krab approaches Aelita, who backs away into another one. Three of them surround her as she hopes that help is on the way.

The last Megatank fires, Ulrich pushing back against the laser with his sword. He tries to push it away from the tower, sliding slowly.

"Jeremy, I can't hold out much longer!" The laser hits him, devirtualizing him. It also hits the tower, deactivating it.

Sissi suddenly stops typing. "Sissi!" Jeremy tends to her as she falls onto the keyboard.

Yumi knees the doctor in the stomach, pushing her off. She runs off.

"Virtualization," Jeremy virtualizes Odd and Amy into the ice sector. They land in their respective vehicles.

"Odd and Ames again!" Odd cheers, Amy chuckling. "The svelte cat and his lady off to battle mean old XANA!"

Amy shakes her head at him. "I let you talk way too often when we're paired up together..."

They take off to help Aelita, who backs away from the Krabs. They step out of the way as the Scyphozoa appears, flying up to her. She whimpers and backs away, only for a laser to be fired near her foot. She turns around to see the Krab blocking her way.

The Scyphozoa is about to touch her, when two laser arrows hit the back of its head. She smiles gratefully as she looks up to see Odd and Amy.

"Amy! Odd!"

He aims his arm at a Krab, Amy throwing her spear at the Scyphozoa. She hits it while Odd destroys the Krab.

"Run Aelita, run!" They shout at her. She heads for the tower while the Krabs are too focused on Amy and Odd. He swerves to avoid them, getting hit in the back.

"Odd, watch it. You just lost 80 life points," Jeremy informs, Sissi laying down near him. "One more hit and it's game over!"

"_Relax, it's all part of our plan_," Odd tells him as Ulrich appears from the scanner room. He couldn't get through the elevator.

"Something wrong with the elevator?"

"I'll explain later. Hurry on up to help Yumi," Is all Jeremy replies. Ulrich starts climbing up again.

Odd flies over to Aelita, Amy landing her racecar onto the land. "Get on," He gestures to the elf girl. She jumps onto the Overboard, Odd flying into the air. He looks back to see Amy getting fired at by the Krabs.

Yumi runs as fast as she can, but gets tackled by the doctor as she grabbed the girl's leg. Yumi turns around as the doctor jumps onto her, punching the ground. She punches again.

Aelita lands in front of the tower as Odd turns back around to the Krabs. A laser hits Amy in the back.

"_Amy, that's 70 life points gone!_"

"Tell me something I don't know," She retorts back. Two more shots devirtualize her and Odd.

The doctor makes electricity form on her hand. Yumi cringes, squeezing her eyes shut.

Aelita enters the tower safely, running to the center. She starts floating to the top.

Yumi struggles to get the doctor off her. Ulrich comes in to see them. "Yumi!"

Aelita flips and lands on the top pad. She walks up to the interface.

Ulrich rushes in, grabbing the doctor's arm.

Aelita logs in with her hand.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The doctor's eyes turn back to normal as she falls onto Yumi.

"Tower deactivated."

The tower slowly turns from red to blue.

Yumi glances at the doctor before smiling up at Ulrich. He smiles back that she's not harmed.

"Wow, great job, Aelita!" Jeremy praises with a smile.

* * *

Jeremy runs up to his room, about to open the door. Sissi was resting there as she was unconscious from the tower being deactivated. However, the girl herself opens the door. "Huh? Everything okay, Sissi?"

"How do you expect everything to be okay when I'm surrounded by big, fat losers?!" She yells, walking away with a huff. He turns back to his friends.

"Did I miss something?"

They all laugh at his question. "Come on, tell me!"

"Yes. Odd just offered Sissi a role in his next film," Ulrich jerks a thumb to the boy.

"It's the story of a girl, driven by a mysterious beam, who tries to make contact with humans. All of which takes place in a virtual universe full of danger!" Odd explains, the recent experience having inspired him.

"What did she say?" Jeremy asks curiously.

"That no one would ever believe such a ridiculous story!" Aelita chimes in and he laughs.

"You don't say."

"Amy's chauffeur believes it," Ulrich jerks a thumb at Amy. "I can't believe he figured out our secret."

"Huh?! Well, we've gotta launch a return to the past," Jeremy exclaims in disbelief.

"Why bother? Either way, my father's still gonna ask him to read your personal information and spy on us again. That's how Jackson figured it out when he followed us, while we were getting data from Sector Five with 'Franz Hopper' ," Amy crosses her arms. "Besides, we can trust him. He won't tell anyone, I swear."

"He helped us out," Odd brings up. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have gotten to the hospital."

"And her father hasn't called ever since he knew, so Jackson didn't tell him. Anyway, we can't, it'll just make XANA stronger again," Aelita points out.

"...Alright," Jeremy sighs slowly. He really didn't want to give XANA that advantage, and Mr. Smith is CEO of a large company. He doesn't forget about anything.

"What about you, how's it going?" Yumi changes the subject.

"Finished! The computer deciphered all of the lines of code that Sissi spoke while she was spellbound," Jeremy holds up a CD.

"So, what's it say? Let's hear it," Odd leans in.

"Tons of interesting stuff! And a whole lot of elements that are going to help me find the antivirus for Aelita," Jeremy smiles gratefully.

"And, do you know who this mysterious entity who wants to get into contact with us?" Ulrich asks expectantly.

"Well," Jeremy walks up to his computer. "Take a look." He inserts the disc. "I'm warning you, this is completely crazy."

He accesses the words. "I can help you. I want to enter into contact with you."

"Wow! I can't believe it!" Odd exclaims at the translated words.

"I am Franz Hopper."

"I am Franz Hopper..." Aelita murmurs in shock.

Amy gets a phone call and picks up. "Hello?" She answers casually, standing up. She listens for a few seconds, her eyes widening. "Wow, uh...that's...news. He actually did it?"

Odd shrugs at the others when they give him questioning looks.

"Huh...well, bye. I love you too."

Amy hangs up and she turns to the others, who have a raised brow. "The trial is over," She explains, crossing her arms. "My dad agreed to call it off so that I wouldn't have to go through testifying..."

"Oh wow, I'm so sorry," Yumi hugs her.

"It's okay...is it bad that I don't feel any remorse at all?" Amy asks them.

"No," Odd shakes her head. "He doesn't deserve it."

"True," Amy hums to herself. She then frowns. "But he got joint custody, so don't be surprised if he suddenly shows up to see me."

"Ah well," Odd sighs slowly. "At least he has to make notification first to you." He gives his friends a look and they smile smugly, getting the hint. They leave the room as Amy stares towards the ground.

Amy closes her eyes, glad that the fighting was over. Was she upset that her parents weren't together anymore? No, and she didn't see a reason why it would matter anymore. She was tired of being put in the middle of their own arguments, and she wasn't going to be involved in them anymore. They'll have to tough it out themselves. If they can't act their own age, then they're not being true parents. At least now she can finally have some peace and she can control her own life now.

Odd holds her cheeks and kisses her gently. She kisses back, glad for the distraction.


	53. Revelation

In the desert sector, it's into Sector Five the heroes go. Past the walls of code, they're in the Celestial Dome, fighting off Mantas. They're here to get more data for Aelita's antivirus. All four warriors dodge the lasers as best as they can. Yumi destroys a Manta with her fan as Ulrich ducks from another. She catches her fan, blocking a laser with them.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," She turns to Aelita. "Are you almost done, Aelita?"

"Yes, almost," She continues working with the interface. A Manta comes flying in, firing straight at them. Ulrich blocks the shots, ducking as Odd hits the symbol with his arrow. Ulrich then slices through it. The Manta comes back and Odd fires at it again, Amy throwing her spear. They both duck as Odd fires once last time, getting rid of the Manta for good. Amy's spear comes flying back to her. Ulrich then gets hit in the leg.

"_Watch out. Another squadron of Mantas is headed your way_," Jeremy warns, the girls looking up to see three more approaching. They fire one by one.

Aelita finds what she's looking for with a smile. "Done. The controls are all yours, Jeremy." She stops what she's doing, sending the data over to him.

"Great. Here come your vehicles." He materializes the Overwing, Overbike, Overboard, and OverRunner. Ulrich jumps onto his bike first, Yumi getting onto her scooter. Ulrich takes off and rides around, waiting for an open tunnel. Jeremy opens one in a matter of seconds.

"_Okay guys, the passage is open_."

Yumi ducks as Mantas come back firing. She stops in front of Aelita, who jumps on. The Mantas then focus on Amy and Odd, who backflip onto their rides. They fly off following Ulrich into the open tunnel. The Mantas give up and fly away.

Jeremy smiles at the job well done and materializes everyone. He sighs in relief that everything went like it should, leaning back in his chair. He really hoped that this was one step forward to helping Aelita with the antivirus...and that XANA would at least hint on what the heck he wants with Amy. Her memory was obviously important since the Scyphozoa tried to steal it...but what would XANA want that for?

* * *

He types as he waits patiently with the others. "So?" Aelita leans in. "Anything good?"

"No. I wouldn't call it good."

"Huh?" She asks in confusion, wondering what he meant.

"More like amazing!" He smiles happily.

"Huh?!" She repeats again.

"With this, I bet I can crack the code of Franz Hopper's diary," Jeremy points to the screen.

"Way cool," Ulrich comments as Jeremy taps his chin.

"The only problem is I'm gonna need a supercomputer to process such a large amount of data," Aelita points out. "I'll have to activate a tower or two." They all glance at each other, remembering what happened last time.

"Uh, that didn't go very well last time. XANA hates it when we play with his toys," Yumi crosses her arms.

"Yeah, and I don't want to take that risk of losing someone in the group again..." Amy frowns to herself. Just the thought of it unnerved her. And it didn't help that it was Odd who was in risk of death...she couldn't handle that again, there was already too much going on in her personal life/her life with XANA.

"I know," Jeremy leans in, thinking about any other options...there were none. "But we don't have a choice."

"Alright, can we go eat now? It's mashed potatoes today!" Odd clasps his hands in glee.

"You can have mine," Jeremy waves it off. "I better stay here to prepare the mission. That way, you can set out right after lunch."

"Yeah!" Odd silently cheers to himself, taking Amy's hand as they leave while Jeremy gets to work.

* * *

At lunch, Rosa puts down mashed potatoes for Odd. "Um, Jeremy's not coming. He said I could have his portion too, Rosa."

"Hm," Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him...and Odd wasn't one to lie. She puts down Jeremy's portion for Odd. "With everything you put away, I just don't understand how you can still be so...scrawny."

"I am NOT scrawny," Odd corrects her. "I'm svelte."

She just chuckles at him. "You keep an eye on him, Amelia."

"Rosa, you and I know both know Odd's your favorite student," Amy smiles, gesturing to him. "I can't control him."

"I can't be tamed, Ames!" Odd puts an arm around her. "I was born this way!"

She laughs and they sit down at their table. "So come on, Ulrich, stop holding out on us," Odd takes a spoonful. "What's your overall average?"

"73 for the term," Ulrich says solemnly. His parents, or his father, were not going to be happy.

"Well me, I got 75. I beat ya," Odd winks at Amy, frowning to himself. It wasn't bad, but Amy would probably want someone who's smarter...like Jeremy. Her father had very high standards, and if Amy did ever plan on telling him that she and Odd are more than friends...he'd definitely forbid them from seeing each other. If he didn't step up his grades, he wouldn't be able to give Amy anything she wanted in the future...

"Only because you made up some points in art class," Ulrich retorts back. "What about you, Aelita? What's your grade-point average?"

"95.2," She reveals, the others staring at her in shock. That's lower than Jeremy. "Um, but it's only because of Math," She waves it off. "And you, Amy?"

"96..." She cringes, the boys turning to her in surprise that she's higher than Aelita. "I got behind in History. No one's perfect," She shrugs, grinning at Odd. "Which is why I don't care about what grades you get, Odd. I like you for you."

He smiles at her in relief, Aelita smiling at them. _That's so sweet._

"Yes, but still. You two must've gotten good grades in all your classes. That's great, especially since Aelita's not really..." He stops cutting his meat, the others staring at him. They were in public, and people could overhear. Not to mention that fact was still very touchy sometimes. "Uh, I mean..."

Aelita nods at him in understanding. "Don't worry. I know very well I'm not really human. Still, sometimes I get a strange feeling as if...as if I've already lived here." She glances away in thought. She had been feeling this way for a while...ever since she learned that Franz Hopper created her. It was like she had a life out there that she's already been through... "Weird, huh?"

"Oh, that's just the magical Odd effort," Odd jokes, pointing to her. "You know, you see me once, and you feel you've known me forever."

"Hey magic Odd effect, you know you got some mashed potatoes right on your face," Ulrich points to his nose, Aelita and Amy laughing. Amy hands Odd a napkin, giggling.

"I wish I lived a different life," She suddenly huffs, hands on her cheeks.

"Why? You've got friends, battles on Lyoko, you discovered your dream of being an artist," Ulrich points out, leaning his head so that he can see her.

"Are you kidding? All of that doesn't matter to my father. He's gonna ground me for not having 100 percent average..."

"Amy, he knows that's impossible, right? You'd have to be a supercomputer to process that kind of intelligence," Aelita raises a brow.

"Impossible is a word that doesn't exist to him," Amy crosses her arms. "If it's a challenge, he'll take it. He won't stop telling me that I've got 'potential,' and that I need to stop chasing dreams ever since the trial."

"Okay, then he's insane and a jerk," Ulrich jokes, Amy chuckling a bit. She stands up, grabbing her tray.

"It's all in his deranged brain," Amy points to her head. "Which I thankfully didn't inherit. I'm gonna go check on Kiki. See you later."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Odd offers as she walks past him.

"No thanks, I know better than to get between you and your food," She laughs at the thought, walking away.

"Food is forever, and so are you!" He calls out, the girl smiling. She knew fully well that he said it for two reasons: To put a smile on her face, and to make sure that she knew it.

"Aww," Some girls comment at him.

Odd gets a text, looking at his phone. "No way!"

"Something wrong?" Ulrich and Aelita stare at him.

"Not really. Ames wants me to meet her in the woods."

"You're kidding. Why?" Aelita asks curiously. The girl had literally just left; it's a bit weird that she texted him just after.

"She didn't say. No doubt about it. It's just another way to spend some alone time with me. She's crazy about me," Odd sighs happily as he walks off towards the park. He couldn't wait to see what she had in store for him...probably a kissing session.

"You know, Odd, your love life was like something out of a soap opera," Ulrich comments dryly.

"Oh yeah, and yours is real simple, hm?" Odd turns back with a smirk, knowing fully well about Ulrich and his obvious feelings for a 'friend.' Aelita smirks at Ulrich knowingly, laughing as she walks off. He just rolls his eyes.

* * *

Jeremy continues trying to decipher the codes when an activated tower alert arrives on his screen. He sighs slowly at the distraction. "An activated tower. Oh boy, that's all I needed."

He calls Ulrich first. He's in the courtyard with Aelita. "Yeah, Jeremy?" She glances at him curiously. "Huh? Okay. We're on our way. Activated tower. You call Yumi, I'll tell Odd and Amy."

Aelita stands up and pulls out her phone as Ulrich dials Odd's number.

Odd runs into the forest to meet Amy, but so far, there's no sign of her. He stops at an intersection. "Uh, are you there, Ames? My little Ames? It's me, Odd!"

All he can see is the trees. His phone vibrates again and he answers it. "What do you mean, SOS XANA? No way, not now!"

He narrows his eyes in annoyance. Not only did he have to cut his rendezvous with Amy short, but he still had to find her first...but how was he gonna do that with no trace?

Someone approaches him from the forest. He hears a rustle from the bushes, turning around. The person gets closer and his eyes turn from annoyance to suspicion. He already knows it's not Amy...she'd never sneak up on him. She'd be waiting already for him. It's not her style to scare people unless it was for a prank, and he could tell this was not the case.

A whoosh passes by as the person zips past a tree. It approaches Odd, who turns around. "Who's there?" He sees something. "Oh, no! No! NOOOOOO!"

His scream causes birds to fly away as nothing else can be heard...

* * *

Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi descend into the lab and Jeremy looks up at them. "Where's Amy and Odd?"

"I sent him a text message, but he was supposed to be meeting Amy," Ulrich walks up to him, shrugging.

"Amy? Why?"

"Amy doesn't leave a reason unless she wants you to know," Ulrich raises an amused brow, wondering what they could be doing right now. Aelita and Yumi nod in agreement. Jeremy closes his eyes. He could've really used all of them...

"I hope they won't be much longer. Not only do we have to decode Franz Hopper's notes, but now we have to deactivate the tower as well. I hope they know that their little escapades can wait!"

"Okay, let's go," Yumi speaks as they enter the elevator again to go to the scanner room. Jeremy calls Odd, but it keeps ringing.

"Come on, Odd, pick up!"

Odd's phone is in the middle of the forest...with Odd nowhere to be seen.

"He's not answering. Forget them for now. _They'll meet you later._"

He calls Amy next. The girl is in her room, her phone on silent as she tries to look for it. "Aw man, I just had it. I swear, Odd is rubbing off too much on me..."

She throws a pillow over her shoulder and it lands on Aelita's bed. Kiki looks up as a chew toy flies past her from Amy.

Jeremy starts the process. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization."

He sends them to the mountain sector, all of them landing one by one. Yumi stands up as they look around.

The doors open to the scanner room. "Here I am, Jeremy," Odd calls out.

"Mm. Amy's not with you?"

"No, uh, she's dealing with a XANAified Jim," He lies through his teeth. Jeremy raises a brow at that. Odd would never leave Amy alone by herself with an attack by XANA, and vice versa. Something didn't sit right with Odd's sentence all of a sudden...

"_Not a minute too soon._ I've been trying to call you. I hope Amy's okay, she's not picking up!"

'Odd' steps into the scanner. "I was busy!" He retorts sharply.

"Huh?" Jeremy is surprised by the sudden tone in Odd's voice. "Well, get ready. I'll launch the procedure."

What he doesn't know is that he's sending an Odd specter from XANA to Lyoko... "Transfer Odd. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

He then notices something wrong with the fake Odd. "What...?"

Jeremy continues to stare at it, wondering what was going on. He gasps as he looks closer. Clearly something has happened... "What's going on here?"

XANA Odd lands in front of Yumi. "_Odd?_"

"Everything's okay, I'm on Lyoko," XANA Odd says in a quiet, sinister-like voice. He almost sounded like the godfather if possible.

"There was a bug during the transfer. Oh, no way!" The activated tower suddenly deactivates. "Huh? The tower has just deactivated itself." He finds it weird that it happened just as Odd got onto Lyoko...

"Are you sure?" Ulrich asks in confusion.

"_Yeah, the super scan shows all clear,_" While he's talking, XANA Odd is staring at the back of Ulrich's head creepily... "_As if XANA has called off his attack_."

XANA Odd crosses his arms, smiling to himself. "Well, that's one less thing for us to worry about, right?" Ulrich turns to Yumi. "Right, Odd?"

"Right..." He murmurs, staring off into space. Ulrich shrugs at the others.

"What's up with him? Is he sulking or something?"

"Maybe his rendezvous with Amy didn't go well," Aelita suggests, frowning in worry. Maybe Amy got upset that they had to call it off? Either way, he was acting off...more off than his usual self, that is.

"_Here are your rides. Please remember that we have a diary to decode._" Since there's one less purpose, they could at least use an advantage with Franz Hopper. The more, the better. Yumi jumps onto her Overwing, Aelita jumping on behind her again. "I've chosen the tower at 72 degrees south and 55 degrees west."

They fly above the path, Yumi pointing ahead. "There it is."

They spot a blue tower covered by rock walls. "Still nothing from Amy?" Aelita calls out. She couldn't explain it, but she had a bad feeling about all of this.

"_No. It's weird, I don't know what's going on with her. No phone calls or anything...I'll try again."_

Aelita raises a brow, glancing at a silent XANA Odd. So Odd comes in all broody, and Amy is suddenly nowhere to be found? Did they even meet at all? It wasn't like Amy to disappear without good reason. And there have been no reports of any attacks so far.

They land in front of the tower, Aelita entering inside. She goes up to the top. "As soon as I activate the tower, start the decoding process," Jeremy informs her. She flips and lands at the top safely. She walks up to the interface and logs in.

"I'm ready, Jeremy."

"Okay," He cracks his hands. "I'm activating the tower..." He presses the button. "Now."

The tower goes from blue to green. As soon as he sees it, he throws his hands into the air. "YEAH! It's working!"

"The decoding of the data is underway, Jeremy, but it might take some time," Aelita tells him. He pulls up his glasses as he could care less, it actually worked!

"No problem!" He smiles, putting his arms behind his head. "Whenever XANA leaves us in peace, everything's cool..." As long as he left them alone, they could accomplish anything!

The three wait outside the tower to guard it as it's getting foggy. Suddenly, it's all too good to be true. "Uh oh. I spoke too soon. Watch out. XANA's creatures heading your way."

"Where from? We can't see anything," Yumi speaks up, looking up at the sky. Ulrich steps up as they can't hear anything either. Suddenly, there's a familiar roar, causing Yumi's eyes to go wide. "Huh?"

Three Tarantulas walk down the path. "There," Ulrich points to them. "Wow, he pulls out his sword. "XANA's pulled out the big guns."

Yumi spins around, pulling out her fans. XANA Odd aims his arm, but he doesn't plan on fighting them. Instead, he hits Yumi just as she's about to throw her fan.

"Hey!" She falls to the ground and Ulrich turns around to see XANA Odd walking towards them. Yumi gets devirtualized from the one hit.

"Jeremy, XANA's taken over Odd!" Ulrich backs away slowly.

"What?!" Jeremy exclaims in shock. That's what the bug detected...!

Aelita gasps as she stops what she's doing.

Ulrich blocks all the lasers as XANA Odd continues firing at him repeatedly. "Yes, I'm sure of it!" The Tarantulas fire, thankfully missing. He flips over to his Overbike, flying away from Odd.

Yumi falls onto the metal of the scanner, slamming her fists to the ground.

At the Hermitage, water is seeping from the tap to an unconscious Odd. His clothes and hair are damp. He opens his eyes as he can feel the cold water seeping into his clothes. Odd looks up to the grate which is too high up to reach. He jumps up, trying to climb over, but his foot slips and he lands back in the water, now up to his waist.

He tries again, but the walls are too wet and slippery...

Amy groans in frustration, running a hand through her hair. She rubs her chin as she tries to find her dumb phone! Her friends are probably calling her right now and she could sense that things were wrong...

Ulrich rides down the bath, XANA Odd flying after him on his Overboard.

Ulrich ducks down to get away as Yumi goes up to the lab. "_I don't know how XANA did it_!"

Jeremy wonders that too, as his specters can't possess them...

The doors open as Yumi comes in, Jeremy still in thought. "I do. It's not the real Odd."

"What?" Yumi murmurs in confusion.

"It's one of XANA's creatures. A polymorphing specter."

"But where's the real Odd, then?" Yumi asks in concern. Jeremy tries one last time to call Amy.

Her phone shows the contact from underneath her bed and she peeks underneath. "I checked there!" Amy growls in frustration, but decides to forget about it and picks up.

"Hello?"

"Amy! Finally, where have you been?" Jeremy demands as soon as she answers.

"What are you talking about? I've been in my room ever since after lunch looking for my mobile," Amy places a hand on her hip.

"I thought you had a date with Odd. He said you texted him to meet him in the woods," Jeremy rubs his chin.

"Date? I never planned a date with Odd!" Amy rushes out the door as it means Odd is in trouble. Jeremy and Yumi gasp in worry.

The water continues flowing down the walls as Odd's foot slips. He falls into the water again, standing up.

"Hey! Is anybody there?! Yoo hoo! HELP!"

But no one can hear him...

The Tarantulas walk forward to guard the tower in case Ulrich comes back or Aelita leaves. XANA Odd flie after Ulrich.

"Talk about a tailgater! Worse than Sissi!" He mutters bitterly.

"_Ulrich, it's a trap. He's trying to lead you away from the tower."_

"But why?" Ulrich wonders, XANA Odd firing at him again.

"Jeremy, what's going on?" Aelita asks as she can hear the Tarantulas. "Is there a problem?"

"Oh man!" Jeremy sees the tower blinking green and red. "XANA's trying to gain control of the tower. Abort the mission! Stop decoding and come back to Earth."

"Okay," She starts to stop the process.

"Yumi," Jeremy calls the Japanese girl. She had left to go find Odd. "Where are you?

"In the woods. I don't see Amy, and it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

The second screen shows Odd's phone. "Wait. While I was hacking into the network, I managed to locate the emergency telephone closest to Odd's phone."

"_You can do that_?" Yumi asks in surprise.

"Of course I can. If Odd still has his cell on him, then he's in the northeast corner of the woods."

Yumi smiles gratefully for the lead. "That's near the Hermitage. I'm off!" She hangs up and runs down the path.

The Tarantulas are waiting for something to happen, looking up.

"Jeremy, we've got a problem. I can't stop the decoding program. It's taking up too many resources, it's out of my control now."

Jeremy clenches a fist at their bad luck. Things were going so well, but now XANA's ruined everything...

"Bad news: If XANA manages to get control of the tower now, he'll be able to get into the restricted access part of the supercomputer!" He reveals in panic. "I can lose all the data in Franz Hopper's diary!"

"_Not to mention everything you programmed in yourself. Our combat gear, the vehicles, the transfer codes...and my materialization program_," Aelita reveals the last sentence gravely.

"This is a nightmare!" It felt like his whole world was crashing down on him. "_Ulrich! XANA's about to take control of the tower! You have to stop it!_"

Ulrich unsheathes his sword, blocking all of XANA Odd's arrows from behind. XANA Odd growls at Ulrich. "Uh, right." How he was gonna lose the fake Odd to help, he had next to no ideas. "Okay, but how?"

"_You have to isolate the towers. Try and cut the cables, hurry_!"

Ulrich leans back to go in the other direction, XANA Odd right on his tail. The cables glow red behind the tower as the Tarantulas prepare themselves. Ulrich comes in and they immediately fire. He blocks the shots and jumps off, his bike pushing a Tarantula to the wall and destroying it. He lands on top of the second one and stabs it in the eye, jumping to the cables, but he gets hit. He looks up at XANA Odd, who fires at him again.

"You're wasting your time, XANA. Odd has _never_ beaten me yet!"

XANA Odd smirks, thinking that it was time to change the playing field. His body glows red before turning into a clone of Ulrich. His skin is grey while his colors are black and orange. He even has a sword like Ulrich's.

"Uh, yeah, well okay, uh, that changes things," Ulrich stammers nervously. Him and his big mouth.

XANA Ulrich runs up to him and they block swords, sparks coming from them. He stares at his clone in the eye.

* * *

The water is up to Odd's head now as he tries to swim, but he's too far. "Help!"

Yumi stops in the middle of the forest, calling Odd's phone. However, it hangs up, but she can still hear his phone ringing. She follows the sound and finds the phone near her feet.

"Yumi!"

Yumi looks up to see Amy running towards her. Her phone was dialing Odd's number. "Finally, I could use some help," She says as Amy comes to a stop, panting.

"I-I've been looking all over, but I can't find him," Amy starts crying. "W-What if he's hurt? Or worse? Odd...!"

"Calm down," Yumi places a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find him, Amy. We'll find him."

Amy engulfs Yumi into a hug and she returns it. Yumi could tell that Amy looks lost without Odd, and was fearing for his safety.

Yumi picks up the phone, looking around. "Come on, he can't be too far away. Odd? Odd!" They run down the path towards the Hermitage.

* * *

The tower slowly turns red and Jeremy sees it on his screen. "XANA's going to do it, Aelita. Is there anything new?" He cringes, biting his nails.

Aelita presses the stop button, but nothing new happens. "There's no way to stop the process," She explains solemnly. "Everything's buggy."

Ulrich pushes the clone and they clash swords, hitting them against each other. He looks back at the Tarantula behind him. It fires at him and Ulrich super speeds away. XANA Ulrich follows him, speeding right next to him. As they run, they clash swords again. Ulrich tries as hard as he can to fend him off, but he's just as strong as him.

They both jump into the air, spinning while clashing weapons again. They land at the same time and take off, stopping on a platform with cables. Ulrich lands on one of them and so does XANA Ulrich. They charge at each other, Ulrich landing on another cable and going in again.

"Heeeelp!" Odd calls out, hoping someone had to be around by now. He had no idea how much longer it'd be before he started drowning. "Heeelp!"

Someone had to help...but he hears no one...

Ulrich and XANA Ulrich land on the platform. He stares at Ulrich through the evil symbols, holding up the sword. Ulrich charges first and spins around, the clack of the swords becoming familiar now. He spins and tries to kick, but XANA Ulrich jumps out of the way.

"Hey, you're not so bad there, XANA." If anything, the clone was just as good as him, but he couldn't let him know that. XANA Ulrich charges towards him and Ulrich clashes swords with him again. "Whoa, no surprises, huh?"

He bends down and swings his sword, but XANA Ulrich jumps over it. He knocks Ulrich's sword right out of his hand. Ulrich jumps, landing a few feet away.

"Hey, no fair!" Ulrich glares at the clone, clenching his fists.

Odd is almost to the top of the grate. "Figures. At least I don't have to climb anymore." He grips the bars, pushing against it, but it's no use. "Well I guess you can say I'm really up to my neck in trouble this time..."

The girls stop right in front of the Hermitage. Yumi glances at Amy, who nods. She had a feeling that Odd was here...she just hoped that she was right.

Yumi follows after Amy to the gate.

The tower is being very close to being possessed. "XANA is about to take over! Ulrich, what are you doing?!" Jeremy exclaims in panic.

"I've just got one last little thing to take care of," Ulrich says while dodging the sword. XANA Ulrich, holding both swords, spins around and kicks Ulrich away. He slides to a stop, getting himself back onto his feet. He moves around like a video game character, rubbing his mouth. He prepares his hands into fists.

XANA Ulrich just stares at him, wondering what he's doing. Ulrich eggs him on and XANA Ulrich falls for it, speeding over. He swings his right arm, but Ulrich catches the sword with his hands. He snatches it away and spins around, stabbing XANA Ulrich right through the chest, devirtualizing him. He stands up, sheathing his sword.

"All done, Jeremy." He super speeds over to the tower.

"_Make it fast, now!" _Jeremy's voice urges. Ulrich makes it back to the tower, stopping in front of one of the cables. He raises his sword and is about to cut when he's suddenly devirtualized by the Tarantula he forgot to take care of.

"Ulrich!" Jeremy calls out in despair, closing his eyes. Now XANA would be able to access everything...

Amy and Yumi stare at the old house. They step inside slowly, not knowing what to expect. If Odd really was here, that means XANA could've set a trap...

"Odd?" Yumi stops at the stairs.

"Are you here? Say something," Amy looks around in worry. Her face is full of sadness. If Odd wasn't here...she wouldn't know what she'd do.

Odd takes a breath as the shaft is full of water.

"Odd!"

He hears the voice, managing to free his mouth from the water. "Yumi! I'm here!"

They don't hear him and step forward, hearing a splash. Amy raises a brow at the puddle, running over to the tap. Yumi turns it off.

"Yoohoo!"

"Odd?" Amy asks in relief, turning around.

"Yumi!"

They can see his arm waving behind them. "Odd?!"

They run over to him. "Odd! Thank goodness," Amy smiles, both of them trying to pull at the cover, but it won't budge.

Odd takes a breath as they try again. "Odd!"

"Stay with me, Odd. Stay with me, pudding pop."

She covers her mouth shut, blushing at the sudden nickname. She didn't know where it came from, it just felt natural.

The tower gets worse as Ulrich comes in from the scanner room, rubbing his head. "Oh!" Jeremy hangs his head in despair. "XANA is about to steal all my data! We're done for..."

"Hey," Aelita notices something from the screen. It stops bugging as the tower turns white.

"What's going on?!" Jeremy looks up in shock. "Aelita?"

"_I don't get it. It looks like XANA has lost control of the tower,_" She tries to explain it as best as she can.

"Franz Hopper," Jeremy realizes what happened. "_Franz Hopper's helping us!_" Aelita looks at the functioning interface. "_What's going on on your side_?"

"The decoding program...is going full speed."

Ulrich and Jeremy both gasp as the screen lights up. The screen to Franz Hopper's diary pops up and it fully opens.

Odd holds his breath as the water loosens a screw. Amy and Yumi pull again with all their strength to help him, finally managing to open it. Together, they pull Odd out. He gasps for breath, panting.

"Amy, you've never kept me waiting that long," He jokes, Amy laughing weakly along with Yumi and Odd. She stares at him, trying not to cry. Even though he could've died, he's still cracking jokes...just like he always would...

"Odd..." She hugs him as best as she can. She didn't care that he was soaking wet, she was just glad that he was okay.

"My sweet little Ames..." He sighs into her shoulder, happy to see her too. He pulls away and presses their lips together. Amy smiles and returns the gesture, Yumi standing up and smiling down at them.

Everything suddenly stops and the tower turns blue again. The Tarantula backs off, walking away from the tower. Aelita stares in awe of what happened.

"Amazing..."

Yumi dials Jeremy after helping Odd out. "Yumi!"

"I've got Odd," She's sitting on a rock as Amy shakes the water off her clothes. Odd squeezes his hair, tapping Amy's shoulder. She looks up and sees his messy hair, laughing. "How about you?"

Odd grins at Amy, glad that she's not crying over him anymore. He saw that look in her eyes.

Never again did he want to see that face.

"We're decoding Franz Hopper's diary," Jeremy looks up as the diary slowly opens...

* * *

Later on, after he's read it...he calls the others to his room. "Franz Hopper was the creator of XANA. In his diary, he wrote down everything that happened during the creation of Lyoko. Everything."

"That means you'll be able to find the antivirus!" Aelita says happily, but Jeremy doesn't look so happy about it.

"Yeah...it does," He turns around to his computer. "But there's something more."

"What? Come on, spit it out," Ulrich urges, all of them wondering why Jeremy looks so bothered.

"Well..." He turns around to them. "Before Franz Hopper virtualized himself on Lyoko...and before being taken prisoner by XANA...he lived here on Earth," He gets to his feet, not sure on how to say what he's been holding in.

"We already knew that," Yumi smiles knowingly.

"Yes...but what we didn't know...was that he had a child. A little girl," Jeremy says simply, holding up a finger. He gives Aelita a look, making her raise a brow.

"Really? Well, what became of her?" Odd asks curiously.

"He virtualized her on Lyoko at the same time as himself."

"And? Did she fall victim to XANA too?" Yumi asks expectantly.

"No...she stayed on Lyoko," At that he looks at Aelita...and by that look, she knew exactly what he was trying to tell her.

"Huh?" She gasps, trying to take this in. "But that's impossible! If Hopper's daughter were on Lyoko, I would've definitely would've known, I..."

Ulrich gasps sharply, Odd turning to them.

"...Oh!" Yumi realizes, Jeremy closing his eyes.

"I'm...not..."

Jeremy smirks at her and her eyes widen as she registers it...there was no one else. She...

Is the daughter of Franz Hopper...

"There's something else," He speaks up gravely. "Years ago...he helped out a young couple because the father couldn't produce any children. He was the provider of all of their technology, and Franz Hopper inserted sperm into the man's wife." Jeremy looks up at Amy. "It succeeded, and...they had a girl 9 and a half months later. A year before Hopper had his child."

Everyone gasps at the timeline being so close to each other.

"...What?" Amy asks slowly, backing away. _No...it couldn't be..._

"Amy...you have half of Franz Hopper's DNA and half from your mother. Biologically..."

"...No...it can't be true! If Franz Hopper is in my DNA and I also have my mom's, that means...it means..." Tears stream down her cheeks. This couldn't be right...that means her life has been a lie this whole time...

Odd walks up to her, looking at her sadly. In his eyes, she could tell that he wanted to say it, but he couldn't. Aelita covers her mouth in shock as Yumi's eyes widen. Ulrich looks between Aelita and Amy in shock. Finally, it was Jeremy who broke the tense silence.

"Stan Smith isn't your father. Franz Hopper...is. That's what we've been missing all this time."

_...I'm Aelita's half-sister?!_

She was getting further and further from the truth ever since they started.


	54. The Key

**Angel: Yes, 'Stan Smith' is similar to Stan Smith as an homage to the character from American Dad, since they do have similar tendencies to be...well, just look at 'em both XD Anyway, season finale! Hooray! I will say this: I'm not even halfway done with season 4, so I might have to change my uploading schedule whenever season 3 is uploaded here. I'm only on episode 72 rn, and two of my assignments so far have been pretty lengthy, so it's been hard to write for all of my current stories this week...not to mention I have a double shift on Thursday, a day that I will most likely not write for anything.**

Amy takes a deep breath, staring down at the phone in her hand. She couldn't believe it...Franz Hopper is her father...

Making Aelita her half-sister!

She didn't believe it at first, but the diary entries proved it. Franz Hopper...was a part of her DNA. Had he kept in contact with her mother? Why didn't they tell her? Why did they have to lie to her face? She thought she knew everything, but now it's like her life has been stripped away in just 24 hours.

She closes her eyes as a silent tear runs down her cheek. Someone must've taken her body and used it without her knowing, but she knew better than that. All those happy memories in her childhood...

Shattered.

Broken.

Deceit.

Yumi places a hand on her shoulder as her friends surround her. She was glad to have the support. "Just do it, Amy. Confront them."

"You deserve to know the truth," Aelita encourages with a small smile. She was glad to have a sibling...

But not like this.

Amy stands up, walking over to the desk. She stares at the false memory of her parents at the park with her, smiling.

How fake could they get?

The anger is enough to make her dial the number and before she knew it, she was calling her mother. It's tense silence as they wait.

Finally, a click.

"Hi Amelia!"

"Mom..." Amy sighs slowly, trying not to yell, no matter how much they wanted to. "I want to know about Franz Hopper."

There's a pause on the other end of the line, so Amy decides to continue. "I know that he's my father...and I know that he has a daughter, and that she's my half-sister."

At first there's nothing as she waits for a response and then dial tone. Amy's mouth opens in sadness as she stares at it.

"She just hung up..."

"If that didn't confirm it, I don't know what did," Ulrich comments as Amy is seething.

"I just found out my dad isn't really my dad and instead they keep lying!" She throws her phone onto her bed.

"You'll get your chance," Odd hugs her to calm her down. "They can't hide it forever."

"He's right," Jeremy agrees with a nod. "They can't expect you to sweep this under the rug, it's not right. Especially with the recent custody battle."

"Right..." Amy agrees with them. She'll deal with it later.

* * *

Jeremy leans back in his chair in annoyance. He's been watching more of Franz Hopper's videos. "Hey Einstein," He looks up to everyone standing inside the elevator. "We've been looking everywhere for you," Odd steps out first, followed by the others.

"I spent the whole night reading Franz Hopper's diary," Jeremy explains as they surround him. "Listen to this."

He pulls up a recording, pressing enter. "June 6, 1994. Day 67. Project Carthage was a military program used to block enemy communications." Jeremy pauses it there.

"Wait. It's further down." He skips ahead.

"So I built a supercomputer, created Lyoko, and last of all, XANA, to destroy Carthage."

Jeremy skips over again. "June 6, 1994. Day 639."

"It's still further." Jeremy skips it again, to where Franz looks stressed.

"June 6, 1994. Day 1,265. Someone's watching me. Someone wants to get rid of me." At that last sentence, their mouths open in shock. Jeremy skips it yet again. "I wanted to destroy the supercomputer, and destroy all the evidence of my activities. That's when I discovered...one of its fascinating properties. Returning to the past. It gave me all the time I could possibly need to perfect my great project. The only thing that would allow me to escape my enemies."

Jeremy types as he skips over even more. "June 6, 1994. Day 2,546."

"This is it," He tells them.

"The scanners and the virtualization programs are ready. In a few hours, I will go to Lyoko with Aelita, just like me. Aelita will hold the keys to Lyoko...and when I saw my other daughter, Amelia, her mother refused to let her help me. What I didn't tell her is that I gave Amelia the keys to Sector Five. My two little girls, protecting it together. Together, we will be the absolute masters."

Amy and Aelita look on in shock. "We will live together...forever."

"The keys to Lyoko..." Jeremy turns around. "That's what XANA wants to steal from Aelita and Amy's memories."

Amy frowns to herself. What did Franz mean when he 'saw' her? She must've been really young, because she doesn't remember that at all. Now she sees why her mother hung up; because she knows about Lyoko. Franz had to have told her if he wanted her to be virtualized...

"But what can XANA do with them?" Ulrich asks curiously, Aelita staring at the computer.

"Escape from the supercomputer...and take over the world," She whispers gravely.

Aelita stirs her soup during breakfast, Amy sipping hers nervously. She still hasn't heard back from her mother, and had no idea of what she would say the next time she sees or hear from her. Aelita frowns to herself.

"Aelita?" She looks to Jeremy upon hearing her name. "You should've stuck around till the end. I didn't have time to tell you the best news of all."

"Jeremy," Amy starts off, glancing at Aelita's face. Odd places a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"It turns out I've been wrong all along."

"You have?" Ulrich walks up to them, holding his tray. "Why?"

"I thought that XANA had given Aelita a virus, so I've been looking for an antivirus. But thanks to Franz Hopper's diary, I finally understand. XANA didn't give her anything at all. In fact, he took something from her. Both of you, in fact," He looks to Amy and Aelita.

"He did?" Yumi asks, moving her mouth away from her bowl. "But what?"

"I don't really know yet," Jeremy frowns at the lack of information he has. "It's fragments that belong to them. I've located them in Sector Five."

"We could go and get it tonight, after the end-of-the-year dance," Odd suggests, Ulrich smiling as he puts down his bowl.

"Awesome. It'll be our final mission," He places his hands behind his back. "And then it's time for a well-earned real vacation."

"Out of the question!" Aelita denies sharply, standing up. She leaves the others confused as she leaves the cafeteria.

"Huh..."

"That's what I was trying to tell you...she's not exactly thrilled ever since she knew the truth..." Amy murmurs and her phone rings. She looks at it and stands up. "I have to take this." She leaves the cafeteria as well, Odd glancing at the others. He was planning to ask her to the dance, but he had no way on how to do it. Not only that, it wasn't really the best time...

"Aelita!" Jeremy stares after her as Amy walks over to the gate leading to the woods with her phone. "Wait! What's the matter?"

"I refuse to set foot on Lyoko ever again," She informs as he walks up to her.

"Why?" He asks in concern. She's the only one who can help them deactivate towers. Without her...it wasn't right. "What's gotten into you?"

"My father stole my life from me, and Amy's too! He was a totally crazy second-rate magician. Because of him, I'm nothing. I'm no one. And Amy...her life will never be the same. Not since she's my...my sister...and he was gonna drag her into Lyoko too!"

"All of that's behind you now," He places a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "We'll recover the fragments that XANA took from you and Amy, and shut down the supercomputer. Then you'll be free, you both will."

"What if it goes wrong?" She asks solemnly, walking away from him. "What if XANA gets a hold of the keys to Lyoko and Sector Five and our memories?"

She didn't want to think that her...sister would get hurt. She'd rather it be her than Amy...she had a life on Earth before she found out. Why did things have to be so hard?

Amy takes a deep breath as she answers the phone. "...Yes?"

"Amelia, it's me..." The female voice speaks up quietly.

"Mom...whatever you have to say, it isn't important now. You lied to me. You kept a secret about half my life. And then I had to hear about it from his own diary! How could you do that?" She clenches a fist in anger, blood slowly boiling.

"Please...listen to me."

She sighs, letting go of her fingers. Her mother sounded guilty...good. Hopefully now Amy could get some closure.

"Yes...Franz Hopper is your father, but you don't understand. Stan and I were wanting a child for so long...and we tried everything, but it did nothing to help. So when Franz offered to help, I took the chance, Amelia. I didn't know when I could get pregnant again, and...it was a dream to have kids. Your father and I love you, and we never wanted to hurt you..."

She closes her eyes as her mother is on the verge of crying. "So yes, I had to keep my mouth shut about Lyoko, because all I wanted was to keep you safe. I didn't know when they'd come after us if they knew...that we were involved. He had no choice but to tell me everything when he saw you at the park one day...because I had a right to know, but I didn't want any part of that, so I had to refuse him. I had my dream...I had everything I wished for: you. I just wanted you to live your life...and I'm sorry I kept it from you. I shouldn't have done that. You have no idea how I feel everyday with this guilt..."

Amy lets out a sigh of relief at the truth. "Yes...you shouldn't have. But I understand why you did it."

"Thank you, baby girl. I promise I'll make it up to you. And...when you see Aelita...tell her that I wish her the best."

"...Sure," Amy fibs, not knowing how Aelita would actually feel about it. She hangs up, looking towards the ground. She got her answers...

So why did she still feel upset?

* * *

"Right," Jim says as the bell rings. "For all you party animals with short memory spans, I'd like to remind you that, uh, what was I saying? Oh yeah! During the end-of-the-year dance, any overly suggestive dancing, wild behavior, or troublemaking will be severely punished! Uh, that's all. Enjoy yourselves."

"So far, I don't have any idea how to ask Amy to go with me to the dance. Fortunately, I've got a way of asking around," He glances at a red-haired girl and a girl with braids. "Hi," He places a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Can you help me with something?"

"I told you never to speak to me again!" Magali shouts at him.

"Oh, sorry," He says sheepishly, remembering what happened with her.

"Hey," Ulrich turns to Yumi. "Who are you going with, anyway?"

"Well, I was hoping to talk to you about it," Yumi rubs her head.

"Hi Yumi," William grabs her by the arm. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Oh," She frowns as he drags her away.

"Okay, I get the idea now," Ulrich replies in disappointment.

"Yoo hoo!" He turns around to Sissi as Odd comes back. "What would you say to taking the prettiest girl in school to the dance?"

"Uh, you mean Anais Fiquet? No, she's going with Christophe M'Bala. Actually, scratch that, Ames is already going with me."

"Hm?" Amy just happens to appear and he rubs his neck sheepishly. Judging by her look, she heard him say that.

"I mean...that is, if you want to."

She smiles softly at him. The dance would be a good distraction...she couldn't believe that Odd said that about her...it was endearing.

"I meant me, stupid!" Sissi retorts back. "Well?"

"Uh..." Ulrich glances back at Yumi and William. If not her, why not Sissi? Sure, she's self-absorbed, but he wasn't going to get any other options... "Okay, I'll go to the dance with you."

And it's not because of William.

Amy and Odd both gasp, and so does Sissi. None of them were expecting that. "Oh, r-really? Uh, well...great! See you tonight." She walks off, Herb giving Ulrich a glare.

"I'd rather look like a big loser and not go than go with someone like-like her!" Odd stammers in disgust. Amy glances at Yumi and William, who are holding hands.

"Ulrich...Sissi? Really?" Amy asks skeptically, knowing fully well the reason he said yes. "Getting back at Yumi is kinda petty."

"Let it go, guys, okay?" Ulrich replies in annoyance as they leave the courtyard.

"Are you sure you won't come to the dance with me?" William asks Yumi.

"Sure," She lets go of him.

"Are you going with another guy?"

"Hope so," She glances at Ulrich behind her.

* * *

Aelita enters the supercomputer room, walking up to the main power source. She presses the button that opens up the lever, frowning. She was sure in her decision. She couldn't live her life knowing that her father wanted to...live a false life with her and her sister. If XANA couldn't attack anymore, no one would have to suffer any longer. And Amy deserved better...but she wouldn't get that from her broken family.

And that's why she pulls the lever, falling unconscious.

Amy falls unconscious in her room, Kiki barking at her.

"Have you seen Aelita?" Jeremy wonders, Odd looking up from his Gameboy.

"No," Ulrich denies as Jeremy steps up to them.

"There's no answer on her phone and the supercomputer's not responding either."

"Think it's a bug? Have you tried Ames?" Odd asks him.

"Maybe, and yes, but she's not answering either. I'm going to the factory. Cover for me with the teachers," He walks past an approaching Yumi.

"So Odd, did you ask Amy to take her with you to the dance yet?" She asks softly with a smile.

"Technically...yeah, but she never really said yes. At least, I hope she does," Odd rubs his neck. "I did call her the prettiest girl in school, after all..." The last time he tried to go to a dance with her, it got cut short because of XANA. But this time it was different, they weren't going as friends, she was going to be his date...

"It's Amy. She'll definitely go," Yumi winks at him.

"Yoohoo, Ulrich!" Sissi holds out a present to the boy. "Here, for you."

"What is it?" He takes it from her.

"A surprise," She smiles at him playfully. "See you tonight." She winks and walks past an annoyed Yumi.

"Okay. I get it."

"What?" He asks her with disdain. "You _are _going to the dance with William, aren't you?"

"Is that a fact?" She questions, hurt by his questioning. "Well, you really don't get it, do you?" She storms off, Odd staring after her.

"One more of your stupid proverbs, and you are dead," Ulrich threatens him and walks off.

"Ulrich has lost his head, and should've stayed in bed!" Odd calls out, and he doesn't respond. "Wait a minute, I got another one!"

Ulrich takes off into a run. "Go with Sissi and your future's gloomy cause you're gonna lose Yumi!"

He growls, clenching a fist at Odd, who sweats sheepishly. "I think I'll go find my Ames now!" He runs off towards the dorm. Amy was usually with Kiki after lunch or with him in the courtyard. She seemed normal to him, so he knew she wasn't sulking. But it wasn't like her to be gone for so long without an explanation…

Jeremy puts the microphone to his ear, but the computer is inactive. "This isn't right."

He arrives at the supercomputer room...to see Aelita on the ground. "Aelita!" He cries out, running up to her. No one else was there, so he knew that she pulled it. What he can't fathom is why. He glances to the pulled lever and starts up the supercomputer.

"Aelita!" He takes her into his arms. "Answer me. Come on, wake up!"

Aelita comes to, seeing Jeremy. "You're insane! Why did you do that?! Did you forget that this affects Amy too?"

"To save the world, to save you all, and to prevent my sister from getting hurt again..."

"We'll save it together," He smiles down at her. "And then you'll have your whole life in front of you. A brand new life!"

Odd enters the room and gasps upon seeing Amy. Kiki sees him and whimpers in fear. He runs up to her, kneeling. "Ames?!" He feels her forehead and she opens his eyes upon hearing his voice. "What happened?"

"The supercomputer..." Is all she says as she sits up. Odd hugs her in relief.

"...Will you go to the dance with me?" He whispers in her ear, running a hand through her hair. It still felt soft like it always was...

"Of course I will, Odd!" She smiles up at him.

* * *

"You should get ready!" Odd stands up from the floor of his own room. "Your girlfriend's gonna be waiting for you!"

"Drop it, Odd," Ulrich replies in annoyance. He's still holding the gift Sissi gave to him.

"Okay, I'm outta here. Who knows? Maybe I'll bump into Amy's lonely heart," He teases, closing the door. Ulrich rolls his eyes, opening the present curiously. He scoffs as he pushes it away, shutting the door. What exactly did he get?

A cube...with Sissi's pictures on it.

He rings the doorbell to Yumi's house and Hiroki opens the door, smiling. "Is Yumi home?"

"Yuuumi! Your boyfriend's heeere!" Hiroki calls out teasingly.

"Beat it, Hiroki!" She rushes down the stairs and he giggles as he runs off. "Well then?" She crosses her arms as she approaches him. "You're not at the dance with Sissi?"

"Uh, I don't really like dancing, even less with Sissi."

"Why are you here?" She asks his purpose.

He opens his eyes, staring at her in the eye. "I came to tell you something."

She looks at him hopefully, but his phone rings. "Aren't you going to get that?" She wonders sadly, wishing that the phone was on silent. He picks up.

"Yes?"

"It's me. You at the dance?" Jeremy asks, Aelita standing next to him.

"No, I don't wanna go."

"Glad to hear it. Aelita and I aren't going to go either. Come to the factory. It's mission time. Let Odd, Amy, and Yumi know too, okay?"

"Okay," he hangs up and she smiles softly. He smiles back as everything would be okay...

* * *

Jim is dressed for the dance as the students approach the gym. Sissi looks around for Ulrich while Odd walks up to a blonde girl wearing a red tank top and brown pants. She sees him and approaches. She's wearing a pink off-shoulder strap dress, her hair in a bun.

"You-you haven't seen Ulrich, have you?" She asks nervously.

"No, and he promised to take me to the dance," Odd jerks a thumb to the building. Sissi gives a disappointed look.

"Hey," Odd approaches the blonde. "Do you know where Amy is?"

"Uh, no. I'm Karla, why?"

"I'm Odd, her date," Odd gestures to himself.

"Odd...Della Robbia?" She asks slowly.

"The one and only!" He strikes a funny pose.

"Uh, I'm sorry, I'm already late," She fibs, going inside. With the rumors of Odd being a ladies' man in the past, she didn't want rumors flying around that she was seen with him.

"Hi Odd."

He turns around, almost falling to the ground. Amy is standing there a few feet away, wearing a pink dress with straps. It's covered in silver rose designs as a purple belt is around her waist. The shoes are brown boots. Her hair is a nice fishtail braid hanging on her right shoulder. Rose lipstick is on her mouth as she smiles at him.

"Oh wow..." Now he feels a bit embarrassed since he didn't dress up. He walks up to her, pecking her lips. "You look beautiful, Ames."

"Thank you," She grins at him and he holds out a box. She opens it to see a white corset. "Aw, Odd, you didn't have to."

"I know," He rubs his arm sheepishly. "But I saw it in town and I just had to get it for you..."

The moment is interrupted as his phone rings and he answers it disappointedly. "Odd, you and Amy at the dance?" Ulrich's voice asks.

"Uh, yeah, I mean almost."

"Right. Urgent meeting. Come to the factory, we're taking the plunge."

"Oh man, just when I finally was about to take Ames as my date," He complains and Amy chuckles at how pouty he is.

"There'll be another dances, Odd," She wraps an arm around him. "Sure, it won't be our first one as dates, but we have until graduation."

He smiles a bit at her encouragement. "Ah, okay. I can't deny my Ames her wishes!"

* * *

"This is the big one, guys," Jeremy announces as he looks at all of them. "We're gonna recover the sisters' fragments and get rid of XANA once and for all."

"I'm just glad that my mother finally talked to me..." Amy smiles, a hand to her heart. Jeremy could tell she was no longer angry, glancing at Odd knowingly. "And thank you for trying to do what you thought was best for me, Aelita."

"Of course," Aelita smiles fondly. "After all...we're sisters now!" She winks at the brunette, who laughs.

"Let's go, then. We'll lead the way," Odd takes Amy's hand and walks forward.

"Be careful," Jeremy warns them cautiously, turning around in his chair. The others follow the couple to the elevator. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Virtualization."

The boys land in the ice sector, landing safely in front of a deactivated tower. "_Everybody alright?_"

"Better than alright," Ulrich replies, glad that soon XANA will be out of their hair.

"Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. I'm programming your vehicles too."

The vehicles arrive first, then the girls follow soon after. "_There you go._" They land in front of the four vehicles. "_The edge of the sector is north-northeast._"

Aelita is Ulrich's passenger this time as they take off. "_No monsters_?"

"Nope!" Odd calls out, Yumi flying in between the boys.

"Don't you think that's weird?"

"Yumi has a point," Amy murmurs as Jeremy scans the area.

"Don't worry, XANA wasn't expecting us."

"Enter the code," Aelita tells him as they've arrived.

"Okay, all aboard for Sector Five!" He types in the code and the transporter arrives in front of them. It opens up and swallows them inside. They land in the Arena, the walls slowly spinning. Odd looks around and Ulrich notices it.

"What's wrong with you, you feel like throwing up as usual?"

"No, I don't," Odd shakes his head. "That's what I can't understand."

"Everybody ready? I'm going to enter the coordinates of the room where the girls' fragments are," Jeremy types it in.

"Get ready, the wall is about to open," Aelita sees the wall coming to a stop and they run through, stopping in front of the wall that leads to the Core Zone. It opens up in half.

"You have three minutes to find the key and stop the countdown," Jeremy informs them as they enter the room. The floor is flat, but the walls are not.

"I see it," Yumi points to the key, which is too high to reach without wings.

"Out of reach as usual," Odd shakes his head.

Four compartments open as Creepers appear. "Look out!" Odd points up to them. Another horde of Creepers appear, all of them firing. Ulrich jumps in front of his friends, blocking all of the shots. The ones from the other side attack, Yumi blocking the other side. Odd fires his arrows, destroying one. He flips to another one and gets rid of him too. "Hi there, Creepers," He waves to the last one. "Still as ugly as ever, huh?"

It fires and he flips out of the way, landing on all fours. He hits the Creeper when he stands up, destroying it.

Yumi flips onto a beam, backflipping to another one across from her. She looks up at the key and flips to another beam. She balances herself as she starts walking across it.

"Only one minute to go!" Jeremy says and the Creepers fire again. Odd jumps over the lasers, firing rapidly at them. He misses and they attack again. He flips over to Ulrich and Amy, the boys high fiving. Odd kisses Amy on the cheek and she chuckles.

"Super Sprint!" Ulrich runs up a wall, jumping to a beam. He pushes himself back, slicing all the Creepers and destroying them one by one.

"Go for it, Yumi," He smiles up at her.

"Way to leave me some," Amy rolls her eyes, a laser firing near her foot. She looks up to see two Creepers waiting for her. She jumps over the lasers and throws her spear. It slices through both and she lands as they're destroyed.

Yumi flips to another beam, hanging on with all her strength. She smirks and starts swinging. She backflips onto a beam, her legs hanging over it. She lifts herself up.

Ulrich slices through another Creeper, Odd jumping over one. Aelita watches as Odd flips over to another Creeper, separating his legs. The two Creepers destroy each other and he lands on the ground. Amy spins around, slicing a Creeper up close.

"_Yumi, only 10 seconds left! Hurry!_"

She walks across like she's on a tightrope. "I'm almost there."

However, a Creeper is guarding the key, firing at her. She flips over it, barely balancing herself. The monster fires twice and she flips all the way to the edge. She narrows her eyes at her opponent, who fires again. She frontflips, pressing the key with her foot. She grabs the Creeper with her legs, throwing him over the edge. She looks down as he disappears.

Jeremy sighs in relief. When the Creeper lands on the ground, it destroys itself. "Nice job," Ulrich comments as he looks up. The floor separates and they watch as a staircase is made underneath them.

"Wanna see how low you can go, huh, guys?" Odd jokes with a grin.

"I thought you were gonna lead the way. Go on," Jeremy smirks, Yumi joining them. Aelita goes first and they start jumping.

When they reach the bottom, they're in another room. They quickly get to the bottom. "Jeremy, there's something shining over there," Ulrich looks across from them to see two shining orbs.

"That's it! Those are their missing fragments!"

Amy and Aelita take the lead, running down the path, but another Creeper appears on a platform. "Look out!" Yumi points to it, another one appearing. It hits Yumi in the shoulder from behind. Ulrich takes off with Aelita and Amy while Odd fires at the Creeper that hit Yumi, getting rid of it. The other one gets onto the path, slithering up to them. Yumi hits it with her fan and two more arrive near the others. Aelita and Amy run up to the fragments, leaving Ulrich alone with the monsters.

The girls almost reach their fragments while Odd and Yumi each fend off one Creeper. Yumi turns around, blocking the shots from one. Odd aims his arm and fires twice, destroying the monster in front of him. Ulrich speeds over to Yumi's aid and jumps, defeating the other. However, more arrive...

The two glance back at their friends, Amy feeling a little guilty that she's not helping them. But the fragment was important, and she's glad that they understood that.

Two Creepers fire at Yumi and one Creeper is suddenly destroyed. Odd blows his finger and she grins for the help.

The girls stop at a gap on the path. They glance back at their friends again as two Creepers are gone, but four more appear. Yumi flips over lasers, crouching down.

Ulrich blocks a laser with his sword as Yumi lands near him. "We better not hang around here," She tells the boys, running down the path. They follow, but Odd gets hit in the back. He rolls to a stop on the ground, waving the others forward.

"Go on!"

They reach the gap where Amy and Aelita still stand.

Odd runs up to the Creepers on all fours. Unfortunately, one more shot results in his devirtualization.

"Odd!" Amy turns around, Aelita looking towards Yumi in worry. The geisha looks worried too as these Creepers just keep coming, and they needed all the help they can get. The Creepers slither up to them. Yumi and Ulrich throw Aelita to the other side, falling themselves. Aelita looks over the edge. Amy steps back a few feet and runs, flipping into the air and landing near Aelita. She bends down towards the two. Ulrich is hanging onto the edge, Yumi holding his hand.

The Creepers devirtualize Yumi in a matter of seconds.

"Yumi..." Amy murmurs as she and Ulrich are left to protect them now.

Yumi falls near Odd in the scanner room.

"Jeremy, Yumi and Odd are down," Ulrich stands in front of Aelita, blocking lasers.

"I know. Get the girls' fragments," Jeremy tells him, gasping sharply as he sees something. "_The whole room is falling apart!_"

The path starts breaking into pieces, falling down into oblivion. "_Run for it!_"

"Oh no!" Ulrich shouts and they run as fast as they can, tripping over loose platforms. The Creepers disappear along with the path, the three eventually slipping. Ulrich grabs them, but they fall off anyway, screaming. Aelita and Amy land on something, looking down to see Flying Mantas.

"Jeremy, it's getting worse," Ulrich comments as they fly around.

"Oh no, it's getting better," Jeremy replies as he sees what is going on. He looks towards the elevator to see Yumi and Odd arriving. He smiles at the screen, the two gasping in shock. Are they seeing what they think they're seeing?

Aelita looks towards Ulrich and Amy. "You're crazy! What's going on?" Ulrich demands.

"_It's Franz Hopper who's controlling the Mantas!_" Jeremy reveals, a Manta letting Ulrich off on a platform. Ulrich stares at it for a few seconds, looking up as the girls fly to their fragments, surprised. Their father...is helping them...now Aelita sees that his intentions were good, and that she—they were worth saving.

"This is amazing!" Jeremy murmurs as Yumi and Odd are smiling.

They jump off, standing in front of their fragments. They're both blue orbs just floating. Amy smiles at Aelita, who smiles back. They can see their bodies inside the fragments. This is really it. Aelita was going to have her memory back, and Amy can have some closure.

They take them at the same time, staring at it...but then they break into pieces.

Their smiles turn into worry as they see the screen. "Huh?"

The stairs leading to the platform they're standing on disappear as platforms fall all around them. "It's a trap!" Jeremy exclaims in horror.

Ulrich looks around the room, looking up. He screams as he dodges platforms coming for him, landing on a Manta. He jumps to one hanging from the wall, but he gets squished by debris, devirtualizing him. The girls look around the room, confused and scared. They're about to jump on the Mantas, but they're knocked down by flying platforms.

"Help usssss!" They cry out as they're on a lone platform, with nowhere to go. A certain monster appears on Jeremy's screen.

"Aelita! Amy! Behind you!" Jeremy holds his head in fear.

The Scyphozoa appears, ready for them. They back away slowly, Amy standing in front of Aelita. She pulls out her spear.

"I don't believe it!" Jeremy gasps, turning towards a walking Ulrich.

"There wasn't anything I could do..." He murmurs in guilt, still affected by the platform falling on him.

Amy's spear gets snatched away, the fairy opening her mouth in shock. She didn't even know the monster could do that. Nevertheless, it snatches them up, starting to steal their memory.

And there wasn't anything they could do about it.

"NOOOO!" Jeremy and Odd shout in anguish. Yumi and Ulrich just gasp, horrified that their friends are in trouble and all they can do is nothing.

Jeremy looks over their memories as they slowly decrease. When it's finished, the monster releases them, having finally succeeded its purpose. They slowly fall onto the floor, trying to hold on...but their hands fall lifeless and they close their eyes.

"Aelita's...Amy's..." Jeremy holds his head in despair as they look at the memory.

Zero.

Odd starts to cry, covering his hands. Ulrich places a solemn hand on his back. The light fades from Sector Five, effecting the entire sector. Lyoko itself starts to shut down slowly as darkness floods the ice sector...

All towers from all four sectors turn red, granting XANA possession of all of them. They can only stare in horror.

"What...what's going on?" Yumi asks in disbelief, wishing this was a dream.

"XANA...XANA got what he want," Jeremy holds in a sob. "He has the keys to Lyoko and Sector Five. He'll be able to get out of the supercomputer..." He couldn't hold it in any longer. Aelita and his friend...

Just gone.

Odd punches the ground as he continues sobbing. Anger, fear, dread. All of these emotions coming in at once...he's never felt this way before.

He hates it.

_Ames...my sweet little Ames...it can't be true. She can't be gone...I need her..._

XANA makes his escape as a tornado is brewing outside the factory. Thunder strikes as all hope is lost...

Suddenly, a white light engulfs Aelita's body as light blue and purple energy move to Amy.

_There was a cabin in the snow as they were surrounded by mountains. A little pink-haired girl with an older one that had pink streaks were making snowballs together. She loved playing with her when she came from her parents' house to visit in the winter._

"_Did you see, Mommy?" Aelita asked in awe._

"_Don't go too far with your sister, sweetheart," Her mother warned, looking on with Franz Hopper fondly. She had pink hair just like Aelita. Together, they were a family..._

"_Oh, he's so cute!" Aelita beamed at Mr. Puck. "What should I call him?"_

"_Wow, a violin!" Amy clapped at the kid-sized instrument. Violin was a hobby of hers, and she loved playing._

"_What about Mr. Puck?" Franz Hopper suggested. "It means goblin."_

"_Do you like them?" The mother asked softly, both girls smiling._

"_Oh thank you, Mommy," Aelita hugged her mother, Amy hugging Franz._

"_Thank you, Daddy."_

"_It's like math," Franz was teaching Aelita how to play the piano. Amy had her violin ready. "Let me show you." He started playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Amy eloquently playing a harmony to it. The mother looked on with a smile at the two instruments in sync...then she disappeared._

"_Mommy?"_

_Then Amy disappeared too. "Amy?" For some reason, the girl stopped coming to visit. But over the years, Aelita forgot about her friend. She rode her bike to her home, hearing the piano again. She ran up the stairs and into the house._

"_Daddy?" He stopped playing to look at her. "I'm going to my room."_

_Franz frowned to herself. Ever since Amy's mother told them she couldn't visit anymore, Aelita hadn't been the same. He loved his little girls spending time together...but Amy might get suspicious since she had gotten older._

_Aelita could still hear him, frowning. The same song that Amy would play..._

_She suddenly felt an ominous feeling in her head, standing up. "Alright, come out of there!"_

_The girl ran up to her window to see men in black. She gasped sharply, wondering what they could want. "Daddy!" She cried out in fear. He immediately arrived in her room. "The men in black are here...!"_

"_I know. You remember where Mr. Puck is?"_

"_Yes," She said simply._

"_Come quickly."_

_They ran down the stairs, but the men in black were already inside the house. She gasped in fear, hiding behind her father._

"_This way." He grabbed her hand and ran down another flight of stairs, the men in black on their tail. They ended up outside, Franz shutting the door and blocking it with a plank. "There." They sped up to the secret entrance and he opened it. The men in black bust out the door, looking around, but they didn't see them anywhere._

_They run through the sewers, Franz never letting go of his daughter's hand. _

"_But..." She looked around the lab. "Where are we?"_

"_In my laboratory," He stopped typing, turning to her. "Come on."_

"_Where?" She wondered as he took her hand again, leading her away._

"_To a land where we will be safe, you and I, forever."_

"_And with Amy too?" Aelita asked hopefully._

"_No. She can't be with us now...but we will always remember her. Never stopping loving your sister, Aelita."_

"_Amy's my...my sister...?" Aelita murmured in shock, but he didn't respond any further. They stood in the scanners._

"_See you in a minute, honey."_

"_See you in a minute, Daddy."_

_The scanners closed them in._

Aelita opens her eyes, gasping. Did she just see...her childhood memories? The energy surrounds Amy as she's still not moving.

Jeremy looks up as something new develops. He gasps, Odd looking up. "What's going on, Jeremy?" Ulrich wonders.

"It's Franz Hopper," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. Amy transforms into a wave of energy, emitting a light back to Sector Five. "_He and Amy are bringing Lyoko back to life..._"

Everything turns on again and the towers go from red to white. "Look. It's incredible," Yumi breathes out as the girls' memories have been restored.

"Franz Hopper is saving his daughters...Amy is using apparently her only power on Sector Five." Jeremy murmurs in awe. Amy turns back to normal, landing on the platform. Her eyes open as Aelita looks around, wondering what just happened. Then their dots disappear from the screen. "To the scanner room, quick!"

Two scanners open, showing the girls. Aelita steps out slowly, falling to the ground. Odd rushes to Amy, who falls into his arms.

"Jeremy..."

"Odd..."

The boys hug them tight, relieved.

* * *

Aelita and Amy are petting the two dogs, all of them in Jeremy's room. "Right, would someone please say something funny before I have a heart attack that you almost gave me?" Odd looks at Amy, who smiles sheepishly.

"I'm sorry I worried you, Odd..."

"Don't. I'm just glad you're okay..." He places his hand on top of hers.

"Our father sacrificed himself for us, and we don't even know if he's still on Lyoko," Aelita says gravely. Amy frowns at the memory. The one person that was the missing part of her life...could be gone now...

"Fine," Odd lays down on Amy's lap. "Excuse me while I have my heart attack."

"All those memories of your life on Earth, and as a family," Jeremy looks up at Aelita. "That was the fragment that XANA took from you both, to bind you to him. And Franz Hopper managed to give them back to you..."

Aelita simply nods. "Now you're free, girls," Ulrich tells them. "But unfortunately, so is XANA."

"Shutting the supercomputer down is not gonna kill XANA anymore," Yumi frowns at the situation they're in. "What are we gonna do?"

"Same as always," Jeremy narrows his eyes. "We'll fight." He stands up in determination. "XANA may have become more powerful, but I don't think he's invincible. If he attacks, we'll counterattack. We'll find a way to get rid of XANA for good!"

"And we'll do everything we can to find your dad, girls...after all, he's the reason you're sisters," Yumi finishes, the girls gesturing the dogs off.

"You're right," Aelita closes her eyes. "The fight has to go on. After all...fighting XANA is my job."

Yumi smiles as Jeremy holds out his hand. She takes it. "No, Aelita. It's our job." Yumi holds out her hand to Aelita, Odd to Amy's. Aelita smiles at them hopefully, all of them holding hands in solidarity.

"Watch out, XANA..." Amy narrows her eyes. "We'll be ready for you."


	55. Straight to Heart

At the Factory, Jeremy is sitting at the computer while Yumi and Aelita are sitting on the ground, playing a Japanese game. Aelita makes a move and then Yumi does. The elevator is heard opening and they look up.

"Welcome back, campers," Aelita greets Ulrich and Odd.

"Two weeks without us. Not too long," Ulrich comments, the smaller boy leaning in towards them.

"Did you miss me a little, ladies?" He teases, Jeremy saying nothing. He has a concerned look on his face.

"Forget it. You could've stayed away three weeks. XANA attacks, zero," Yumi informs, looking up before turning back to the game. "And don't talk like that. You are still dating Amy, after all."

"Well, a nice, quiet summer, huh?" Odd looks up at Jeremy.

"Kind of. Ever since XANA discovered a way to leave the supercomputer, and then manage to access the World Wide Web, we haven't heard anything," Jeremy reports, looking back to the keyboard.

"No news is good news, right?" Ulrich asks optimistically.

"That's what you think. I trust XANA as far as I can throw him, which is why I just reprogrammed the super scan. From now on, we'll know where the big bad wolf is hiding."

"That's great, Einstein, but how is that gonna help?" Odd asks curiously. They already know where a tower is gonna be with the one they already have.

"Well, first of all, we can try to find out how he plans to use the internet."

"Cool and then you send us in after him, so we can crack a few heads," Ulrich grins at the thought.

"That's about it. But wait, getting you into the internet isn't all that easy. So first, let's get a handle on what his scheme is," He taps enter. "Here we go." He pulls up a map of the web, pumping a fist. "Yeah! Hey, where is Amy, anyway? She should be here for this."

"Don't you remember? She spent the summer with her...parents," Aelita glances away awkwardly. Jeremy cringes at the memory. Ever since Amy found out that Franz Hopper is her father, she's spent less and less time talking with her parents. However, her mother insisted on taking her on a cruise this summer, with her father involved. He couldn't imagine what she had to go through.

"She said her flight was delayed about an hour ago," Yumi shrugs at him. "I just hope she'll be okay this semester, it must've been hard going on a trip with people you don't really know anymore."

Odd sighs as he didn't want to think about how much he hated her dad again. He couldn't talk to her the whole two weeks because she was in a different time zone.

Two weeks spent waiting to see her again.

Two weeks away from her.

Two weeks without his sweet little Ames.

And now that she was coming back and on her way, he realized just how much he had missed her. The thoughts were always there, lingering in his mind as he was on vacation with his family. But now he feels it, the need to hold her and kiss her...the need to simply be with her. He could see it now, her face when she saw him again.

The elevator soon opens and Amy stands there, holding her duffel bag. "Ames!" Odd smiles at the sight of her.

"Odd!" She jumps forward, hugging him in glee. He smiles at her and pulls her in for a brief kiss.

"How was the cruise? Was it awkward?" Ulrich asks her.

"Long story short, he demanded some 'quality' time with me, she got me my own room, and then he spent the rest of it on the phone," She rolls her eyes at the thought. "Not to mention he won't say anything about Dad."

"You have no idea how much I missed you," Odd whispers to her.

"I missed you too," She giggles at him. "Sorry I couldn't call."

"It was worth the wait," He winks at her. "Well, let me remind you we have to pick up our class schedules before lunch, so let's move."

Jeremy trails after them while Yumi stays behind. "Ulrich, wait a second." She calls out, scooping up the pieces. "You know, I did a lot of thinking during the summer," She stands up, board in hand. "And I have something important to tell you."

"Tell me. I'm listening," He stares at her, wondering just what she has on her mind. Was she going to tell him what he wanted to hear? Her true feelings?

She closes her eyes, looking away as the others are waiting for them.

"Hey, come on," Odd calls out.

"Be right there. I'll tell you later, okay?"

* * *

"Something important to tell you?" Odd asks as they wait for the others to come back. "Like what?"

"I have no idea," He answers honestly.

"You think maybe she wants you to ask her to marry her?" Odd wiggles his eyes. Amy busts out laughing as Ulrich looks on in amusement.

"Yeah right. I was gonna ask you to be my maid of honor, Odd."

"No class on Saturday morning, meaning that on Friday night..." They look up to see Sissi approaching. Herb catches up to her.

"We can go to the movies?" He asks hopefully. He was still pinning after Sissi...Ulrich didn't even like her and yet she still pursued him.

"Forget it. It means I can go to the movies," She leaves them behind as she walks up to Ulrich. "Hello, Ulrich! You know we're in the same class again. Cool, huh?"

Amy silently rolls her eyes. "Yeah, cool," He deadpans in the opposite of excitement.

"If cool means our worst nightmare, then you're right. Being in the same class is really cool," Odd jokes and instead of firing back with an insult, she smirks.

"Very funny. Have yourself a good laugh, Odd. Enjoy it, get it out of your system," She grasps his chin. "Because in a few seconds, you're gonna be crying." She kisses him on the nose, shocking both Odd and Amy.

"HEY!" Amy shouts at her. "Sissi, you witch! Don't kiss him ever again or you'll regret it!"

"See you real soon, Odd," She waves as she walks away, ignoring Amy.

"Did you see that?" Odd jerks a thumb to her as the others walk up to them. They're all silent and sad. "Hey, why so sad?"

"You're not in the same class as we are," Jeremy glances away.

"I'm not?!" Odd walks up to him in shock.

"But why?" Amy frowns in disappointment. She just got back here; now she and Odd are in different classes?

"If XANA attacks, what do we do without him?" Aelita asks Jeremy, who shrugs.

"It was already complicated with Yumi, now it's gonna be impossible to get organized."

"What's more, I'm not gonna be able to copy off you. My grades are really gonna go down the tubes," He crosses his arms in thought. "Well, there's only one thing to do!" He grabs Amy's hand and starts walking off. She shouts in surprise as he drags her along.

"Yeah, what's that?" Jeremy asks curiously.

"Go for broke!" He declares, Amy just shrugging cluelessly at them. The bell rings as they stare after him.

"Okay, while he's going for broke, we'll go for lunch," Jeremy walks off with Aelita. Yumi is about to leave, but Ulrich stops her.

"Hang on! What was it you wanted to tell me?"

She looks away from him as she didn't want to see his face. Now with this. "I wanted to say that I-"

"Hey Yumi."

They look to see William standing there with a smile. "It's really great to see you again. Did you have a good vacation?"

"I'll tell you later, okay?" She whispers to him and walks off with the boy. Ulrich glares as the two leave. He really needed to know what Yumi had to say. It could make or break their...relationship. But now she's spending time with William again?

* * *

Odd looks up at the secretary, Mrs. Weber, clasping his hands. "I really have to see him, ma'am! It's a matter of life and death!"

"I'm sorry, Odd," She crosses her arms, looking away. He's been there a few times for her to know his first name. "Mr. Delmas is not seeing any students this morning."

"I'm not here as a student, I'm...here as a friend," He closes his eyes. Amy raises a brow at him, wondering where he's going with this.

"A friend?" She asks slowly, giving Amy a look. She just shrugs.

"Yes, I mean as a friend of Sissi's. There's something really serious going on, and I've got to speak to the principal!" He insists to her, "Man to man!"

They stare at each other for what seems like forever. She knew that if she sent him away, it could cost the principal's trust. And he'd want to know if his daughter was in trouble...

"I'll see what I can do," She sighs in defeat. Amy looks at Odd in shock, who winks.

"By the way, Ames, when I tell you what happened in there, will you promise not to be mad at me?" He whispers to her.

"Mad?" She asks in confusion, wondering what he could possibly say or do to make her mad. "Why do you say that?"

"Sorry, sir," Mrs. Weber speaks on the phone, "Odd Della Robbia insists on seeing you."

"YES!" Odd cheers, cringing as she heard that. He giggles sheepishly and Amy rolls her eyes.

"I'll wait here with her," Amy whispers to him. "You can do this."

"Thanks."

* * *

At the cafeteria, Jeremy, Aelita, and Ulrich are enjoying their lunch. "Jim wants to start up a basketball team this year. Seems he played pro ball."

Yumi comes in. "But he would rather not talk about it!" The three say in unison, laughing as Yumi sits down. Ulrich leans in, hoping he can finally get an answer.

"Well, what did you want to tell me?"

"Hello!" Hiroki sings, a brown-haired boy his age grinning.

"Oh, Hiroki, what do you want?" Yumi holds her hair.

"Just wanted to say hello," Hiroki smiles innocently. "Aren't you gonna introduce me? I wanna meet Odd and Amy, where are they?"

"NO! And none of your business!" She yells at him in annoyance.

"Cool it, sis," He holds up his hands in defense, his friend looking away awkwardly. "I was gonna introduce my new pal, Johnny."

Johnny waves, smiling widely. She narrows her eyes at him, irritated. "Listen, Hiroki, just because you're in junior high now doesn't mean you have to follow me around, okay bro?"

"Be nice or I'll rat on you when you come home late!" He threatens, crossing his arms.

"Oh!" She growls in annoyance, wondering how he knew about that. Either way, she wanted him to scram. He finally leaves and she crosses her arms. "What a dork! I'm so glad that you and Amy don't have any other siblings, Aelita!"

"Your big sister's really gorgeous," Johnny comments to Hiroki.

"You're out of your mind," He simply tells his friend.

* * *

Mr. Delmas looks at a picture of a scowling Sissi. "So, it seems my Elizabeth has a problem."

"Well sir, when she found out that we weren't in the same class this year," Odd tries to look humble, rubbing his neck. "She just flipped."

"Hmm, I see. I suppose I'll have to try reasoning with her. There's not much else I can do about it. Even with Amelia, it seems that the ladies still fancy you," He glances away. He had heard about them from the Kadic News.

"I'm sorry to contradict you, sir, but you see, all you have to do is put us in the same class and presto, problem solved."

Mr. Delmas closes his eyes, shaking his head. "Impossible, it's far too complicated to change the composition of classes, and in addition, Mr. Morales was quite clear when he requested that Stern, Belpois, Smith, and you should be separated."

"Jim?!" Odd exclaims in shock. "But why?!"

"I have no idea. Why not ask him?" Mr. Delmas implies.

"So?" Amy stands up as Odd gets out of the room. "How did it go?"

"It's Jim who asked for me to be in different classes!" Odd crosses his arms bitterly and her eyes widen.

"Jim? Ah, he must be paranoid that we'll do something again. People like him and Sissi can never get off our backs!" She narrows her eyes in annoyance. Seriously, after a cruise with her 'father', the last thing she needed was someone else trying to shake things up.

"Uh, but...I tried to convince him by implying that Sissi missed me," He rubs her neck sheepishly. She raises an eyebrow at him, an eye twitching. "Hey, she kissed me on the nose, I thought it made sense to pick her!"

"Well...at least we have a lead. But Odd?"

"Yeah?" He winces, hoping she wouldn't yell at him.

"Please don't ever tell me that again."

"Agreed."

* * *

Jeremy taps his finger against the table as he looks at the program, still in the cafeteria. It scans for XANA, eventually localizing him.

"Fantastic! The super scan has located XANA! I'm off to the factory. Gotta find out more," He takes his laptop and walks off.

"Wait up, I'll go with you," Aelita drops her yogurt and trails after him. Ulrich opens his eyes. Finally, they were alone.

"Okay, what I wanted to say was that, well, during all last year, I, see-"

"Ulrich!" He narrows his eyes, irritated even more now. He grunts in frustration, standing up as Sissi walks over. "I just got here and you're leaving? How come?"

"GUESS!" He shouts in her face, walking off with Yumi. She cringes at his bad mood.

* * *

Odd knocks at Jim's door, but he's not there. "Jim? Can we come in?" He knocks again and he opens it, letting Amy inside first. He glances around the tiny room as the gym teacher is nowhere to be found. "As usual, he's never there when you need him!"

Amy chuckles, looking at something on the bed. They raise their brows in surprise to see a photo. It's Jim in a white disco outfit, dancing with his hair slicked up and a smile on his face.

"Huh. You learn something new everyday," Amy picks it up.

"Hmm," Odd smirks at it. He had just the plan. "Pretty funky there, Jim..."

"Oh, this better not be going where I think it's going," Amy sighs slowly, pinching her nose.

* * *

"Okay, nobody'll bother us here," Ulrich and Yumi walk to a secluded part of the woods. After all the interruptions, the need for privacy was growing by the hour. "Go on, I'm listening."

"Right..." She lifts her head up, not bothering to look at him. "I think we've both been running around in circles."

"We have?" He raises a brow in confusion. He thought things were going well. They were friends, and he didn't think that there was a problem. Sure, he has...something for Yumi, but risking their friendship...their sanctity with their friends...

"One day we're together, the next day we're not. One day you're jealous, the next day I am, and that's why we've gotta clear up our relationship. We can be friends, but that's all."

"Huh?" He is horrified by her explanation.

_We can be friends, but that's all._

_We can be friends, but that's all. _

_We can be friends, but that's all._

The seven words stay in his mind as he just stands there. What could he say after all that? What did she mean, friends and that's all?

Jeremy is working to localizing XANA, but he gets an alert from the computer. "Uh oh."

"What's wrong, Jeremy?" Aelita asks in concern.

"We've got company. XANA has sent a ton of monsters to Sector Five." He focuses on a room that he's never seen before.

"He's probably mad that we found him," Aelita suggests and then there's another beep.

"Well, that could be it...but then what is he planning to do there with all of his troops?" Any army like that had to be for something big. And if XANA wanted to do something big, it could mean trouble for not only them, but for the Earth.

"I'll head for the scanner room," She runs towards the elevator. He closes his eyes. Over the summer, he has gotten less lenient on making Aelita wait for the others. And he had to know what XANA was up to, so he could prepare.

"Okay, I'll warn the others." He calls up Ulrich first.

"But...what's that supposed to mean, friends, that's all?" Ulrich asks once he's gotten past the shock. Yumi just looks away, arms crossed.

"Isn't it clear?" She's tired of all the ambiguous relationship they have. She just wanted to have friends and no boy drama. Even if it meant hurting him or William.

Ulrich's phone rings and he stares at her for a few seconds. "Yeah, okay, friends and that's all," He says reluctantly. "Fantastic. That's just great. But Jeremy," He backs away towards the bench, sitting down. "Okay, fantastic, that's just great. I know, I'm, yeah, we're on our way."

Yumi narrows her eyes at him, glad that he agrees. Nothing more than friends.

* * *

"Jim Morales," Odd does a search of the teacher on Jeremy's computer. "Disco film, enter."

Amy stands behind him and he smiles at her presence, glad that he's not alone in this. Over time, when he was thinking about Amy, he realized that he wanted to ask her to be really official. He couldn't stand it when she's not around and he was done dating other girls. He hasn't even met a girl in their grade because he found one who really gets him.

"Hey, there it is!" Amy points to a link and he smirks. When he opens it, it immediately starts with Jim pumping a finger into the air.

"Ha ha ha! Bingo!"

Jim twirls his fingers around, both Amy and Odd laughing at how ridiculous he looks. He bops onto the dance floor, both giggling.

"Paco, the King of Disco," Odd holds up a blank disc. "Now I see why you'd rather not talk about it, Mr. Morales!" He inserts the disc. "Our gym teacher really burns up the dance floor," Odd burns the disc so that the video is on it. "And we're gonna burn it on a little CD!"

As he's laughing, Amy's phone rings. She answers it. "Yes, Jeremy? We'll be right there."

Odd encloses the CD into a cover, smirking. They run off to go meet the others. "Oh, Jim!" They back away as they step inside. "Just the man I wanted to see."

"Oh really? What about, huh?" He smirks down at them, wondering where this was going.

"Oh, disco," Odd says casually.

"No kidding! Aw, I love disco," He does some moves from the video, Amy covering her hand with her mouth to suppress a laugh. Seeing it in person was just as funny as seeing it online. "I was even pretty good at it back in the old days."

Odd winks at Amy. "I can see that. Groovy! I guess you know all about the film: Paco, the King of Disco?"

Jim's eyes widen as he stops dancing. How did they know about that? Odd giggles as he twirls the disc with his finger.

"Uh, uh, no! Never heard of it," He denies, biting his lip.

"Oh, no?" Odd asks teasingly. "It's a fantastic film. I was gonna submit to Gustav Chardin for his film club."

"Where are you going with this?" Amy whispers to him and he puts a finger to her lips, shushing her. Jim cringes, crossing his arms. He had to make sure he didn't look suspicious.

"I'm not sure that dud is worth showing at a film club."

"Oh, so then you have seen it, Jim?" Odd interrogates as he looks away. Amy then realizes what Odd is doing. He's gonna blackmail Jim into letting him back into their classes. She knew that it was crucial to do this task, but blackmail? Surely there was another way to convince Jim to let Odd back in...

"Uh, yeah, no! I mean, I-I'd rather not talk about it!"

"Odd, don't," Amy warns him. She really did not want to get on Jim's bad side any further than it already is. He already suspects her of troublemaking whenever she's leaving her room, thinking that she's gonna go see Odd...not that she doesn't do that already.

"Sure, no problem," Odd closes his eyes, closing his eyes as Jim is stuttering. "You know, I got really interested in the film club because I'm pretty lonesome now that _all my friends and Ames are in a different class_! If you get what I'm driving at," He winks at Jim, waving the film in his hands.

"Hey, gimme that right now!" He lunges towards them and Odd grabs Amy's hand, running off with her. The door closes on Jim and he falls to the ground, while they head for the factory.

* * *

In the elevator shaft, the tension is high as Yumi's words have put a strain on their relationship. They don't look to each other and they stand in opposite directions. The elevator finally lands at the lab and Jeremy turns around to them.

"Hey, you guys," He notices their sour faces. "What's the matter, huh? Is there a problem?"

"Nope. No problem at all," Ulrich deadpans, "We're the best of friends."

Yumi huffs as she says nothing.

"Great, that's a relief," Jeremy smiles, unable to tell the sarcasm dripping from Ulrich's voice. "Head for the scanners. Aelita's there already."

Amy and Odd arrive at the manhole cover. Odd pulls it, Amy looking around for Jim. She gives a thumbs up as she sees no one and jumps inside, Odd crawling after her. Jim runs into the park, growling in frustration when he sees the two are gone.

The elevator opens again and Jeremy looks back to see a panting Odd and Amy. The running from a chasing Jim tired them out a bit. He's a gym teacher, of course he can run fast.

"About time," Jeremy comments as Odd slowly slides down against the wall. Amy picks him back up, wiping her forehead. "Everyone else is waiting for you two."

They step into two scanners. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Amy. Scanner Odd. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

The two land in the ice sector behind everyone else as they're on their vehicles. The Overboard and OverRunner appear behind them and they flip onto their rides.

"Here we go," Yumi announces, taking off with Aelita. The others follow as Odd flies next to Ulrich.

"What took you so long?"

"I think I found a way to get back into your class," He explains, Yumi smiling.

"You did, how?"

"It's easy. I decided to blackmail Jim," He calls out to Yumi.

"Blackmail Jim? But with what?" Aelita asks in confusion.

"I had nothing to do with this idea," Amy raises a hand before Odd explains it.

"We know a secret he'd rather not talk about," Odd taps his chin. "And that he doesn't want anyone else to talk about it."

"You know what?" Ulrich asks, turning to him. "I think blackmail's really lame."

"Whoa!" Odd puts his hands on his hips. "Since when did you get so high and mighty? The end justifies the means, doesn't it?"

"No," Everyone else says, shaking their heads. Aelita shakes her head, giving Odd a disapproving look.

"Et tu, Ames?" Odd turns to the fairy, who cringes.

"Well, I did try to talk you out of it, remember...?"

Odd pouts and flies up ahead. "Okay, thanks for your support! I bet you'd be happy without me in class!" He gets further ahead, the others gasping at him.

"Odd, come on!" Amy speeds faster to talk to him. He jumps off, sliding to the edge.

"Okay Jeremy, we're at the edge of the sector."

"Are you okay?" Amy asks him in concern and he waves it off.

"When I get back into class with you, I will be," He wraps his tail around her waist and she smiles at him.

"Great, now get into position, and I'll enter the code Scipio," Jeremy does so and the transporter arrives just as the others join Odd and Amy. It spins around and captures them, going all the way to Sector Five. "Holosphere system online."

The transporter spins into the Arena and the room spins around. They stand there silently as the wall opens. "So, where are all these monsters?" Ulrich pulls out his sword, ready to fight and get his mind off of what happened with Yumi.

"Well, what do you know? They're all in a room just below your feet," He sees red dots around an object that floats in the center of the room. "I've never seen that one before. We haven't been there yet."

"But...what are they doing in there?" Aelita wonders.

"_How am I supposed to know? You're the ones on site. Listen, instead of talking, head for that room, guys."_

"Can we get in through here?" Ulrich asks, wanting an easy way around this time.

"_No, access is through the Celestial Dome. Hurry up_."

They run through the wall, stopping as the door opens into a hallway. They run inside to get to the Core Zone.

"_Don't forget to deactivate the countdown, or you'll be back home a lot sooner than you think._" They have six minutes this time. "You've only got a few minutes to find the key."

They stop as the room is full of pillars high and low. "Key in sight," Odd looks at the key across the room. They glance at all the pillars standing in their path. Odd steps back a few feet and jumps, gripping the side with his claws. He climbs back up, landing on the top on all fours. "I thought I had my A game going."

Yumi, Ulrich, Amy, and Aelita land on the same pillar. "I'll go and get it," Aelita winks at him, Amy giggling. Aelita jumps across with no problem. The others stare at her in shock. Clearly she's adapted over time...

There's only 7 seconds left. "Five."

Aelita jumps towards the last one. "_Four._"

She lands on the pillar underneath the key. "Three."

Aelita leaps towards the key. "_Two._"

She places her hand on it. "_One_!" She presses it just in time.

"Zero!"

"_Nice one, Aelita_."

She smiles, looking at her friends staring after her. Then she feels movement, looking towards the ground. "I think you all better get here ASAP!"

The pillars around her are moving now. The four jump, everyone reaching her except Odd. He jumps forward and on all fours, landing on the side. "Ow!"

"Your hand," Ulrich holds his hand out as Odd struggles to climb up. He glances below him to see another pillar approaching, threatening to crush him. He quickly grabs Ulrich's hand, Amy helping the ninja to help him up just before Odd could get crushed. "Looks like you got your Z game going."

"Lay off, will you?" Odd looks away with a pout.

"It's okay," Amy places a hand on his shoulder. "You're just having a slump."

Odd glances at Yumi, leaning towards Ulrich. "Did you talk to her?"

"Lay off, will you?" Ulrich asks in the same tone as Odd. Amy raises a brow, looking at Odd. He just shrugs, knowing fully well that something was wrong.

The pillar they're standing on lowers itself to the door and they arrive at the elevator.

"_Jeremy, we're at the elevator_!" Yumi calls out.

"That's good. There are more and more monsters in that mysterious room. I've got a bad feeling about this."

"_Maybe there's something XANA wants from that room_," Amy suggests as he looks at the room again. He sees an opening at the bottom of the Celestial Dome.

They stop at the edge of the platform, jumping onto the elevator. They arrive at the entrance of the Celestial Dome, staring as the door opens. They enter the Dome.

"We're here, Jeremy. Where do we go now to crack some monsters' heads?" Ulrich wonders and Amy rolls her eyes.

"Boys..." She murmurs in irritation.

"Head for the south pole of the dome. That's where you can get into the chamber," He looks at the entrance.

"Vehicles, Jeremy!" Yumi urges.

"Coming up," He gets to work on materializing them.

"Hey, maybe that's the place where XANA has his annual monsters' ball," Odd jokes, turning to the others. "Cuz up to now, we haven't seen any."

"Right," Ulrich glances around. "But look over there!"

Two Mantas come flying in, firing at them. Yumi slides in front of Aelita, blocking the lasers with her fans. Odd fires his arrows while Amy and Ulrich throw their weapons. Odd's arrows destroy one while the sword and spear also hit it.

"How's that, huh? Bullseye!" Odd cheers, backflipping. "There's the A-game! Ha." He ducks Ulrich's flying sword as Amy catches her spear.

"Get real, man. That was me who got him."

"Huh? It was?" Odd turns to him in confusion.

"This isn't the time for competition," Amy reminds them.

"Amy's right, this is no time to compete with each other. Move out!"

Their vehicles finally appear and they jump on, Odd taking off first. Ulrich follows, but the lone Manta fires at Yumi, who moves out of the way. She lands in front of Aelita and the elf girl jumps on. The Manta chases after them and fires at Odd. He swerves left and right, jumping over another laser. It continues to chase them as they fly around, the Manta flying past an opening and closing entrance.

"Hm," Amy eyes it curiously.

"Hang on, Aelita!" Yumi warns, pulling out her fan as another Manta appears from in front. She dodges the lasers in all directions and they all move out of the way. Ulrich glances at the monster behind them, the other one appear right beside him. Yumi and Amy fly up to the entrance at the bottom of the dome.

"You're there. Can you see the access?"

"It's pretty hard to miss, huh?" Yumi comments.

"_Great. Go on in_." The girls fly inside the room. "Hey, what are you guys doing? Amy, Yumi, and Aelita are already in the passage!"

Ulrich blocks lasers from behind with his sword. "Yeah, we know that. If Odd didn't have an XYZ game going, we'd be there by now!"

"If this monster would just stop flying for a few seconds!" Odd retorts back, firing rapidly and missing at the Manta. He tries to fire, but he can't. "Oh!"

"Okay, I get the picture. I'll give you some laser arrows," Jeremy gets to work, focusing on Odd's hand. Odd comes to a stop, moving all the way backwards to the Manta. He jumps onto the monster, digging his claws into it. "Alright, ugly, now we're gonna see what you're made of!"

He cheers as he steers the monster, which fires out of control. Odd sinks his claws in deeper, making the Manta go faster.

"Nutcase," Ulrich simply comments, Jeremy pressing enter.

"You've got a full supply."

"Cool!" Odd grins, flying over to the entrance. He drags his claws and the Manta flies upwards. "Ulrich!"

Ulrich revs up his bike and Odd lets go. "Now!" The Manta gets destroyed when the edges of the entrance touches it. Odd laughs, spinning around. He destroys the last Manta, landing behind Ulrich.

"Not bad." He drives to the entrance, flying inside.

"Odd and Ulrich are in the tunnel," Jeremy reports to the girls, who are already standing near the key.

"At last. Now we can trip the mechanism and go."

The boys jump off the bike. "Hi. How are you, ladies?"

"A little impatient," Aelita tells him, Amy pressing the key.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, my lady. I'll make it up to you," Odd winks at Amy.

"Then you better buy me some chocolate ice cream tonight," She smiles smugly.

"Ouch. Good luck getting the one she likes all the way across town," Ulrich replies to Odd. They look to see a flight of stairs appearing next to them. Aelita jumps up first, followed by Odd. Ulrich super sprints up the stairs while Yumi backflips. Amy frontflips after them. They enter a large room that has the staircase continuing.

"Jeremy, I think we're here," Yumi beams as they've finally reached their destination.

"Can you see the monsters? What are they doing?" Jeremy asks curiously as the five come to a stop. They can see the XANA symbol on the ceiling, and near the top is a sphere that shows all five sectors of Lyoko as a map. It's protected by two moving cube shields, which the monsters are firing at.

"They're firing at some sort of blue ball," Ulrich points up at it.

"I don't think that's a ball," Amy murmurs as she gets a closer look.

"How can you tell?" Aelita wonders.

"See the map inside the sphere?" She points up at it.

"If XANA wants it destroyed, then it's gotta be important like Amy said." Jeremy clenches a fist.

"Okay, then it's down with the Creepers!" Odd declares.

"Right," Jeremy agrees with him. "I'm gonna try to find out more about that sphere." He narrows his eyes suspiciously. Why did he feel impending doom about this specific sphere?

They run up the stairs to get closer to the monsters. Two Mantas come flying towards them, firing their lasers. They jump as they avoid them, Yumi running up to the edge of a platform.

"I'll handle those two!" She pulls out her fans, blocking the lasers. "You head for the sphere! Ya!" She jumps off and lands on a Manta. She leaps towards the other one, landing in front of the symbol. Yumi throws down her fans in a X right in the center. She jumps off as her fans come back. However, she's fired at twice before she disappears.

"Yumi!" Ulrich calls out in concern, but they couldn't stop now. Odd flips down a step, dodging lasers. He lands near Ulrich.

"Forget it!" He fires up at the Manta. "Concentrate on our monster friends."

"Odd's right!" Amy backflips, landing behind them. Odd fires at a Creeper across from him, destroying it dead on.

"Hey, this is not just an A-game. It's more like an A-plus!" Odd teases, Amy rolling her eyes.

"Now if only your Lyoko skills were as good as the ones on Earth!"

Ulrich laughs and Amy ducks her head as a laser narrowly misses her. Odd yelps as he gets hit and then devirtualizes right next to the two.

"Odd!" Amy cries out, Ulrich eyeing the Manta.

"Super Sprint!" He runs up the stairs, Amy running after him at normal speed. They land in front of Aelita, blocking the lasers from the Manta. When it passes by, Ulrich slices at it, destroying it in mid-air.

"Got anything new, Jeremy?" Amy calls out.

"I don't believe it," He murmurs as he stares at the sphere. "Amy, Ulrich, listen. Whatever you do, you've got to stop the Creepers from destroying the sphere!"

"_Why_?"

"Because that is the heart of Lyoko! The direct access to all the core programs of the virtual world! If the monsters destroy it, it's game over for good for Lyoko!" Odd and Yumi arrive. "Hurry up. The sphere has only two protective layers. And the first one just blew!"

Odd and Yumi turn to the screen, wide-eyed.

Ulrich jumps up the stairs, Amy staying behind with Aelita. He reaches a Creeper and attacks once it turns around, getting rid of it. Another Creeper not too far away fires at him and he blocks them, deflecting a laser back at the monster. A third one fires and he does the same thing. The laser passes through the sphere as it hits the Creeper. Unfortunately, a fourth one devirtualizes him.

"Oh no!" Amy sweats a bit, seeing a Manta. She fires at it, hitting the symbol. The fourth Creeper hits her and she falls down, devirtualizing.

"Aelita. It's your turn now," Jeremy says seriously.

"Her turn for what?" Odd asks in confusion. "She can't do anything."

"Watch," Jeremy raises an amused brow, smirking with a chuckle.

A Creeper crawls underneath the platform, bringing itself up to Aelita. She backs away slowly as it approaches her. To everyone's surprise, a pink energy ball comes from her right hand. The Creeper fires at her just as she fires back, getting devirtualized. The energy ball hits the Creeper, destroying it.

"Huh?" Odd's mouth opens in shock. "But...how could Aelita have done that?"

"I thought she wasn't able to defend herself," Amy raises a brow.

"Aelita developed some new powers during the vacation. She's perfectly capable of fighting like you can," Jeremy explains to them.

"Jeremy!" Yumi's eyes widen. "Look at that!"

Aelita's ID card depletes and he tries to search for her, but doesn't see her. "Oh no! She's been devirtualized!"

"Are you saying that..."

"That's right," Jeremy interrupts Odd. "I-I can't believe it!"

However, one of the scanners is operational, as if someone's using it. But it couldn't be Ulrich... "What's going on? Come on, hurry up!" Jeremy rushes to the ladder, climbing down.

The scanner opens and Jeremy stands in front of it, looking panicked and out of breath. "Hey, do you realize that you almost gave me a heart attack?"

Aelita giggles as she hugs him. "Would someone tell me what happened?" Ulrich turns to the others.

"Well it seems that even if Aelita loses all of her life points, she won't disappear forever," Odd explains to him, smiling.

"She won't? How come?"

"Of course!" They turn to Jeremy, who's holding Aelita's hands. "I was too dumb to think of it before." He turns back to Aelita. "Ever since you recovered your human memory, you're exactly the same as us. We don't need Code Earth anymore to bring you in."

"That'll really help now that XANA is determined to destroy Lyoko to keep us from finding him on the net," Aelita comments.

"That's great, Aelita. You're a full-fledged Lyoko Warrior from now on!" Yumi gives her a thumbs up.

"I can't wait to see you fight in action," Amy winks at her and Aelita blushes from the praise.

* * *

In their room, Ulrich has told Odd what Yumi said. "Just friends and that's all?" He asks in confusion.

"Yep."

"Oh, and what did you say?" Odd wonders as Ulrich leans against the wall.

"I said okay, fantastic," Ulrich replies, though he didn't mean it.

"Okay, fantastic?! What's the matter with you guys? I'll never understand you two. And I thought my love life was complicated when I started having feelings for my best friend!" He stands up, walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Ulrich asks curiously.

"To see Jim," Odd says simply.

"Oh yeah? Be careful, good buddy. A bad deed can backfire on you," Ulrich warns him and Odd takes that in, closing the door.

* * *

Jim opens his door to see Odd and Amy standing there. "Huh? Hey, I got news for ya, Bonnie and Clyde! If you came here to blackmail me, you'd better think again. Anyone who thinks they can pull the wool over my eyes is gonna be in for a surprise, you hear?!"

"Here," Odd holds out the CD. "Blackmail isn't really my thing. We're very sorry, Jim."

"We?" Amy asks, crossing her arms.

"_I'm _very sorry," Odd corrects himself. He takes Amy's hand and he walks past a surprised Jim.

"Odd?"

They turn around to him. "Do you mean you did it just to be with your pals and your girlfriend?"

"Not my boyfriend," Amy mutters at him.

"Well, boarding school is tough enough," Odd puts his hands behind his back. "But, without your friends..."

"Let me see what I can do to help," Jim narrows his eyes admittedly.

"Really?!" They beam at him. "Okay, thanks, Jim! You're a real pal!"

"Well, after all, I was young, too," Jim comments with a fond smile.

"No kidding. I wonder what you were like," Odd replies curiously.

"I had blonde curly hair, and, uh," He raises a brow, wondering if he really wanted to tell them that. "And I would rather not talk about it. Now get out of here!"

The two hug each other, laughing as they run out of the building to tell their friends.

* * *

"Dinner was great," Amy sighs happily. She really needed a good meal after her summer...Aelita walks next to her as they're heading back to their room. "And I had no regrets giving Odd my dessert."

"When do you ever have regrets giving him food?" Aelita giggles at the thought, Amy laughing along with her.

"True..."

Aelita grins as she comes to a stop, letting Amy take the lead. She opens the door and when she looks up, her mouth opens in surprise. Odd is standing in front of a table that has her favorite cake, chocolate ice cream cake, her favorite smoothie, and her favorite food: ravioli! She smiles as she remembered telling Odd that her mother used to make it for her. She could taste the love behind it in each bite, and it stayed with her until she came to Kadic. The candles on the table are the only thing lighting up the room.

Amy looks back to Aelita in shock, wondering if she knew. But the smirk on her sister's face told her everything. Aelita waves as she closes the door and she slowly turns to Odd. He's in his casual clothes, but she didn't care. He looked handsome either way.

"You got my ice cream!" She beams at him. "It's not exactly ice cream, but I'll take it!"

He grins at her silence and holds out her hand. "May I have this dance, my lady?"

She nods slowly without a second thought and he wraps his arms around her waist. She places her hands on his shoulders and they start swaying side to side.

As they dance, Amy felt like this was a dream and she didn't want to wake up. Odd is such a good dancer; he moves his body so well. His strong arms make her feel safe and appreciated, unlike her parents.

"This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me," She whispers as she stares into his eyes.

"Anything for you, my sweet little Ames," He whispers back, taking a deep breath. "I actually wanted...to ask you something."

"What is it?" She asks in concern and he chuckles at how cute she looked.

"It's a good thing, I promise." He takes another breath, hoping that he can just say it. "I really like you, Ames. And for the past two weeks...I missed you. I don't want to lose you. You're everything I want and more. Will you...be my girlfriend?"

"Odd...!" Tears come to her eyes as she smiles. "Of course I will!"

He smiles back and pulls her in for a passionate kiss. Amy smiles against it and they continue to kiss as the night comes to a happy end...


	56. Lyoko Minus One

The alarm clock goes from 6:59 to 7:00 AM. A song from the Subdigitals blares from the clock. Ulrich groans, throwing his pillow over his head. "Odd! Odd, will you turn off that dumb alarm?! Odd?!" He sits up only to find Kiwi. He blinks in confusion. It must've been really important if Odd had to wake up early...

"Here are the photocopies you asked me for, Odd," Ms. Weber hands a few papers to Odd. Amy is standing next to him. "You wanted thirty one, is that right?"

"That's right! Thirty-one, thank you," Odd smiles at her.

"Yeah, thanks for coping my original for us," Amy smiles back.

"And thank you for designing it," Odd grins, kissing her cheek.

"Well, isn't that sweet?" Ms. Weber smiles at them fondly, remembering that she fell in love once...

* * *

"Rise and shine, Einstein," Ulrich opens the door. "The birds are chirping away."

Jeremy is asleep at his desk. Ulrich softly closes the door, knowing fully well that it had to do with Lyoko. That's practically why Jeremy stays up most of the nights.

"Jeremy~," He sings, leaning in. "Odd and Aelita are going out with each other."

"What?!" Jeremy sits up in shock, and by Ulrich's face, he knew that he was joking. "Oh, it's you, Ulrich. Awful joke, Odd would never cheat on Amy! Anyway, what's the time?"

"What's the story?" Ulrich asks as Jeremy stretches with a yawn. "You've given up sleeping in a bed or what?"

"Well, I was trying to find a way to send you guys into the internet so you can track XANA," Jeremy explains, closing his eyes.

"Did you figure something out?" Ulrich asks curiously.

"No."

Jeremy turns on the water, looking at the mirror. "Just look at you," Ulrich teases, "No one's gonna vote for you. They're not voting for a zombie of the year, but for their student rep."

"It's not about how you look," Jeremy retorts as he washes his face. "It's all about what you have to say."

"At least you're optimistic. Can't hurt, I guess," Ulrich checks himself out in the mirror, chuckling at how good he looks. "Anyway, you got one thing going for ya. You're up against the lamest candidate in the galaxy!"

* * *

The other candidate is Herb. "Now, how bout giving me the smile of a real winner?" Sissi asks as they're in her room before class, Herb giving her a geeky smile. She had to make sure he won this for the perks. "Hey, what's that?"

"Uh, a smile of victory," Herb chuckles nervously. She places a hand on her forehead in dismay.

"We'll never win at this rate!"

"But why don't you run then, Sissi?" He asks curiously. She was the one telling him how to act, after all.

"I can't! The principal's daughter isn't allowed to be a class rep!" She shouts at him, crossing her arms. "Therefore, the new student rep's gonna be you, and definitely not Jeremy! Do I make myself perfectly clear?!"

He smiles widely and she gives a look of approval. "That's what I like to see. A nice, winner smile!"

Herb then cringes instead of smiling. "It's not a smile, Sissi. You're crushing my kneecaps." He points to her hands on his knees.

* * *

Odd and Amy are standing at the entrance to their history class, where the election will take place. They're handing out flyers.

"Take a copy of my platform!" He holds out a flyer to Jeremy.

"Platform? But for what?" Jeremy asks in confusion as it's a picture of Odd winking, holding out two fingers.

"My platform. You are looking at the next student rep," Odd gestures to himself with a smile.

"You're running, Odd?" Jeremy is surprised to say the least. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"He asked me not to say anything," Amy shrugs helplessly.

"Because surprise is the secret weapon of my election campaign," Odd grins boastfully.

"And the second weapon is poetry!" Aelita smiles at them. "If you all want to have your say, why not give the nod to good old Odd?" She gestures to him.

"Hey, that's great. I love lines that rhyme with Odd," He smiles, the other two boys surprised. Aelita and Amy giggle at their dumbfounded faces.

"Ames, write these down," Odd grins and she pulls out her notebook.

"Hm. Give your vote to Odd, he's a god!"

"Ha!" Odd smiles proudly. "My sweet little Ames." He kisses her cheek and she smiles at the contact.

* * *

"I'm warning you," Jim starts off as Yumi's class is heading off for a field trip. "Anyone who tries to pull anything, detention! You can join that smart aleck William Dunbar in the study hall!"

Yumi absentmindedly looks out her window, knowing fully well that this trip was going to be the opposite of fun. Ms. Hertz pats Jim.

"Thank you, Jim. I think you've made yourself clear."

"Roger, Suzanne," She cringes at the fact he said her name out loud to students. "I'm sorry, I mean, Ms. Hertz."

"Fine, let's not forget what we're going to be looking for," She changes the subject, looking at all the students. "The purpose of our field trip today is to witness the early effects of pollution on our ecosystem. And especially in the forest."

Yumi pays no attention, continuing to look out at the trees that pass by them.

"Effects that might someday mean the end of our forests, and all animal and plant life, of course."

Jim's eyes widen at her explanation, leaning towards her. "Are you saying there won't be any more bunny rabbits or little birds or trees or mushrooms that'll all disappear?"

She says nothing, glancing at him. "Oh wow, I love that perfume."

* * *

The election starts off with Odd, who seems to be winning them over. "And so I ask, why should good students represent the bad? Why not let a near dropout like me speak for all the other near dropouts?" He smiles proudly, hands on his hips.

They murmur to themselves, Jeremy giving a slightly worried look.

"You're not smiling, Jeremy," Herb whispers to him. "How come?"

"Because I don't wanna look as dorky as you, Herb, okay?" Jeremy asks bitterly.

"What do Belpois and Pichon know about our problems, huh?" Odd gestures to the two. "They always get As and Bs, right? They don't know the fear of getting left back! They're not capable of defending our cause!"

"Bravo!" Ulrich cheers, standing up. "Good point, Odd! Okay, near dropouts, it's time for all of us to take a stand!"

A few people clap, smiling. Amy smiles at Odd. With her high average, she never really thought about how other kids like Odd felt. Knowledge just came to her, academically. She wasn't as smart as Jeremy, of course, but she does well enough. Though after hearing Odd's speech, she suddenly has a whole new perspective...keeping up with grades when you're dealing with a dangerous computer program was hard enough. But being able to not fail...it was like she understood Odd in a whole new way. And she liked knowing more about him.

"Odd sure gets my vote."

"He knows what we need."

"Quiet down, quiet down," Mr. Fumet stands up, holding up a hand. He turns to the other two candidates. Herb is clapping too with a big smile. Jeremy's laptop beeps and he looks down at his bag near his feet.

In the forest sector, there are pulsations as they lead to a white tower, which then turns red. XANA is on the move again.

* * *

Yumi continues looking outside the window with a small smile. The other students are silent as they drive to their doom of boredom. Science field trips always came with an assignment, so they were dreading this already. And with Jim, he was going to be especially hard on them...but also amusing.

Jim snores on Ms. Hertz's shoulder. She gives him an annoyed look, trying to get him off, to no avail. The bus driver drives straight, but purple electricity suddenly appears from the control panel. He yelps, recoiling back in shock. He puts on the brakes.

"Don't be scared! You gotta put her down when you're in the jungle!" Jim immediately shouts, snapping out of it.

"What's going on?" The bus driver asks in shock at the steering wheel. A specter comes from it, spreading to all of the seats except for Yumi's.

"What's the matter?" Yumi stands up in concern. "Are we already th-" She holds in a gasp as all the students, Jim, and Ms. Hertz have the XANA symbol in their eyes.

"Oh no..." She murmurs at the situation. XANA Jim stares at her, purple electricity coming from his right hand. The Japanese girl gasps sharply, backing away slowly. He aims his hand at the window, breaking it. She glances at the hole he made, looking back over to the possessed gym teacher.

She jumps out the broken window as he fires again, looking back as they stand there. She runs off towards the forest.

* * *

"In conclusion, I promise to put lots of pretty plants in each and every one of your classrooms," Herb smiles as he finishes his platform, waving. "Won't that be nice, huh?"

"Yeah, bravo, bravo!" Sissi claps for him. "Way to go, Herb!" She glances at Nicolas as everyone else is silent. "Clap, stupid, go on!"

Nicolas smiles nervously, clapping too. He feared that Sissi wouldn't forget it if he didn't clap.

"I'm gonna vote for Herb, aren't you?" She looks to the silent students, who glance at Herb. They all silently thought the same thing.

No way were they gonna vote for Herb.

"Your turn at bat now, Einstein," Odd smirks smugly, winking at Amy. She giggles at him, silently cringing. Now it was between her friend and her boyfriend, who she both supported, but choosing one was going to be hard...

"This is not a game. Being elected as the class rep is really serious with lots of responsibilities," Jeremy warns him.

"And you don't think I'm capable of handling them," Odd accuses as he points to him.

"I never said that," Jeremy says in confusion. He just thinks that Odd wasn't the best person to be represented.

"No, but that's what you're thinking," Odd glares at him and Jeremy says nothing. The slight tension is silent, but apparent as his phone rings. "Well answer it. It's probably some think tank who wants your precious advice."

"Hello? Yumi?"

"Jeremy!" She cries out, panting as her footprints are left behind. "I'm in real big trouble. My whole bus has been XANAified!"

Odd's mouth opens in shock as he heard her. Possessing one person was difficult enough; now it's a whole class?

"Are you sure?" Jeremy asks, the other three narrowing their eyes suspiciously. Judging by the look on his friend's face, something was happening.

"If you don't mind, Belpois," Mr. Fumet calls out from his desk. "We're all waiting for you."

"Yumi, look," Jeremy whispers to her. "I've gotta hang up, but don't worry." He hangs up, leaning in towards Odd. "XANA's just launched an attack."

"Jeremy, if you're still a candidate, speak up. What's your platform?"

"Um," Jeremy looks to the teacher. If he stayed, Yumi would be in more danger... "Well, I-I had some notes, but I...I left them back in my room." He grabs his bag and opens the door. "I'll go...and get them!"

"I'll go with him!" Odd chases after Jeremy. "Keep an eye on the competition!"

"And we better go too, to separate them if they start fighting!" Ulrich says as Aelita and Amy run past him. They run towards the forest, Mr. Fumet and Herb looking at the door weirdly.

"Vote for me, everyone," Herb chimes in with a smile.

"I don't believe this," Mr. Fumet facepalms at the only candidate.

* * *

Yumi tries to run as fast as she can, the other students catching up to her. She glances behind her and continues on, hoping that her friends are on their way to the factory. She clearly can't take on the whole class herself.

William is alone in a classroom, doodling. He puts the pencil to his temple, giving a bored look. "Attack confirmed," He raises a brow at Jeremy's voice, looking out the window. "XANA has activated a tower."

He stands up and looks past the glass to see the five gathered around a bench, looking very suspicious. He knew that they were supposed to be in class as it's only 10th graders on the trip. Ulrich is on the phone.

"Yumi, where are you?"

"At the red trail crossroads," She quickly recognizes the path she's on. "You'd better hurry, I can't hold out much longer!"

"Be right there," He hangs up, glancing to the others.

"Okay, Ulrich, you head for the forest," Ulrich silently leaves in the other direction. "And we'll see what we can do about the activated tower on Lyoko."

"Who knows? Maybe Ames will finally be able to deactivate one!" Odd winks playfully.

"I don't know," Amy rubs her chin. "I've only been able to do it once...and when we tested it, it didn't work on any other tower."

"Maybe because XANA wasn't attacking," Jeremy shrugs at her. William glances at the direction Ulrich went in, sneaking quietly past the sleeping teacher.

Yumi sees that they're still on her trail. They all growl as they catch up and she gasps, tripping on a branch. She looks up to see them advancing and XANA Jim holds up his hand. They come to a stop, staring at the spot where Yumi was, but she seems to be gone. XANA Jim smirks and they run down past Yumi, who is actually hiding behind a tree.

She sighs slowly in relief, yelping as XANA Jim is standing right in front of her. He holds out his hand and she jumps out of the way as purple electricity hits the tree. She starts running again, but this time, XANA Jim hits her in the back.

* * *

Amy, Odd, and Aelita step up to the three scanners. "_The activated tower is in the forest sector. _I'll try to get you in as close as possible. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Odd. Transfer Amy. Scanner Odd. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

There's a whoosh and they're transported to the forest sector just like Jeremy said. They land back to back, standing up as Odd can see the tower.

"Okay, we're here, Jeremy."

"_The tower is due north,_" Amy and Aelita turn around. "_You should be able to see it from where you are_."

"Can't miss it," It's in their sights only a couple of yards away.

"_Here's your taxis._" The Overboard and OverRunner materialize behind them. They fly over to their owners, Amy and Odd jumping on.

"Hop aboard," Odd waves Aelita over. She jumps on behind him. "We're off, Ames!" Odd takes off flying while Amy speeds after him.

"Hm, no monsters...yet," Amy glances around at the empty area. Jeremy seems to notice it too until there's four dots in front of them.

"XANA is sending you some monsters. How original can you get?"

"He hates it when we're bored," Odd comments, Amy rolling her eyes playfully.

"Let's give him another reason to hate us, then," She winks up at him and they see four Tarantulas.

"Okay, let's be polite. We'll say hello to them first," Odd lowers down.

"Hey, take care of yourselves," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "If anything happened to you, I wouldn't have any competition except for Herb!"

"That's the last thing we would want," Amy grins up at Odd. The Tarantulas get on their knees, preparing to fire.

"Don't worry, Einstein, we'll take care of them and I'll go after you," Odd prepares his arrows, Amy pulling out her spear. "Laser Arrow," He fires once, destroying the one on the right. "Let's turn around."

Amy speeds up to the Tarantulas, backflipping out of the car when it crashes into the second one, destroying him. Her wings appear on her back and she follows Odd, both of them dodging lasers from down below. Odd steers to the left, Amy flying over them. Odd steers back and forth, one laser eventually hitting the Overboard. He narrowly misses a tree, glancing in front of him.

"Uh oh." He's headed right for another tree.

Aelita jumps off, bumping into Amy. Odd grips the front of his board. He flies up it as Aelita slides to a stop, Amy landing near her. "Aelita, Ames!"

Jeremy shouts in shock once Odd says her name, seeing Aelita all alone. "You better be careful, Aelita. Lots of Tarantulas are on the way."

The Tarantulas walk up to the girls, Amy slowly sitting up. Aelita looks over as the Tarantulas fire. "Aura of Leaves!" Amy calls out quickly, a green shield with a pink aura looming in front of them. Aelita fires two energy fields, distracting them. "Come on!"

They run past the monsters, Amy holding out her hand to the two left. "Venus Gobbler." The Tarantulas jump out of the way as the carnivorous plant shoots up behind them. Odd flies over to them as they run back and forth from the lasers. Odd jumps in and pushes them out of the way, rolling to a stop. Odd looks down at Amy underneath him.

"You just can't stay away from me, huh?" Odd grins, pointing to her smugly.

"It looks like they can't either," Aelita points to the left. Amy grips Odd's chin, moving his head over so he can see the Tarantulas firing at them. They run in the opposite direction towards the tower.

* * *

Ulrich comes to a stop as he sees footprints. He looks up and follows them forward, not noticing William watching him nearby. He narrows his eyes and follows Ulrich.

XANA Jim fires at Yumi, who falls onto the ground as she's cornered. XANA Jim chuckles evilly at her pain.

Ulrich tries calling her, but she doesn't answer. "Come on, Yumi, pick up." He hangs up with a worried look, glancing behind him. He narrows his eyes, leaning against the tree as William arrives. "What are _you_ doing here? What are you following me for?"

"I heard it all," William starts off. "Yumi's in trouble. I came to see if I could help."

"I don't know what you're talking about," He denies immediately. The last thing he and his friends needed was someone to find out about their secret, most of all William. Yumi's scream can be heard and they turn to it.

William turns back to Ulrich knowingly. "Now do you know what I'm talking about?"

The whole class approaches Yumi and she looks up in shock.

* * *

The trio reach the activated tower, the Tarantulas still firing at them. They run to the left, hiding behind a tree. The Tarantulas kneel and fire at it.

"We'll try to keep them busy. Soon as the coast is clear, head for the tower," Odd tells Aelita.

"Okay," She says in agreement, the other two peeking.

"Well, when you gotta go," Odd rushes towards them on all fours. Amy chuckles and opens her wings again, flying over. Odd dodges the lasers as he gets closer, jumping on the arms of one Tarantula. He leaps from a Tarantula's head, then to another, and lands on the ground. Amy flies above the monsters, following him. The monsters fire at them again, the two glancing back. Odd runs up a tree, Amy flying up as she moves to behind the tree. The Tarantulas follow them to the tree, standing up and firing. Odd fires back with a few laser arrows, Amy throwing her spear.

The arrows hit the third Tarantula, destroying it. The spear misses and she grunts. Another Tarantula arrives and Odd moves to the other side.

"_Nice going, Odd._"

Aelita glances back to Odd and Amy as they're still distracting the monsters. She crouches down, about to move.

"_Wait, Aelita. They're still too close_." If she moved now, the Tarantulas would see her and start aiming for her instead.

XANA Jim laughs as the class surrounds an injured Yumi. William and Ulrich peek over a bush. "Hey, that's Jim shooting lightning out of his fingers. Is this a nightmare or what?" William asks in surprise.

"William," Ulrich narrows his eyes as this was a serious issue. "Do you wanna help Yumi or not? Then don't say anything and do what I tell you."

The Tarantulas continue firing and Odd climbs down the tree, Amy staring at him in worry. He jumps over a Tarantula, firing twice. He crawls underneath the other one as the one he hit explodes. He takes off into a run, Amy flying after him. She waves to the Tarantula and he takes the bait, following after them. They're soon far away from the activated tower.

"Aelita, go!"

Aelita takes off into a run as Jeremy calls Ulrich. "Ulrich?"

"What, Jeremy?" Ulrich speaks into his phone, glancing at the class to make sure that they didn't hear.

"_Aelita is heading for the tower. She should be shutting it down in about five minutes."_

"Good, because I'm getting ready to do something risky with William."

"William?" Jeremy asks in confusion. When did William get mixed up in this? "What are you and William doing together? Are you two guys buddies now?"

"_Nah, he's giving me a hand. I'll explain later_."

"Yeah, well-"

"_Jeremy_," Aelita interrupts him. "_I've got a big problem_."

Aelita backs away slowly as the Scyphozoa appears from behind the tower. It approaches her slowly. "The Scyphozoa," Jeremy says in recognition.

"_But why? It's already got all the data that XANA needed from me and Amy. What could it want now?_" Aelita asks curiously.

"I don't know, Aelita, but please you or Amy don't stick around trying to find out," He warns her.

Aelita jumps over tentacles, firing her energy fields. It does nothing as he swerves to dodge them. She then starts running.

"Ulrich, change in the program. The tower is not gonna get deactivated right away," Jeremy informs the brunette boy.

"I guess we can't count on you guys," He comments dryly, walking up to the possessed class. "How are you doing, zombies?" They turn around to him, silently wondering how he knew where they were. "Oh, I know I'm not welcome, but I love strolling in the woods." He turns around and runs.

"After him," XANA Jim orders and they all take off except for him. He turns to the unconscious Yumi, smirking widely. She wouldn't be able to fight back in her state, so he takes his leave too.

Someone places a hand over her ear. "Yumi. Yumi!" William whispers, but she doesn't open her eyes.

* * *

Aelita reaches the edge of the platform, shouting in surprise. She's now stuck as the Scyphozoa slowly approaches her.

"Aelita, try to hit him with the energy field," Jeremy says nervously. She does so, but her hand gets smacked away by a tentacle. She looks up in fear as the Scyphozoa grabs her in his tentacles, lifting her up in the air. He presses his tentacles to her forehead, starting to do something.

"No!" Jeremy cries out, holding his head.

"_Jeremy, what's going on?"_

"_Is Aelita okay?"_

"The Scyphozoa's attacked Aelita. Hurry, she needs your help," Jeremy urges in a panicked tone. The two are hiding behind a tree as the Tarantula is firing at them with no mercy.

"We'd love to help, but our new playmate doesn't seem to agree," Odd calls out.

"We have to do something. Aelita's in trouble," Amy reminds him and Odd prepares his arm. He fires three times, but it does nothing to stop the Tarantula. Amy holds out her hand. "Green Luxuriant Ivy," Vines approach the Tarantula, but he fires at the vines, making them disappear.

"Now what?" She asks Odd, rubbing a temple. He sees something on the ground, picking it up. "A rock?"

He throws it into the air, catching it. He throws the rock and the Tarantula destroys it, allowing Odd and Amy to crawl up to him. He jumps onto the arms and leaps using its head, running off with Amy in tow. The Tarantula follows after them.

Aelita can only stare as the Scyphozoa is almost done. "I don't get it. It looks like the Scyphozoa has implanted something into Aelita's memory."

"Almost there, Jeremy," Odd flips, taking off into a run. Amy opens her wings and flies above Odd. They come to a stop and just before they could attack, the monster drops Aelita onto the ground. They both gasp in horror, staring at her. Was she...?

"Aelita is alive. I don't understand," Jeremy comments in confusion. The two run up to her, bending down.

"Aelita, you gotta wake up. It's us, Odd and Ames."

"Come on, Aelita," Amy shakes her. She looks up at him.

"Yoo hoo, come on, you can take a nap later."

She narrows her XANA-filled eyes, knocking them aside. "Jeremy, got a problem here," Odd looks up as Aelita walks up to them. "Something's wrong with Aelita."

Aelita glares at them and Amy sees her eyes, gasping.

"Aelita, answer me. It's Jeremy. Wake up! Come on!"

She doesn't listen as she holds out her hand. An energy field appears and she throws it at them. Odd pulls Amy out of the way as it hits a tree and they hide behind it. Aelita approaches the Tarantula, who offers his head to her. She jumps on and the monster walks off with her.

"Jeremy, what's going on?!" Odd exclaims, Amy turning to him.

"Guys...I think XANA...took control of her through the Scyphozoa."

They both gasp at her explanation. "How can you tell?" Odd asks her.

"I'm not 100 percent sure, but I saw the XANA symbol in her eyes."

"Find your vehicles and follow Aelita. I have a feeling Amy's right," Jeremy frowns to himself.

The duo turn around. "What about the tower?"

"Odd, if we don't stop Aelita, there's no way we can deal with the tower," Amy tells him regrettably.

* * *

In the forest, Ulrich is surrounded by the whole class. "Fifteen against one, huh? I've been through worse."

Yumi, who has woken up, puts her phone to her ear. William is nearby as they hide behind rocks. "Jeremy, what's going on with the tower? I'm back and ready to go, but it's Ulrich who's in trouble this time."

"There's only a slim chance of deactivating the tower right away," He tells her, though he really wasn't sure.

"How slim?"

"To be honest...none at all," He closes his eyes.

Yumi sighs in defeat, hanging up. "Ready to fight, William?"

He glances at his stick and then at the class. He nods at her and they turn back to their targets. XANA Jim holds out his hand, firing electricity at Ulrich. He groans in pain and the others hold out their hands, ready to finish him off.

"Yoo hoo!" Yumi calls out, interrupting them. She waves to them with a smile.

"Grab the girl!" XANA Jim orders and the class runs up to her. She jumps out of the way.

"Bonzai!" They turn around to William, who rushes over. He jumps over electricity, stabbing the stick into the air. He spins around, kicking all of them to the ground in one fell swoop.

"Go after him," He hears XANA Jim order, "Right now!"

The others rush over to William while he hears a whistle. He looks up to see Yumi jumping towards him from the tree above him. She hits him on the head, landing behind him. He holds out his hand, firing a wave of electricity. She leaps over it and phases right through Jim when she tries to tackle him. Yumi ends up right on top of Ulrich and they stare at each other.

Only Ms. Hertz is left as William took care of the class. She flickers as he spins the stick. He runs up to her and prepares to attack, but she takes a hold of the stick, her hand sparking with electricity.

"You taught us that wood doesn't conduct electricity," He points out and she throws him to the ground.

* * *

"Can you hear me, guys? What's going on?"

Amy drives underneath Odd as they look up ahead, seeing the Tarantula. They're almost to a way tower. "I get the feeling that Aelita is heading for the way tower."

"Just what we needed," Jeremy deadpans as he looks at the dots. The Tarantula comes to a stop and lowers its head to allow Aelita to climb down. She approaches the tower just as Odd and Amy arrive. The Tarantula opens fire at them, hitting Odd's Overboard. Amy drives over and catches him.

"Thanks for the save, my princess," He winks at her.

"Anytime...wait. I wonder if I could deactivate the tower..." She rubs her chin.

"What makes you think it'll work now?" Odd asks her as he jumps out of the car.

"Well, I don't see anything that suggests she can't...not like the last time I checked," Jeremy rubs her chin. "_Okay, go check just to make sure_."

"You stay with Aelita. I'm off," Amy speeds down the path as the Tarantula approaches him. Aelita enters the tower.

"Aelita?" Jeremy asks as she walks onto the platform, but in a more sinister way. She stops at the middle and flies up to the top, landing on the pad. She walks up to the interface and signs in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

Instead of Lyoko...

She puts in XANA.

Amy reaches the tower...but before she can enter it, she's devirtualized by a Tarantula from behind.

Odd is about to finish off the Tarantula, but it suddenly disappears into nothing. He stares in confusion as the tower starts disappearing too and he gives a worried look.

"What is going on...?"

Aelita falls from the tower and he looks over her. "Odd...what happened to me?"

"Uh, I'll tell you about it later," He stares at the land disappearing. "Right now, let's run for it!" They start running away as more land starts disappearing.

"What's happening now?" Jeremy lifts down his glasses as the eraser gets faster by the second.

"The sector's disappearing!" Odd calls out as they run past the tower. He gets a horrified look as he doesn't see Amy anywhere. "Rematerialize us!"

He gets to work as Amy arrives, holding her head. She gasps at what's happening. "The forest sector..."

Ulrich and Yumi both get electrocuted by Jim and Ms. Hertz. The possessed faculty members drop them with a sinister smile. They approach the teens, holding out their hands. They cringe for the next attack.

The activated tower completely disappears. "_The activated tower!_"

Jim and Ms. Hertz turn back to normal, both of them falling unconscious. Yumi and Ulrich stare in shock. "Are you okay? William's not in great shape," Ulrich glances away as Yumi pulls out her phone.

"Jeremy, did you manage to get the tower deactivated?"

"I didn't," He says as he's looking at Lyoko. "It deactivated itself, because the forest sector is in the process of disappearing."

"WHAT?!" They both exclaim.

The eraser gets closer and closer. "Jeremy!" Odd calls out as they fall towards the Digital Sea. "HURRY!"

Jeremy smiles and presses enter. "Rematerialization."

They disappear right before they could hit the deadly water, walking out of the scanners.

"I don't know what happened," Aelita looks up at Odd.

"Well, for one thing, it was a pretty close call. Otherwise, I don't know what happened either. But I'm sure Einstein can tell us...w-wait, where's Amy?"

"Right here," She grins as she climbs down the ladder. As soon as she reaches the top, Odd engulfs her into a hug.

"Don't scare me like that, Ames!"

"Sorry," She smiles sheepishly. "I got devirtualized before I could try deactivating the tower."

* * *

The class starts waking up, feeling confused on why they're on the ground. Jim looks around.

"Look over there," Yumi points to something. "That moss must be the result of pollution! I love science field trips," She smiles innocently.

Ulrich opens the door to the study hall, dragging William inside and putting him back in his spot. "Okay, nap time, but don't you dare dream about Yumi."

William wakes up. His eyes widen in shock as he sees he's right where he was before.

"Wow! What a nightmare," He holds his head. Ulrich closes the door in relief.

* * *

"It's no use," Jeremy reports once the three are in the lab. "The forest sector doesn't exist anymore. XANA has totally wiped it off the map."

"If only I hadn't gone into that way tower," Aelita's eyes are closed in guilt. "And if only I hadn't punched in that code..."

"You weren't in control of yourself," Amy places a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Don't you see? XANA used you, Aelita. He launched an attack just to lure us to Lyoko," Jeremy tells her.

"But why would he do that?" Odd asks and Jeremy turns to him.

"If the surface sectors disappear, we won't be able to get to Sector Five anymore."

"You mean that XANA's gonna destroy all the sectors?" Odd wonders in shock.

"Just to get us away from Sector Five?" Amy asks in surprise. She didn't think XANA would even stoop to that level. In all the time that they've known him, this was definitely new, and definitely up his alley.

"Sure is," They all turn to the screen, where the forest sector is missing. "If only I could find a way to materialize you directly into Sector Five. Looks like I've got plenty of work ahead! Well, it's a good thing I'm not gonna get elected class rep."

"How do you know that?" Odd raises a brow at him.

"Easy. Cuz we're all gonna vote for you," Jeremy replies, Odd grinning. He had too much work to do to be class rep, anyway.

* * *

"And your newly elected class representative is...Odd Della Robbia," Mr. Fumet announces and the whole class erupts into claps and cheers. Odd walks past them all, winking at Amy. She giggles as she claps louder for him.

"Nicolas!" Sissi gives the boy an accusing look. "Don't tell me that you voted for Odd too!"

"Uh, yeah," He answers nervously. He didn't really think that Herb could help their school by planting flowers...

Sissi glares at the grinning Herb. "Take that grin off your face dorkhead!"

"Alright, Odd!" The whole class surrounds him.

"I'm glad you're our class rep!"

"You think you can get me out of gym?"

"Hey, cool it, calm down!" Odd waves his hands. "One at a time, okay?"

"Congratulations, Odd. I knew you'd win," Amy smiles softly at him.

"Well, my first act as class rep," Odd holds up a finger. "Is to nominate my girlfriend Ames to be my vice representative! I need someone to organize all my ideas and make up my strategies!"

"Me...?" Amy blinks in surprise at the sudden declaration.

"What?" Sissi exclaims in shock and anger. "That's not fair, class reps aren't allowed to have vice representatives!"

"There are no rules against it," Mr. Fumet rubs his chin. "And I think the principal will agree it's a wonderful idea. If Odd cannot perform his duties, someone has to step in for him. And who better than an intellectual, sensible, and focused person such as Amelia?"

"Odd, I don't know if I can do it," Amy frowns at him.

"Nonsense!" Odd turns to the crowd. "Who wants my girlfriend to be vice representative!"

They all cheer and she rubs her neck nervously. She feels like Odd wouldn't stop, so she gives in. "Okay, I'll do it..." Besides, it couldn't be that bad...after all, it's Odd. Not only that, it'd be a possible maneuver to get her 'father' off her back. It could look good for her college applications if he didn't approve.

"YAHOO!" Odd hugs her tightly and she laughs as Milly and Tamiya come in, recording the happy couple. Sissi growls in jealousy, clenching her fists.


	57. Tidal Wave

In the factory, Jeremy is hard at work, with his friends surrounding him. It's late at night, but none of them realize it. "Okay, all I have to do now is analyze the data you just gathered from Sector Five."

"Do you think we can learn anything from it?" Yumi asks curiously.

"I have no idea, but if there's a possibility of finding a clue for fighting XANA on the internet, it's worth a try," Jeremy frowns uncertainly.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but something to eat would really hit the spot," Odd comments, Amy rolling her eyes.

"I gave you a chocolate bar 5 minutes ago, Odd."

"That's not enough and you know it!" He points to her. "You know me, Ames."

"Yeah, and I gave it to you because I know you wouldn't stop complaining," She shakes her head at him. "How's that for knowing ya?"

"Anyway, better forget about it, Odd. We can't be late for gym," Ulrich tells his friend.

"Huh?!" Odd is, needless to say, shocked. Gym...before breakfast? Usually it was the other way around. "But we haven't had breakfast yet!"

"Too late," Ulrich sings, raising a brow. The sun soon comes up, Odd's stomach growling like it's about to burst. He cringes as he's shaking. Amy looks at him in worry.

"Hey Odd, could you cool it for a second?" Ulrich glances back at him.

"He's right. Your stomach is almost as talkative as you are," Aelita comments, standing next to Odd.

"Now listen, if I don't get something to eat right away, there's no telling what I might do," He grips onto Amy's shirt, holding onto her. "Ames...hold me...!"

"Okay...?" She glances up at her friends awkwardly. She has never seen Odd like this before...

And it was honestly concerning.

"Hey Odd, did you forget? You just had another chocolate bar five minutes ago," Jeremy reminds him. Odd looks away with an angry look.

"That's nothing! That was just a warm-up! I need some real food to get me going in the morning!"

"Like some beans or potatoes with a banana or two for dessert," Ulrich teases, raising an eyebrow.

"It's just a sports competition, Odd," Amy tells him gently. "I don't have anything else, but can't you just hold on until then?"

"I will if you just hold me...until I have my salvation."

"I can't take you anywhere," Amy sighs, placing a hand on her forehead.

"You promised me you'd take me in sickness and in health. Well, I'm not in health!" He retorts to her.

She decides not to say anything, because he was being overdramatic. None of her friends seem to want to tell him that's in marriage and not a relationship, because for one it was funny. And two, Amy's red cheeks made it all worth it. Nevertheless, she engulfs him into a hug, loosely wrapping her arms around him.

Jim suddenly bursts into...the gym. "Hey, I know you kids are gonna be disappointed, but it looks like I'm gonna have to cancel today's shotput competition."

The whole class cheers at the news. "Quiet down!" He steps in front of them. "Actually, since today is nutrition day, our school nurse, Yolanda Paradin, is gonna speak to you and tell you what you should eat," He gestures to the woman as she walks in, "In order to have a great shape. I-I mean, to keep in shape." He places a hand on her shoulder and she gives him a look while he's chuckling.

He looks to her and removes his hand sheepishly. She sighs in frustration at him. "So those of you who can't wait until you wolf down your next junk food meal, have better think twice before you do, because junk food is your worst enemy!"

"Unless your name is Odd. His worst enemy is whoever gets between him and his food!" Ulrich teases with a big smile.

"I learned that the hard way," Amy rubs her neck nervously.

"Better believe it! I love food as much as I love my girlfriend."

"Oh wow," Amy blushes again. Odd was definitely being dramatic that time...

Right?

"And so for example, if for lunch, you have mashed potatoes and lamb, there's no need for steak and fires at night," Yolanda recites with a smile.

"What is she talking about, anyway?" Odd asks bitterly. "If I eat mashed potatoes and lamb, there's no reason to wait for dinner. I can have steak and fries for dessert!"

"You'd better hope we don't get a test on what she said. Because you'd get a zero for sure, Odd," Ulrich whispers to him, Jeremy smiling in amusement.

"Man, I hope not. I'm getting hungry too, a test would make me lose my focus," Amy rubs her temple.

"Now my Ames is hungry? This is unfair justice!"

Aelita giggles at Odd's antics, Amy rolling her eyes.

"So! Don't forget that a head of lettuce can save your life. And remember, the better you eat, the better you live. Look at me, ha!" Jim stretches his arms. "I'm an example of what good food can do. I'm in perfect shape. He bends down, but when he gets back up, all of them hear a crack. "Ah, I just pulled something! Yolanda, help. I can't move."

Yolanda looks at him in shock before facepalming in embarrassment. This was not the last impression she wanted to leave on the students...

"Okay Odd, it's finally time for lu-" Jeremy shouts in shock to see that Odd and Amy are both gone. "Guys?"

* * *

Rosa serves fish to a student before Odd cuts in. "So Rosa, what do you got today? Shepherd's pie, sausages and fries? Pea stew, huh?"

"Odd, you can't cu-" Amy sighs in defeat as she's at the end of the line with Ulrich.

"Odd...I didn't want to, but they said I had to cook healthy and well-balanced meals from now on," She gives a regretful look. No one appreciated good food like Odd did, and she was going to miss that.

"What?" He asks in confusion, looking at the options. "Grated carrots and cucumbers? Steamed vegetables and-and fish?!" She scoops up some fish.

"Not even fried or breaded," She places it down.

Odd gives a dejected look, not even touching his plate. Ulrich and Amy join him. "Great, I love broccoli."

"Say that again and you're dead fish!" Odd retorts to him.

"Aw, Odd. I'm sorry that you're not getting the food you want..." Amy sits next to him. "But I happen to like vegetables, so I'm not waiting another second," She dives into her food.

"You, I can make an exception for because I accepted you and your eating habits. But my own best friend, I will not!"

"Aw," Yumi smiles at the couple as Amy grins, taking another bite out of her food. "I'm sorry I can't go with you, I've got Italian."

"No big deal," Jeremy gives her an understanding smile. "We're just gonna analyze all that data that you brought back from Sector Five."

"How bout you guys?" Aelita offers the boys and her sister. "Do you wanna come?"

"Sorry Aelita, I know we're related, but that sounds like something you should do on your own," Amy holds up her hands.

"No," Odd scoffs at her. "Ulrich, Ames you two stay here. I need you."

"Oh you do, huh? What for?"

* * *

Jeremy and Aelita enter the lab together. "What do you think the internet looks like?" She asks curiously as they step inside.

"I don't know, but I guess we're gonna find out." He sees the screen, and all plans are abandoned. "Uh oh."

"An alert."

"Oh no," Jeremy complains at the activated tower.

* * *

Mr. Caggiat is reciting Italian to the class. "Italian is such a beautiful and romantic language, isn't it?" William turns to Yumi.

"I guess," She gives a look of boredom. Her phone beeps and she flips it over to see a message: XANA is on the attack. "Uh oh." She glances at William, remembering a tactic Odd and Amy use sometimes if they want to be alone during class time. She stands up, raising her hand. "Sir, William's not feeling well. I have to take him to the infirmary."

"Uh, what seems to be the trouble, William?"

"W-Well," He stammers as he's thinking of an excuse. "Uh, to tell you the truth, I don't really know."

Mr. Caggiat hums in thought, but decides to let them out anyway. Yumi walks down the hall as William catches up to her. "I guess, uh, you wanted us to be alone. That's why you said I was sick, huh? Me too, whenever I see you, I...I mean, I, um, and nice tactic, I've seen Amy and Odd running around during class. M-Maybe I oughta tell you this in Italian."

As he's rambling, Yumi is already gone. "Yumi? Yu...where'd she go?"

Yumi arrives at the manhole cover, looking around. She lifts it up, looking towards the sewers.

* * *

Odd peeks around the corner of the building, the cafeteria. "Not a soul out here. The coast is clear." He steps out into the open. "Time to eat up a storm."

Ulrich's phone rings. "Hang on," He picks up, "Jeremy?"

"Head for the factory on the double. XANA has activated a tower," Jeremy narrows his eyes.

"Be right there," He hangs up, looking at Odd knowingly.

"That's what you think. I refuse to be virtualized on an empty stomach," Odd denies, about to open the door.

"Odd," Amy warns him. "Jeremy needs us. You can eat later."

"But please, Ames! Just one meal! Don't make me choose between you and food!"

"Sheesh, it's like you two are in some imaginary love triangle between Odd, food, and you," Ulrich shakes his head.

"I'm not trying to make you choose. I'm just pointing out your priorities," Amy rolls her eyes. Odd's being more dramatic than she is, and that's saying a lot. A reminder to herself, bring an emergency meal if Odd was ever in this situation again.

Jim opens the door before Odd can. "Eating healthy is okay, but I'm starved," He smiles down at all the meat and potatoes. He throws a peeled potato in his mouth.

"Well, what do you know?" Odd comments smugly as he sees the feast on Jim's tray.

"Stern, Smith, and Della Robbia, what are you three doing here?" Jim demands, his voice muffled because of his stuffed mouth.

"And you, I thought you were a nut about staying in shape," Odd retorts back.

"Uh...I asked you first, answer me."

"Jim, shame on you. You're the one going down on our backs for eating healthy when you're not doing the same. And you know that we can't ignore what just ha-"

The window suddenly breaks, gaining their attention and interrupting Amy. A single green apple rolls onto the sand. They stare at it in confusion. The three didn't know what to expect this time...but Rosa's not in the cafeteria...so what was the attack?

All the food from inside the cafeteria starts moving on its own, falling down the shelves. They roll to the windows, shooting out into the open. They all gasp in shock, Jim looking at his tray. It starts shaking and the food falls to the ground. Soon, the whole ground gets covered in food, covering everything...

Aelita looks at the screen while Jeremy is typing. The elevator doors open to reveal Yumi. "That was fast," Aelita comments as she enters.

"Where are Odd, Amy, and Ulrich?" Yumi looks around the room.

"They're on their way," Jeremy answers just as he gets a call from Amy.

"_Jeremy."_

"What is it, Amy?" He notices her panicked voice.

"Uh, Einstein, we have a problem. We might be a little late..."

"Is it XANA?"

"Uh, I'd say definitely," She comments nervously as a wave of food towers over them.

"Okay, don't panic. We're gonna deactivate the tower," He says as the food monster approaches them. They all shout nervously as it raises an arm over them. The four let out a scream as food threatens to tower over them. Odd pushes Amy out of the way while Ulrich runs in the other direction. Jim holds up his tray to try and fend off the attack, but it has no effect.

"You okay, Jim?" Odd asks as he stands up. "You're not hurt?"

"Hurt?" Jim is holding some food on the tray over his head, but he's surrounded by food. "No, I don't think so."

"Anyway, you were right about one thing. Food can be your worst enemy. Wow," Ulrich comments as he looks at the ground.

"You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad I actually ate those vegetables," Amy replies, looking down as the monster reforms.

* * *

"Transfer Yumi," Jeremy gets to work on virtualizing the girls. "Transfer Aelita. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization!" He presses enter and they virtualize into the mountain sector. They land right on the Overwing. "_The activated tower is a little further north. Watch out, XANA's sent some Krabs after you._"

"Okay, we read you," Yumi says, looking behind her to see a Krab firing. Another one joins him and Yumi swerves to the right when she reaches a rock. She glances behind her as the Krabs follow, another one blocking her path from the tower. Yumi narrowly misses the shot and swoops down, flying to the side. She flies upside down, surprising Aelita. They fly right over the Krab.

"Energy field," Aelita holds out her hand, firing straight at the symbol. The Krab explodes and the other two continue to follow the girls.

* * *

The food monster trails up to the four and they run off into the park. "Okay, no more Mr. Nice Guy!" Jim calls out. "It's time to teach this pile of junk a lesson! Stay here, this won't take more than two seconds, ready?"

"No!" Amy calls out.

"GO!" He turns around, attempting to block all the food, but the food is too strong and he gets trampled by all the items. Ulrich, Amy, and Odd stare in shock.

"He was right, it didn't take more than two seconds," Odd comments, Amy facepalming. Some of it moves away to reveal an unconscious Jim. "I can't believe it, I'm gonna be eaten by a mountain of food and I'm starving to death."

"Some guys were born to lose," Ulrich groans in disbelief at all the food.

"When I said you'd eat soon, I didn't mean this much," Amy says to Odd, cringing. The food monster emerges from all the mess.

* * *

Yumi swerves right again as they fly around the rock that's near the activated tower. "Energy field," Aelita fires down below, destroying another Krab. Yumi flies down the path.

"I can see the tower, Jeremy."

"Well done, ladies," Jeremy smiles at them.

"_Wait a second, Jeremy, something feels weird,_" Aelita voices her concerns. And she's right as something is happening to the mountain sector... "The Digital Sea seems to have risen all of a sudden."

The water rises, starting to engulf rocks.

"_What's going on over there?" _Jeremy asks as the girls look around. The water starts touching the path they were on, a Krab walking up to them. It gets destroyed by the Digital Sea as soon as it touches it. "Hey, you're right, Aelita. The Digital Sea is really going way up."

Yumi flies over the water and to the tower. "_Another one of XANA's tricks._"

"Do you mean that Lyoko is going to be submerged and disappear forever?" Yumi asks in shock.

"No, it won't disappear. Lyoko's sectors aren't affected by the Digital Sea, but it will get submerged unless I can find a way to lower the sea level." A screen pops up. "Oh no, monsters are heading for the chamber at the core of Lyoko. XANA's trying to stop you from deactivating the tower. And by accessing Sector Five by raising the level of the Digital Sea! And that's precisely how he plans to quietly wipe out Lyoko. _You've gotta get to Sector Five before the sea swallows up the mountain sector. But first, take care of the tower._"

"Too late," Yumi says as they approach the tower. "It's not accessible." The water is blocking the entrance, and unfortunately, there's no way to access it from above. So now the others are completely stuck with the food wave.

* * *

The food monster walks up slowly, searching for its targets. Odd's phone rings and he quickly pulls it out, hoping that the food monster didn't hear. "Jeremy."

"How are you guys doing?"

"_Let's just say we've got indigestion big time without having eaten anything! How about you?_"

"It's grim here too. Impossible to deactivate the tower, and Yumi and Aelita are going to be needing back-up," Jeremy reports, the three running.

"I love it when you talk to me like that, Jeremy. Don't worry, we'll figure something out," He hangs up. "Want the latest news, guys?"

"Is it good?"

"Please tell me it's good," Amy closes her eyes in hope.

"Not really!"

"Then no," Ulrich replies back and they run faster.

"Jeremy, the sea's getting higher and higher. I don't know if we're gonna make it all the way to the edge of the sector," Yumi says in worry as the water is dangerously about to touch her Overwing.

"You've gotta make it there for the transporter!" Jeremy urges to her. She flies over a rock. "Amy, Odd, and Ulrich should be there soon to give you guys some help."

Ulrich opens the manhole cover. "Hurry!"

"Too late," Odd looks up nervously and the food monster looms over them. "Ames, go!" Odd pushes Amy inside and she screams as she falls, grabbing a rung and looking up.

"Next time, give me a warning, why don't ya?!" She exclaims up at him. Thank goodness for her reflexes...

"But I did. I said to go," He replies with a causal shrug. Ulrich stands up, holding the cover as a makeshift shield.

"Odd, head for the factory with Amy while I try stalling this junkie."

"Okay, I'll let you have all the food, but only because it's you!" Odd enters the sewers as the monster approaches a nervous Ulrich. It starts piling food towards him and he holds it back as best as he can, sliding a bit. The food overpowers him and then there's a crash. A single apple rolls into the sewers, where Ulrich is holding onto the ladder. He lands on the ground, but the food comes crashing in from above and he grabs his skateboard, the food monster trailing after him.

While Odd and Amy are in the elevator, they're both eerily silent. Amy looks a bit uncomfortable and Odd glances at her, sensing something wrong. "Everything okay, Ames?"

"Huh?" She snaps out of it, shaking her head. "Oh...uh..." How was she going to break it to him that she was thinking about what he said earlier? That he loved her as much as food? She wasn't ready to face those feelings yet...she didn't know if she really loved him at this point. For her, it was too soon to tell.

"Heh...right." He rubs his neck sheepishly. "Sorry that I was too dramatic at gym and at lunch. You know how I get without food."

"No need to tell me," She raises a hand. "Honestly, I've gotten used to it...you didn't mean what you said, right?"

"Um," He scratches his nose, knowing exactly what she was talking about. If he said no, it might hurt her feelings. If he said yes, it might freak her out. "To be fair, I say a lot of things."

"Yeah, that's true..." She rubs her chin with a small smile. "Anyway...I don't know if I actually...you know."

"Yeah, no, it's cool," He waves it off. "I don't want you to feel forced in our relationship. I don't know if I feel...that way either."

"Okay, then it's settled," Amy takes a deep breath. "We won't tell each other that until we're ready."

"Right!" He nods in agreement, holding her hand.

"_Jeremy, don't tell me that XANA_-"

"Is sending Hornets after you? He is," Jeremy narrows his eyes in annoyance.

"Things were getting a little boring," Yumi rolls her eyes, glancing behind her to see three Hornets. She just had to be right this one time.

Odd and Amy arrive in the lab, running up to Jeremy. "SOS Service here. What's the trouble, sir?"

"Guys, get into the scanner room, hurry," Jeremy turns around to them. "Where's Ulrich?"

"He's got some game going on in the sewer," Odd glances away.

"If anything, he's getting the most nutrition today," Amy crosses her arms. "Yolanda would be proud."

Ulrich runs as fast as he can, but it's like the food monster is a race car with the way he's catching up to him. Ulrich skates as far as he can, reaching the intersection. He jumps off his board, landing in the water below. The food monster searches for him, eventually walking through a tunnel. Ulrich lifts himself out of the water once its gone, checking his phone, but it's all wet and unusable.

"Out of commission, great."

Yumi and Aelita get surrounded by Hornets. The geisha pulls out her fan, blocking the lasers. She throws one of her fans, getting the one in the back. She catches it when it comes back, unfortunately getting hit from behind. The laser knocks her off the Overwing.

"Yumi!" Aelita calls out, getting the controls just before she could crash into a rock. She turns around and heads for Yumi.

"I'll bring you back in, Yumi," Jeremy gets to work as Aelita watches Yumi heading for the Digital Sea. Aelita holds out her hand, firing an energy field. This devirtualizes Yumi just before she could hit the water. "Well done, Aelita. You were much faster than I was. Hang on now until Odd and Amy come. Transfer Odd. Transfer Amy. Virtualization."

Yumi emerges from a scanner just after the two are virtualized. "Odd, I materialized your Overboard. You, Amy, and Aelita have got to get into Sector Five no matter what, you hear?"

"_No problem_!" Odd says like a soldier.

"_We'll take it from here, Jeremy._"

"Jeremy, where's Ulrich?" Yumi asks curiously once she's gotten up.

"Last I heard, he was down in the sewers, fighting one of XANA's monsters," Ulrich's ID card disappears since his phone is wet. "His mobile isn't answering."

"_I'll go find him, he must need help_."

Aelita dodges lasers from the two Hornets, landing at the sector. She slides off the Overwing in her attempt. "Energy field," She throws it at one of them, but the last one hits her in the torso, causing her to slide, landing just above the Digital Sea. She turns to it and yelps, standing up. Aelita covers herself as the last Hornet prepares to fire.

"Laser Arrow!"

"Rock Spear."

Two projectiles destroy the final Hornet. She looks up, pumping a fist at her saviors. "You can relax now, princess. Your knights in shining armor are here," Odd calls out, him and Amy flying in on the Overboard. Amy waves to Aelita.

"Okay guys, play hero later. But for now, get into position. I'm typing in the code Scipio."

The two land next to Aelita, the transporter swallowing them up just before the Digital Sea engulfs the path...

The elevator door opens and Yumi steps out into the main floor, kicking away a can. It rolls to a pile of food and she gasps in shock.

The transporter lands in the Arena. "We're inside, Jeremy. What's the latest?"

"The latest is that all of Lyoko has been submerged in the Digital Sea," Jeremy explains to the newcomers.

"_You think we can bring the level down_?" Aelita asks hopefully.

"I hope so. Thanks to the information you're going to find for me. If not, we won't be able to deactivate the tower. You've gotta reach the chamber at the Core of Lyoko fast or it's bye bye to our beautiful virtual world forever!"

"Okay, we get the picture. Let's go," Amy narrows her eyes in determination. They run up to the wall once they exit the Arena and the pathway turns into a vortex of platforms. They start jumping on them.

"And don't forget to stop the countdown, huh?"

"_No sweat, Einstein_!" Odd chirps.

"Oh no? Then how come I'm sweating?"

"Relax, it's us. We've got this...I hope," Amy murmurs the last part to herself.

* * *

Yumi runs away from the food monster. "No!" As she's running, Ulrich appears from the upper level.

"Yumi!"

"Ulrich!" She pleads for him to help.

"Hang in there!" He spins around and grabs a pipe. "I'm coming!"

She glances back behind her as the monster gets closer. It suddenly trips her and she falls onto her back, staring up at the danger.

"NO!" Ulrich suddenly shouts, jumping into the air and attacking the monster. Yumi gasps in shock and he swings back and forth, knocking away food until the monster is gone.

"You actually conquered the junk pile!" Yumi smirks at him.

"I wouldn't bet on an unconditional surrender," He comments as more food flies into the air.

* * *

"_It's okay, Jeremy, we passed the Core Zone_," Aelita reports while Jeremy keeps an eye on the Core of Lyoko. "_We're in the elevator._"

"Better hurry, the monsters have started to attack the Core of Lyoko!" He stares at all the monsters in the room.

The elevator comes to a stop before zooming around the Celestial Dome. "We made it, Jeremy," Aelita says with a smile.

"We're coming into the Celestial Dome," Odd reports as the door opens.

"Good. Aelita, head for the interface. You've gotta get me the data I need to lower the level of the Digital Sea. Odd, Amy, you two head for the Core of Lyoko."

Aelita stops at the edge. "We're on it!" Odd's Overboard appears and he gestures to it. "Hop abroad, my little Ames."

She smiles softly at him and jumps on first. Odd jumps on in front of her and they take off.

The monster has reformed, looking around for its targets. Ulrich and Yumi are hiding behind a pole. The girl turns to him with an amused look.

"By the way Ulrich, thanks for saving my life."

"Hm, what wouldn't I do for you?" He smiles a bit.

"Aelita, have you found anything?" Jeremy asks as he's gotten nothing back from his screen.

She looks around, a frown on her face. "Nothing yet..."

Amy and Odd fly into the entrance of the room. "How about you, guys? What's up?" Jeremy asks them as they're running up the stairs.

"Everything's cool!"

"Ah, I wouldn't say cool just yet," Amy comments as they come to a stop.

"We're in the chamber of the Core of Lyoko," Odd says as they look up, seeing three Mantas firing at the sphere. Odd's stomach suddenly growls and he looks down at himself, holding his stomach. "I know I said everything's cool, but I'm still dying of hunger!"

"Relax, we just have to save the world again and you can eat all you want," Amy places a hand on his shoulder. "If I could, I'd give you a whole steak right now."

"...With fries?" He asks hopefully.

"All that and more," She winks at him and he hugs her, spinning her around.

"You're the greatest!" He cheers at her and she can't help but laugh.

"You can stuff yourself and kiss later. For now, don't let them hit the core," Jeremy reminds them of their mission. "_If the sphere goes, Lyoko goes too, forever!_"

"Thanks, Jeremy! Nothing like a little encouragement!" Odd places Amy down, kissing her cheek. "And thanks for inspiring me!"

She holds her cheek as he starts running up the stairs. He looks back at her. "Come on! Keep up!"

Amy snaps out of it and follows after him, pulling out her spear. One of the Mantas flies down towards the duo, firing lasers. Odd backflips over some while Amy spins her spear in a circular motion, blocking the rest. Odd almost falls over the edge while dodging, dangling from the platform.

Amy pulls him back and he sighs in relief. "Thanks for the save!"

"Hey, someone has to save you every now and then," She winks and the first shield goes out.

"Bad news, guys. The first protective shield layer just blew!" Jeremy is already starting to get worried. Odd eyes the platform across from him and jumps off, landing on it. Amy moves back a bit and runs forward, flipping onto a nearby platform. Odd jumps until he comes to a stop, running up the stairs again. The Manta follows after him, firing at him from behind. Amy swings her staff, deflecting a laser. The Manta dodges it by flying out of the way.

The other two continue to fire at the sphere. "The second protective shield can't hold out much longer!"

"_We're trying as hard as we can_!" Amy exclaims in exhaustion.

"Jeremy, I might have found what we need to debug the Digital Sea!" Aelita replies, continuing to do her thing. She looks up to see an explosion and then a Creeper forms behind her. "But I might have a little problem getting through!" She backs away slowly.

Odd flips as the Manta relentlessly attacks. "This thing won't quit!"

Amy jumps behind him and throws her spear, but misses. She grunts and holds up her hand as she catches her weapon. Odd looks towards the ground, looking back up at the stairs and then at the Mantas.

"Hm, I think I found the high diving board!" He jokes, Amy raising a brow.

"You're not doing what I think you're doing."

Odd jumps with a yell, flipping and flying towards the Manta. He scratches against its back, hanging on as he flies up towards the other Mantas.

"Nevermind. I spoke too soon," Amy shakes her head and continues jumping. Odd reaches the top and manages to stand up, hitting the Manta twice. He lands on a nearby platform, shielding himself as the Manta explodes a few feet away.

"I made it, Jeremy!"

"That's great, but the Core can't hold out much longer! Okay, move it! Aelita, I'm going to rematerialize you now. If Odd and Amy don't make it, you could easily disappear along with Lyoko!"

"No, don't!" She protests, gesturing to the interface. "I was just about to get a hold on the data!" She yelps as she dodges the Creeper. She jumps a bit and the Creeper prepares a laser from its mouth. Aelita jumps out of the way, narrowly dodging the projectile. She prepares an energy field in her hand and hits the Creeper as she's still in the air, destroying it. The blast causes her to land at the edge of the platform. She opens her eyes and sees how close she was, yelping and coming onto her feet.

"I'll just take a second," She continues her work.

Suddenly, a phone rings in the factory and the monster turns around to their hiding spot. Yumi hangs up the phone. "Just at the wrong time."

"This is weird," Ulrich peeks around the corner and he steps out into the open. "It looks as if the monster's gone..."

The monster is actually hidden above them, waiting to strike. "Hm," Yumi joins him and they hear rustling. Soon, a single apple falls in front of them. "I think maybe you spoke too soon!" Food starts falling around them.

"_Aelita, what's happening?_"

"I'm almost there," She says with a small smile.

The food monster emerges as the two stare at it. "I'll distract it, and you head back to the factory," Ulrich tells her. She runs in the other direction, but a pile of food forms into a circle, blocking her path to their surprise. "It's not distracted too easily, is it?"

The remaining two Mantas fire at the Core, Odd and Amy reaching them. "Jeremy, how much time do we have left?"

"Just a few seconds!"

"Okay. The faster I finish up here, the faster I get to eat!" Odd exclaims as one of the Mantas dives down. It flies back up and starts firing at Odd. "Shield!" His shield deflects the next few hits and he flips around, landing on the Manta. He's about to fire it when a spear hits the eye in front of him. He laughs at Amy, who gives him a two finger salute. "One down!" He grabs her spear and jumps off, landing near Amy.

"Your spear," He bends down on one knee, holding it out to her. She rolls her eyes at him and takes it back.

"Oh no!" Jeremy stares at the second shield. One Manta remains as the two land behind it.

"One," Odd prepares his arm.

"Two," Amy aims her spear at it.

"Three!" They aim at the same time and the final Manta is gone.

"That makes two!" He lands near Amy.

"_Nice going, guys!_"

"Thanks Jeremy!" Amy smiles as Odd pumps his fist.

"Yeah, we know."

Aelita finally finds the data for the Digital Sea. "I found it, Jeremy. Are you ready to download the data?"

"I sure am!" He answers eagerly. She turns over the controls to him.

"I'll launch the program for debugging the Digital Sea. I just hope this is gonna work. Aelita, Amy, and Odd, you gotta get to the activated tower ASAP."

"_We'll get Aelita. What about Yumi and Ulrich?"_

"_Yeah, are they okay?"_

"Still nothing, not a word," Jeremy tells them.

Yumi's phone rings, but she's dropped it for the sake of dangling over a food pile. She struggles to keep standing on the beam as she dodges food.

The Digital Sea lowers, allowing the activated tower to be accessible again. "Great, Aelita. The data that you found was exactly what we needed!" Jeremy says with a smile.

Odd and Aelita ride on Ulrich's Overbike, Amy flying next to them. They can see the tower, but they can also see two Tarantulas. They get on their knees and fire at them.

"Lyoko's not the only thing to resurface. Ready to jump?" Odd glances at the girl behind him. She simply nods and he lands on the path, Aelita jumping off. He skids on top of the bike and jumps off. "Ames, now!"

"Rock Slide," She holds out her hand, creating a ramp of sorts, allowing the bike to fly into the air. It hits both Tarantulas, defeating them in one swoop. Aelita heads for the tower as Amy and Odd high five, smiling in relief. She enters the tower.

Yumi continues to dodge food as Ulrich is caught in the pile, being lifted up in the air. "Yumi!"

Aelita flies up to the top.

A few more hits makes Yumi fall off the beam, screaming.

Aelita lands at the top, walking to the interface and signing in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

The elevator opens as Amy and Odd have been rematerialized. "Well?" Odd asks expectantly as they walk into the lab.

"Yumi..." Jeremy says in worry as the three stare at the screens. "I don't believe this, pick up!"

"I'll try Ulrich," Amy pulls out her phone.

Yumi's phone rings in the pile of food, a black-clothed hand reaching out to it. "Jeremy," Yumi stands up in all the food. "I guess I'm alright."

Ulrich gets up a few feet away. "How bout you, Ulrich?"

"Bon appetit, Odd," Ulrich takes a bite out of the apple.

"I don't believe it!" Odd is watching the security camera. "Well, now we've gotta launch a return to the past because there's...there's no way that Jim's gonna forget the monster he saw in the lunch room."

"Here we go. Return to the past now," Jeremy presses the button.

"It's lunch time, Odd!" Amy giggles as time goes back.

"I'M SO HUNGRY!" Odd shouts and when they get back, he was going to eat up a storm.


	58. False Lead

**Angel: Um...for me to do an epilogue when they're aged up is kind of impossible...since, oh I don't know, there's a fifth live-action season that continues the story XD Speaking of Evolution, I will not be doing it because I never really liked the live-action season. They changed so many things, especially since they took away THE BEST DOG EVER. How dare they remove Kiwi T^T Plus...**

**Laura is probably the worst character ever in this show, and that is saying a lot.**

**Anyway, that season just turns me off, and I feel like I'd be insulting not just myself, but other haters out there XD**

Odd and Ulrich are sleeping soundly in their rooms when something beeps from underneath Odd's bed. Kiwi sits up at the noise and Ulrich groans to himself as Odd sits up. That noise has been occurring for a while now.

"Can't a guy sleep in peace around here?" Ulrich grumbles as Odd sleepily walks up to their closet.

"Sorry, it's Jean-Pierre." He opens up the closet to reveal a tamagutchi that's beeping. A virtual duck is walking around as Odd picks it up.

"What a ridiculous name for a tamagutchi," Ulrich voices his opinion as Odd tends to it. "Jean-Pierre."

"Don't you pay attention to him, my lil coochie-coo," Odd sits on his bed with a smile. "He's pretty cool, huh?"

"Mm," Ulrich simply says as Odd leans against his pillow, going back to sleep.

Jeremy is sleeping in his bed when his computer turns on, some locked files appearing...

* * *

The next morning, Nicolas and Herb are in the bathroom, having just gotten up. Odd reaches out for Jean-Pierre on the floor...only...

"He's disappeared!" Odd looks at the ground where there's no tamagutchi to be seen. "He's disappeared!"

"Mind telling me who's disappeared, Odd?" Ulrich asks from the window as he's getting ready to shower.

"Jean-Pierre's disappeared!" Odd looks up at him and Ulrich has a suspicious look on his face...

"Maybe he went out looking for someone who'll give him a better name," Ulrich retorts to him.

"You stole my Jean-Pierre, Ulrich!" Odd gives him a dirty look. "And I want him back!"

There's a small pause from Ulrich before he actually turns around. "Hey, are you out of your mind? I don't want your dumb plastic Jean-Pierre!"

"But then if...it wasn't you, then he had to have been kidnapped!" Odd has a worried expression.

"I sure hope your piggy bank is full so you can pay the ransom," Ulrich smiles teasingly.

"Stop it, come on! Don't you understand? He'll die of hunger if we don't find him! What are we gonna do, huh?" Odd starts to panic at all the possibilities.

"Hmm. Hey, I know. How bout some breakfast?" Ulrich was hoping that he'd just forget about it and move on.

* * *

Jean-Pierre is writing something when there's a knock at his door. "Yes?"

Two men in black tie suits open the door to his office. "Jean Pierre Delmas?"

"Uh, yes," He answers slowly, wondering why they're here. Last time he checked, he didn't do anything illegal...not anything to guarantee a visit from suit-clad men.

"It seems Jean Pierre, you're interested in non-enriched uranium..." One of them starts off.

"What did you say?" He asks in confusion. He doesn't even know what that is, not that he has a reason to use it.

* * *

"Jean-Pierre's not any old tamagutchi virtual pet," Odd is explaining to Jeremy. "He's only a few months old, he's very fragile! Ames gave him to me as a present." Ulrich and Jeremy just stare at him for a few seconds. "Would you abandon a helpless baby, Jeremy?"

"If he was just plastic, I sure would," Jeremy replies with a small smile.

"We've gotta go look for him right away!" Odd slams his hand onto his tray, causing his bowl to fly into the air for a few seconds.

"I think it'd be a lot better to wait," Ulrich advises, Odd raising an eyebrow.

"I don't get it! Wait for what?"

"For Amy to buy you another one." Ulrich and Jeremy both laugh at the slim chances of that happening.

"Oh, I get the picture now," He narrows his eyes at them. "I thought the good friends were there when you needed them, but I guess I was mistaken!" He shouts the last part as he stands up, the two boys just looking at him. He sulks as he walks out of the cafeteria, Sissi standing at the stairs.

"What do you know? You left your little tamasushi at home?" She smiles at him, noticing his mood.

"Do you like soggy frozen waffles in cereal that's genetically modified?"

"Why do you wanna know that?" She raises an eyebrow in confusion. Amy just happens to arrive as her sketchbook is underneath her arm.

"Cause it messes up your stomach when it goes down your throat!" He shouts at her, to Amy's confusion as he walks past.

"Oh wow, he must've gotten up on the long side of the bed today," Sissi stares after him.

"Not a long side, Sissi, it's the wrong side," Herb corrects sheepishly.

"Zip it up right now, Herb!" She tells him sharply.

"Odd," Amy runs after him and he continues walking. She comes to a stop and he stands in front of her, twiddling his feet. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Yes, something happened! Jean-Pierre has been kidnapped!"

"The principal?" Amy raises an eyebrow in confusion. Odd wouldn't be this worked up over the principal unless XANA had something to do with it.

"No, Jean-Pierre the tamagutchi!" He elaborates with a frown. "I'm sorry, Ames. I know how much you must've spent to get him for me..."

"Aw, Odd," She gives him a hug, to his surprise. "I'm not angry. I'm just glad you told me the truth. Besides, it wasn't particularly my money. My mom got all of my dad's assets, remember? Don't feel bad. I'm sure that we'll find him."

"Really?" He looks up at her hopefully.

"Really really," She smiles at him softly.

* * *

"Now wait a minute, what is it you want?" Principal Delmas demands from the agents. "I haven't done anything!"

"You got an affinity for bombers, especially the long-range kind," The bald African-American agent brings the principal to his face. "And the particular affection for anthrax and other degenerate stuff like that."

"I assure you, I'm a respectable school principal!" Principal Delmas insists into the agent's sunglasses.

"Alright," He seems to trust the principal as he's not capable of getting his hands on that stuff without looking suspicious. "We believe you," He drops him onto his chair.

"What's the meaning of this?! And who are you?" Principal Delmas glares up at them. He deserved to know the identities of people who barge into his office and accuse him of a crime.

"We belong to an ultra high security division of the Secret Service. The president himself has no idea that we exist," The first agent says.

"Even we have no idea who we really are," The second one explains.

"But then you-"

"Sit still."

"At 10 pm last night, the computer of a large weapons manufacturer was hacked. And documents dealing with highly sensitive and classified offense data was accessed," The first agent starts off.

"It so happens that the hacker unwittingly left a trail leading directly back to him," The second agent continues. "And the trail led us straight back to this phone line here in your school," He holds up a paper that has a phone number on it. "Whose phone is it?"

* * *

Principal Delmas leads them to a room in the dorms.

Jeremy's room.

"This room is occupied by Jeremy Belpois," He says as they examine the room.

"There's something I just don't get," The second agent looks at the computer that's off. "It's impossible to hack into the system with that. He'd need a much more powerful mainframe configuration."

"Something that's not available over the counter," The first agent deduces.

"The question is...how did he get his hands on it? Who are his contacts? Which terrorist cell is he working for?"

"Right," They turn to the principal. "We'll keep this Jeremy Belpois under tight surveillance. Microphones, cameras, we're gonna watch him. He doesn't know it, but we're gonna use him to break this group."

"But our Jeremy Belpois a terrorist?" Principal Delmas scratches the back of his head in utter disbelief. Never in his years as a principal has this ever come up. "I can't believe it...in any event, let me assure you, gentlemen, of my personal and total cooperation."

"You know, I might be able to help," They turn around to see Jim peeking into the room. "I never told you this, sir, but I was a Secret Service agent for a couple of years there."

"You were?" Principal Delmas asks incredibly.

"Yes, that's absolutely right, but I'd rather not talk about it."

"Enough," The second agent interrupts.

"Now listen. If you really wanna help, then set up the equipment with us. That way, we might take you off the suspect list."

* * *

Students are in the courtyard as everyone except Yumi is gathered around a tree. "So, when do you recall seeing Jean-Pierre for the last time?" Jeremy asks the upset Odd.

"For the hundredth time, he went to sleep right next to the bed!" Odd says in a strained voice.

"Okay then, Kiwi would've started to growl if anyone had come into the room," Jeremy points out.

"Yes, but not if he recognized who it was," Aelita replies just as Yumi arrives.

"Hi, what's up, guys?" She greets politely, Amy bending down to Odd and patting his back.

"Jean-Pierre has disappeared," Aelita tells her, to her surprise.

"You mean the principal?"

"No, the tamagutchi," Aelita, Jeremy, Ulrich, and Amy correct in unison. Jeremy bends down to Odd, placing a hand on his arm.

"Odd, let's go and see if we can find any clues in your room," He suggests, but Odd keeps that upset face.

"Oh, come on, Odd," Amy takes a hold of his hand. "Worst case scenario, I'll have to buy another one."

"I don't want you to," He gives her a 'don't do it' look. "I'll find him!" Besides, he didn't want a copy of her present, he wanted the original...it might've annoyed everyone else, but that little toy meant a lot to him because it was from his sweet little Ames.

* * *

Jim knocks on the door that leads to the boiler room. "Password?"

"Birdbrain," Jim says and the door opens to reveal the second agent.

"That's it. Come on in."

Jim walks down the stairs and salutes. "Jim Morales reporting. Audio, video, all mics and cameras discreetly hidden!"

They've set up some computers that are linked to the cameras that Jim planted.

"Very good. Let's get this show on the road."

Camera 2 is behind a light in the dorm hallway, camera 1 is near a door, and camera 3 is underneath a desk.

"It's a good thing you weren't a camera man for a TV station," The first agent comments.

Jim crosses his arms. "But I did work as a TV cameraman."

"There, camera 3a!" Principal Delmas looks at the third computer. Odd, Amy, and Jeremy are searching Odd and Ulrich's room.

"What are they doing in Della Robbia's room at this time of day? And with a girl inside? Why aren't they in the lunch room?" Jim asks curiously.

Kiwi pops out of one of the drawers. "What?!" Principal Delmas exclaims angrily. "Jim, would you mind telling me what a dog is doing in my establishment?" He glares up at Jim.

"I, uh...I don't know, sir. It's the first time I've ever seen him."

"Quiet, you two," The Caucasian agent tells them, turning the dial from their audio receiver. They can hear Kiwi barking. "Where did you put the microphone?"

"Under the bed," Jim states as he's standing there still in shock at Kiwi.

"Well done. Right next to a noisy dog!"

The boys and Amy then leave the room.

"They're, uh, they're all leaving the room now," Principal Delmas looks to the Caucasian agent.

"Camera 2c, dormitory hallway." Camera 2c is behind a fire extinguisher.

"Uh, I thought it was a real clever idea to conceal the camera behind that extinguisher," Jim stammers when the agent gives him a look. "Uh, insignia. I mean, uh, inquisitor."

"I'm getting more and more worried," Odd says as he walks right past the camera. "This is serious."

"Yeah, we know. If we don't find Jean-Pierre in the next 8 hours, it's the end of the world," Jeremy replies sarcastically.

"Did you hear that?" Principal Delmas asks in shock. "He just said Jean-Pierre, why that's my name as well."

"Oh yes, we heard it," The African American agent looks down at him. "Is there anything you'd care to tell us...Jean-Pierre?"

"But this is completely absurd, I have nothing to do with this, I tell you!" Principal Delmas insists to him.

"Okay, drop it," The Caucasian agent speaks up. "Time to turn things up a notch. Jim, I want you to put a tracer on the suspect. That way, he'll never be out of our reach."

Jim salutes to him, humming in agreement.

* * *

Jeremy climbs up the bench in the boys' bathroom, looking around. Amy and Aelita peek in. "Still nothing?"

"What are you doing in here?!"

They turn around to see Jim. "Out! On the double!"

Everyone leaves one by one. Jim punches Jeremy slightly in the back when he passes by. "Hey!" He turns around to the teacher. "Is anything the matter, Jim?"

"Oh, those darn mosquitoes!" In actuality, he put the tracker on Jeremy's backpack.

"That was weird," Amy comments as Jeremy steps out. The boy just shrugs at her. The two agents track the boy as classes end and everyone steps out of the building.

"Just think, I'm going to lunch at the same time Jean-Pierre is dying a slow and painful death because he has nothing to eat," Odd says mournfully.

"Life is so tough, and since he's just a piece of plastic with no feelings, he's blaming you for his misery," Ulrich comments as Jeremy's computer beeps. He bends down and opens up his backpack.

"Hang on."

They turn around as he pulls out his laptop, putting it on his knee. "XANA's on the attack."

"Oh, that's great!" Odd complains, "I'm never gonna find Jean-Pierre! Doesn't XANA ever take a little lunch break?"

"No," Jeremy stands up, "And so we're not gonna take any either. Let's go, come on!"

Jim is staring at them not too far away as he watches them run off, away from the direction of the lunch room.

"Chicken Hawk calling henhouse. The bird has flown the coop, I repeat, flown the coop."

"What kind of gibberish is that?!" The Caucasian agent asks into his communicator headphone. "Would you mind speaking normally?!"

"Uh, Belpois and his pals are on the move," Jim corrects himself.

"Okay, stay on their tails," The agents start to leave.

Yumi climbs down the ladder to the sewers, followed by Jeremy and Aelita. Jim peeks through the bushes as Ulrich crawls inside the ole.

"Oh wow, they're going into the sewers," Jim reports, but gets no answer. "Hey. Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear," They reveal themselves behind the trees, surprising the gym teacher.

Jeremy gets into the computer, virtualizing his friends. "Virtualization."

Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi virtualize in the ice sector, landing safely. Odd and Amy arrive a few seconds later.

"_Here are your vehicles_." The four rides appear and they quickly get on. The OverRunner and the Overboard fly over to their owners, allowing them to land. "_The activated tower is situated south southwest._"

Odd flies past Yumi and Ulrich. "Last one there's a rotten egg!"

Amy chuckles, revving up her racecar and taking off. Yumi and Ulrich follow after her.

The agents and Jim crawl down the ladder, closing the lid. Odd is in the lead until Ulrich rushes past him. He grips his Overboard, flying past them. The girls look to each other in amusement.

The agents land safely, with Jim falling off the rope. "That way," The Caucasian agent looks towards the elevator in the distance.

"That's crazy," Aelita points in the distance. "The tower...it's not activated."

"Are you sure that's the right tower, Jeremy?" Amy looks up.

"_Of course I'm sure. That's the one._"

"Then what's the explanation, Einstein?" Odd places his hands on his hips.

"Seems like XANA has found a way to mess up the super scan," He rubs his chin.

"But why would he lure us to Lyoko?" Yumi questions curiously.

"_No idea, and I don't like it,_" Jeremy says as they all come to a stop in front of the tower. "_I'm bringing you back in right now._"

But before he could, the elevator door opens. "Step away from that keyboard," The African American agent demands, Jeremy turning around in shock.

"Huh?! What?"

"You're under arrest!"

"But what have I done?" Jeremy asks in confusion. He hadn't done anything to warrant these agents' suspicion...

"That's for you to tell us, kid!" The African American agent glances at him. "What happened to your pals, where are they?"

"And Jean-Pierre?" The Caucasian agent demands, but Jeremy stays silent. No matter what happened to him, he'd never tell.

"Right. Take him in. I'll stay here with Morales and see what evidence we can find."

The Caucasian agent takes away Jeremy to the elevator. Jim stares at the boy, wondering if he made the right decision.

"Don' just stand there, find me those other kids, fast!" He turns to the keyboard.

Odd and Amy fly around the tower, doing some tricks. The others just watch, Yumi giggling a bit as Amy circles the tower with her wings.

"Jeremy, what are you waiting for?" Aelita asks curiously.

The agent presses a key, causing Odd's Overboard and Amy's wings to devirtualize. "Whoa!" They fall in front of Yumi.

"What's wrong with you two?" Ulrich approaches them. The Overboard reappears and Odd bumps into it.

"Ow!"

The others laugh and Amy's wings reappear, sending her catapulting into the air. She lets out a scream before she stops flying, landing on the ground again.

"Something's very wrong," Yumi looks up. Jeremy hasn't responded for a while, and now there's glitches. "Jeremy?"

Amy and Odd get up, Ulrich standing in front of them. "Fire at me, guys."

They glance to each other before Amy's hands glow blue. "Well, you did make fun of my tamagutci, but that's not much of a reason to zap you, Ulrich."

"This is no time for jokes."

"Okay, anything for a good cause. Ready?" He looks up at Amy, who nods.

"Shattering ice," Tiny ice shards fire from her hands as Odd fires his laser arrow at Ulrich. Both attacks devirtualize him.

He holds his head as the scanner opens. "Oh no!"

Jim is standing in front of him. "Hey Stern, I want you to explain to me what all this UFO equipment is doing here."

"Sorry about this, Jim," Ulrich takes a stance, "But I have no choice!" He knocks the man out with a kick, running off to go find Jeremy. He climbs up the ladder and opens up the panel, surprised to see an agent there. Luckily, he doesn't see the boy, who climbs back down.

Jeremy is actually with the other agent and the principal, being interrogated. "I swear to you, I've never hacked any information in my life," He tells them, and it's true. He'd never use his computer skills to hack into anything—illegally. His cell phone rings, but the agent answers it.

"Jeremy, where are you? There's a weirdo in the lab," Ulrich says while riding the elevator to the main entrance.

"Ulrich, this is all XANA's doing, you hear me?!" Jeremy shouts out to the phone, "Bring everyone back home!"

Then the agent hangs up, confusing Ulrich. "Very interesting," The agent stares down at Jeremy. "Who is this XANA? The guy who recruited Jean-Pierre?"

"Please listen," Jeremy looks up at him pleadingly. "Just trust me this one time, and let me go back to the factory. I've gotta help my friends."

His laptop beeps and the agent ignores him, opening it up. "No!" Jeremy cries out, but the scan shows an activated tower anyway. A way tower in the mountain sector activates.

"What is this? A video game?" No one notices a specter traveling into the air, entering the agent. Jeremy and the principal stand there in shock as the agent tries to resist, but succumbs to XANA.

"Are you alright?" Principal Delmas asks in concern, the agent's lenses showing the XANA symbol. He stands up and Jeremy runs off. The man is about to attack him when the principal steps in. "No!" He takes the shock instead, falling onto the ground. The XANAified agent steps forward to look for Jeremy.

Back in the lab, Ulrich is in the ceiling, peeking in. A specter enters the second agent and Ulrich can only watch in shock. XANA takes complete control of the man, with the XANA symbol appearing over his lenses.

Jim appears, having woken up from what Ulrich did to him. "Morales reporting. I find the upper end of the Stern boy down in the underground room...but then he managed to escape. You wanna see for yourself?"

Both men leave the lab, Ulrich climbing down into the room.

Odd examines his Overboard, touching it to be sure. "Seems to be real this time." He sits on it, grabbing Amy's hand and pulling her up next to him. Aelita paces around as Yumi sits on a glacier. She stands up slowly.

The agent approaches a scanner and unplugs it. "Hey, I don't wanna pry," Jim speaks up, "But uh, I'd like to know what you're doing."

He unplugs another scanner, standing up.

"I want an answer, you hear?!" Jim touches his shoulder, the possessed man grabbing his wrist. "Now you listen to me! Let go of my arm! If you don't, I promise you sparks are gonna fly!"

He then shocks Jim with electricity from his hand, knocking him into the wall. He unplugs the last scanner.

"_Yumi, Aelita, Odd, Amy, do you read me?" _Ulrich asks, the two standing up.

"Ulrich...what's the matter? Where's Jeremy?" Aelita questions in worry.

"No idea. All I know is that there's this weirdo in the lab who's possessed by XANA. There has got to be an activated tower somewhere."

"_In which sector_?" Yumi asks, but he has no idea of finding that out.

"How should I know? Did you forget how awful at computers I am?"

"Use the super scan," Amy crosses her arms. "Duh."

"Okay, then how?"

"Listen to me, Ulrich," Aelita looks up towards the sky. "I'm going to guide you."

Jeremy peeks around the corner of the boiler room. The Caucasian agent senses his presence and fires at a pipe, making smoke appear. While he's distracted, Jeremy pushes past him and runs past the unconscious principal. The possessed agent prepares another attack, but the boy closes the door before he could be affected.

Ulrich finally locates the activated tower. "The tower is in the mountain sector. 25 degrees west, and 72 degrees south," Ulrich reports as sparking could be heard. "Better hurry up," He looks towards the electricity below him. "Because...wait a second."

Suddenly, a glacier in the ice sector glitches, getting their attention. "Uh, Ulrich, did you just hit delete or something?" Odd asks in confusion.

"No, but something very uncool is going on down below," He says as the electricity gets stronger around him.

"_Ulrich, hit the enter key_," Aelita tells him and he does so. This brings up footage of the supercomputer room...where the battery is being glitched by the other possessed agent.

"Bad news. There's a guy possessed by XANA, and he's trying to destroy the supercomputer," He then sees the status of the scanners. "And the scanners are offline."

"He must've unplugged them!" Amy narrows her eyes as she's driving in front.

"XANA's plan is diabolical," Aelita shakes her head. "If the supercomputer's destroyed, Lyoko will disappear forever and all of us along with it!"

"You have to get the scanners back online and bring us in fast!" Yumi calls out quickly.

"Sounds good, but I'm no Jeremy," He says in a 'duh' tone, "I can't put anything online. The best we can do is for you to deactivate the tower while I deal with that creepo downstairs." He takes off the headset and gets onto his feet.

"Roger, be careful. Time for us to change sectors," Odd turns to the girls.

Jeremy runs into the forest, still being chased by the white agent.

The four emerge into the mountain sector. "We better watch our life points," Aelita explains to the three, "If we lose them all with the scanners offline, it'll be game over for good!"

As they go down the path, the rocks start to glitch.

The black agent continues to attack the battery, the path glitching to the point where Aelita and Amy fall off. Amy slips out of her vehicle.

"Aelita!"

"Ames!"

The two swoop down and Yumi holds out her hand. She catches Aelita just before she could hit the Digital Sea. Odd spins around and flies underneath Amy, who's flailing her arms. She lands on the back of his Overboard and she sighs in relief, both the Overbike and OverRunner falling into the Digital Sea.

"Woo hoo!" Odd pumps a fist, Amy getting onto her feet and holding onto Odd's shoulders.

"Thanks, Odd."

"No problem, my lady! That's what I call extreme!" They can see the tower in the distance.

Ulrich runs up from behind and hits the agent with a crowbar. His whole body shakes and Ulrich suddenly remembers that people possessed by XANA can sometimes not feel attacks like that. The agent turns around and knocks Ulrich into the elevator. He slams the button as the possessed man was about to attack again. The agent stares at the doors.

Jeremy runs in the sewers, panting heavily as the white agent is still on his trail. He slowly walks down the path, his hand glowing purple.

The four reach the tower, which is guarded by three Megatanks. They fly above the monsters when the Overwing glitches, causing them to lower towards the ground. The same thing happens with Odd and Amy. Her wings start to flicker from behind and all modes of transportation disappear completely. Aelita and Yumi land on the ground, Odd and Amy falling just in front of the platform. He hugs Amy's waist and grips the rock with his claws, sliding to a stop.

"Get on," He gently puts Amy on his back and she hugs his neck. He climbs up the rock on all fours, the girl holding on as tight as she could. They circle around until they reach the girls, Odd flipping to the ground. Amy jumps off his back, dusting herself off. "That disappearing act isn't very cool!"

"It's the supercomputer," Amy frowns in worry. "I hope Ulrich and Jeremy are okay."

The Megatanks only just notice their presence, rolling over to them and opening up in half. They take off into a run, charging towards the three monsters. One of them opens up and fires the circular laser. Odd and Amy come to a stop, the boy firing his laser arrows. Amy holds out her hand, rocks circling around her hand.

"Rock Tomb."

Three rock slabs appear in the air...but they glitch out, completely disappearing. "Well, that didn't work." Amy pulls out her spear and throws it at the laser. When the weapons don't work against the powerful projectile, Odd pushes Amy out of the way just in time. Yumi throws her fans into the air, but they're knocked away by the laser. Yumi leaps out of the way, both of her fans landing in front of her. The Megatanks prepare another attack, towards Aelita. She holds out her hand, the pink orb appearing. She throws two of them at the laser, breaking it entirely.

Jeremy grabs the rope and jumps into the room. Just as he lands, the elevator is opened with Ulrich inside.

A Megatank rolls towards Yumi, who was still down from earlier. "Yumi!" Aelita calls out, holding out her hands. She uses her Creativity to make a ramp in front of Yumi. The Megatank jumps off it, landing in the Digital Sea.

Aelita falls to her knees in exhaustion. Amy and Odd are still dodging the laser.

The white agent looks around the room from above, leaping off the platform. He lands in front of the boys. Their mouths are open in shock as he's preparing another attack.

Odd fires another arrow as Amy's spear comes flying back to her. The Megatank closes itself, causing the laser arrow to ricochet.

"Aww! Hey, ever hear of fair play?!" He complains at this, crossing her arms.

"XANA never plays fair," Amy shakes her head. The Megatank rolls towards them and they run away from it.

"Okay, okay, I take it back!" Odd calls out, Aelita glancing at them. The second Megatank rolls to a stop in front of her, preparing to fire. The two run in the direction of the preparing Megatank, causing the two Megatanks to bump into each other. They leap into the air as the laser narrowly misses Aelita.

Something shakes in the factory and Jeremy looks at the ground to see it cracking. Something jumps out of it, revealing the black agent. He lands in the ceiling. The boys back away slowly, the white agent holding out a hand towards them. They look at the two nervously, hoping that their friends were deactivting the tower right about now.

Yumi takes off into a run as both Megatanks prepare to fire at Aelita. "Watch out!" She tells the geisha, both of them waiting for the attack. They fire at the same time, the girls narrowly ducking out of the way. They stand next to each other as the Megatanks fire again. Yumi and Aelita quickly jump away, Aelita running past a laser. She stops in front of another, preparing two energy fields in her hands. She brings them together and when the laser fires, she manages to catch the projectile between the energy fields. However, it's powerful as she starts to get pushed back.

Yumi flips past a laser, flipping behind a rock to avoid another.

Aelita slides back further towards the edge of the platform.

Jeremy and Ulrich step back, seeing the XANA symbol in their sunglasses. The elevator starts to operate as they prepare a team attack. Jim jumps from behind, putting his arms around their necks.

"Now who's the boss, huh?"

They grab his arms and electrocute the man off them.

Odd and Amy run down a path, a Megatank running after them. They reach the edge and jump. Odd grabs Amy's hand, his claws going into the rock as the Megatank falls behind them. However, it opens up and fires a laser...right at the platform they're hanging onto. Odd lets go of the rock, both of them screaming as they're nearing the Digital Sea.

"Odd! Amy!" Yumi presses her hands to her forehead, telekinetically stopping them before they could hit the water.

She focuses her power and lifts them up into the air, eventually getting them back on ground. When they're safe, they fall down in exhaustion.

"Thanks, Yumi," Odd says gratefully when the two stand up.

Turning around, they see the last Megatank preparing to fire at them. Aelita appears from behind it.

"The tower!" Yumi cries out. "Hurry!"

She hesitates for a second, but runs off. The Megatank fires, Odd landing on top of it and firing twice. He jumps off and runs.

The white agent holds out his hands, the boys jumping away from an electric bolt. Aelita gets closer and closer to the tower.

Ulrich grabs a piece of glass and uses it to deflect the next attack. It hits the possessed agent, but the other one steps forward. The glass breaks into pieces.

"Oh, seven years bad luck." None of those years would compare to this, however!

The Megatank rolls onto its side and opens up, firing horizontally this time. Aelita runs into the tower before it could hit her, stopping in the center of the platform.

Yumi jumps up and throws her fans. Amy backflips, throwing her spear. Both weapons hit the eye, causing it to be destroyed.

"Yeah!" Odd cheers at them.

Aelita floats into the air.

The two agents approach the boys.

Aelita spins before she reaches the top.

The black agent fires an electric bolt from his mouth.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface.

Jeremy looks up in fear at the possessed men.

"Let's hope it works," Aelita murmurs to herself, watching in anticipation.

Jeremy awaits his doom.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The agents slowly lose their powers and kneel a bit from what they've just experienced.

Jeremy sits at the supercomputer, Jim standing next to him. He scratches his head in confusion. "Honestly, I haven't got the slightest idea what this junk is used for. What did you say it was for?" Ulrich walks up to him from behind.

"We didn't say anything at all."

"Well, the supercomputer has taken a hit. It's pretty badly damaged. I hope it'll work again..." Jeremy explains to them.

"Hope what'll work again?" Jim asks him, and Jeremy ignores the question in favor of activating it.

"Return to the past now," He presses enter. "Return to the past now!"

* * *

Everything gets engulfed in white and they're taken back to when Jean-Pierre got snatched again. Odd feels the floor and looks down in dismay.

"Oh no, not again!"

"Lost Jean-Pierre again, Odd?" Ulrich questions from his desk. He's already in his regular clothing, but he doesn't notice the camera next to him.

"Yeah, but this time, I'm gonna find out who stole it!"

Ulrich turns around, noticing the camera in shock. He never thought that Odd would take precaution like that. Heck, that's something Jeremy would do.

"Listen up, everybody!" Odd walks up to Jeremy, Yumi, Amy, and Aelita, Ulrich in tow. "Now we're gonna see who Jean-Pierre's kidnapper was!"

They all watch the footage together to see Ulrich snatching the tamagutchi not too long before Odd woke up. "It was...it was you, Ulrich?!" He gives his friend a glare. But it doesn't stop there, because he opens the door to Jeremy and Aelita.

"You're all a bunch of traitors! The only ones I can really trust are Yumi and my Ames from now on!"

"Uhh, Odd, it was my idea," Yumi closes her eyes in guilt.

"No...you too? But what do you all have against my Jean-Pierre?" Odd stares at them in disbelief, turning to Amy. "At least I know you didn't have any part in it."

"What was so wrong with him?" Amy turns her attention to their friends with a pout. "I spent two weeks' allowance to buy that for Odd..." Not to mention she spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to give him. Aelita would know; she's seen the strewn papers around Amy's bed.

"We did it for his own good, and ours, because you were starting to get hooked on him. It's not bad to give him a gift, Amy, but next time, get him some clothes or something," Ulrich speaks up, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, Odd, Jean-Pierre is just fine. Believe me, he couldn't be in better hands," Yumi assures him. Amy would buy another one, but after learning this information, they'd just snatch it away again. Maybe she will take that advice after all.

Hiroki is walking home with Jean-Pierre when the tamagutchi dies. He narrows his eyes and tosses it onto the street. Jean-Pierre gets run over and smashed to pieces as his death...


	59. Aelita

**Angel: Let me make something clear XD Yes, I could make a lot of changes to Evolution, if I really wanted to, but...**

**I _really _don't want to.**

**Just thinking about it makes me wanna cringe, and in the worst way possible. Please do not put me through that, because that means I'd have to watch it again either way...and I honestly do not want to. For me to put in an epilogue, I'd still have to do Evolution, because that season is supposed to expand on the story, and just...**

**Gah! No. That's just the way I'm imagining it, because I just can't ignore the season altogether. I mean, it exists, and we can't just pretend that it doesn't for the sake of seeing the characters when they're much older.**

**Honestly, I can see an epilogue, but I just wouldn't put it in after season 4. I'm all about continuity, and for me to do it, I'd have to do Evolution first...I'm very particular about continuity in the universes I'm writing. At the back of my mind, something's telling me 'season 5 sucked, don't put yourself through that suck-fest' when I'm thinking about these comments I'm getting lately.**

**It's just like with Sonic 06! No one likes it, and just wishes it was never born. Well, that's me with the Evolution season.**

**It ain't gonna happen. I'm sorry, but that season is a _major _deal-breaker for me. Like, the chances of me doing it don't look very good, at all. **

**As for me having Aelita and Amy spend time with Mrs, or should I say Ms, Smith, I'm not that far into season 4, so maybe I'll put it somewhere between episode...74 and 95. The first 8 episodes of the season are already done at this point.**

_Aelita and her father ran through the sewers, the man holding her hand the entire time. They appeared in the lab, the girl looking around curiously._

"_But where are we?" She didn't recognize this room at all..._

"_In my laboratory," He stopped typing on the computer, turning around to her. "Come on."_

"_Where?" She wondered as he took her hand again, leading her away._

"_To a world where you and I will be safe...forever..."_

"_And with Amy too?" Aelita asked hopefully. She wanted to see her friend again; and to hear her play the violin. Aelita loved it when she played for her. It was like the music was made to be heard only by Aelita._

"_No. She can't be with us now," Franz Hopper glanced at her, his eyes sad behind his glasses. "But we will always remember her. Never stop loving your sister, Aelita."_

"_Amy's my...my sister?" Aelita murmured in confusion. If that was true, she didn't understand why Amy left them. And why her father wouldn't talk about why she couldn't come over anymore. How could she be her sister...?_

_He took her down to the scanner room and they got into the scanners. "See you in a minute, honey."_

"_Alright, Daddy," She said as the scanners closed them in. Everything was dark for a minute and then Aelita was virtualized into the strange world. She landed safely on her feet, looking around for her father. "Daddy? Daddy, where are you?"_

"_Here I am, Aelita." White orbs appeared in front of her._

"_Daddy!" She cried out at his appearance._

"_I can't materialize myself into human form yet as you can, Aelita," He assured her, "I still have more work to do on Lyoko. This world needs to develop more." She looked at his new self in awe before she heard a noise. She turned her head to see the Kankerlots approaching._

"_Daddy, there are some strange-looking creatures over there."_

"_Run Aelita, run!" He ordered her as they started to fire. She jumped over the shots and took off into a run._

"_Daddy!" She called out in fear. The monsters persisted, eventually hitting her in the arm, but she reached the tower. A few sounds were heard._

"Aelita!"

The girl drops her pen on the desk. "Huh?!" She looks up to see Mr. Fumet, and that's when she realizes that she's in history class.

"You know, young lady, most of us go to sleep at night," He raises an unamused eyebrow while the rest of the class giggles at her, including Sissi. Something hits the back of her head and she whips around to see a ball of paper. Gritting her teeth, she turns to Amy, who's sitting next to Odd while Ulrich is across them. Jeremy is sitting with Aelita in front. Amy just whistles innocently as if nothing happened.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Fumet," Aelita says, the others glancing at each other. Aelita never dozed off in class, even if it was as boring as history.

"Scandinavian mythology, a natural disaster brings about the end of Norse God's world, scorching the earth but for a new peaceful world can arise from the ashes," Mr. Fumet wipes his glasses, putting them back on his face. "Called Ragnarok."

"And roll!" Odd finishes for him, giggling.

"What was that?" Mr. Fumet demands and Odd stops laughing.

"Ragnarok and roll?" Odd spins a finger before rubbing his arm sheepishly. "It was just a joke, sir."

"Very funny, Della Robbia," Mr. Fumet narrows his eyes. "And now would you kindly leave this room?"

"Uh, is that a joke?"

"No, it's an order," The teacher answers sternly.

"Oh..."

* * *

Odd puts his hands on his cheeks after class is over. "I guess as jokes go, it wasn't very funny." Yumi stops sipping her soda.

"So how was history class?"

Aelita is hunched over the bench, thinking about the recent memory she had. "Who cares? It's history now," Ulrich replies and Amy's got the sense that something was on Aelita's mind. Call it sister instincts, if she would.

"Aelita, are you okay?" She places a hand on Aelita's shoulder, peeking at her face.

"Well, Ms. Einstein, better get a good night's sleep," They hear, looking up to see Sissi and her gang walking by. "A super brain like yours needs a little shut-eye, and most of us as you know go to sleep at night!"

Amy crosses her arms at her in annoyance. Doesn't Sissi ever take a break from ridiculing them? Scratch that, that was stupid of her to ask.

"Of course you don't have that problem, Sissi, cuz your brains are in your feet!" Odd calls out to her.

"Isn't Odd a riot?" She glances at him. "Look who's got the nerve to talk about my feet," She points at her shoes. "Especially after what Heidi Klinger told me about yours!" Herb and Nicolas chuckle at him, leaving with her.

"What does she mean by that?" Odd asks his friends. This was honestly the first time that someone's actually said it to his face. "What's wrong with my feet? Huh?"

"Well, uh," Ulrich snaps his fingers, unsure how to put it in a way that his best friend would understand. "To put it tactfully, when you take your shoes off, it's a little bit like, um..."

"Like a pile of very fresh manure that we just can't seem to get away from," Jeremy finishes for him.

"That's it!" Ulrich exclaims in agreement, but Odd is not happy about that comparison at all.

"Oh, come on, you're nuts!" Odd narrows his eyes in disbelief. His feet didn't smell that bad to his previous dates, did it? He sees someone walking by. "Well, what do you know? There's Heidi. Now we'll find out. Hey, Heidi, is it true my feet smell a little?"

"A little?" She backs away from him a bit. "Just make sure you and your sneakers don't come within 50 feet of me! Sorry you have to deal with that, Amy!" She giggles, walking away. Amy just rolls her eyes at her while everyone except the two are laughing.

"This is a disaster!" Odd complains as they walk towards the cafeteria together. "My reputation as half of the power couple is at stake! Ames isn't gonna wanna go out with me anymore with a...a..."

"A walking pool of toxic waste?" Jeremy interrupts and Ulrich laughs out loud at this.

"Some friend you are, Ulrich! You could have said something, you know! Give me a little hint, at least," Odd scolds him.

"It's hard to talk when you're holding your nose, good buddy," The boy glances at his roommate.

"I thought you were trying to be funny," Odd sulks a little. Yumi places an arm around his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Odd, modern medicine must've found some kind of cure for it," She offers, glancing at Amy. She doesn't seem bothered by Odd's smelly feet at all, and it's something they've known since...well, ever.

"Well there's...amputation, for example," Jeremy teases, causing only three out of five to laugh.

"Hey, how come you didn't tell him, Amy?" Yumi speaks up and the girl turns to her.

"I was friends with Odd for over a year before we became a thing. I thought he already knew," Amy shrugs at him.

Odd pouts at her. "So you smelled my feet the entire time we've been going out and you didn't tell me?"

"In my defense, there was plenty of times that you've been in your room that you could've noticed the smell," She holds up a finger as they continue walking. "And besides, I don't care how your feet smell, Odd. To be honest, I don't even notice it anymore. I like all of you."

"Aww, that's sweet," Aelita smiles at her, but Odd is still annoyed by all the teasing.

"Start without me. Be right there!" He kisses Amy's cheek and runs off in the other direction. Amy waves to him and they walk inside the cafeteria. She meant every word she said to Odd. If anything, she just likes him even more. She herself didn't know why; but she couldn't stop being with him just because of his feet. She accepted his flaws (or at least, most of them), and to her, that was what made a relationship, to accept people as they are.

Emily steps out of the infirmary just as Odd arrives. He turns around to the girl. "Ah, Emily, can I ask you something?"

She glances at him silently. "When we went out together, did you notice that, uh-"

"That your feet smell?" Emily asks knowingly. "Better believe it. Why do you think I kept dousing myself in perfume?"

And with that, she walks away, to his dismay. He opens the door and slides to a stop in front of Yolanda. "Yolanda, I got a real problem! It's awful, I have-"

"Yes, yes, yes, I know," She drops the towel she was holding. "You suffer from severe plantar perspiration."

"Say what?" He asks in confusion. He didn't know what any of that meant.

"Your feet smell badly, Odd," She lays it down simply.

"Do you mean to say that everyone at school knows?" He questions in shock. How had everyone, including the school nurse, known and yet not him?

"No, no, there's...uh, well yes, everyone does know," She tries to lie to him, but it didn't really work. "But don't worry, I've seen cases that were a lot worse than yours, Odd." She nods a bit.

"Oh?" He raises a skeptical eyebrow.

"What's more, I know just what to do."

"I'll try anything! Ames isn't gonna like me anymore after this!" He gives a pleading look, clasping her hands.

"Well, what did she say about it when you found out she knew?" She asks curiously, walking over to her station.

"Well...she said that she thought I already knew, and she likes all of me..." He murmurs, glancing away with a tiny blush.

Yolanda can't help but giggle at this. "Isn't that sweet.?Odd, if she knew and she was still going out with you, doesn't that tell you Amelia accepts who you are? If she hadn't, you two could've broken up ages ago."

"...Yeah...but, I want her to accept me more...with better smelling feet. I wanna be a better boyfriend to her. I used to date a lot of girls before her, and I want to show her that I've changed! Odd Della Robbia, the perfect boyfriend!" He declares, a fist to his chest.

Well, it's what he wants, and she couldn't deny his help.

* * *

_Aelita was sitting in the tower after the whole ordeal. "Aelita."_

"_Daddy," She looked up at his voice, seeing his form again._

"_Aelita, I have to make contact with XANA, persuade him that we can live in peace with him."_

_The girl was confused, however. Who was he, and why did her father need to make peace with him? Was it something they did? "Who is XANA?"_

"_A multi-agent computer program I created. It has achieved self-awareness anatomy and it's trying to eliminate us now," He explained as best as he could._

"_But why, Daddy?" She asked, but as soon as she did, he disappeared into thin air. "Daddy?"_

"_Whatever you do, don't leave this tower," He ordered her._

"_Daddy...Daddy? Daddy!"_

_She called out to him...but he didn't answer after that._

Aelita sits next to Jeremy at lunch, silent. "Aelita," Jeremy places a hand on her arm.

"Huh?" She looks up in confusion.

"Hey, what's the matter? Is anything wrong?" He asks in concern.

"No, I...I was...I was daydreaming, I guess."

Jeremy stares at her, turning to Amy. The girl just shrugs over Aelita's recent behavior. She already tried asking, and it was unsuccessful. Whatever it was, though, Aelita would be ready to tell her sister in her own time. She could tell that Aelita didn't want to worry her just yet. After all, Amy was the older sister...

"Hey guys," Odd breaks the silence as he arrives, having spaghetti and meatballs and a banana. "No more feet nightmare. Call me odornized Odd!"

Ulrich takes another bite of his apple. "How'd you manage that?"

"You'll find that out tonight," Odd sits across from Amy. "It's a surprise." Ulrich swallows his bite, just staring at him.

Yumi chuckles a bit, standing up. "Well, I'll let you kick your foot problem around a little. I've got a math test," She leaves and Odd slides his tray over to her spot. He gestures Amy to sit next to him and she does so. He holds her hand as he scarfs down his food. Amy just giggles at him. Of course she likes his eating habits; they make her laugh.

"Jeremy, do you..." Jeremy glances at Aelita, waiting for her question. "Do you think our father's still alive?"

"Huh?" Jeremy turns to her in surprise. Amy looks up at her, staying silent.

"Our father," Aelita gestures to herself and Amy, "Franz Hopper. Do you think it's possible to rematerialize him?"

"No!" He says quickly, "What I mean is, well...there's no way to."

"But he managed to survive when XANA captured him the first time. Why not a second time?" She wonders and Amy's eyes turn sad. She doesn't really have that much memories of her real father...after all, Aelita was the one who grew up with him. All she really remembered was getting the violin and playing with Aelita...

After that, not much came back to her.

For Aelita, she just couldn't stop thinking that he was alive somewhere...waiting to share memories with his oldest daughter. It wasn't really for her sake; her sister deserved to get to know her real father, and to be happy with him. Amy had done so much for Aelita even before they found out they were related. She was like her mentor when Aelita was first virtualized on Earth, and she listened to her problems with her nightmares, and she comforted her whenever she got scared...in a way, they were already like sisters before they found out the truth.

"Your father sacrificed himself for you two, Aelita, and he had to have used whatever little strength he had left in him to bring you back to life while Amy had used her only power in Sector Five."

Odd squeezes Amy's hand as the girl glances away, trying not to cry at the memory. Her father was there...and in an instant, he was gone...

"I know, but...but I thought there might be a hope. That maybe you could find a way..." She looks at him hopefully.

"Impossible. I checked every inch of Lyoko and there isn't the slightest sign of him," Jeremy tells her and she looks at him, unsure if that was actually true or not. "Aelita, I've been working really hard in the way of getting into the world wide web, so that we can fight XANA, and you should think the way I think," He takes a hold of her hand. "I mean...think about the future."

She recoils her hand back. "And just forget my past, huh? You think it's easy? You didn't spend ten years of your life as some sort of computer software or without knowing who your real father was!" She yells, surprising all of them. Aelita gets onto her feet, walking past them. "I wish I had never recovered my memory..."

The boys turn back to Jeremy, who shrugs in confusion. He turns to the silent Amy. "I guess you're mad at me too, huh?"

Amy takes a deep breath, standing up. "I don't know what you just did, Jeremy...but never say that in front of me again about my father."

He gives a flabbergasted look as Amy walks away. Odd stares after her, glancing at the genius. Jeremy cringes at that look. That was Odd's 'don't mess with Ames' look.

* * *

_Aelita sat alone in the tower. She suddenly felt his presence, and that he was in trouble. "Daddy." She ran down the platform. "Daddy! I'm coming, Daddy!"_

She runs into the forest, her eyes squeezed shut as she rushes into the open.

_Her father was being attacked by Hornets. "Daddy!" She cried once she saw him._

"_No Aelita, get back to safety," He urged her. "In the tower!"_

The door to the Hermitage opened and she runs inside. All she could think about was her father...and how much she missed him. Why was Jeremy so insensitive about it? Him and his insistence on stopping XANA! As if she could do that without stopping to think where her father could be.

"_You and your sister possess the keys to Lyoko, Aelita," Franz Hopper told her. "XANA must never get his hands on them. Do you understand?"_

_The monsters fired again at him and she could only watch. "It's over, Aelita. XANA is too powerful. He's become a threat to all mankind. I've got to shut down the supercomputer!"_

_She reached the tower again. "But does that mean we'll die? I'll never see my sister again?" She stepped back onto the platform. _

"_No, but you nor Amelia must not forget me...ever. Never forget, Aelita. I promise you, you will see your sister again...Someday..."_

_Everything went dark. "Daddy?"_

Aelita cries into her knees in her old room.

"I knew we'd find you here."

Aelita looks up at Odd's voice, turning around and wiping her tears. "You know, our good buddy Einstein may be a computer whiz, but diplomatically, he's...he's a..."

"A total lame-o!" Aelita finishes in anger.

"But he really likes you, you know that," Odd says as he and Amy are standing next to her.

"And I really like him too, I just wish he would understand that our father is all that I have left in my past life. And part of Amy's life too...I wish he could get to know you," She looks up sadly at Amy. "After all...you're my big sister."

"Aw, Aelita," Amy's eyes turn soft as she bends down so that she's level with Aelita. "I feel the same way...I wish I could've spent more time with him...if I had known about him sooner, maybe my life at home wouldn't be so bad."

Odd hugs Amy from behind and she glances at them. Since Jeremy wasn't going to be of much help...

"Amy, Odd. I have to go to Lyoko."

"Huh?!" They ask in shock.

"To Sector Five. I want to try to find some trace of our father," She takes a hold of Amy's hand, squeezing it. Amy and Odd glance at each other skeptically.

"Well, that may not be too easy. You heard what Jeremy said. He's not very anxious to help," He looks towards the door.

"So? We don't need Jeremy, do we?" She leans in closer to them with a small smirk.

"Um, we?" Odd points between the three of them.

"Just us, just you two and me, okay guys?"

"Ahh," Odd puts a hand over his mouth. Amy bites her lip and sighs.

"Alright. We'll go. Something tells me that you'll go by yourself if we don't, and then Jeremy won't just be anxious about it," She closes her eyes. Odd nods in agreement with her.

"Thank you!" Aelita pulls Amy into a hug.

"But just this once," Amy warns her, patting the girl's back.

* * *

Jeremy flips through his book. He couldn't read at a time like this, not when Aelita had stormed off like that...

"...Hey Ulrich, do you think I was a bit too hard on the girls?" Jeremy whispers to him.

"What do you think? Wasn't easy for Aelita to learn that she was human, or for Amy to learn that she and Aelita are half-sisters. You saw how she was when she was confronting her mother about it. Better talk to her," Ulrich places a comforting hand on his shoulder. Amy had yet to speak with her father over the matter, because most of the time, he's unreachable. Not that she wanted to, anyway. She wasn't ready to see or talk to him right now. Suddenly, Jim appears between them.

"No, you shouldn't talk to anybody!" He says, surprising everyone in the library.

"Huh?" Jeremy pushes up his glasses.

"There's no talking permitted in a library! Anybody I find talking from now on, is gonna have a little conversation with me!" Jim points to himself. "And if you hadn't had enough, after our little chat, you can just walk down the hall, and have a talk with the principal! No talking!"

"This is awful," Jeremy whispers once Jim is out of range. "Aelita must really hate me, huh?"

"No, she doesn't," Ulrich tells him, wiggling his fingers across the desk to mimic walking. "Hey, I bet she's running around looking for you to make up right now."

* * *

Odd, Amy, and Aelita slide down the ropes, landing on the ground softly. They run towards the elevator and get inside.

Yumi's math test is about to start and William enters the room. "Hey William, did you study hard?" She glances at him.

"Yep, just ask me anything you want about American History!" He answers, pumped to ace the test.

"Uh, that's great, but, uh, the test is in Math," She jerks a thumb to the teacher and he has a troubled face, realizing that he studied for the wrong subject.

* * *

Aelita is preparing the virtualization for the three of them. "Okay, I'll launch the procedure, which will automatically virtualize us in the desert sector. As soon as we materialize, we'll need Amy to get in sync with the transport."

"Wow, you know how to do all that?" Odd asks in surprise while Amy is a bit pale.

Aelita presses the last key, giving them a thumbs up. "Sure. Piece of cake. Amy, you'll be fine. I trust you. I know you can do it again."

"...If you're sure..." Amy stares at her as she leaves, Odd following after her. She snaps out of it and follows the two. They reach the scanner room and step up to the scanners, with 25 seconds left. The scanners close with them inside, and they're scanned, transferred, and sent into Lyoko.

* * *

As soon as they do, Jeremy's laptop beeps. He opens it up to see that the superscan is showing him an activated tower.

"Oh no, an activated tower," He whispers, that's just the thing he needed right now. "In the mountain sector." He shuts off his laptop, putting it under his arm. "Okay, we're out of here. We can beat XANA if we act fast."

"Talk plan?" Ulrich glances at him and the blonde nods, putting fingers into his ears.

"I'm telling ya, the recipe calls for eggs, vinegar, whipped cream, a little wheat germ, and peanut!" Ulrich shouts, getting the attention of everyone.

"And I say you gotta use hazelnut!" Jeremy argues back, though he had no idea what that recipe made.

"You don't!"

"You do!" Jeremy stands up and they ignore everyone who was warning them to be quiet. Jim appears right behind them soon after.

"Oh, we're not by any chance speaking too loud, are we, Jim?" Ulrich asks smugly.

"I want you two out of here immediately!" He points towards the exit. "Now go on, out of my sight, ya hear?"

The boys pretend to look dismayed and they walk past Jim. "That was easy," Ulrich whispers, Jeremy humming in agreement. Jim huffs at them in disbelief and they run out of the library, heading towards the park.

"Hey Ulrich," Jeremy turns to him curiously. "What was that recipe for, anyway? It sounds totally gross!"

"It's one of Odd's concoctions," He explains as they run. They may be disgusting, but for once, they actually did the two a favor. Not that he'd ever let that slip to Odd.

* * *

Ms. Meyer walks around the room as the 9th year students take their tests. Yumi's phone vibrates in her hand and she puts it to her chin as the teacher walks by. She then turns away, putting it to her ear.

"Hello?"

Ms. Meyer looks at her watch as a black clothed hand places her test on her desk. "Are you finished already?" The door closes and everyone stares at it. "Yumi."

"Yumi's on her way," Ulrich opens up the manhole cover as Jeremy looks at his phone.

"I can't seem to reach Aelita. You think she's still mad at me?" He brings the cover over, closing the passage.

* * *

Odd, Amy, and Aelita reach the edge of the desert sector. Amy closes her eyes and concentrates. Odd looks around, but sees nothing.

"I hope Ames doesn't make us miss our bus," Odd jokes and he turns to Amy, who's deep in thought. Aelita smiles and points to the sky.

"There!"

"Huh?!" Amy asks in surprise, looking up to the transport orb. "I actually did it! I summoned the transporter again!"

"I knew you could do it," Aelita winks at her and Odd wraps an arm around Amy's shoulders.

"That's pretty cool."

"Thanks," Amy smiles bashfully as the orb comes around and snatches them up.

* * *

Yumi jumps off the stairs and pushes open the doors to the boiler room. She opens the second door as she's rushing as fast as she can.

The boys have reached the factory and they step inside the lab. Jeremy comes to a stop at his chair. There was a familiar smell in the air...

"Hey, do you smell that? It's weird, it smells as if Odd has been here," He'd recognize the smell of his friend's feet anywhere.

"Forget it, Jeremy. Odd hasn't been here since yesterday. His feet smell, but not 24 hours later," Ulrich tells him. Honestly, it was a wonder that Amy hasn't started wearing perfume all the time.

"Still, it's...bizarre," Jeremy puts on the headset. The smell definitely felt recent...but with no real proof, he'll let it go.

Yumi skates down the sewers on a skateboard.

* * *

The Arena starts spinning as the transport orb slowly descends into the center of the room. It releases the three and the floor slowly comes to a stop. The wall opens up.

"Let's go."

They run through the door, coming to a stop at another wall. It opens up to reveal a hallway. The trio dash through it.

Jeremy taps his finger against his knee as Ulrich hangs up his phone. "Still nothing from Aelita...or Odd, or Amy," Jeremy stares at Ulrich. It wasn't like them to go MIA like this and not call by this point. And there's been no attacks on Earth.

"Forget it, it looks as if Odd and Amy are angry as well," Ulrich puts his phone back to his ear.

"Cuz of his smelly feet? That's dumb. Odd is losing his sense of humor..." Jeremy glances away in disbelief. Ulrich waits for Amy to pick up, but he gets voicemail.

"This is Amy!"

"And her amazing boyfriend, Odd Della Robbia!"

"Leave a message after the beep!" They say in unison. Ulrich rolls his eyes at the voicemail. Odd's was the exact same thing. He thought changing their voicemails to signify themselves as a couple was dumb, but it suited them in a good way.

Yumi arrives in the lab. "I hope this isn't a false alarm, I raced through my exam."

"It's real, alright," Jeremy calls out to her. "I'm sending you and Ulrich in right now. The others will join you, just as soon as I can get a hold of them."

Ulrich joins Yumi in the elevator and the doors close. Jeremy starts up the process and the scanners open. The two step inside. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Ulrich. Virtualization."

They feel the rush of air and the two land safely in the mountain sector. As soon as they do, three Hornets attack. One of them hits Yumi in the arm and she stands up slowly. Spinning around, she grabs her fans, dodging the projectiles. Ulrich eyes the Hornets, getting closer to Yumi.

"Nice one, Jeremy. _You materialized us in the middle of an air show!_"

"Sorry, you guys, but more surprises are on the way," The genius sees more monsters on the screen. "XANA has called up his heavy artillery. I'll materialize your vehicles."

The three Hornets fire again. Ulrich swings his sword around, absorbing the lasers with his weapon. "Better hurry!"

Jeremy goes as quick as he can. "Look," Yumi points forward. "Tarantulas!" Two of them are approaching the duo. Ulrich stands to her, ready as she pulls out her fans.

"Super sprint!" He runs past the lasers, eventually stopping to deal with the Hornet. Yumi rushes over to help and she throws a fan, destroying two in one throw. The Tarantulas fire from behind, Ulrich and Yumi turning around. She backflips past Ulrich as he dodges the lasers.

Jeremy presses enter and finally, the vehicles appear in front of their owners.

"Ah, it's about time!" Ulrich says in relief as they jump on. They fly into the air, speeding past the monsters that are still firing.

Jeremy calls Aelita again and he waits as it rings. "Come on, Aelita. You've moped long enough, now pick up."

The girls and Odd run into the Core Zone. They look up to see the key on a wall above the door. "Look, the key, it's up there!" Aelita points to it. Odd places a hand on his hip.

"This is almost too easy," Odd rolls his eyes playfully.

"Well, why don't you go and get it then?" Amy asks teasingly. Suddenly they hear a sound, looking around the room. They stand there as Creepers appear out of nowhere. Aelita makes an energy field in her hand, turning around.

"Energy field!"

It destroys the Creeper and Odd aims his arm. "Laser Arrow!" His arrow makes the Creeper fall off. Amy throws her spear and it hits the center of a Creeper. Two more appear on a platform, roaring to each other and then louder.

"Bizarre," Aelita comments at this. They turn around as it turns out that the two Creepers were calling for back-up. "You think they were surprised to see us."

"Sorry, we're not disturbing you, are we?" Odd asks, firing another arrow. One Creeper is wiped out and he takes care of another one. He fires at one above him, but he backs away. Another laser is shot right in front of his face. Turning around, two more Creepers are there.

"Odd, you get the key," Amy points upwards. "Us sisters will handle this." She and Aelita wink at each other.

Yumi and Ulrich have found the activated tower. "I see the tower!" He points at it.

"So do I, but I also see a welcoming committee!"

Two Bloks appear from behind the tower. "_Did you get a hold of the others_?" Ulrich asks Jeremy.

"Not a word. I'll try again. Stay in position for now, and don't get devirtualized."

"_We'll try._"

Odd jumps onto a platform, looking up towards the key. He jumps up to another and a Creeper fires. Aelita dodges it using two energy fields, but a stray laser hits Odd in the back. He grips onto the wall with his claws, stopping himself just in time.

"Odd, you okay?" Amy calls out, jumping behind a Creeper. She slashes at it from behind, destroying it. Aelita fires another energy field at a Creeper, destroying it.

"Yeah! Girls! Go!" Odd jumps and presses the key. This opens the door...but it also alerts Jeremy of their presence. Well, technically, the key's.

"Huh? What is going on around here?" He sees that the key has been pushed, but it could only be pushed by people on Lyoko. "Holosphere system online...?" The sphere shows three other people in the Celestial Dome. "I don't believe this, they're already there, the traitors! _Aelita, Amy, Odd, I know you're there!_"

Aelita comes to a stop, clenching a fist. "For your information, while you're out there having a ball, XANA happens to be attacking. Ulrich and Yumi are already on the spot."

"What now, Aelita?" Odd turns to her in concern. Amy holds Aelita's hand. As much as she didn't want to...she had to deactivate the tower.

"Let's go," She murmurs dejectedly. The elevator comes around and they jump off.

"As soon as you get to the Dome, I'll program a vehicle and then I'll open a tunnel. The activated tower is in the mountain sector, okay? Now get going!" Jeremy orders them. Amy stays silent at this. She couldn't believe that he was being so callous about their father.

They stop in front of the entrance, Aelita looking up sadly as the wall opens. They run into the Celestial Dome, where the Overboard and the OverRunner are waiting for them. Odd and Amy get into their vehicles, with Aelita being Odd's passenger. They take off and look for the tunnel that Jeremy would open. However, something catches Aelita's eye.

"Look, guys!" She points to the south entrance, where three Flying Mantas are guarding it.

"They're not attacking. It must be a game!" Odd jokes, Amy appearing next to him.

"I don't think it's a game that we wanna play," She shakes her head.

"Jeremy, we've just spotted some Flying Mantas at the South Pole of the Dome. They seem to be guarding the entrance."

"Now that is not a good sign. Hold on, I'll check it out," He brings up a schematic of the Core of Lyoko, where there are several monsters. "Uh oh. Looks like you were right. XANA's attacking the Core of Lyoko. _The tower in the mountain sector was just a diversion_!"

"Okay, we're on it!" Odd declares, both him and Amy flying over.

Yumi flips past a laser, pulling out her fans. A Blok spins in front of her and fires so rapidly that she slides back a bit absorbing it with her fan. The other Blok fires at Ulrich, knocking his sword out of his hand. Yumi throws one of her fans, destroying her opponent. She smirks slightly and then sees Ulrich's plight. Orange rings are fired at him and she holds out her hand. Using her telekinesis, she brings his sword to him. He jumps in the air and lands on top of the monster, stabbing it in the eye.

"Impact!"

He jumps away just as it explodes, Yumi walking up to him. "Your telekinesis thing is really cool!"

"Ulrich, Yumi, change of plans, listen up. Odd, Amy, and Aelita are in Sector Five. You've gotta get over there. They need some help."

"_What?_" Ulrich asks in confusion. "_What's going on?_"

"I'll tell ya all about it later, but for now, get going!"

"Odd, it's suicide," Aelita warns as he flies past lasers.

"You're kidding!"

"Well, there's a first time for everything," Amy places a hand on her forehead.

"This is a snap, Aelita," Odd flies past Mantas.

"XAA really outsmarted us," Yumi comments while flying next to Ulrich. "While he kept us busy in the mountain sector, he was free to attack the Core of Lyoko."

"Yeah, but he didn't count on three scanner stowaways already being in Sector Five, fortunately."

"_So then you're not mad at them_?" Ulrich asks the boy.

"Not a chance. In fact, as soon as they get here, they're gonna each get a big kiss!"

"_Jeremy, gross_," Odd, Aelita, and Amy comment in unison. He realizes that the trio's avatars are on screen and not Ulrich and Yumi's. His eyes widen in embarrassment.

"Oh, uh, I mean, uh, I wouldn't kiss Amy when she's dating you, Odd," He stammers, sweating a bit. "Or in front of Aelita, I mean, I-never mind! You know what I meant!"

Odd destroys a Manta while Ulrich and Yumi reach the edge of the sector.

"Are you at the extreme edge of the sector?"

"_Sir yes sir_," Ulrich recites like a soldier.

"Okay, then I'll enter the code Scipio," He enters the password.

Odd gets hit in the tail, causing it to spark. "These guys are tough to get a handle on!"

"You know, you might try throwing one of your shoes at them," Aelita jokes, the fairy trying not to giggle.

"Very funny!" Odd fires another arrow, destroying the second Manta. "I can do better than that! Laser Arrow!"

Before he can fire it, however, the third Manta hits him, knocking him off the Overboard. "Odd!" The girls cry out and he's devirtualized as he falls.

He kneels once he exits the scanner.

Ulrich and Yumi finally arrive in Sector Five. "_Hurry up, the girls are all alone!_" The two run through the wall.

Amy throws her spear at the last Manta and watches it explode as the two enter the South Entrance. "And the first shield layer of the Core of Lyoko has just given away...!"

They reach the room, looking up to see three Mantas and a lot of Creepers... "_Aelita, Amy, where are you?_"

"In trouble!" They murmur in unison. The two start running up the stairs. Aelita forms her energy field.

"Energy field!" It hits one of the Creepers. One of the Mantas fly away to deal with them. Aelita runs up the stairs as Amy comes to a stop. Two Mantas fire at them.

"Sorry about this, Odd," Amy mutters to herself, waiting as one of them dives down. She jumps off and lands on one of the monsters, stabbing it into the eye, but not enough to hit him. Aelita dodges the lasers with two energy fields. Amy uses the spear as sort of a gear stick, causing the Manta to fly upwards.

"Hang on. Yumi and Ulrich are on their way!"

The Creepers continue to fire as Aelita runs up the stairs again. She dodges the lasers again and Amy pulls her spear out, kicking the Manta away. It hits the platform and explodes. Amy lands near Aelita just as Yumi and Ulrich arrive.

Yumi pulls out her fans, absorbing the lasers with her weapons. She jumps off the platform and lands on the Manta. She flings down her fans in an X shape, jumping off it and landing back on the stairs. Ulrich jumps up several platforms before reaching a Creeper. When it turns around, he stabs it in the center. Another one fires at him not too far away, but he deflects the shot so that it hits the Creeper, destroying it.

One from the other side fires, but he does the same tactic as before, destroying the Creeper. He has to avoid more lasers from above and Amy runs up the stairs, dodging lasers from a Creeper. She steps back a bit and frontflips onto another platform, quickly backflipping up the other ones as fast as Ulrich's speed.

"Super Sprint!" He runs up the stairs to Aelita, blocking the lasers from the last Manta. He throws his sword and it hits the back. The Manta flies up a bit before being destroyed. "Did we miss much of the show?"

"No, just the opening act."

Hearing two roars, they turn around to see a Creeper approaching from behind, the other one crawling down the stairs.

"My saber," Ulrich remembers that it disappeared when he hit the Manta. Two fans come in and destroy the Creeper while a spear hits the other one. Turning to the other side, they see Yumi catching her fans. Amy walks up to them, bending down and grabbing her spear.

Jeremy sighs in relief. "Nice one, everybody. Aelita, you know that you still have a tower to deactivate...but if you and Amy wanna stop at a terminal first to collect some new data on Franz Hopper...I mean, if you want to."

Aelita taps her chin before smiling at Amy. "Yeah, why not?" They ask at the same time and he smiles.

* * *

"Okay then," Ulrich starts off in their room. Odd is getting ready to sneak out with Amy. "So what's this miracle cure that Yolanda gave you?"

"Hold on. I did tell you it was a surprise. Now close your eyes, Ulrich."

"I'd rather close my nose, I think," Ulrich comments, but closes his eyes anyway. Odd removes his shoes and Ulrich sniffs the air. "Ugh! What's that foul odor?"

Even Kiwi dislikes it as he jumps away from Odd's cream-covered feet. "It's a cream," He holds up the bottle. "Pretty effective, huh? Now my feet don't smell at all!"

"That's because the stench of that cream is so horribly strong!" Ulrich holds his nose. Odd sniffs it and gives a deadpan look. Now that he's smelling it, the cream was a little strong. Ulrich rushes past him, opening the door. "Help, open a window or I'll die!"

"Some guys are never satisfied," Odd deadpans at him. He opens up a window and walks past Ulrich. "There. Now I gotta go meet Ames."

"Thank goodness!" Ulrich rushes towards the window.

* * *

Jeremy types at his computer, Aelita standing near him. "Any luck?"

He leans back in his chair. "No. Nothing," He reports in dismay. Aelita turns around, about to leave when Jeremy sees something. "Hold on a second. What's that?"

"What have you found?" She glances at him.

"A fragment of a DNA code sequence," Aelita comes back to his desk. "That belongs to...Franz Hopper. You were right, Aelita!"

"Our father might still be alive somewhere on Lyoko!" She smiles at Jeremy slightly at the possibility. She couldn't wait to tell Amy!

* * *

Amy and Odd are lying down in the grass, both of them in the forest so that Jim doesn't see them. He told her about the cream he's using, but she didn't really notice a difference since she's so used to his feet. Which brings up a mind-boggling question...

"Odd, why do you care so much if your feet smell bad?" Amy asks him curiously. "Shouldn't my opinion matter?"

"No, no, no, it does!" He says too quickly, blushing as he rubs his neck. "I mean, only if you want it to...I mean...like I'm not trying to pressure you into changing me or anything, no I mean-" He had no idea what he was trying to say now. She giggles at him.

"Odd?"

"Yeah?" He asks in embarrassment.

"Shut up," She laughs and he of course does so. Amy takes a slight breath. "Read my lips," She points to her mouth. "I don't care if your feet smell. If I had a problem with you, I would've said it to your face in a way you'd understand. I honestly don't want you to change, and you don't need to. How else can I put in a way that you'll-"

Odd places his hands on her cheeks and kisses her. Amy stops talking and kisses him back. That was the perfect response he needed to hear. He puts her hands on her waist and pulls her close as they kiss deeper.

They keep kissing for a few minutes as they couldn't get enough of each other. She knots her fingers in his hair and he moans a little. He loves it when she does that. Odd slides his hands to her backside and she hums slightly. They stop to catch a breath and she pants softly as he hugs her closer.

"Thanks, Ames."

"No problem, pudding pop."

They lay down in the grass holding each other and just watch the stars. "Why don't you call me that more often?" He whispers in her ear and she blushes in embarrassment.

"Well...after that trap XANA laid out for you...it was just a slip, because I was really worried. And I didn't know how you felt about it," She rubs the back of her neck.

"I actually like it," He pecks her neck and Amy can't help but giggle. "Okay, then how about you call me that when we're alone? That way you won't be teased in public."

She turns around to face him, a fist to her mouth. "And...what if I do want to say it in public?"

"That can be your decision. I won't force you to do anything," He leans in and kisses her forehead. "Ever."

She smiles up at him and they sit there like that until they have to go back to the school.


	60. The Pretender

At the park in Kadic, the lights blink and a black crow lands on it. A specter appears from the light, going into the crow's eyes. It flaps around trying to fight XANA before it flickers like a specter.

Jeremy's computer goes off in his room to alarm him about an activated, but he's not there.

"Forget it, Ulrich," Odd mutters, brushing his teeth in the bathroom. Ulrich and Jeremy are there with him. "Your saber may have some class, but compared to my laser arrows, your monster count is way behind mine."

"Oh yeah?" Ulrich asks, his toothbrush in his hands. "I bet you forgot that my saber saved you from a quick game over last time."

Jeremy stops brushing to settle this once and for all. "You know what? I made up a little statistics program that I'm using to record your performances on Lyoko over the past few weeks. So tonight, if you want, we can compare and see who's best, okay?"

"That's great! I really love stats!" Odd exclaims eagerly. "We'll finally have proof of my superiority, but in any event, I've got something that you'll never have, good buddy," He points to his friend, "And that's style."

"Style, my friend? Doesn't impress a Megatank," Ulrich deadpans at him, Herb and Nicolas walking in.

"Hey, what's this all about a Megatank, huh? Are you talking about a video game?" Nicolas asks curiously as Odd spits out the toothpaste into the sink.

"Yeah, Teddy Bear Heaven. Way too complicated for you," He and Ulrich smirk at them.

"Very funny, Della Robbia," Herb retorts as the two leave.

"Uh, Ulrich?" Hiroki's friend Johnny walks up to him, already dressed. "Have you got a minute? Can I talk to you in private?"

Ulrich raises a confused eyebrow. What could Johnny have to say in private that's so important?

* * *

"I'm listening," Ulrich opens his closet as Johnny sits on his bed.

"Um, well, you're, um...Yumi's best friend, aren't you?" He asks nervously, looking towards the ground.

"Yeah, I guess you might say that," Ulrich replies, trying not to remind himself of what Yumi had told him at the beginning of the semester.

"Um, what I wanna say is, um, that...when I see Yumi, I mean, I'm...I-I mean well, I'd like to—you remember the episode of Hospital of Horrors that was on last week?"

"Huh?" Ulrich peeks at him behind the door. "You'd like to give Yumi a transfusion of French poodle blood?"

"No no," Johnny says quickly, "I mean at the end, what happens between Stacey and Dr. Shrank...or maybe something like how your friends Odd and Amy got together..."

Ulrich sighs, putting on his jacket. "Listen, I don't remember what happened in the end, and I don't know what you're talking about. And they've got pancakes for breakfast, so hurry up, will ya?" He walks past Johnny to take a walk with him.

* * *

When he finally does understand what Johnny was asking him, Ulrich hums as he walks down the stairs.

"You look happy for a change," Odd has his arm around Amy as everyone except Yumi was waiting for him. "What's going on? What did Johnny want?"

"Just to talk," He chuckles at the fact that it wasn't really a talk, more like Johnny stammering until Ulrich finally got it out of him. "He's totally flipped out over Yumi."

"That's adorable," Aelita smiles a little at the thought. "So, what did you tell him?"

"You did let him down gently without laughing at him?" Jeremy assumes, mostly because Yumi is way older than Johnny. He didn't want anyone's hopes to get up and then be shattered when they get rejected.

"You're kidding," Ulrich snickers lightly, "I wasn't gonna pass this up. I told him to follow her 24 hours a day every day non-stop."

The four glare at him, to his confusion. "That wasn't very cool, Ulrich," Aelita scolds him. "Yumi hates to be followed around. She'll probably tell him to get lost."

"If you weren't just friends and that's all," Amy uses quotation marks, crossing her arms, "Then you'd know that already, unlike her actual two best friends. You're just setting up Johnny to be heartbroken, Ulrich."

"So what if she does tell him?"

"You know, Ulrich," He turns to Jeremy, "You can be a real jerk sometimes."

"Hey, come on, it's just a little bit of hazing! I got hazed when I was in seventh grade!" Ulrich points to himself.

"Yeah, by Sissi. Oh wait, that's on a daily basis!" Amy places her hands on her hips, giving him a dirty look. "I guess you inherited it."

"Hazing, huh? Sounds more like jealously. I don't believe it. You flip out even when Kiwi looks at Yumi," Odd holds his head up high as they walk off without him.

"Hey, don't forget, Yumi and I are just friends and that's all!" Ulrich calls out after them.

"Here we go again," Amy rolls her eyes as they open the doors and walk through. "If anything, he should've told Johnny to come to me!"

* * *

A crow flies up to a window at the library, stopping right in front of Yumi. She looks up at it, but she doesn't get to dwell on it for too long as someone approaches her.

"Uh, hi Yumi."

She turns to see Johnny. "Hello," She whispers politely.

"Do you mind if I sit down next to you for a second, Yumi?" He doesn't wait for an answer as he sits down anyway. "It's really nice to see you."

"Hm, that's great, but I happen to be reading," She murmurs in the most polite way possible without snapping.

"You know, I love to read too. I read all kinds of stuff. Books and magazines and comics. Do you like comics?"

She narrows her eyes in annoyance. "Mm."

"I like mangas best, what about you?"

She closes her book, tapping her finger against it. "I'll bet you know some great ones. Can you recommend any to me?"

"No," She replies quickly. "See ya, I'm going to lunch."

"I'll go with you!" He trails after her.

* * *

He's still talking as they're in line. "I like the idea of self-service, don't you?" He grabs a plate with eggs and veggies. She raises a brow as she's holding a salad. "Oh, you're having salad? Oh, great idea! Vegetables are good for you! Lots of vitamins! I'm gonna have the—hey, wait for me!"

She grabs a plate with fish and Brussel sprouts. "I can't believe that you like Brussels sprouts too!" He exclaims and she gives him a tiny glare. "We have so much in common, it's amazing!"

Yumi starts walking to her table. Odd is seated between Aelita and Amy, across from Ulrich and Jeremy. "Hey, don't forget that in Sector Five, I took out at least three Flying Mantas in a matter of seconds," Odd cuts his fish.

"I don't trust your count, you stink in math," Ulrich replies smugly. "I prefer Jeremy's stats."

Yumi places down her tray, Johnny appearing behind her. "Where's your table? I'd really like to sit with you."

"And I'd like to get some water," She replies thinly, walking off to get a pitcher.

"How's it going, Johnny?" Ulrich smirks a little as Johnny sits next to him.

"I'm not sure, but I have the feeling I'm getting on her nerves by following her."

Ulrich places a hand on his shoulder. "Oh no, you know what girls are like." He suddenly gets kicked in the leg underneath the table. "Ow!" He glares up at Amy, who simply smirks while taking a bite out of her fish. "Come on, don't let it get you down, buddy. Now when you guys get to the gym, ask her for all kinds of advice."

"Okay..."

He glances at his friends, who are glaring at him with huffs. Johnny sees Yumi coming back. "Great idea! Could I have some water?" He holds out his glass, Yumi giving a small grunt.

* * *

In the courtyard, the others are talking about the test they just took. "I think I got question two right. I said that China stretched over the large river valleys of Eastern Asia, like the Hangzhou, the Chang Sea Chang, and the Siet Kang," Jeremy explains to them.

"What about you, Odd?" Aelita turns to the boy. "How did you do on question three?"

"Simple. I said China was the most populated country in the world with a billion people per square meter."

The four erupt into laughter and he glances at them in embarrassment. "You mean I got it wrong?"

"I guess I was right not to trust your stats, huh?" Ulrich chuckles and Amy places a hand on Odd's shoulder.

"Aw, don't worry, Odd. There's always next time. I wouldn't change a single thing about you," Amy leans in and kisses his cheek.

"And I you, my lady!" Odd bows to her, Aelita giggling at them. Ulrich hears a crow, looking up to see the bird flying above them. He watches the crow until it flies over to the gutters, where there's a whole flock of crows sitting there.

"Hey guys," He slowly stands up. "Have you noticed all those birds? It's kind of bizarre..."

They look up in his direction. "It reminds me of a film. A dumb flick where birds attack the heroes," Odd speaks up as they stare. "It wasn't even scary."

"It might not have been, but it's a little creepy," Amy steps back a bit.

* * *

In the gym, Yumi stands across of a pommel horse. She clenches a fist, opening her eyes. The girl starts running and then jumps, backflipping towards the pommel horse. Her hands touch it as she does a split, closing her legs and landing safely in front of the pommel horse. Hearing clapping, she turns around to see Johnny standing in front of the locker room.

"Fantastic!"

"Ugh! Johnny, you wouldn't be planning on following me all over all the time?" She asks in annoyance.

"Well yeah."

She groans again at this.

* * *

One bird flies off, heading right towards the five. It pecks at Jeremy's hair, to their shock as electricity touches his head. They gasp in shock, looking at the bird.

"I saw the sign, it was in their eyes. It's XANA!" Jeremy stars at the flock in worry.

The other birds' eyes flash with the symbol, flapping towards the group. "Hurry, they'll peck away at us until there's nothing left!" Odd exclaims and they run in the direction of the park, the birds flying after them. One of them touches Ulrich, causing him to duck his head.

They pant as they continue running. "I take it all back!" Odd screams at the top of his lungs. "It wasn't a dumb film after all! Head for the passage, I'll try to lure them over to my side!"

"Odd, no! What about you?" Amy protests to him.

"I'll be fine," He kisses her hand and pushes her forward. "Now go!" He opens up his arms to the flock. "Come on, little birdies! Over here!" The birds surround him as the other four reach the manhole cover. Ulrich opens it, allowing Aelita to go first.

"Odd, come on, we're here!" Ulrich calls out as Jeremy goes next. Amy stares at him with a worried look on her face. "Amy, go!"

"Give me a second to finish my acupuncture session!" Odd grabs a stick and waves it around, fending off the birds. Amy goes down the ladder as Odd slides over. He reaches the manhole cover just in time before they could peck at him, but now they're all over the secret entrance.

"Are you okay?" Amy asks Odd in concern.

"I'm a-okay!" He winks at the girl, causing her to giggle in relief.

"Incredible," Jeremy pushes his foot as they're riding down the tunnel. "I forget to check the super scan for a few hours and bang! A XANA attack!"

"Don't worry, everything will be just fine once we get the tower deactivated," Aelita tells him.

"No harm, no foul," Amy waves it off. However, she got a strange feeling that it wasn't going to be easy; more than usual, that is.

* * *

Johnny stands in front of the pommel horse, Yumi on the other side. "Go on, your turn," She encourages and he clenches a hesitant fist. He lets out a deep breath and takes a chance, running towards the pommel horse. He jumps, but when he lands, Yumi gasps. The pommel horse is right above his legs, wincing in pain. Birds fly towards the window as Yumi's phone rings and she answers it.

"Odd? What, a big flock of birds?" She turns to the window, and her question is answered as she ducks her head. "Okay, I'll be right there." Yumi takes off into a run.

"Yumi, wait up!" Johnny jumps off the beam, chasing after her.

"No, don't follow me," She warns him, the bird breaking through the window near her. Yumi rolls out of the way as the birds fly in, soaring towards her. "Johnny, get going, it's me that they're after!"

He does as she says, running out the gym door while covering his head. He shuts it just in time, Yumi breaking through another window and landing on the grass. She takes off past Johnny, who can only watch as the birds follow her. He runs off to go get help.

* * *

Ulrich is the first to reach the bridge, and when he does, a crow walks right past him. His eyes widen as he sees a big flock of birds surrounding the bridge.

"Oh..." He stands up in shock, the others staring.

"I don't believe it!" Odd mutters in disbelief.

"Getting past through that alive is gonna be a miracle," Amy murmurs, crossing her arms. Aelita lets out a small breath of air.

"We've been through worse, especially us," She glances at her sister. "And besides, it's not everyday we have such a big audience."

"I'd say you're crazy, but we don't have a choice, do we?" The brunette sighs in defeat.

"What do you think?" Aelita asks, stepping through a small gap between rows of birds. She looks down nervously as she walks slowly, the others following after her. Odd holds Amy's hand gently, silently telling her that they could do this. It feels like minutes of a horror film as they glance at the crows.

Suddenly their eyes glow red and they screech at the five. They keep on walking until the birds start flying towards them.

"We'll delay them. Head for the elevator, see you there," Ulrich tells Amy, Jeremy, and Aelita. Amy kisses Odd's cheek and runs after the two.

"Over here! We're waiting!" Odd challenges as he and Ulrich get into fighting stances.

The other three jump towards the ropes, landing in front of the elevator. Hearing flapping, they look up to see the birds following after the boys. They slide down roughly as the elevator door starts to close.

"Ulrich, Odd, hurry up!" Jeremy looks up towards the closing door. The two land safely, making a run for it. "Faster, faster!"

They slide into the elevator, barely making it before the birds peck at the metal door. "I took out five of 'em," Odd brags to Ulrich. "How bout you?"

"I don't know, but if you're trying to cheat, don't forget that the birds aren't part of the stats," Ulrich tells him as Aelita pulls out her phone. "Only monsters sent by XANA."

"Guys, you can settle this later," Amy presses the button. "Have you forgotten that we have a job to do?"

Jeremy smirks, jerking a thumb towards Amy.

"Yumi's all on her own, I hope she's okay," Aelita puts her phone to her ear.

Yumi runs down the path as the birds continue chasing her. Her phone rings and she opens the door to the shed. She closes it just in time, but one of the beaks stabs into the door right in front of her eyes. She slides down in exhaustion.

Aelita hands up the phone. "There's no answer..."

"Don't panic," Jeremy stands in the lab. "I'll virtualize you in the vicinity of the activated tower, and then I'll call Yumi."

"Mmhm," Aelita nods and the doors close in front of them.

"Too late..." Yumi whispers as she looks at her phone, knowing fully well that the birds won't just give up and leave. They heard her mobile go off. The window next to her breaks as the birds fly in. They turn around towards her and she tries to cover herself, but it's no use. They peck away at her, making her drop her phone. Her hand touches the handle, but the pecking is too much for her as she slides onto the floor, letting out screams of pain that no one could hear...

Jeremy starts up the process of virtualization. "Transfer Ulrich." The scanner closes around Ulrich. "Transfer Aelita. Transfer Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Odd. Virtualization." The three are all virtualized into the desert sector. They land safely on the sand.

"_The activated tower is south southwest._" Their vehicles and Amy virtualize in front of them. "_In a crater_."

Amy lands in front of the three, backflipping into her racecar. The boys race off towards their rides at the same time.

"Start up the stat program, Einstein!" Odd exclaims as he leaps onto his Overboard.

"You're gonna cry when you see the results," Ulrich teases him, Aelita landing on the Overboard.

"Doubt it, buddy, and besides, I don't cry when I get bad grades, do I?" Odd grins, holding up a finger.

"If you did, you'd have driven in your tears ages ago!" Ulrich turns around, following after Amy and Odd.

"Start earning your points, now," Jeremy smirks a little. "XANA sent you a big welcome party of Krabs."

"Oh, I was in the mood for seafood today," Amy grins in amusement, speeding up in front of the boys.

"Let's go, Ulrich!" Odd waves him over. "I'll leave you the claws!"

"We'll see about that," Ulrich revs up his Overbike. They can see the crater in their sights.

"May the best man win, and that's me!" Odd brags, flying above the crater. "Bonzaaaaaai!"

"Cheater," Ulrich glares at him.

"You can get your revenge later, we have a tower to deactivate," Amy drives up ahead of him. However, when Odd gets into the area, he doesn't see any monsters whatsoever.

"Where are they...?"

The Krabs are actually waiting behind them, and they prepare their lasers. "I don't see anything!" They fire at the Overboard, causing them to fall. The other two drive around, Ulrich coming to a stop.

"Is that what you mean by style?" Ulrich retorts back, Amy rolling her eyes and driving forward. Odd stands up.

"Go on then, see if you can do any better!"

Ulrich glances to his left as Amy swerves past the lasers from across her direction. Ulrich drives off the crater and lands on the sand. He then drives up to the Krabs, stabbing at them from underneath with his sword. Once he's sliced through all four of them, he stops his bike to watch them explode.

* * *

"What is all this about crows with red eyes?" Jim demands as Johnny escorts him and the principal to the garden shed.

"But it's true, I swear!" He insists to them, "They flew into the gym and attacked Yumi!" He points to the shattered window. "Look at the windows."

Jim opens the door to the shed, all of them stepping back as the aforementioned crows fly right past them. "There, you see?!"

Then they step inside.

Jeremy tries again from his end to contact Yumi.

Jim bends down to the unconscious Yumi. "Yumi!" He inspects her arm just as her phone rings. Principal Delmas sees the mobile and picks it up.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Delmas, is that you?" Jeremy asks in confusion, but is now concerned. Why would he answer Yumi's phone?

"Yes, it's me."

"Uh..." He stammers, not sure of what to say right now. He wasn't expecting this to happen of all things. "Do you know where Yumi is?"

"Yes, she's here, in the tool shed. And she's been hurt!"

"Mr. Delams," Jim looks up to him, "We have to get her to the hospital."

"Listen Belpois. I'm too busy to talk to you at this time. I have to call an ambulance, so hang up, please." Jeremy does so and frowns at the screen.

"Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, Amy, can you hear me?" He asks slowly, "Yumi's been hurt. I have to launch a return to the past. First, you've gotta deactivate the tower, fast!"

"Okay," Ulrich nods up at him.

"Oh no, Yumi," Amy frowns at the news. Aelita runs towards the tower, but a Krab steps in front of it, causing her to stop suddenly. It fires and she jumps away, sliding to a stop near Odd. Amy drives up to the Krab.

"Leave 'im to me," Ulrich calls out before Odd could fire.

"No way!" Amy exclaims, coming to a stop in front of the Krab. She pulls out her spear and frontflips, avoiding the lasers from the ground. Then she flies into the air and throws her weapon, hitting the target dead on. It comes back into her hand and she watches it explode.

"That's not fair!" Odd pouts at her.

"Yeah, you're cheating," Ulrich crosses his arms.

"Technically, no, because you two are so caught up in your competition that you're not giving each other fair chances," She smirks, putting her weapon behind her back. Suddenly, Ulrich's Overbike is devirtualized, Odd laughing at him. Amy suddenly pushes him and he lands on the ground, saving him from a laser that was caused by a Krab. Both of them get hit and Ulrich is now the one laughing. Aelita gives him a look and they turn to the two Krabs.

"Ulrich and Odd, would you mind concentrating? Do I have to remind you there's a tower to deactivate if you wanna save Yumi?" Jeremy asks into the headpiece. Odd flips and fires an arrow.

"Laser Arrow!" Three of them hit the eye and it's destroyed. Odd lands on his feet. "That's one less monster! Odd the great, the brave, the magnificent has finally overcome his handicap, and is now caught up with his opponent. Temporarily, of course, because Odd-"

He suddenly gets hit from behind, falling as he devirtualizes. "I'm not even sorry for not helping him this time around," Amy slowly shakes her head and Aelita giggles a little bit.

"So long Odd, the mega-" Ulrich deflects a laser with his sword. Odd appears in the scanner room, holding his stomach.

"That wasn't fair!" He pouts, narrowing his eyes.

Ulrich spins around his sword, getting hit in the shoulder. "Careful Ulrich, you're losing too many life points."

He spins around, jumping up and avoiding a laser. The Krab suddenly is engulfed in pink, destroying it. Ulrich looks towards the source to see that it was Aelita.

"Hey Aelita, you're cheating too!"

"Yeah, I know, but you guys are just too clumsy," She replies, giving him a sly wink. The sisters high five before she runs into the tower. Amy grins smugly, jerking a thumb towards Aelita.

"Nice one, Aelita," Jeremy grins, his hands behind his back...and then that smile is dropped as he hears something above him.

Aelita lands on the top pad.

Jeremy gives a sound of worry at the bunch of crows in the ceiling. They glow red and fly towards him.

Aelita signs into the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated," She replies as the tower shuts down. It turns white and she runs back to the two Lyoko Warriors.

"It's okay, Jeremy, you can launch a return to the past now," Ulrich reports, but gets nothing in response. He glances at Amy, who looks up. "Jeremy?"

Lasers are suddenly fired at the three, causing them to look up at the hornets. "Jeremy. Do you read us, Jeremy?"

He and the fairy defend Aelita from the lasers. "Something's wrong," Amy frowns as Aelita fires an energy field, destroying one.

* * *

Johnny stares at Yumi as she sits in a gurney unconscious. The paramedic closes the back door and Principal Delmas turns to Jim.

"Can you make anything out of this attack by birds with electric beaks, Jim?"

"No," He closes his eyes. "Never seen anything like it, sir...well, except when I investigated paranormal phenomena for a high-special Secret Service section."

"I didn't know that," The principal stares at him in surprise.

"I did...but I'd rather not talk about it. It's a classified defense secret."

* * *

Odd enters the lab, only to find Jeremy unconscious. "I don't believe this! Jeremy!"

The three try their best to fight against all the Hornets. Aelita creates another energy field, defeating a Hornet, but she fails to notice the danger behind her. Amy backflips over to her and they both share a high-five...until they're caught by the Scyphozoa.

"Ulrich!" They call out as he's dodging lasers by Hornets.

"Girls!" He shouts, but he's too busy with the Hornets as the two are getting their memories implanted. His saber is knocked out of his hand, spun around, and then completely destroyed by the Hornets. "Oh no!"

"Ulrich," Odd sits in the chair, the headphone to his ear. "Can you hear me? Jeremy's out cold. The birds have attacked him."

"_Oh, great_," He murmurs in dismay. "_XANA's captured the girls, I've got Hornets on my tail, and my saber's gone! Do something!_"

"Wait, what? NO! And I'd love to, but...the supercomputer programs aren't exactly my thing. I can try to get your saber back," He starts typing away, completely unsure of what he's doing. If Amy wasn't captured by the Scyphozoa, she'd help him out here!

Two Mantas suddenly arrive into the crater, flying over to the girls and Scyphozoa.

"No!" Ulrich shouts, trying to get over to them, however, he is stopped once again by the Hornets. He looks just in time to see the now possessed sisters riding the Mantas. "I don't believe it! Super sprint!" He runs up the entrance and jumps out of the crater.

* * *

The ambulance is now on its way to the hospital, Johnny tending to Yumi's forehead with a cloth. She suddenly wakes up.

"Huh? Y-You're still here?" She thought he would've ran after the crows attacked the window...

"Sure I am, I wouldn't leave you, Yumi," He smiles at her.

"Where'd you get this stupid idea to follow me from?" She murmurs as he continues with the cloth.

"From Ulrich. He said it was the best way to get your attention, and so that's what I've been doing," He explains to her slight ire.

"I should have guessed it was him. He's not only jealous, he's dumb."

"Ulrich's jealous? But of what?" He asks curiously.

"Forget it," She mutters, deciding not to tell him. It'd mostly break his heart anyway.

* * *

Ulrich runs after the monsters and the girls. He stomps on the ground before he jumps, landing on one Hornet and then the other two. He backflips into the air and kicks the Manta from underneath. This sends the girls flying into the air and he lands on the platform, running towards them. He catches the two before placing them down gently. However, he can still see the XANA symbols in their eyes.

Aelita holds out her hand, creating an energy field, but Ulrich dashes out of the way. "I might not have my saber, but I can run!"

"Heat Wave," Amy murmurs, a beam of fire appearing from her hand. They both fire at the same time and he narrowly misses the attacks.

"Odd, we can't take the chance of Aelita or Amy going into the way tower. You gotta try to launch a return in time!"

"_But I thought we were never to do that when they're under XANA's control._" Odd frowns in worry for his girlfriend. She's possessed by XANA for the first time and he can't even help her out...not to mention, if he tried to launch a return in time, he doesn't know what could happen to them.

They attack Ulrich again and he rushes out of the way. "Well, at least try to program me a saber."

"I'm almost there," Odd looks up nervously, "And here we...go!" He presses enter and the sword's silhouette appears in his hand.

"Great, Odd," He smiles a little, but as soon as he touches it, it disappears into pixels. "Huh? Okay, I take that back."

"_Uh, sorry. But you have to stop them! I thought Ames couldn't be possessed by the Scyphozoa on Lyoko!"_

"It's because XANA's gotten strong enough to do it. He probably wanted to wait for the right moment," He mumbles, running after them with his super sprint. He trips them and they slide on the ground. Lasers are fired right next to him and he turns around to the monsters. Grunting, he looks between the two and then the monsters. He speeds behind Aelita and hugs her from behind. She struggles as Amy tries to pull him off.

"Let me see, how are we gonna get out of this one?" Odd murmurs to himself, glancing behind him. "It's time for some strong-arm tactics."

Johnny holds Yumi's hand, glancing at her vitals. He then looks back to her with a hopeful smile as she closes her eyes.

Aelita elbows Ulrich in the gut, knocking him onto the ground. She then prepares another energy field and Ulrich ducks, instead the projectile hitting a rock. Pieces from it stab the ground near him, with the girls running past him. He looks at them for only a few seconds before turning his attention to the monsters. He jumps over some lasers.

"Beginning to get on my nerves..." He takes a rock shard and super sprints up a rock. Ulrich then pushes himself into the air, landing on the Manta. He ducks from a Hornet. "Aw, you missed!" He ducks his head. "Missed again! Tough break." Swinging his arm, he knocks a Hornet into a rock, destroying it. He then stabs the Manta in the eye, jumping off it.

Odd slaps Jeremy. "Come on, Jeremy, this is the 10th slap. Don't tell me you need a real smash!"

Jeremy finally wakes up. "Odd...are you crazy or what?!"

Odd giggles sheepishly into his hand before he turns serious. "Jeremy, we're in serious trouble!"

Johnny looks up at the machine again, noticing the beats getting slower. "Yumi...!"

She seems to have fallen unconscious again. He rubs her hand slowly.

Ulrich super sprints in front of the sisters. "I'm not gonna let you through, girls." He gets hit in the leg, causing them to smirk. They run past him and he gets onto his feet, throwing his make-shift weapon. He destroys two Hornets in one throw. "One, and two...but...oh no!" He turns around, only to see them enter the way tower.

Johnny's eyes turn soft as he sees that they're almost at the hospital. "Hang in there, Yumi..."

Aelita signs in as Amy enters the code.

_Xana_

"Ulrich, I'm ready for action again," Jeremy replies once he's back in the chair. "Tell me what's going on. _Do you need help_?"

The tower starts disappearing as the two fall out of it, back to normal. "Too late..." Ulrich murmurs sadly. He then sees the environment starting to disappear. "Come on, girls!" He runs past them. "This is no time to drag your feet!" The two run after him.

"What do we have here?" Paramedics look at Yumi as they're running down the hall.

"Adolescent girl, about 14. Multiple injuries, unconscious."

"It's all over..." Jeremy closes his eyes.

"For the desert sector, yes," Odd places a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "For Yumi, I hope not, so...move it."

Jeremy gets to work and finishes the process within minutes. "Return to the Past now..." He presses enter and everything gets engulfed in white. Time is reset to before Johnny talked to Ulrich, with Herb and Nicolas leaving the bathroom.

"Very funny, Della Robbia..."

Ulrich turns to Jeremy expectantly. "Well?"

"It's okay. Yumi's going to be fine."

Odd sighs in relief. "Yeah...but she knows about what you told Johnny to do, and she's furious," Jeremy smirks knowingly.

"Don't say we didn't warn you," Odd points his toothbrush at the boy.

"Ulrich, Ulrich," Johnny arrives behind them. "Have you got a minute? Can I talk to you, in private?"

"No problem," Ulrich smiles gently, knowing just what to do about Yumi.

* * *

"Well..." Johnny starts off from Ulrich's bed. "Well, you see, uh...when I see Yumi, I, uh..."

"Okay, I get it, you like her and you don't know how to get her to notice you, right?"

"That's it, but how did you guess?" Johnny asks in surprise.

"Instinct," Ulrich puts on his jacket. "There's one thing that can't fail."

"Sure?" Johnny looks up skeptically.

"She's gonna love it, trust me. Now you gotta go find her and tell her this."

* * *

"Okay, right," Johnny starts off to Yumi in the library, "Ah...Ulrich is a really dumb jerk, and he wants to apologize for pulling such a stupid stunt."

Yumi chuckles after a few seconds. "Okay," To his surprise, she pushes the chair next to her away. "Well, why don't you sit down? We can study together."

"T-Together?" He stammers slowly. "Like us? Like you and me? Together?"

"Why not?" She smiles a little.

"Wow, that Ulrich really rocks," He couldn't help but say as he takes his seat.

"I guess," She puts her hand to her cheek. She definitely forgave Ulrich now.

* * *

"Hey guys," Jeremy approaches the others at the vending machine. "I got the latest stats on the Lyoko battles."

"Ready to eat your hat, good buddy?" Odd smirks at Ulrich, awaiting his victory.

"You're the one who's not gonna be able to digest this."

"The Lyoko Warrior who has outclassed all the others is...a tie between Amy and Aelita!"

He and the girl both laugh as they high five. This doesn't appease the boys as they look on with tiny glares.

"I don't believe in statistics, they don't mean a thing. That's not the way to determine a real Lyoko hero," Odd pouts at them.

"Yeah, for once I agree with you, Odd," Ulrich comments as they watch the two celebrate. Odd suddenly drops his cup. Come to think of it, Amy hasn't been around all morning...

"W-Where's Ames?"

"Dealing with Kiki, she won't stop whining every time Amy tries to leave the room," Aelita tells him. "I think she's just as worried as you-"

Odd takes off into a run, surprising all of them.

* * *

He slides into the girls' dorm hallway, trying to get to their room as fast as possible. He didn't even care if Jim would catch him, but he had to make sure that his little Ames is okay. He gives an inward sigh of relief as he sees the door he's looking for. Odd suddenly bursts in, seeing Amy holding her dog in her hands.

"Hm?" She turns around, seeing her panting boyfriend in the doorway. "Odd? Sorry, I know I should've called, but Kiki-"

He jumps towards her so fast, he knocks her onto the floor. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her in for a passionate kiss. Amy accepts the gesture instead of protesting, wrapping her arms around his neck. They stay like that for a few seconds until Odd finally pulls away.

"Do you know how much you scared me today?!"

Her eyes widen and she knows exactly what he's talking about. Amy lets out a small sigh. "I'm fine, pudding pop. Me putting in the code changed me back, you know that."

"Yeah, but I wasn't there to stop it!" He frowns, running a hand through her bangs.

"You didn't have to barge into my room to greet me. You have a phone."

"I needed to see for myself," He kisses the top of her head. "I should've been there..."

"Oh, don't blame yourself for this. I was a victim with no control over what I was doing. No matter what happens to me, I'd never forget about you..."

He looks down at her and smiles.

"Now can you get off me? Do you want us to get in trouble?"

He finally realizes their position and sits up, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.


	61. The Secret

It's a late night as Yumi's phone rings. She picks up her mobile that's sitting over her copy of the Kadic News. Then she listens to Jeremy over the phone, sitting up.

"Okay Jeremy, I'm on my way," She sneaks out and closes the gate just as she hears someone approaching on her skateboard. "Hey-"

"Whoa!"

William knocks her down, rubbing his shoulder. "Yumi? What are you doing up so late?"

"I wouldn't exactly call this being up, would you?" She retorts back.

"Sorry, but I was speeding to get back to the dorm," He places his skateboard over his shoulder. "I climbed the wall to go and see Sky Breaker 4, but it was really lame. I did catch Odd and Amy there, though, and they seemed to think the same thing. They definitely left in a hurry after she answered her phone."

"T-The first three were duds, why the big surprise?" She stammers a little, knowing that Jeremy must've called them while they were out on a date.

"Guess I'm just too much of an optimist." Thankfully he didn't catch her nervous tone. "Even when things start badly, I always feel they can get better if you give it time," He smiles at her slyly, but she's too much in a hurry to notice or even care.

"Yeah, okay, right. Well, now I've gotta go," She tries to move past him, but he stops her with his skateboard.

"Really? Where to?"

"To save the world, is that a good enough answer for you?" Yumi narrows her eyes in annoyance. This flirting is not only getting on her nerves, but it's making her late. And it wouldn't be the first time that this has happened...

He smirks at her instead of doing or saying anything. "Let me go, William!"

"Okay, but before I do, you gotta give me a kiss goodnight."

She gasps in surprise, giving a sly look. "Alright, but first close your eyes."

"Great. Well, I guess my evening wasn't a waste after all," He closes his eyes, ready for the kiss, but she runs off in the other direction instead of giving him one. "Yumi? Yumi?" He opens his eyes and sees that she's no longer standing there. "Yumi!"

* * *

She arrives in the scanner room, ready to go. "Here I am, Jeremy. You can send me in."

"You got here just in time to welcome Aelita, Odd, Amy, and Ulrich on their return from Lyoko," He smiles, using the rematerialization program.

"You've already deactivated the tower?" She asks in shock. Was she really gone for that long to the point they've already completed the mission?

Ulrich arrives back first. "Hey Yumi, what happened to you?"

Then she turns to Aelita. "Didn't you hear your cell phone ring?"

Odd arrives behind her as Amy arrives behind Ulrich. "Nothing to worry about. I oversleep at least three times a week. Of course, with Ulrich, who snores like a grizzly, it's a question of survival," He helps Amy step out of the scanner, holding her hand.

"Actually, it's you who sleeps like a grizzly," She smirks in amusement as Yumi crosses her arms, knowing the real reason she missed out.

"Actually, it's not only my sleep that's beginning to bring me down..."

* * *

The next morning, her class is getting ready to go to the pool. Everyone is standing at the entrance as Jim is taking attendance. "Mathias Burrell."

"Present."

"Emmanuel Maillard."

"Present."

"Maitena Lecuyer."

"Here."

While he's calling out names, William arrives, placing his hand on Yumi's shoulder.

"Christopher M'Bala."

"Hey, you know, last night you pulled a fast one on me. No one has ever humiliated me like that before. What'd you do it for?" He whispers to her.

"Because I find your dumb two-bit Casanova act sickening!" She mutters to his shock.

"But I-"

"In the beginning, it was pretty nice, but now I'm really fed up! So why don't you buzz off, William, and leave me alone," She pushes him away and his mouth is just wide open. He wasn't expecting her to react like that...

"William Dunbar. William Dunbar!"

"OKAY OKAY, I'M NOT DEAF, YOU CAN SEE I'M HERE, CAN'T YA?!" He shouts out of anger, surprising the whole class.

"Dunbar! To the library, out of my sight!" Jim points to his right. "No swimming for you today, you got that?!"

"Anyway, I bet they know what you had to do that was so important last night. And I'm gonna find out what your big secret is! Bet on that," He tells Yumi before storming off, to her ire. He better not ask her friends...

* * *

"Don't worry, Jeremy," Aelita calls out as Jeremy is overlooking something from his laptop. "We're gonna make a fabulous report."

"Well, we'd better! It counts for the whole semester," He replies as Ulrich comes up behind him.

"So, what's the latest in the world of Kadic Junior High today?" Ulrich asks Odd. Amy is sitting next to him, his arm around her shoulders while the other is holding the Kadic News.

"Is Judith Nevers going out with Ronaud Limousin?"

"Who are Judith Nevers and Ronaud Limousin?" He asks curiously.

"How should I know? Anyway, it seems they are going out. Ahh, takes me back to when Ames and I were on the front page just a few months ago."

"Just another part of the gossip column," Amy waves it off.

"Oh no," Jeremy stares at his computer as something comes up. "I don't believe it. A XANA alert."

"Not again," Ulrich frowns at him.

"Yeah, and the big problem is that Aelita and me can't get out of history class, not this time."

"Hey, don't sweat it, Einstein," Odd places a hand on Ulrich's shoulder. "Ulrich, Ames, and I will go and get ready. When you get there, you can send us to Lyoko, but finish your report as fast as possible. Hey, wait a minute! Ames, you're good with the supercomputer, right? You can virtualize us!"

"Hypothetically. I've only done it a few times," Amy frowns, crossing her arms.

"Well, we trust you, so it's not like you'll mess up," Ulrich gives her a thumbs up, causing her to laugh.

"Gee thanks. I guess I'll-"

"Hey, Amy!"

They all turn to William who approaches them. "What does he want?" Odd frowns at him that he's calling for his girlfriend.

"I need to talk to you," He says once he comes to a stop in front of them.

"_Now_?" She questions, glancing at her friends. "I'm kinda-"

"Busy? No you aren't, because you don't have classes right this second. And it's really important."

"Hey, even if she wanted to, why should she?" Ulrich retorts back.

"Yumi's one of her best friends, right?" William keeps on a straight face.

The brunette glances to the others, Aelita and Jeremy shrugging at her. If it's about Yumi, then it's relevant to know about the issue, right?

"Umm...as long as it's quick," Amy rubs her neck. Honestly, Yumi's more like a big sister to her if anything, and if it's concerning her, then she'd want to know. Yumi would've done the same thing in her position.

"Oh yeah, sure."

She leans in towards the boys. "I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?"

"Okay," They both nod in unison, Odd kissing her cheek before the two leave.

"So...what is this about Yumi?" Amy asks as she and William start to walk together.

"She totally blew me off last night when I asked for a kiss! She seems to be hiding something important, and I was wondering if you could tell me."

Her eyes widen as she comes to a stop. First off, of course she'd blow him off, because that happened right after Jeremy called her. And second... "Why are you coming to me about some apparent big secret that Yumi's keeping from you?"

"Everyone around here seems to think you're trustworthy, and you've never told a lie. If anything, you're the nicest girl in school."

_Huh. Never thought I had that kind of reputation around here._

"If Yumi wanted you to know, she would've told you herself, if she cared enough to. I'm sorry she blew you off," Truth be told, she really wasn't given his attitude during the zombie attack, "But maybe breaking her trust by asking one of her friends to tell you a secret that you_ think_ you know about isn't the right way to approach this. And even if I did know a secret, which I don't, I still wouldn't tell you."

She walks off, causing him to narrow his eyes. He walks off into the park instead of going to the library, kicking a rock. "Second-rate Casanova, huh? Some big help Amy was too." He suddenly comes to a stop as he sees Odd and Ulrich over the secret passage.

"I can't reach Yumi, she's not picking up," He reports to his friend.

"What's going on with her lately? Last night and then now," Odd jumps onto the ladder. "Ames is on her way, though. Said she'll meet us soon."

William watches them from behind a tree, smirking.

* * *

Aelita places in a slide into the project, showing the title. "Sir, is it okay if we begin now?" Jeremy asks Mr. Fumet.

"Yes, you may..." He looks around the room for three missing students. "But where are Odd, Amelia, and Ulrich?"

"Uh, well, uh...you see sir, they had something important to do and-"

"More important than my class?" Mr. Fumet crosses his arms with a stern look.

"Well, actually...I wasn't supposed to tell you, but they're preparing a surprise for your class, Mr. Fumet. Amy is actually the group leader, and that's why she went with them!" He's obviously lying, but he'll have to launch a return in time so that his friends don't get in trouble...Amy didn't need an absence on her perfect attendance record.

"Surprise? What kind of surprise?"

"It's, um...it's a big historical show in your honor!"

"Oh..." Mr. Fumet gives a pleased smile. "Why, I'd never have guessed. I'll excuse their absence this time."

"And now sir, can we begin?" Aelita asks pointedly, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Yes, yes, of course, go on, tell us everything you know about World War I."

"On June 28th, 1914, a Serbian student assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand," Jeremy starts off, Aelita using the projector to change the slides. "Nephew and heir to the Austro-Hungarian emperor, Franz Joseph. This took place in Bosnia, Herzegovina. The political alliances were reinforced and within a few days, all of Europe became involved."

Nicolas tries to write all of this down as quick as he can, but Jeremy is going too fast. "Serbia, Russia, France, Great Britain were one side and Germany, Austria-Hungary on the other. Other countries became part of the conflict. Germany invaded Belgium. Italy, Greece, Romania, and the US joined the Allies, Turkey and Bulgaria supporting Central Europe."

* * *

Odd skids off the railing with his skateboard, Ulrich doing the same thing a few feet away. While they're skating, William is running after them. He lets out an exhausted pant, staring after the two boys. He couldn't help but think that this is a lot of effort to be keeping this secret...

The two arrive at the ladder, sliding to a stop.

* * *

"The armistice treaty signed in late October and early November of 1918 put an end to the fighting, but peace treaties had to be drawn up for a definitive end to the war that most people hoped would be the war to end all wars, clearing the way for a lasting peace. Finally in Paris, the victorious countries united in a peace conference with the twofold mission of creating a league of nations." The white dove had to be turned around by Aelita. "And the adoption of peace treaties submitted to the defeated nations," Jeremy throws down the paper after finishing.

"I hope that wasn't too long!"

"Hmm..." Mr. Fumet just stares, everyone else trying to process what just happened.

"Sir, may I go to the infirmary?" Jeremy pretends to hold his head. "I've got a bit of a headache."

"Um, I do too, sir," Aelita raises a finger.

"Yes yes, go on, go on." He takes off his glasses. "I'm not feeling too well either all of a sudden..."

* * *

Odd and Ulrich slide down the ropes, William peeking over the railing. "Ulrich, try Yumi's mobile again. She's bound to answer sooner or later."

William smirks at the elevator arriving.

* * *

At the pool, Yumi's mobile is actually in her backpack, but she's sitting away from it. "Today we're going to have a little lesson in synchronized swimming. And that means no speed competition, no stopwatches, just pure grace! As someone once said, a picture's worth a thousand words, here's a demonstration! Admire the finesse..." He cannonballs into the water before doing the routine, which looks absolutely ridiculous from him.

"You know what I think? That's about as graceful as tractor pulling," Yumi whispers to another student, who giggles.

* * *

Amy arrives in the lab, fists clenched as she storms over to the computer. "Huh?" Odd asks in surprise. "What's wrong, Ames? What did William wanna talk about?"

"He was asking me about Yumi's secret escapade last night, wondering if I knew our secret!" She grits her teeth, crossing her arms.

"What?!" The boys exclaim in surprise.

"Wait, what did you tell him?" Odd turns her around so that she's facing them.

"I told him that whatever it was, that he had to buzz off me! What did you think I told him?! Apparently, I'm so trustworthy, that he thought I was actually gonna say something to him about it, which I would never do! Not to mention I don't wanna anger Yumi."

"I don't believe him," Ulrich shakes his head.

"Well, stupid or not, he was right. You're giving Sissi a run for her money on popularity," Odd places his hands on his hips with a smirk. Amy snickers, pushing him away slightly.

"Odd! Stop it."

"There's my little Ames," He pulls her in for a hug.

"Shh, Ulrich's standing right there!" She reminds him, blushing a little. Ulrich just turns away instead of staring.

"So I'm guessing that's a no on the virtualization from you," He calls out.

"Yeah...sorry, but I'm still too angry from what William tried to do. Let's just wait for Aelita and Jeremy."

"You think we'll get a good grade?" Aelita asks the boy as they're arriving in the factory. "We said all we wanted to, but it _was_ a little fast."

"Fumet said a one-page presentation. He didn't give us any time limits," Jeremy replies as William is pressing his back against the wall.

"It seems that lately XANA's getting more and more active. We're constantly on Lyoko."

William sneaks into the elevator. "Hey, sorry to interrupt, but, uh, you mind telling me who this XANA dude is?"

Odd is playing around with the keyboard, holding Amy's hand as she's leaning against the chair. The elevator opens and they turn to who's arrived.

"Oh, there you are. You've already started things up. Your turn, Einstein."

The three gasp in surprise as William is standing between their friends, who don't look happy about this at all. "What's William doing here?!"

"I guess he must've followed you guys," Jeremy points to them as William is looking around.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Amy chuckles in disbelief.

"Wow, what is this thing, huh?" He points to the middle of the room. "And what do you guys do in here?"

"Why don't I clobber him?" Ulrich punches his fists together.

"Yeah, try it if you think you're good enough!" William crosses his arms in anger.

"Calm down," Jeremy warns the two. "Our priority now is the tower. Afterwards, a simple return to the past and William won't remember a thing."

"I wouldn't bet on that, huh? I remember everything, and I'm great at holding a grudge," He narrows his eyes.

"Sure you are," Amy mutters, remembering when he helped them out with the Krabs on Earth and he doesn't remember that.

"Where's Yumi?" Aelita glances around the room.

"She's unreachable," Ulrich informs her.

"So that's her secret, a supercomputer hideout, that's incredible. Now I understand why she didn't wanna tell me anything...hey wait a minute, you lied right to my face," He whips around to Amy, pointing a finger at her. "I asked you exactly what she was hiding and you said you didn't know anything!"

"You asked her what?" Aelita asks in surprise.

"Hey, she said what she had to so that this wouldn't happen," Odd crosses his arms with an angry frown towards him.

"If I had decided it was any of your business, which it's not, we do a serious job here. I can't go around and tell people my friends' secrets just because you ask me to," Amy glares at him.

"We're gonna have to make do without Yumi, but I don't like this at all," Jeremy says from the computer.

"I can go and get her if you want," William offers to them, knowing exactly where she is. The boys turn to him and he just smirks in response.

* * *

"I hope he's not gonna rat on us to the principal," Ulrich says once the older boy has left.

"That's not his style, and besides, this is an emergency, Ulrich. We need Yumi, we don't know what kind of dirty trick XANA's preparing," Odd explains to him. Amy sighs, closing her eyes.

"I don't like this either, but Odd is right..." For once, she'll let her grudge against him go, but after that, she's still gonna dislike him. And coming from someone like her, that says a lot.

As William is running across the bridge, a man stands in front of the entrance to the building. He reveals explosives...and also XANA eyes.

"Transfer Aelita," Jeremy starts up the program. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization."

Pressing enter, all three are sent to the ice sector. They land one by one and a few seconds later, Amy lands behind them.

"Here come your vehicles."

The Overboard, Overbike, and OverRunner appear in the sky, flying over in front of their owners. "The activated tower is at the northern edge of the sector. From where you are, you should be able to see its halo."

Alita jumps on behind Odd as the other two jump onto their rides. "Hey, how come you're always right, huh Einstein?" Odd smiles proudly as the tower can be seen from their location.

"Okay Jeremy, we're on it," Ulrich takes off first, followed by Amy and then Odd.

* * *

Yumi is doing the synchronized swimming. She reaches the surface and spins around gracefully. Then she sinks into the water and lifts up her legs, moving them around.

"Be like me. Remember my example, my grace!" Jim instructs just as William arrives.

"Emergency, Yumi. Let's go! XANA's launched an attack!" He calls out, distracting her to the point that she loses her focus.

"Listen Dunbar, what is this gibberish? You making fun of me or something?" Jim demands in annoyance.

"No. I mean, not this time," He gives the gym teacher a sly smile. The man just stares at him for a few seconds, wondering what his deal was.

"To the principal's office, on the double!"

"You're right, Jim," Yumi lifts herself onto the edge. "Because of him, I nearly drowned. Let me take him to the principal's office, just to make sure he doesn't run away."

"Good idea. Go on and take him, Miss Ishiyama. That's a very responsible attitude on your part." She says nothing as she gives William a look. Jim points at her. "You could learn a lot from her example, Dunbar!"

"Yes, you're right. I know that Yumi's got a lot she can fill me in on..." William smiles smugly at her.

* * *

"Watch it, there are Kankerlots just behind you," Jeremy tells the four. They all turn around to see the monsters approaching.

"Okay, I'll take care of them," Aelita says as there's about over a dozen of them trailing the Warriors. Ulrich speeds up while Aelita holds out her hand. "Energy field," She destroys one. "Do you know how many of them there are?!"

"Um, a big gang of them."

"Thanks, nothing like precision," Aelita teases a little, getting rid of another. Ulrich looks over his shoulder.

"Here we go!"

He takes off into the air, two Kankerlots jumping after him. They land on both sides of his bike and he skids, trying to get rid of them. He skids lower to try and destroy them with the ground, which doesn't work either. He glances between the two of them and gets an idea, smirking. Ulrich hits a Kankerlot against a small ramp. After two more tries, the one on his left is finally destroyed. He does the same with the right one and it falls off, exploding behind him.

"Sorry guys, but I don't play favorites. Same treatment for everyone!" He calls out as two more monsters jump, crawling after Amy's ride. She spins the car around so that it faces them, holding out a hand.

"Frosty Vine!" Ice vines appear, squeezing them until they pop in an explosion.

"Ames!" Odd calls out, pointing up ahead. She glances behind her to see the small gap up ahead. She revs up her ride and spins it around so that it goes over the gap. The boys open their mouths in surprise as she spins to a stop, reversing the car and going up ahead.

The demolition worker plants the charges on some walls as they beep...

The army of Kankerlots are still chasing them. "Aelita, climb aboard," Ulrich tells her. She glances over her shoulder and jumps behind him, landing safely. Odd and Amy speed up while Aelita readies two energy fields, destroying two monsters. She misses one, but then gets him on the second shot. A Kankerlot trails after Odd and he stares at it. Amy glances behind her, Odd nodding to his girlfriend that he's got this. She drives up ahead of him as the monster jumps. He lifts up his left foot, waiting for the right moment. When it lands, he pushes his foot up, sending the Kankerlot flying. Another one appears behind his Overboard and he gives it the same treatment.

"Laser arrow!" Odd destroys one while the other is nearing Amy. "Ames, up ahead!"

She eyes the monster and holds out her finger. "Shattering Ice!" The mini ice arrows get rid of the second one. Odd goes back to Ulrich and Aelita, getting closer.

"Go on, Aelita, hop off."

She lightly leaps off, taking her spot back behind Odd.

The charges are now set, with the detonator being set on top of the catwalk for ten minutes. He stands up, the symbols in his eyes flashing.

"You're closing in on it," Jeremy reports to them.

"Great, tell that to the Kankerlots," Odd jerks a thumb behind him. "They'll be overjoyed."

"Just look at 'em, they're so excited, they're still following us!" Amy exclaims from up front. Aelita fires another energy field, defeating one. Up ahead is the narrow path.

"We'll go separate ways and meet up on the other side," Ulrich tells the others.

"Gotcha," Odd nods in agreement.

"Will do," Amy gives a thumbs up and she keeps going straight, the boys and Aelita moving away from each other.

"Hang on tight, Aelita! Ready for some turbulence?" Odd replies, going through the ramp and then the tunnel. Two Kankerlots jump inside while others follow Ulrich and Amy going down the narrow pathway.

Lasers barely miss Odd and Aelita, the elf girl looking behind her to see one of the Kankerlots skating on the path. One of the projectiles hits her, knocking Aelita onto the path.

"Since when do Kankerlots have turbo engines?" Odd wonders as the monsters zip past him. Aelita slides down the path, the Kankerlots firing with no mercy. Looking behind her again, one of them destroys the other accidentally while firing.

Soon she reaches the end and stumbles out. Odd spins around on his Overboard, quickly getting out and looking up at the flying Kankerlot. Firing behind him, he quickly gets rid of it, swooping down and catching Aelita just in time.

The two Kankerlots jump, heading towards Ulrich. Two more arrive, jumping onto Amy's hair. He jumps up into the air, spinning around and defeating them. He lands back on his bike as the fairy removes her buns, and it starts to move on its own. Two big strands throw the monsters off of her and they bump into each other when they land, causing them to destroy each other. The two skid to a stop.

"Are you two okay?" Ulrich asks as Aelita is off the ride.

"Sure, no problem," Odd replies casually. "Ames, since when could your hair do that?"

"Since ever. I just don't rely on it," She shrugs at him, tying part of her hair back to normal.

* * *

Yumi and William run across the bridge. "I still can't figure out what you guys do in that old run down factory."

"And I can't figure out why they agreed to let you lend us a hand, especially since you asked one of my closest friends about me behind my back! Leave Amy out of my own business!"

"Maybe it's just because they trust me, well, most of them," He glances away awkwardly. "Not like-"

She picks up her phone and calls her friend instead of speaking to him. "Jeremy, it's me, I'm-we're on the bridge."

"Odd, Amy, and Ulrich are now pretty close to the activated tower," He tells her, to her dismay. William seems to be staring at something up ahead.

"Oh no, I came too late for the party again!"

"Hey, who's that guy?" William points across the bridge and she turns around. "Is he one of your big superheroes?"

She looks to see the demolition worker, seeing his eyes.

"No, in fact, I think he's more of a big super bad guy." She puts the phone back up to her ear. "Jeremy, there's someone here possessed by XANA, so there's a chance we might be a little late."

"Okay, Yumi. Be careful, huh? I'll tell the others that they've got to hurry up."

"Hey, you mean that guy's your super enemy?" William asks in disbelief. "An electric company worker? It's so lame. I was expecting more gory."

As soon as he says that, the possessed man flickers, dropping his bag and jumping forward. He flips and punches the ground, leaving a small hole.

"Okay, I take it all back," William chuckles nervously while Yumi is cringing. "He's a super enemy electrical worker..."

* * *

They finally reach the activated tower...but it's guarded by Bloks. Amy groans at this. "Really? MORE monsters? XANA is pulling out all the stops today."

"You go on, I'll take care of them," Before Ulrich can do anything, he's immediately devirtualized by the red rings.

He scoffs once he's in the scanner. "That's pretty sneaky to hit and run..."

Jeremy calls up Yumi. "Yumi, are you still there?"

"Yes I am, but maybe not for long. This guy's a terror!" She dodges a punch.

"Hang in there, Aelita should be in the tower any minute now."

The demolition worker kicks her to the bridge, causing her to drop her phone.

"Let me at 'im, Yumi. I'll take care of him!" William offers, standing behind the man.

"William, don't!" She warns, and when he jumps for a kick, the man catches his foot and throws him next to Yumi.

"Yumi? Yumi! What's going on?!" Jeremy calls out from the phone, which the man slides away. "Yumi? Come on, answer, please! Guys, you gotta get the job done now."

"No kidding we do, I thought we'd do it after tea time!" Odd replies, flying through the rings from the Blok. Amy swerves past them with her racecar. Odd maneuvers around them, dropping off Aelita near the tower. An ice beam is fired towards him, the cat boy flying away from the attack. Amy jumps out of her racecar, letting it drive up ahead and hitting the second Blok. Aelita runs into the tower as Odd flies around it. The Blok attacking him freezes his buddy that's wiggling around on the floor. Odd hides behind it as the Blok prepares another ring attack. Odd flips out of hiding, destroying the Blok, but in the process he's devirtualized.

"Odd!" Amy turns to him in shock.

He stumbles out of the scanner, panting.

"I've gotta tell you this, okay?" William whispers to Yumi.

"This is a very bad time, William," She replies, hanging onto the edge of the bridge. William is hugging her waist.

"I can't swim..."

The electrical worker appears in front of them, lifting up his foot to push them towards the water. Aelita walks up to the interface at the top of the tower. She presses her hand against it and signs in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

The man lands on the bridge, now passed out.

Amy smiles proudly, hands on her hips as she watches the halo go from red to white. "And that should help out Yumi. Nice one, Aelita."

"Bravo girls!" Jeremy cheers for them.

Yumi's phone rings and she picks it up, smiling. "Yumi?!"

"Jeremy, nice going, you guys did it just in time."

"Everything okay on your side?" He asks in concern.

"We're good, but it was a close call."

"Hey, what happened just now?" William questions curiously, staring at the man.

"Well Jeremy, now that it's all over, you can launch a return in time, right? So that you know who doesn't interfere with us again," She glances at William with a glare, still sour over what he's done.

"What gives you the idea it's all over? This guy works for Explobat," William notices the bomb symbol on the man's shirt.

"Yeah, so?" She turns to him, wondering where he's going with this.

"If I'm not mistaken, this guy's with a company that specializes in building demolition. I'll bet he came here fully equipped to blow your factory sky high. Ba-boom!"

Yumi puts the phone back to her ear. "Did you hear what William just said?"

"Yeah, but relax, Yumi, I'll launch a return to the past and the explosives will disappear along with William's memory," Jeremy replies as the boys join him, and then he gets an alert from the deactivated tower. "Oh no, the Scyphozoa!"

The monster appears right in front of Aelita.

"Aelita!" Amy shouts, the Blok breaking the ice. It stands right in her path and she pulls out her spear. Aelita is snatched by the tentacles, starting to affect her memory.

"The Scyphozoa's got Aelita!"

"Why not launch a return to the past anyway, Jeremy?" She asks him.

"It's too dangerous. We don't know what might happen to Aelita if I do it when she's in XANA's clutches, or Amy for that matter. So get back here now and I'll send you to Lyoko. Ulrich, Odd, you've gotta go find that bomb."

"Will do," Ulrich answers, walking off with Odd.

* * *

The boys meet with Yumi and William at the elevator. "Good luck, Yumi."

"You too, guys," She pushes the button. "Find that dumb bomb so our factory doesn't go up in smoke."

"I think the three of us oughta split up," William suggests to the two.

"Okay, then let's go," They separate in three directions, the charges still beeping...

* * *

Yumi appears in the scanner room and steps into one. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization."

She's sent to the ice sector, noticing the Scyphozoa release Aelita. "No!" Amy screams, her heart wrenching that she wasn't able to do anything.

"It's okay, Jeremy, the Scyphozoa has just released Aelita," Yumi reports as the pink-haired girl runs off.

"_She's probably gonna head for the way tower to start destroying the ice sector, and you two have gotta stop her from doing that at all costs_!"

Amy opens her wings, flying after Aelita just as a megatank appears to distract them. "Okay, consider it done...well, almost. Amy, you follow your sister. I'll take care of him."

"Okay," She nods at her, flying around the monster just as it fires its circular laser. Yumi dodges it twice.

* * *

Odd looks back towards William. "Okay, I found it! It's over here!" He points to one of the charges. The two come over to examine it.

"No, that's only one of the charges he set up. There's gotta be a detonator here somewhere, that's what we're looking for," William informs them.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Ulrich couldn't help but ask.

"My uncle used to work in construction and I'd go with him during vacation. He used to show me how to-"

"Okay, family stories are all very moving, but we're kinda pressed here..." Odd reminds him.

"Thanks Odd," Ulrich smiles at him a little. "So where do you think we'll find the detonator?"

"I don't know, but the guy who works for Explobat, he oughta know."

"Yeah sure, but he's out cold like any normal ex-Xanaified guy," Ultich replies back.

"You guys keep searching, I'll try to wake him up!" Odd runs across the hall, right past the detonator right above his head that has 5 minutes left.

The megatank rolls into a pathway and Yumi flies after it. The monster fires another laser. "_Yumi, you have to get that blockade of megatanks. _Aelita is closing in on the way tower..."

"Hey, come on, sleeping beauty, wake up now!" Odd shakes him by the shirt. "Look, it's your prince charming!" He lightly hits the man across his face, causing him to open his eyes. His vision is slightly blurred.

"What's going on...? Where am I? My dynamite!" He looks towards his bag. "Where are my explosives?"

"In the factory, with a detonator," Odd points to the entrance. "Can you recall anything?"

"No, oh, my head..."

The megatank attacks again, with Yumi swerving to the right. She pulls out her fans, throwing both of them, but the monster closes its shell, causing the weapons to graze over the metal. It opens up again and fires, Yumi skidding her Overwing to the wall. The laser fires right past her and she pulls out her weapons again. Tossing them, they fly overhead to the megatank, finally destroying it. In the process, her ride is hit and then shuts down, exploding.

"Yumi!"

She stands up in front of the explosion, taking off into a run. "Careful Yumi. You don't have a lot of life points left!"

Amy is flying above Aelita as the way tower is in sight.

"Look carefully at this factory," Odd encourages the man, "If you had to blow it up, where would you set up the detonator?"

"I can't think too straight, but...I guess I would put it somewhere high up so the signal could reach all the charges."

Ulrich gets a phone call from Odd. "Ulrich, look for it somewhere over your head, somewhere high up!"

"Hmm," He hangs up, looking towards the ceiling.

"It's okay Jeremy, I've got the girls in my sights," Yumi calls out as Amy bites her lip nervously, throwing an Ice Flame. Aelita hops past it and she sighs. She didn't want to attack her own sister, but she had to...and so far, she's missed every single shot.

Ulrich comes to a stop. "I think I found the detonator!"

"Where?" William runs over to him.

"Way up there," Ulrich points to the catwalk.

Aelita is tripped as a fan flies past her. She stands up, turning towards Yumi. "We're sorry, Aelita, but we don't have any choice."

"Jeremy, we found the detonator. We have to evacuate the factory now," Ulrich informs the genius boy. "Everything's gonna blow in a few seconds!"

"Impossible Ulrich. We can't leave the girls stranded on Lyoko!"

"Give me your belt," William speaks up, to Ulrich's confusion. "I'm gonna try and defuse the detonator, and I need something to use as a sort of shunt."

"You know how to do that?" Ulrich asks in awe as he removes his belt.

"My uncle explained it to me...uh, once."

"O-Once?" Ulrich stammers nervously.

"Well, once is enough if you're not too dumb, that is. Now get out of here. If it doesn't work, it'd be stupid for both of us to get blown up."

"Uh uh, no way. If you stay, I stay." Besides, at least with all of his friends here, they'd be together.

"That makes three of us," Odd comes in out of nowhere. By staying...he's letting Ames know that he didn't leave her all alone if they're blown up.

William removes the buckle from the belt using a knife as there's less than 3 minutes left.

Aelita ducks her head from Yumi's fan, ducking again and firing her energy fields. Yumi flips around and dodges them, Amy flying above her. Yumi catches her fans, the two girls glancing at each other. Aelita is definitely not giving up...

Using the knife, William carefully removes the screws from the panel, opening it up.

Aelita holds out her hand, hitting both girls with her projectiles.

"Girls, another hit like those and it's game over for you. And then it's gonna be the end of the ice sector as well," Jeremy tells them as he looks at their ID cards.

William bites his lip as he slowly puts the makeshift shunt towards the detonator.

Aelita holds out her hands as Yumi throws her fans, Amy firing Sapphire Arrow. The possessed girl throws her energy fields, the projectiles switching sides.

William's hand shakes as Odd glances at the charge, Ulrich cringing. Ultimately, the two girls are devirtualized and Aelita ducks from the weapons, heading towards the tower...

But then they turn around and hit Aelita, devirtualizing her just before she could reach the tower.

William places in the shunt, the detonator sparking. He gasps as he watches the countdown still going, standing up. They wait with bated breath as the countdown stops...and so does the detonator.

"Yeah!" William cheers happily, glad that he listened to his uncle.

"Jeremy, William defused the detonator. We're saved."

Jeremy breathes a sigh of relief, leaning back against his chair.

* * *

"Oh come on, please," William begs to the group. "I swear I won't tell anyone."

"He really does deserve to be one of us. Besides, we could use another soldier," Odd speaks up.

"And he's already proven how much he can help," Aelita agrees with him.

"Well then, let's vote. If everybody votes yes, then William can officially become a member of our club."

William smirks as Jeremy reads the results. "Too bad, William...there's one no," He places down the last paper.

"You're the big losers. I was kind of expecting this might happen. Some guys just can't handle being jealous," He gives Ulrich a look, leaving the lab.

"Well then, what do you suppose we should do now?" Ulrich has his hands in his pockets as they stare at the doors.

"What do you think?" Jeremy turns to the keyboard. "A return to the past." He presses enter and everything is reset.

* * *

"That was pretty uncool, Ulrich," Odd says as everyone except Yumi is in Jeremy's room. "Why'd you vote no?"

"Hey, don't look at me. I'm not crazy about William, but he saved us and the factory. He's brave and he'd make a great Lyoko Warrior. I didn't blackball 'im."

Odd raises a brow, turning to the last person he hadn't asked. "Ames, I thought you were over your grudge on William."

"I am. I still don't like what he tried to do regarding Yumi, but I understand his curiosity over it," Amy crosses her arms. "Trust me, I thought a lot about it before I wrote down yes."

"If it wasn't you, and it wasn't me, and if wasn't Jeremy or Aelita or Ames then it was..."

Yumi looks out the window. "Sorry William..." She watches him skate by her house. "But I don't think you can be trusted." She moves the curtain away.


	62. Temporary Insanity

**Angel: Forgot to answer this question because I had to work four days straight last week, but it's kind of hard to write for having William not possessed by XANA. This plot point is the basis of some season 4 episodes, after all. A major plot point, in fact. That would be like if the show didn't have Aelita be virtualized onto Earth, and then not have her be the daughter of Franz Hopper. You get what I'm saying? It's one of the major themes in season 4, that I just can't change it. Especially when I'm already writing season 4. I am currently writing The Lake. I do have other stories to continue and plan after this one is done XD **

**I don't really know what original chapters I would even write here...I mean, I'm already ten episodes into the 4th season, because I have season 3 written and finished at this point in time. I've pretty much got the rest of the series planned out, I just need to write 'em...which I haven't had the time to do lately because of school and work. **

**Anyway, we are nearing the end of the season, and if I have to upload chapters on a different day, then I'll let you guys know by the time I upload the season finale.**

While in Sector Five, Yumi is riding her Overwing, dodging lasers from the Mantas until one of them devirtualizes her ride. She spins around while holding her fans, steadying herself. She throws one of her weapons and misses the Manta. However, both her fans come back around and hit the target. The Manta explodes and sends her flying. Odd comes in and catches her just in time.

"What took you so long? I almost didn't wait."

"Just having a word with Lucy-Anne."

"Lucy-Anne?" She asks in confusion.

"Yeah, you know, Lucy-Anne," He gestures to the Mantas. "I love giving nicknames to the monsters I blow to smithereens. Hey Ames, can we call our first daughter Lucy-Anne?"

If she could, she'd be blushing right now. "N-No! I am not calling any child Lucy-Anne," She stammers, her heart beating hard and fast as she's driving her OverRunner. Odd points his arm at the Manta in front of him.

"Laser Arrow!" He fires once and misses. The Manta hits the Overboard, but doesn't get rid of it. Suddenly, it's attacked from underneath and explodes.

"Guess she wasn't too crazy about her name," Ulrich calls out from the platform next to Aelita. His sword spins around and Odd catches it.

"You oughta take better care of your stuff, Ulrich," He gestures to the weapon.

"Aelita, I'm trying to collect more data on Franz Hopper, but I can't access the subsystems," He explains to her. "Be careful, _Flying Mantas coming your way at 10 o'clock_!"

Aelita and Ulrich can see them on their left. She gasps as she ducks for cover, Ulrich jumping in front of the girl to take the shot.

"Jeremy, how's everything going? Because around here, things are kinda-" Yumi gets devirtualized before she can even finish her sentence.

"Heating up..." She finishes once she reaches the scanner room.

"Not great. For now, I don't have any data that tells me how to locate Franz Hopper, I'm afraid. You'll have to hold out a little longer."

"Of course we do," Amy rolls her eyes in amusement, dodging lasers back and forth.

"Easy for you to say," Ulrich retorts back as he's jumping around. Aelita continues searching.

"I'm almost there. I'm about ready to access the subsystems."

Odd flies away from two Mantas, one of them separating to go after Amy. She glances behind her to see the monster trailing after her and she scoffs.

"Big mistake."

She holds out her spear and uses that to reflect a laser back onto the Manta's eye.

"Hey, I warned you!" She smirks to where the Manta was.

"How many life points do we have left?" Odd asks curiously.

"Not many. If you get hit by one more Flying Manta, it'll be game over, Odd. Same goes for you, Ulrich. Amy, you have 60 life points left."

"Huh?!" Odd asks in surprise, whipping around to his girlfriend. "Hey, no fair!"

"Maybe if you stop getting hit by naming the Mantas, you would've had as many as me," She replies with a shrug. "Beggars can't be choosers!"

Ulrich spins around his sword, dodging every single laser from the Manta. Odd comes to a stop near him and he jumps on.

"Buckle up, Shirley!" He takes off again, the Mantas hot on their tails. They suddenly turn around as Odd chases after them, firing his Laser Arrows. "Ethel, Yvette, get back here right now!"

"Odd, cut it out with your dumb names," Ulrich tells him as Amy drives next to the two.

"But they're good names for our future children, right?" Odd gives Amy a hopeful look.

"Why are we having this discussion _here_ of all places?" She asks him, raising a brow. Just how much has he thought about their future?

The Mantas suddenly join together, a red aura around them. Then they fire a powerful laser, hitting the boys only. They're surrounded in the same red aura.

"Huh?!" Amy questions in confusion as she stares at them.

"What's going on here? Why aren't we devirtualized?" Ulrich looks around as the Mantas separate.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd comes around and destroys the top one while Amy pulls out her spear, stabbing the other with it. They go back to Aelita, Amy landing the OverRunner and jumping out. Aelita notices the boys' state.

"Huh? What's that?"

"Beats me, they shot at us and this is what happened," Ulrich explains to her. She looks over to Amy, who seems normal.

"But why them and not you too?"

"I have no idea," Amy shrugs cluelessly. Suddenly, the boys devirtualize and the sisters stare at each other in confusion.

"You guys okay?" Jeremy asks once the two have returned to the scanner room. "All in one piece, I hope."

"Yeah, I think so," Ulrich steps out, looking at his hands.

"Two great legs, a svelte torso, two little arms, and a good-looking head!" Odd smiles when his scanner opens. "Nope, nothing missing."

Aelita and Amy arrive as they had devirtualized themselves on Lyoko. "Jeremy, what happened out there?" The pink-haired girl asks him.

"I wish I knew. I have to look back over the quantum sequence to track any possible abnormalities in the access data."

"Mind translating that, Einstein?" Yumi crosses her arms as the girls step out of the scanner.

"He has to carry out a full check," Aelita chuckles a little.

"Oh no way, there's no time!" Odd checks his watch. "We've got rehearsal in exactly five minutes!"

"Rehearsal?! Oh no, I completely forgot about it! Chardin is gonna kill us!" Jeremy gasps in realization.

* * *

"Booo!" Nicolas shouts from the crowd. In the gym, the same set from Romeo and Juliet is being used. "We want our money back, we want our money back, we want our money back, we want our money back, we want our money back!"

"Poliakoff," Jim interrupts in annoyance as he's standing in front of the boy. "You mind using your head for once? How can you get money back from a show that's totally free?!"

Some students laugh as Nicolas just sits there dumbfounded. "Well, you, uh-"

"We would have to give you back nothing! Which, if you ask me, is too much. Besides, try showing some respect! Theater, don't forget, is sacred!"

They just murmur, staring towards each with some of them smiling in amusement. "Believe me, I know from experience. Years ago, I even wrote a one-act," Jim chuckles at the memory, "Actually, it was more of a one-scene play."

"Oh really?" Herb smirks up at him. "What was it about, Jim?"

"Mmm, I'd rather not talk about it."

Some just laugh at his phrase, Mr. Chardin standing near the entrance. He hears footsteps and glances behind him to see the six students arriving.

"Hmm, there you are. Please everyone, hurry up."

The students sit there patiently as the teacher takes his seat next to the principal. Everyone is here to watch the rehearsal of Cyrano de Bergerac. Yumi is playing Roxane, Ulrich is playing Christian, and Odd is dictating as Cyrano while Amy is playing the Duenna. But she doesn't have a majority of lines, so she's sewing behind the curtain. She's also acting as costume designer for opening night, and since she doesn't have that many lines, it gave her all the more time to sew.

"Well, Mr. Chardin, what made you choose Cyrano de Bergerac for this year's performance?" The man asks curiously. "The elegance of the text, I imagine? Or the tragedy of unrequited love? Or perhaps it appeals to your true but hidden romantic nature."

"Hm...lack of money."

The principal could only gasp, baffled by the unexpected answer. "Since we had no choice, we had to use last year's Romeo and Juliet set and the costumes which are being mended by Ms. Smith. I had to find another play that had a balcony, so Cyrano."

Principal Delmas just hums, looking away. "I see..."

Odd steps up first, followed by Ulrich. He and Jeremy are both holding sticks as Odd bends down in front of the bush. Jeremy taps the stick against the floor a few times before stepping away.

"Roxane!" Ulrich calls out and Yumi steps up to the railing.

"Who calls me?"

"It is I, Christian," Ulrich looks up at her.

"Today your words are hesitant."

"Night has come," Odd speaks up, Amy peeking at him from behind the curtain. "In the dusk, they grope their way to find your ear."

"But my words find no such impediment," Yumi continues, Amy smiling softly at how good they are.

"They find their way at once. Oh small wonder that, forges within my heart they find their home. Methink how large my heart, how small your ear..." Some students are moved by Odd's performance while Jim sheds some tears. Amy touches her heart, feeling his powerful words as if he was speaking to her. "And from their fair heights descending, words fall fast, but mine must mount madam. They need more LASER ARROWS!"

Odd points his arm as if he's about to fire his weapons, everyone staring at him baffled. "What...?" Amy murmurs slowly. Why is Odd calling for his laser arrows, in public?

Jeremy and Aelita have their mouths open in shock.

"Methinks that your last words have learned to climb!"

Odd stares at his hand, puzzled before he tries to act natural. "...With practice such gymnastics grow as hard! In truth, I seem to speak from distant heights!"

"Two Kankerlots dead ahead!" Ulrich suddenly shouts in the same manner as his lines.

"Two! Far above at such a height toward death—oh, okay, I'll get them!" He aims his arm again and Principal Delmas gets onto his feet in the middle of the alarmed crowd.

"Stern, Della Robbia, what are you babbling about?!"

"Please sir, keep it down. Don't you know cutting-edge theater when you see it?" Mr. Chardin asks, the man opening his mouth in shock. "It's a modern approach. Somehow between the bold soprano and a deadly karate match."

"Take that, you old Krab!" Odd jumps into the air, landing on the ground. "Ulrich help me, I'm hit."

"Bravo!" Mr. Chardin cheers.

"Super sprint!" Ulrich leaps and lands in front of Sissi, about to attack her.

"Cut it out!" Yumi stands in front of her. "Your gag is not funny, it's lame!"

"Yumi, what are you doing? You made me miss the Megatank!" Ulrich protests to her.

"I don't think it's a gag..." Amy whispers slowly as she gets off the stage, staring at her boyfriend in concern.

"Odd, what's gotten into you?" Aelita asks him.

"Out of the way, Aelita, I can't see the Krab!"

"This time you've gone too far," The principal's voice comes out of what Odd thinks is a Krab. He's only seeing Lyoko's world and nothing else. "One more word out of you, and it's the disciplinary committee, you hear?"

"You don't need to go that far, please, something's wrong," Amy speaks up.

"She's right, Mr. Delmas. Odd isn't himself," Jeremy adds in.

"Jeremy?" Odd looks up wide-eyed. "Ames? Does XANA have a broken hard disk or what? The Krab sounds a lot like Delmas."

"Odd, watch out, a Blok at four o'clock!" Ulrich is staring right at Jim.

"A Blok? You're the Blokhead, Stern!" Like with Odd, Ulrich is only seeing the world of Lyoko in his mind. They can both see their friends sans Jeremy, but to the rest of the world, they're XANA's monsters. Ulrich charges with a yell, Jim moving around and locking him into a hold. "Someone call an ambulance! Stern and Della Robbia have totally lost it!"

The other students gasp as Ulrich struggles with the gym teacher.

* * *

"Jeremy, reload me. Two Tarantulas are getting the better of us!" Odd calls out from inside the ambulance.

"We're stuck in another of XANA's traps!"

"Yumi, do something!"

The others stare in worry as they watch the emergency vehicle drive away. Amy holds up her hand to her face as stray tears are coming from them. She had no idea what that was back there...and why Odd wasn't listening to them.

"Mmm. So this is what happens when you spend hours playing video games and watching cartoons on TV," Principal Delmas murmurs before speaking up to the students. "Rehearsal is over!"

"Ulrich's right, they are stuck in another of XANA's traps," Aelita says to Jeremy.

"Go follow them to the hospital. I'll see if I can figure out what's happening in the meantime."

* * *

"Did you give them something to calm them down?" The doctor asks the paramedic, who nods at her. He allows her to go in and she sees the boys laying in their beds. "Now, tell me, are you having some problems at the moment?"

Odd sits up to look at her.

"Are you sleeping well?"

They say nothing as she stares at them. "Nightmares? Restless nights?"

Ulrich finally reacts by narrowing his eyes, seeing a Blok. "Troubles at school? With your parents?"

"Huh?!"

"Take that, you rotten old Blok!" Odd 'fires' his arrows and she writes this down.

"Rotten old Blok...interesting."

"Let me at it!" Ulrich sits up and she opens her eyes to see him lunging towards her. She moves to the side and he lands on the floor. Then she grabs his arm, pulling it back.

"Sorry young man, but I'm a 10th don in Aikido."

* * *

Back in Jeremy's room, he's trying to figure out where it all went wrong. Scanning the boy's DNA, he gasps at what he's found and calls Yumi. Amy waves to Jackson as they step up to the entrance and Yumi answers her mobile.

"Yes Jeremy?"

"Yumi, XANA is definitely behind Odd and Ulrich's madness. There's only one way to make them normal. And that's to get them to a way tower somewhere on Lyoko. Then I can launch a program to get their heads straight."

"You mean we have to spring them from the hospital?" She asks curiously.

"You got it."

She narrows her eyes slightly. She didn't wanna do it, but they had to if they wanted their friends back to normal...

Amy looks to the chauffeur and she gives a thumbs up, waving her thumb. He nods in understanding and presses on the brake.

The girls smile at the receptionist. "Hello, we're here to see Ulrich Stern and Odd Della Robbia," Yumi tells her.

"I'm sorry, but they're both under observation. No visitors allowed," The woman goes back to reading her sumo magazine. The trio look towards each other, wondering just how they were gonna do this now...

"Thanks a lot. Sorry we interrupted you."

"What do we do now?" Aelita asks the older girl, who glances behind them.

"Quiet. Listen."

They glance over their shoulders to see the same doctor that was tending to their friends earlier. "The two young men in room 237 are fighting imaginary enemies they call Bloks, Mega tanks, and XANA."

The other doctor just laughs at how absurd it sounds. "Where do they get such crazy names from? What do you think, Professor Hornet?"

"Typical of today's youth."

"Now we know what room they're in," Yumi smiles at the two.

"We just have to get there without anyone else in the halls..." Amy crosses her arms, frowning towards the ground. The two notice her look and engulf her into a group hug.

"We'll get them back to normal, Amy," Yumi pats her back.

"We always do," Aelita pulls back with a smile. Amy returns the gesture.

"Thanks."

* * *

The girls peek around the corner to see a guard in front of room 237. "Leave him to me," Yumi whispers to them. She then walks around with her eyes closed, acting as if she's sleepwalking.

"Oh, excuse me, ma'am," She murmurs and he stares down at her.

"Do you need any help?"

"I-I'm looking for my room. Room, uh, 216," She replies with wide eyes.

"Come with me," He escorts her away, the sisters smiling and high-fiving each other. They sneak into the boys room, where there are restraints on them.

"Aelita, Ames, watch out for the Krabs!" Odd warns them.

"What Krabs?" Aelita asks in confusion.

"The ones blocking us!"

Aelita holds out her hands. "Energy field!"

"Sapphire Arrow!" Amy plays along and the two scream.

"That's one down," Aelita frees Ulrich while Amy helps with Odd.

"Nice job. That Krab just wouldn't let go of me. I think it was love at first bite. But don't worry Ames, you'll always be my favorite!"

Amy smiles weakly at him, still saddened to see him in this state.

"Here you are, room 216," The paramedic opens up the door for Yumi.

"Thank you for showing me the way," She murmurs, closing the door behind her.

"Game of tiddlywinks?"

Yumi gasps at the sudden voice, turning around and seeing an old woman sitting in the bed.

"We've located the activated tower. Follow us."

"Go, we'll cover you," Ulrich offers, Amy shaking her head.

"No, no, you just need to follow us."

"Whoever wins gets to take the other person's medicine! Well, what do you say?" The patient asks Yumi, who blinks in confusion.

"Uh, no thanks. Another time," She curtsies to the woman.

"What is going on around here?! If you didn't come for a game of tiddlywinks, then what are you doing in my room, young lady?!"

"Well, uh..." She couldn't exactly tell this woman that she doesn't know that she was technically breaking into her friends' room...

"You little rascal you! Get out or I'll call the nurse!"

Yumi quickly books it out of there. She definitely won't be telling anyone of this experience...

She comes to a stop as both boys and the sisters are standing in front of her. "Yumi, now that you're here, we can go to the activated tower," Aelita winks at her.

"Oh right, yeah. Sure, well, let's get going then," She leans in towards Amy. "How did you manage to get them out?"

"I promised Odd that I'd kiss him once we got out, and Aelita just convinced Ulrich to go," She whispers back.

Jeremy is in his room, scratching the back of his head as he types away. "Okay, I sure hope that this is gonna work..." He presses enter.

The five walk down the halls past the doctors, hoping that no one would notice...but the female doctor does.

"Huh?!" She drops her drink and it spills all over the floor. "Where do you think you're going?!"

"The Blok's caught up with us!" Odd aims his arm, Aelita pulling him away.

"No time!"

They take off into a run, Amy leading the way. "Our ride is waiting for us outside!"

The female doctor chases after them as they run past the receptionist. "Out of my way!" The doctor runs past her, trying to speed up to them. Aelita cringes and Amy sees the doors up ahead. She whistles with her fingers and Jackson sits up in alert as they shuffle into the backseats, slamming on the pedals. The doors close in front of the doctor and by the time they open, she can see the limo getting away. She pulls out her phone.

"Hello, is this police headquarters?"

"Oh no, that's all we needed," Jeremy complains as he's looking at the Core of Lyoko. Unfortunately, XANA's monsters are attacking it... "The Core is being attacked. Come on, will you pick up?!"

Yumi's phone rings and she answers it. "Yes Jeremy? ...Okay, we're on our way." She hangs up, looking across to Amy, Odd, and Ulrich as Aelita is seated next to her. "XANA is attacking the Core of Lyoko."

"I hope they get here in time," Jeremy murmurs in worry.

"Just a little further, the tower's not far now," Aelita tells the boys, but then they hear the police sirens. Looking out the back window, the five see police cars heading right towards them. Yumi looks around and doesn't see a way to get them off their trail.

"Kids, buckle your seatbelts," Jackson orders them.

"Huh? Seatbelts?" Odd asks in confusion.

"Just do what he says," Amy tells them and they do so. Jackson swerves right sharply, but Ulrich takes off his seatbelt.

"Go ahead, I'll take care of the megatank," He opens up the door and jumps right out.

"Ulrich, no!" Yumi cries out, Jackson's mouth open in shock. He runs up to the police car, right in the middle of the street.

"Huh? What is this crazy kid trying to do?!" The driver exclaims in surprise. Ulrich jumps up, preparing to kick. The car swerves out of the way so as not to hit Ulrich. It skids to a stop in front of a car. Ulrich glances behind him as TV appears from his van.

"Well, tell us what it feels like to be part of the evening news!"

The two just stare at them.

"That should take care of them," Ulrich smiles, turning to the open-mouthed four.

"I-what-that doesn't even...come on," Amy stammers, shaking her head and he runs back to the limo.

* * *

Jeremy has made it to the lab, typing as alarms are still going off. In the Core of Lyoko, three Mantas are hitting the sphere...and the first shield breaks.

"Where can they be?" Jeremy murmurs and the doors open, revealing all of them. "Huh, there you are. It's about time. Only one more shield left protecting the Core of Lyoko."

Yumi presses the button and they descend down to the scanner room with Jeremy. "Jeremy, would you mind sending me the Overboard?" Odd looks up at the ceiling. "Cuz I'm getting tired of running around!"

"Any idea how we can get them into the scanners?" Aelita asks in worry.

"Leave it to me, Aelita," Jeremy smirks as they arrive in the room. The scanners open, the boys stepping up to them. "Okay guys, you made it there. Now head for that way tower."

"Right," Ulrich steps in, Odd doing the same thing. They're both confused as the scanners close around them.

"Nice one Jeremy," Aelita smiles lightly as Jeremy goes back into the elevator. Amy gives him a thumbs up as the elevator doors close.

Jeremy puts on his headset. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich." Yumi gets into the last scanner. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization," All three are sent to the ice sector, all three landing safely. However...the boys just look up ahead.

"Oh wow, it's empty out here. Not a kid in sight," Instead of Lyoko, the boys are thinking that it's the halls of Kadic Academy.

"Guess they're all in the lunchroom," Ulrich shrugs lightly.

"Uh, yeah," Yumi stares at them in confusion. Jeremy then starts up the process for the sisters.

"_Your turn, girls_." They step in at the same time. "Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

The two appear behind Yumi, who watches them land.

"This is getting worse and worse!" Yumi walks up to them. "Now they think they're at the academy. Listen Aelita, you lead them to the way tower. Amy and I will head for the Core of Lyoko."

"Got it," Aelita nods at her, running up to the boys. "Let's go to the, um...lunchroom!"

"I'm starving! I'll save you the last piece of my desserts, Ames!"

The fairy smiles weakly before holding out her hand to Yumi. She takes it and Amy flies up into the air.

"Welcoming committee straight ahead," Jeremy warns them. "Be careful, Aelita."

She comes to a stop as she's face-to-face with a Tarantula and two Kankerlots. She backs away a bit, but the boys just walk past her like everything was normal.

"I don't believe it!" She replies in dismay. The Tarantula gets ready to fire, and they think that it's Sissi, Herb, and Nicolas...which is probably rightfully so.

"Sissi, in a bad mood? You break the scale this morning?" Odd jokes and Aelita gives a look of worry.

"No!"

She uses her creativity to create an ice wall. The monsters immediately fire, trying to break it. She beams in relief as she sees the boys bump into the wall.

Ulrich reaches out and touches it, an invisible wall blocking them from 'Sissi.' "What's this?"

"They put Sissi and her pals in the display case or what?" Odd asks as they feel the wall. Aelita runs up to them as the wall is starting to break, and once it does, she jumps and knocks both of them to the ground.

"_Jeremy, we're here, at the edge of the sector,_" Yumi speaks up. "_Can you send us a taxi_?"

"You bet, a big white stretch limo is on the way," Jeremy smiles in amusement.

"_Hey, Jackson's limo is perfectly fine_," Amy jokes back.

He types in the password Scipio and presses enter, the transporter arriving in front of the geisha and fairy. It spins around and engulfs them inside, heading towards the other side of the ice sector.

The boys stay down as lasers are being fired at them. "Oh, who's the dork that pushed me into Sissi's arms?" Ulrich asks in annoyance.

"Energy field!" Aelita fires her weapon, getting rid of one Kankerlot.

Meanwhile, Amy and Yumi reach Sector Five, data walls activating and the system getting online. "Holosphere system connected."

The transporter spins around until releasing the two and they stand back-to-back. Amy's wings have disappeared, as per usual in Sector Five. "_Jeremy, we're in the Core Zone_."

"Okay girls, great. The countdown started. You've both got less than one minute to activate the key."

"Okay," They say in unison, Yumi taking the lead since she's facing the door. Amy turns around and runs after her. The two reach the wall and it opens up for stairs. The two girls immediately take off into a run, hoping that they're not too late.

Aelita holds out her hand, preparing another pink orb. "Energy field." She throws it at the other Kankerlot and destroys it.

"Energy field?" Odd asks in confusion. "You think we're on Lyoko or something?" And the irony is that they are. While using energy fields to dodge from the Tarantula, Aelita gets hit in the leg. The monster walks up to them on two legs, with Ulrich getting hit in the arm.

"Something just stung me!"

The Tarantula gets back on four feet.

"Better hurry up, girls," Jeremy speaks to Yumi and Amy. "You've only got ten seconds left. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3," Luckily, they've already found the key next to the closed door and Amy pushes it. "_2, 1, zero_!"

The door thankfully opens. "Nice job, girls! Now head for the Celestial Dome."

"We're on our way!" Yumi runs through the open door, Amy keeping up next to her.

"You can count on us, Jeremy!"

"_I'm programming your vehicles_."

"...Hey Yumi. Do you think it's weird that Odd seems to be thinking about our life together?" Amy asks slowly, biting her lip.

"I think it's cute," She chuckles a little, "But if it makes you uncomfortable, you could just tell him. It's Odd."

Amy giggles a bit, seeming to agree.

Aelita deflects more lasers from the Tarantula, pressing a hand to her forehead. She uses her creativity to make a hole underneath the monster. This causes it to fall through the hole and into the Digital Sea.

"That way, hurry up," She gestures forward.

"No, the lunchroom is that way," Odd points in the other direction and she groans in frustration.

"Listen to me, both of you! You're gonna do exactly as I say and no questions! You got that?"

Odd rubs his neck awkwardly as Ulrich shrugs. "Okay..."

"Okay," Odd agrees, both of them not wanting to irk her even more.

Amy and Yumi fly up to the entrance that'll lead them to the Core of Lyoko. "Jeremy, we're in the dome." They pass through the doors.

Aelita and the boys have finally reached the way tower. "Now get in there! That's an order!" Aelita shouts at them. She'll apologize to them later, but she really needed their help if they were going to save Lyoko.

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" They both salute to her.

"Let's hope this works..." Jeremy says uncertainly as he gets the program ready.

Yumi jumps off her Overboard to press the key. Stairs appear next to Amy and she jumps off her OverRunner, jumping up the stairs with her friend. They take a look upwards, seeing the three Mantas relentlessly firing at the Heart of Lyoko. The second shield is still up, but most likely not for long.

"Let's see if this program is operational..." Jeremy starts it up and the boys glow red, just like they did when the Mantas hit them with the beam. Suddenly, they glow green and then the glow disappears from the both of them.

"How do you guys feel?" Aelita questions, Ulrich blinking.

"Fine, but what are we doing inside a way tower?"

"I don't get it. Shouldn't we be in the lunchroom?" Odd looks around the tower.

"I'll explain later," Aelita looks up. "Jeremy, it worked."

"Yeah, but the core is still in danger..."

Two Mantas can sense the girls' presence and fly towards them. Yumi continues jumping, Amy hot on her trail. She stops at a platform and pulls out her weapons, blocking the projectiles from the monsters. Amy backflips off the platform, landing on a Manta. Yumi throws her fans, but the lasers cause them to fly right back to her. One of the lasers hits her leg, and she dangles from the edge.

"Yumi!" Amy cries out, jumping onto the other Manta, but the first one hits her in the shoulder. She loses her balance and falls, hanging onto the platform opposite of Yumi.

"Jeremy, looks like we're gonna need some help."

"It's on the way. By now, Ulrich and Odd should be close to Sector Five, girls."

"I hope so..." Amy murmurs as she tries to lift herself up.

The transporter arrives again, taking in Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich. It takes them to Sector Five, the entrance activating again. Odd is crouched down between Ulrich and Aelita.

"Hurry up. Amy and Yumi need your help."

They dash up to the wall and it opens up to the stairs again. They step down the stairs as fast as they can. "Yumi, Amy, the last protective shield is about ready to go!"

"We're doing all we can!" Yumi throws one fan, defeating one Manta. The other manages to hit her again, affecting her vision for a second. So much that she misses her fan when it flies above her head. She tosses the other, but the Manta swerves past it. As she's jumping, she's hit one more time and devirtualized.

"Yumi!" Amy turns around from the third Manta, narrowly ducking as it starts firing at her. Luckily, the others have arrived in the room. Just as the second shield is about to go, one of the Mantas is destroyed. Amy looks towards Odd.

"Yahoo!" He cheers, causing her to smile. The second shield explodes near her, causing her to turn around with her mouth wide open.

"Oh no!"

"Be careful...all the core shields are gone," Jeremy warns them, "If it takes one hit, just one, Lyoko is gone for good. And you guys along with it!"

"Oh great," Ulrich deadpans at this news. The Manta turns to him, but doesn't attempt to attack as it fires for the orb.

"No!" Aelita cries out, leaping off the platform she was standing on. The Manta fires just as she does. They both take each other out with one hit. The boys stand next to Amy, who grins at them in relief.

"Yeah!"

"_Nice work, guys. Time to bring you back in_."

* * *

Yumi steps up to Ulrich as he's sitting in the scanner. Amy and Aelita stare at Odd, all three of them anxious.

"Well?" Yumi asks expectantly.

"Well what? Laser arrow!" Odd points his arm, shocking the girls. After all they've been through trying to help them, it still appeared? Then Odd smiles at them. "Ah, just kidding, ladies!"

"Very funny," The three deadpan at the same time.

"_Right. Well, it's a good thing that while some people are clowning around, others keep working_. Okay, return to the past now."

He activates the return trip, mostly so that no one at the hospital would arrest them for letting two patients escape. It's play rehearsal when they return.

"Me thinks that your last words have learned to climb!" Yumi starts off.

"With practice such gymnastics grow as hard," Odd speaks from in front of the bush. Amy looks at the finished costume, smiling proudly at her work.

"In truth, I seem to speak from distant heights!"

"True, for a fall at such a height toward death if a hard word from you fell upon my heart."

"Stop, stop, stop stop," It's not Odd who interrupts the play this time, but Mr. Chardin. Amy steps out from behind the curtain, just as confused as her friends. "It's not bad, but you're not there. Not just yet. What we're missing is a bit more, uh..."

"More passion?" Ulrich asks curiously.

"No no, some..."

"Some popcorn?" Jim chimes in next to him.

"No."

"Some more funding?" Principal Delmas asks next.

"That would be good, but, uh-"

"A touch of insanity?" Odd questions, hands on his hips.

"Exactly, yes! That's it!"

They just laugh at the irony.

* * *

"You guys were great up there," Amy says to Odd as he's walking her back to her dorm. "I just hope it's enough to get the crowd past the fact that we're using the same sets and costumes."

"You kidding? With all the changes Chardin made to the script, they'll be asking us for an encore!" Odd jokes and she lets out a small laugh. Then she bites her lip nervously, leaning against her door. The girl twiddles her thumbs together, taking a small deep breath.

"Odd?"

"Yes, my little Ames?"

She shakes her head in amusement. He was making this less awkward...slightly. "Um...I wanted to talk to you about where our relationship is going. What I'm trying to ask really is...do you see us together in the next ten years?"

"Oh, no question!" He smiles at her, causing the girl to blink.

"Huh?"

"Well, I always pictured us being together when I realized I liked you," He rubs his chin in thought, his hand resting right next to her head on the door. "And now that we've been together for a while...I can't imagine myself with anyone else but you."

She can feel her cheeks heating up as she smiles softly. "Why are you asking? Were you having doubts?"

"No!" Amy shakes her head rapidly. "Not exactly, I just...never thought that far ahead in terms of...us. I guess with all the XANA attacks, it never crossed my mind," She shrugs sheepishly.

"If-" He shakes his head at her, "When we defeat XANA, you'll have all the time in the world to think about it."

"I'm sure I will. There'll be lots of things to think about."

"You mean like the names of our children?" Odd gives her a teasing smile. "Lucy-Anne still good?"

"How about we go with Lucian for now and then we'll go back to the topic when we're older?" She smirks in amusement, crossing her arms.

"Deal," He chuckles, leaning in and pecking her lips. They stare at each other in the eye, happy with their decision. He rubs her chin with his thumb, kissing her fully. The girl smiles, hugging his neck and returning the gesture. Nothing could ruin this moment...

Except when Aelita suddenly opens the door, causing them to tumble onto the floor. "Aelita!" Odd pouts up at her. "We were having a moment here!"

"Sorry to interrupt, Romeo and Juliet, but Jim is about to do a nightly inspection," Aelita points to the time on her phone. He scrambles off Amy and she stands up, both of them not really wanting to say goodbye.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning. You know the deal, right?"

"Yes, Odd," She rolls her eyes in amusement. "I let you have half my breakfast, and in turn, you give me your desserts for dinner."

Aelita stares at them in surprise. This was new to her; since when did Odd give Amy ALL her desserts?

"Goodnight," Odd pecks her lips again and she waves at him, closing the door.

"Uh, when did that start happening?" Aelita asks teasingly, hands on her hips.

"Since last week," Amy shrugs at her. "I think we'll all be okay as long as he doesn't starve like he did that one time during nutrition week."

They both giggle at the name and Aelita crosses her arms. "So, Lucian, huh?"

Her eyes widen and then the brunette grabs a pillow, lightly hitting Aelita with it. "That's it! I'm gonna get you for eavesdropping!"

"Amy and Odd, together forever!" Aelita lightly sings as Amy chases her, both of them laughing.


	63. Sabotage

In the mountain sector, a tower has been activated, but the Lyoko Warriors are on it as Yumi faces against a Krab across from her. She jumps up into the air, avoiding the lasers as she throws one of her fans, only grazing it. She slides to a stop, glancing back to see Ulrich super sprinting. He swings his sword to avoid the projectiles from a Tarantula.

Odd fires his laser arrow while Amy holds up a shield made of rock. "Igneous Protection."

"Odd, Amy, how are you doing?" Ulrich calls out as the two are dealing with another Krab.

"Shield!" Odd creates a shield in front of him, firing twice. "I'm just about through with Nobert!"

"Oh, don't tell me you're still giving them stupid names," Ulrich moves behind the Tarantula and moves whenever it turns its head.

"Ames, do you like-"

"No I do not," She answers quickly before he could finish that question. Aelita is hiding behind a rock and looks up to talk to Jeremy.

"Do you have any idea what kind of attack it is, Jeremy?" So far, they haven't heard anything about what's happening on Earth, if anything was happening, that is.

"_No, but with a bit of luck, we're onto it faster than XANA anticipated."_

"That's right, when Odd checks in, XANA checks out!" Odd jumps up into the air, and is suddenly stuck there, flickering. "Hey, that's not fair, guys!"

"Huh?!" Amy looks up at him, baffled. "What's this?"

"What's wrong?" Ulrich looks in their direction while flinging his sword to avoid more lasers.

"I don't know. I can't move," He says as Amy points her hands at him, but she immediately stops, now in the same state as him.

"Hang on, I'm coming. Super sprint!" Ulrich pauses in mid-sprint, then teleports in front of the Tarantula, which devirtualizes him when he's back to normal.

"Jeremy, we've got a problem," Yumi calls out.

"I see it, but I can't figure it out..."

"Norbert? You're not gonna..." 'Norbert' devirtualizes Odd who's still in his frozen state. Then he turns to Amy and devirtualizes her too. The girls are surrounded by monsters as Yumi also starts to bug out in front of Aelita.

"Oh no!" She cries out.

"Huh?! But..."

"Aelita, I'll try to distract 'em away from you!" Yumi runs forward and throws her fan, but it flickers and misses the Krab. She holds out her hand to catch it, but it's no use as the bugs still occur. She's hit twice and then devirtualized. Aelita tries to make a break for it, one of the Krabs guarding the tower. Both her and the monster experience the bugs.

"_The monster is bugged too. Go for it!_"

She makes it inside and reaches the center. "_Great job, Aelita. Nice one!_"

Aelita makes it to the top and walks up to the middle, logging in. Luckily, the bugs didn't occur inside the tower.

_Aelita_

_Code _

_Lyoko_

* * *

Once they're brought back from Lyoko, they discuss what happened. "That was so weird...as if everything bugged up," Aelita comments as they're gathered around the computer.

"I don't know what could've happened...of course, that might have been XANA's attack," Jeremy glances to the others.

"What, that's all you can come up with?" Odd asks, his arm around Amy. "Hey, you know, you better start working on your A-game."

"I suppose that was your a-game against your pal Norbert," Ulrich retorts back, causing the boy to frown.

"I've got some routine checks to carry out just to be sure with XANA's attack. Go on and eat without me, I'll catch up," Jeremy tells them, Odd gesturing to Amy and himself.

"Can we have your portion?"

Jeremy hums with a nod. "Fantastic! Come on, Ames!" He grabs her hand and pulls her to the elevator, causing her to laugh. "Shepherd's pie tonight!"

"Yeah, and it's also boys' dorm inspection," Ulrich reminds him, "So don't be too long, Jeremy."

"This will take a few minutes, that's all," He replies as his friend joins the others in the elevator. Amy and Odd are petting their dogs.

"No, Kiwi. Tonight, you stay here. The last thing we need is for Jim to find you. My little diggity dog."

"Thanks for taking care of Kiki last night, Jeremy," Amy smiles towards the boy while holding the little dog in her arms.

"No problem," He waves to her. The girls had their rooms already inspected the night before.

* * *

"Now then. Let me remind you that your rooms should be in impeccable order!" Jim declares as he walks past the doors in the hallway. "Keeping your room neat and clean is a cinequa...uh...si-nee-qua-tuh...what do you call it? Cine-"

"Photography?" Odd chimes in next to Ulrich.

"Right! No, that's not it...no, anyway, it's an important part of a good night's sleep. He who sleeps well lives well. And that's why a man wasn't meant to live in a garbage dump! Cause you can't sleep well...now, since I've already done the girls' hall, I hope Della Robbia's is as clean as his girlfriend's."

Some of the boys give Odd a teasing smirk and he huffs slightly. "Wait a minute..." Jim finally notices that a boy is missing. "Hey, where's Belpois?!"

"Uh...in the bathroom, Jim," Ulrich decides to say.

"What? You mean all this time?"

"Shepherd's pie doesn't agree with him," Odd says next, causing Jim to raise a brow.

* * *

Jeremy is still in the lab, Kiwi looking up as an alarm goes off. "What's this stuff about?" Jeremy asks in confusion, typing away. He sees that one of the scanners is offline. "Uh oh, it's getting weirder..." Suddenly, all of the scanners are offline.

He decides to investigate the supercomputer room, inspecting one of the panels. He puts it back and goes to the other side, and when he sees this panel, there's soot on it.

"But...I don't believe it! This is sabotage! Somebody's been in here!"

Checking the security tapes, he sees that Michael Riley, the garden keeper, had snuck in somehow. He gasps in shock, seeing him take the same panel that he saw was damaged. Zooming in closer, Riley places his hand above it, electrocuting it with his hand. Turning around, his eyes had the XANA symbol in them.

"Oh no!"

* * *

"Sabotage?" Aelita asks in confusion as Jeremy had arrived at the cafeteria to tell them the news.

"Yes, by Michael Riley, possessed by XANA," Jeremy explains to her. "That's what yesterday's attack was. And the bugs that prevented you from fighting were caused by the drop in a calculating capacity of the supercomputer."

"What a mess. Think you can fix it?" Yumi comments from the edge of the table next to him. He takes a bite out of his croissant.

"Yes, but I've got to do it fast or else we're gonna be in big trouble, guys."

"We are? How come?" Ulrich asks curiously.

"It's simple: the internal circuit has been badly damaged. Right now, the quantum bytes are collapsing one after the other. The drop in computing speed will become more and more serious right up-"

"Stop," Ulrich interrupts him. "Reader's Digest version. How much time do we have?"

"3 hours," He answers simply.

"Are you absolutely sure that the whole thing will be destroyed?" Aelita asks seriously. If the whole thing is destroyed...she and Amy will go along with it.

"Definitely. It's already lost a lot of speed. I even tried to launch a return to the past to see. No way."

The sisters turn to each other in slight worry. "I've gotta pick up some stuff from my room, then I'm gonna head back over. As for your classes, you'll have to think of some phony excuses."

"Oh, sorry, guys, but I gotta go now," Yumi stands up with a frown. "Chardin is taking us to see an exhibit. Keep me posted."

"Okay," Jeremy calls out after her, Amy's eyes widening as she sees something.

"Umm, Jeremy, I think you're the one who's gonna be in trouble in the next 2 seconds," Amy whispers to him.

"Why do you say that?"

"Belpois!" Jim calls out from the line. "Belpois!"

"Oh no...the inspection."

"You forgot?!" Amy whispers in surprise.

"This is me we're talking about!" Jeremy gestures to himself.

"Did you have time to clean your room?" Ulrich asks him quickly.

"You mean...since last week? No way."

"Oh this is just great," Amy sighs, placing a hand on her cheek at the answer.

"I looked for you everywhere last night!" Jim appears at the table. "Yours is the only room I haven't inspected. Get up! Come on, on your feet now!"

* * *

The two walk down the hall. "So, you can't eat Shepherd's Pie either, huh?" The gym teacher asks him curiously.

"What's he talking about?" Jeremy looks towards his friends.

"Never mind," Odd whispers to him.

"Just go with it," Amy tells him quietly. Jim opens up the door to his room, and is shocked by the sight. Jeremy's room is a total mess, with boxes, DVDs, and trash strewn everywhere.

"What on Earth do you call this, Belpois?!"

"Uh...it's called my room," Jeremy says dumbly.

"Huh!" Jim walks into the room. "An excellent student like you? You oughta be ashamed," He holds up a pair of Jeremy's underwear. The blonde blushes in embarrassment as the others are giggling at him. "In Stones and Smith's room, I didn't even find a cobweb! You are not leaving this room until you make it a hundred percent spic and span!" Jeremy discreetly hands Aelita a box from the pile, telling her silently to not say a word. "Do you understand? And those things, what are they?"

He's pointing to underneath the bed. When he lifts up the bed, he sees a pile of magazines. "Uh, computer magazines."

"Our Einstein really is a geek, isn't he?" Odd comments with his arms crossed. Amy smacks him lightly on the arm, snickering.

"Hey, what do you think you four are doing here?" He finally acknowledges their presence.

"Well, we thought you might be able to use some help," Ulrich smirks a little as the others are smiling.

"He's gonna do it himself without anyone's help! Go to your classes right now and double time!" Jim shouts at them.

* * *

Ulrich opens the door that leads to the staircase. "There's no way Jim's gonna get off Jeremy's back till he's through cleaning up."

"Yeah, and in three hours, it's adios, supercomputer," Odd walks out the door.

"Don't forget adios us, Odd," Amy gestures to herself and Aelita.

"Maybe I can try to fix it," Aelita suggests, looking at Ulrich. "Actually, I bet that's what Jeremy meant when he gave me this box," She holds up the box that Jeremy gave to her in his room.

"Do you think you can do it?" Ulrich asks her.

"At least I can try to limit the damage. Besides, we don't have much of a choice." Odd hums in agreement. "Go to class and tell them I got sick from...the shepherd's pie. I'll let you know if I come up with anything."

"Okay," Odd says as she runs down the stairs.

"I'm off."

"Good luck, princess," Odd calls out.

"You can do it, little sister!" Amy pumps her fists in determination.

"Thanks!"

Yumi and the rest of her class stand at the entrance, waiting for the bus to take them to the museum. Mr. Chardin arrives, William turning to him.

"Sir, uh, the bus is late. When's it gonna come?"

"There isn't any. We are going to walk. Anything for art!" He walks to the right, all the students just staring at him, baffled.

* * *

"Eh...straighten her out...you're gonna hover in..." Jim murmurs as he's fallen asleep outside Jeremy's room. "Can't you see you got another 4 phantom on your tail?"

"Jim?"

He wakes up with a scream at the voice.

"What? What do you want?"

"We heard that one of the students failed his dorm room inspection," Milly and Tamiya are standing there. "Could you tell us who that might be?"

Jim stands up, scratching his cheek. "I certainly will not! When it comes to our students, I refuse to divulge any names! Especially when we're talking about Jeremy Belpois!"

The two smile up at him and he smiles sheepishly as he notices what he just said.

Jeremy kicks his drawers closed, which are full of trash. His computer suddenly beeps as he puts stuff into the trash can.

"Oh no! XANA is on the attack! Jim, where are you?! I finished!" He kicks the trash can away, the teacher coming in to take a look around. He hears the beeping, but doesn't say anything about it as he raises an eyebrow at Jeremy.

"Is it okay if I go now?"

Jim steps inside further, and at that moment, the closet door decides to open up and cover him in junk that the boy had stashed there. He cringes as his whole floor is messy,_ again_. Jim growls slightly up at Jeremy, who gives a dismayed look.

* * *

Kiwi looks up from the chair to see Aelita arriving. She runs up to the computer and sees the alert on the activated tower. Kiwi starts barking.

"Oh no! An activated tower!" She types in some keys to call Amy.

They're in the halls as Amy's phone goes off. "Sis? ...Yeah, okay, we'll meet you there," She lowers the phone to look at the boys. "XANA is attacking again. We have to go. Ulrich, tell Yumi."

"Mmhm," He nods at her, pulling out his phone.

* * *

The students are still walking. "Breathe deeply. Nothing like taking in a breath of fresh air before taking in some fine art," Mr. Chardin gestures around him. Yumi's phone rings as she's trailing behind everyone else.

"What?!"

"Which part of the museum are you gonna visit first, huh William?" Christophe asks him curiously. "The Impressionists or the pop art?"

"Neither, the gift shop. I'm gonna try and get something there for Yumi. Why don't you get something for Amy?"

"Dude, she's with Odd. I'm not a relationship breaker, and as long as she's happy, I'm happy," Christophe jerks a thumb to himself.

"Whatever. What would you like, Yumi?" William turns around to the girl, but she's nowhere in sight. "Yumi?" He narrows his eyes. "Huh. Well, as usual, she couldn't wait to give me the slip..."

Yumi runs off into the forest as fast as she can.

* * *

Aelita is in the supercomputer room, examining the damaged panels. She examines one, looking up at the battery. She really hoped that it would do at least something...

"Let's get to work."

The boys and Amy are running in the park. "You think that Aelita got the thing fixed yet, huh guys?"

"Well, I trust her, so I know that she'll be able to lessen the damage," Amy says as she's running between them.

"We'll find out soon enough-" Ulrich suddenly trips and lands on the ground. The two turn around.

"Hey, what happened?"

Vines are surrounding Ulrich, grabbing his legs and then arms. He struggles to move, but can't.

"Ulrich!" Amy takes a step forward, but Odd feels something, looking at his feet.

"Hey!" The vines start to capture him and Amy too, dragging them to the ground. Unable to break free or call Aelita, they're now stuck there.

"Got any sunblock?"

Jeremy puts the last box on top of his shelf, Jim staring at him intently. "Alright, now get to class and hurry it up."

"Thanks Jim! See ya!" Jeremy happily jumps off the chair, Jim smiling a little as he watches the boy leave...and then he hears stuff falling from his room and leaves before he can be dragged into more cleaning.

"Belpois! Get back in here right now!" Jim shouts after him, seeing the door close with a grunt.

Yumi is still in the forest, coming to a stop at a tree. Hearing something move, she glances back for a second before leaving.

* * *

Aelita is on the phone as the panels go in. "Yes Jeremy, I did what I could in the meantime, but I don't know if it'll hold up. The others? No, nothing yet. Okay, then hurry up."

"Odd...try to free my hand," Ulrich says as they're all still stuck in the vines.

"What are you, joking?" Odd asks sarcastically. "First I'd love to be able to move my own."

"It'd take a bulldozer to move us," Amy tries to move something, anything, but is unable to.

"There they are," Jeremy stumbles upon them, seeing their dilemma. "Huh?" He runs up to the three.

"Pretty good timing."

Jeremy looks around and sees a shovel. "Hey. Hang on." He grabs it and lifts his arms up to swing, to the shock of the others.

"Watch it, Einstein. Coordination's never been your thing," Odd warns him. He cuts off the vines with the shovel, setting Ulrich free.

"Nice one," He smiles at his friend, only for the vines to target Jeremy instead.

"Hey...! Ulrich! Run! Join Aelita and try to deactivate the tower!" He's slammed against the ground. "Hurry!"

Ulrich runs off towards the manhole cover, vines sprouting behind him. He moves his feet as fast as he can and manages to reach the entrance, going inside before the plants could reach him.

Yumi stumbles upon some moving vines herself and runs in the other direction, the vines chasing after her.

Ulrich lifts up the cover to the bridge and runs across it. He jumps when he reaches the ropes and lands at the elevator. He goes inside and pushes the button. The doors open when he reaches the lab.

"Where are the others?" Aelita asks curiously.

"Amy, Jeremy, and Odd are kind of tied up. We'll have to do without them," He runs up to her. "Yumi isn't here yet?"

"No."

He pulls out his phone and dials her number.

"Ulrich!" She replies once she answers. "...Same here, these stupid roots are blocking the way. Oh no, don't wait for me-!" Her foot is captured by a root and is suddenly dragged away.

"Yumi!" He turns towards Aelita. "No time to lose. Yumi's in trouble, Aelita."

"Okay, I'll start up a self virtualization program," She sets it up for the both of them.

"Did you manage to fix the supercomputer?"

"Well, just temporarily," She explains, finishing the process in a few seconds. "Here we go." Aelita gets out of the chair and they run towards the scanner room as they have a minute and 13 seconds to reach them.

Yumi tugs against the vine around her arm as others start to reach her abdomen. She sweats as she struggles and then is suddenly dragged away again.

Ulrich and Aelita step into the scanners just as there's 5 seconds left on the clock. Both of them are scanned and sent to the ice sector.

"Come on," They hurry as fast as they can.

* * *

"How are we gonna get out of this one?" Jeremy groans from his spot as Amy looks on in boredom. She felt like they've been there for hours.

"Just like we said."

"But we didn't say anything," Jeremy tilts his head towards Odd in confusion.

"That's where we have a problem."

"The real problem is that our friends need our help and we're stuck here, Odd. Let's focus on that," Amy murmurs near Jeremy. The vines suddenly start to flicker, getting Jeremy's attention. Seeing this, he forms a plan.

"Hold on...I think I may have an idea."

"That's great. I'm dying to hear it," Odd deadpans, Amy rolling her eyes.

"No time, but when I give you the signal, you've gotta try with all of your might to get yourselves free, okay?"

"...I should try to get free, huh? I could've thought of that without your help!"

"Odd," Amy warns, closing her eyes.

"You gotta trust me, Odd."

"Can't you think of something more convincing to say for once?" Odd raises a brow at him. "Ames, back me up here."

"I'll try anything if it gets us free," Amy opens her eyes. "If I stay like this for one more minute, I'm seriously considering never painting plants again."

* * *

Ulrich and Aelita run side by side, coming to a stop in front of a rock. Up ahead is the activated tower, but it's also guarded by Tarantulas.

"Okay, two Tarantulas, not exactly the end of the world," Ulrich couldn't help but comment.

"Should we use force?" Aelita turns to him.

"Is there any other way?" He replies back.

"Our brains."

"Don't have any. Super sprint!" He dashes towards the monsters, Aelita just staring at them. Upon seeing Ulrich, the monsters point their arms and fire. Ulrich dodges left and right from running, the girl peeking at him around the corner. She takes off to go deactivate the tower, but one of the monsters sees her.

Ulrich stops in mid-sprint, due to the bugs. "Aw no..." He teleports behind the Tarantula, but this time, he's covered in black and white. The Tarantula turns around to him and he points his sword in front of its face.

"Since I'm in black and white...might as well fight the old-fashioned way. En garde!" He acts as if he's fencing, stabbing the Tarantula in the nose. The sword goes right through it and he stares at his weapon. He slices at the legs before through the body. The Tarantula stands up taller. "This time, we've had it."

Aelita backs away towards the Digitel Sea, the bugs affecting her too. "Oh no. Not now!"

She can only stand there as the Tarantula prepares to fire, but the monsters are just as buggy as they are. Ulrich's colors return to him and he smirks.

"Cool."

Aelita holds out her hand and creates an energy field. She tosses it at the monster to distract him, running off. She and Ulrich take off, the two Tarantulas going back to the tower. "Hey, what happened?" He whispers to her.

"Nothing special, the bugs also affect the monsters."

"Well that kinda makes things even for once," He smiles in amusement. He couldn't remember a time when the game between them and XANA was fair.

* * *

"The signal," Odd calls out to Jeremy.

"Hold on..." Jeremy waits for a few seconds before the vines start to flicker again. "Now!"

The three lift themselves up, managing to break free from the vines. "Finally," Amy breathes in relief.

"Quick, let's get out of here!" The blonde genius tells them.

Yumi grabs a branch while being dragged away, and it breaks. The vines drag her to a hole and she cringes, glancing at all the plants behind her.

The Tarantula fires at Ulrich, who dodges them with his sword a few feet away from Aelita. She fires another energy field, which of course does not affect her opponent. It fires back and she creates two more fields to absorb the projectiles. She gets hit in the chest, sending her stumbling onto the ground. The Tarantula bugs out again.

"Get to the scanner room!" Jeremy orders the two as he runs into the lab.

"Yes sir!" Odd salutes to him.

"I hope Aelita did something for the supercomputer," Amy murmurs as the doors close. Jeremy reaches the chair and taps a key.

"How many life points do you think you have left?" Ulrich asks Aelita.

"Definitely less than you."

"_That's right, so you'd better watch it_."

"Jeremy, you're there! That's cool," Ulrich cries out in relief.

"_Yes, and Odd and Amy are coming to the rescue."_

Ulrich absorbs even more lasers. "Scanner Amy. Scanner Odd. Virtualization," He presses enter and the two disappear from the scanners with a whoosh.

"Triplicate!" Ulrich declares, but his clones don't appear next to him. The Tarantula strikes him in the arm and he's sent to the ground. He looks over to Aelita as she tries to use her creativity, the bugs still persisting. She manages to make a rock and crush the Tarantula with it. "Good job, Aelita." Glancing over his shoulder, he sees two Krabs approaching. "Uh oh...right. Any last words before we both get devirtualized?"

"Laser Arrow!"

"Ice Flame!"

Amy and Odd fly in, causing them to look up at their friends. "Oh, that's what I wanted to hear. Good to see you, guys!"

Odd turns around while Amy swerves so that she's in front of the Krabs. She drives forward and passes by underneath one, Odd doing the same.

"Cootchie coo! Huh, guess you're not ticklish like my little Ames."

"Odd!" Amy turns to him in slight embarrassment.

"_Here's a little something to get around with_," The Overbike appears and Ulrich jumps on.

"Saddle up, princess," Aelita leaps behind him, landing in the seat.

Yumi struggles with all of her might to pull herself up. "Help!" The vines drags her down a little bit further. "Anyone out there help!"

Odd, Amy, and Ulrich fly above the platform, only for the Overbike to disappear. The Overboard and OverRunner devirtualize as well. The two glance to Aelita and Ulrich as they run over to them.

"_Sorry guys, the supercomputer is losing more and more power. You'll have to go on foot. And something tells me that the same thing will happen to Amy's wings_."

"_Jeremy, I didn't have time to finish the repairs_," Aelita tells him.

"I know, Aelita, but you did a great job. It's okay, I can finish up."

"Do it as fast as you can, it's bugging out more and more," Ulrich says as they're all buggy. "And we still haven't heard anything from Yumi."

"I'll do whatever I can. You just worry about that stupid tower," Jeremy takes a deep breath, removing the headphone.

The four come to a stop, but not in front of the tower. "Here comes another big problem!" Odd replies as a megatank rolls in front of them.

"Doesn't XANA have anything better to do?!" Amy asks bitterly as they stare at it.

Yumi grips her fingers on a rock next to her, but eventually falls into the field of vines. She groans in pain.

Jeremy slides in the remaining panels, standing up with a small smile. "There, that oughta do it."

The megatank opens up and fires the circular laser. The four move out of the way. While Odd is crawling, his body gets all bugged up and stops him in mid-crawl.

"Oh no, that is so uncool."

The megatank turns its attention to Odd, causing the others to gasp. It fires and before he can be devirtualized, Aelita uses her creativity to create another rock in front of Odd. The laser misses him completely and he falls to the ground.

"Ouch!"

"Are you okay?" Amy asks him as she offers her hand. He takes it and she helps him up.

"Of course I am! How are you doing, Einstein? It's killing us, we can't take a step without bugging up!"

Jeremy is cutting wires as Kiwi looks around at the cut pieces. "I'm almost there," He plugs in two wires. "Okay...all I have to do is reboot the works," He gets into the chair.

The megatank fires again and destroys the rock. "Better step on it," Ulrich warns him.

He taps a few keys, presses enter, and the scanners are deemed back to normal...but then they turn red again. "Oh no!"

"What?"

"_I don't have enough juice to reboot the supercomputer_," He reveals as all five of them are bugging up. "If we can only deactivate the tower, I could use its energy to restart the whole system."

"_That's fine, Jeremy, but over here, we can't deactivate the tower unless you reboot the system_," Aelita reveals to him.

"_Who came up with that logic_?" Amy asks in disbelief.

"Oh..." Jeremy holds his head in dismay.

The megatank attacks again and they run out of the way. Aelita comes to a stop as she sees a way tower in the distance.

"There is one way to do it..."

"Go on, I'm listening," Jeremy lifts his head up.

"..._Destroy the ice sector_." The boys and Amy join Aelita, all of them confused.

"Good ol' Aelita. Even during the worst of times, she keeps her sense of humor," Odd gestures to her. "Ah...you mean you weren't kidding?"

"_Aelita...that's crazy_!" Jeremy tells her.

"But she's right," Amy speaks up. They take off into a run again as the megatank follows after them.

"Jeremy, it's the only way to recover some energy and avoid total destruction of the supercomputer. And if that happens, Lyoko disappears and us with it. We don't have a choice. Besides, that would automatically deactivate the tower."

"...She's right, just like Amy said. Go on, do it, Aelita."

Yumi is laying down on top of a vine. She opens her eyes to see the vines surrounding her.

"_When I restart the system, I won't be able to rematerialize you. You'll have to manage on your own._"

"Got it," Ulrich pulls out his sword. The boys and Amy turn around to the megatank. Aelita steps inside the tower and walks up to the middle.

"Ames?"

"Yeah Odd?"

"...Can we not devirtualize each other? I don't wanna hurt you."

She smiles weakly at the thought of just considering it, nodding. "I understand. I wouldn't wanna do it to you either."

Yumi's eyes widen in horror as she can't see the sky anymore...

The megatank opens up vertically and fires, the three jumping over it. They land safely just as Aelita walks up to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

The tower starts to disappear as Aelita lands on the ice. The land starts disappearing behind her as she runs past them.

"Hurry!"

The megatank disappears into the Digital Sea and Jeremy hesitates for the right moment.

The three come to a safe spot. "Right, listen up. Aelita, you take care of Odd. Odd, you zap me. Amy, you hit Aelita with your spear and I'll hit you with my saber. On three. One-"

"Wait," Odd interrupts, glancing away. "We zap each other on three or do we count to three and then zap each other?"

"You always pull this on me, Odd. No, we zap each other on three, okay? One-"

"Wait," He stops him again, "Aelita, don't miss okay?"

"Odd!" The other three shout at him.

"Okay, okay."

"One...two..." The four prepare themselves. "Three!"

All of them are devirtualized at the same time. All of the monsters disappear and fall into the Digital sea, and the ice sector completely disappears.

"_The activated tower's disappeared! _Reboot system," He taps enter and the scanners are finally de-bugged. He cheers for himself as Odd appears.

"Uh, three?"

The others smile in relief.

Yumi manages to climb out of the hole, getting onto her feet. She gives a weak smile.

* * *

"Right, the repairs are only temporary, but at least they'll let us keep on fighting XANA!" Jeremy explains once everyone is in his room.

"We managed to save the supercomputer," Aelita adds in while Ulrich is tending to Yumi.

"You did great, Aelita. Sissi's right to call you Ms. Einstein," Odd comments to her.

"Don't forget that this last little adventure of ours cost us the ice sector," Yumi chimes in.

"Yeah, that is a shame," Jeremy agrees with her. "I'm gonna have to find a way to virtualize you directly into Sector Five from now on..."

"It's okay, don't worry. As long as the mountain sector stays together, there's still hope," Odd replies while sitting on the desk.

"Yeah, but for how long?" Ulrich asks from the bed.

"If we lose the mountain sector, XANA can use that power to destroy the world," Amy crosses her arms.

"Hey, I didn't know you had the solutions for Bot Fighter Attack. You mind?" Odd reaches towards his shelf.

"Careful not to knock anything over. Jim is coming back tomorrow morning to do another inspec-" His things fall over, leaving a box on Jeremy's head.

"Sorry. Uh, you were saying?"

"Forget it."


	64. Nobody in Particular

"Right, quiet down, please," Ms. Hertz announces to the class. "Across the board, the results of the last class tests were far from brilliant. Your grades were almost all Cs and Ds," She raises a playful brow. "Obviously, as always, there are exceptions. Belpois, I gave you an A-minus. The minus was a reminder that there is no such thing as perfection."

He smiles gratefully at her. "Smith, an A. I'm sure your parents will be proud."

"If my fake father cared," Amy mutters under her breath, a hand on her cheek. Odd places a gentle hand on her back, smiling.

"I do."

She smiles back at him happily.

"Stern, you are clearly pushing the limits of your 'I don't care' attitude." Nicolas and Herb giggle nearby. "A nucleus is not made up of protons. D-minus. If memory serves and mine is more reliable than yours, you promised you'd put in an honest effort, didn't you? Whereas it seems quite clear to me that you didn't even glance at your notes. This is not going to help you at the academic review tomorrow morning. Poliakoff!"

He stops laughing at the sound of his name. "Zero! A kilo gram of mercury does not weigh a ton. So if I were you, I'd stop snickering like an idiot."

Jeremy glances to Ulrich, who looks dismayed at what the science teacher just told him.

* * *

"Don't worry. It'll work out fine," Odd says to Ulrich at lunchtime.

"Doubt it. Hertz is gonna do everything she can to have me transferred to 9th grade remedial."

"They wouldn't do that in the middle of the year," Yumi chimes in.

"With my rotten grades? Don't bet on it. My parents are gonna kill me and finding time to fight XANA is gonna be a real nightmare."

"I will admit that fighting XANA does put a damper on school," Amy starts off, arms crossed over the table.

"But come on, Ulrich. Nothing's been decided yet," Aelita finishes for her.

"They're right," Jeremy states, Amy smirking as she points to the two of them. "Maybe a teacher will defend you. Anyway, speaking of transfer, I've got some good news. I finally found a way to virtualize you directly into Sector Five! Not bad, huh?"

"You mean, without going through the transporter?" Odd asks in shock, having finished everything off his plate except for the string beans.

"Yeah, that's right. By interpolating the source codes in Planck's quantum space, we can get around the Eisenberg uncertainty theory. The only risk is coming up with a mathematical singularity."

"In English?" Odd raises a brow at him.

"Uhh...it can work, but it's dangerous. Before I can really be sure, I'm gonna need a..." He had no idea how to say this gently.

"A guinea pig?" Odd asks knowingly.

"Right. Any volunteers?" He looks towards everyone, but gets silence from them. It's clear that none of them wanted to, but it had to be done. Odd holds up his string beans.

"The shortest string bean is it." He rests his hand on the table. Yumi takes one first, then Aelita, then Amy, and then Ulrich. The girls all smile at theirs, Odd glancing at Ulrich, who's frowning towards his. He got the shortest one.

"I guess today is not my day."

"I'm sure it's safe...hopefully," Amy cringes towards Jeremy.

"We'll run the test tonight at 8 o'clock, okay?" Jeremy asks him.

"Here," Ulrich holds a soda can. "I'm leaving you my cherry soda, in case I don't make it back," Ulrich places the can on Odd's tray.

"You're kidding!" His eyes widen in surprise. "Thanks, but I couldn't possibly accept. Ames?"

"Nope," Amy immediately denies, holding up a hand.

"Here, Yumi," He pushes past Ulrich, "You're the most worthy heir to the great Ulrich. The first man to set foot on Sector Five without passing go."

She takes it, giving an amused look. She doesn't drink it, but she had a feeling he'd insist otherwise...

* * *

In Sector Five of the virtual world, the holosphere system goes online as the arena spins around. The transporter arrives, but only to allow the girls and Odd inside.

"Tell me, guys, did you get to the arena?"

"Yep," Odd confirms as they turn around. "Last stop, everybody out!"

"We're good, Jeremy. We're standing by to welcome Ulrich," Yumi speaks up.

"Loud and clear, Yumi. Ulrich, you ready?"

"Roger," Ulrich stands in front of a closed scanner.

"_Logically, you should arrive directly into Sector Five. Right between Odd and Yumi."_

"Jeremy, you sure you know what you're doing there?" Ulrich asks skeptically as the scanner opens for him.

"Yes. Well, about 98 percent. _Hold on now. Ulrich's gonna be with you soon. _Transfer Ulrich." The doors enclose the brunet inside. "Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization," He presses enter...and nothing. Yumi looks around, the others glancing to each other in confusion.

"Where is he? Did he take the local instead of the express?" Odd jokes a little.

"Really?" Amy asks him, unamused.

"The virtualization did take place, he should've appeared next to you," Jeremy explains to them.

"_Maybe he was transferred to the wrong place_," Aelita suggests, maybe he was in the mountain sector instead?

"I'll do a search, but I can't see how..." He takes a few moments to look and gets an alarm sound. "Oh no! Impossible!"

"What? What's the matter?" Yumi asks in concern.

"_He...he doesn't even show up on the screens anymore!_"

Amy gasps sharply at the explanation, turning to the others in worry.

"You want us to sweep Sector Five to see if we can spot him?" Aelita questions, stepping up to Yumi.

"_And have XANA take advantage of the situation and pull a dirty one on us? No thanks, I'll run a search from here._"

Odd steps up to them, all of them staring in concern. "_You better come back in. I'll rematerialize you now._"

* * *

When they return back, Jeremy doesn't have good news. "Nothing in the mountain sector, nothing in the arena, nothing in the Celestial Dome, nothing in the Core of Lyoko, and not a trace in Sector Five either!"

"What are you saying?" Yumi narrows her eyes.

"Ulrich has...disappeared...I don't know what to do..."

Amy slowly places a hand on his back, giving a sad look towards the other three. They stay silent from the scanner room up until they walk across the bridge.

"I don't get this. In spite of all my research, I haven't managed to localize him...I'll still keep searching from my room computer. He's gotta be somewhere."

Yumi comes to a stop, fist clenched as the others have their heads down. "Go on. You can keep trying, but the truth is you messed up big time and Ulrich might be lost forever!"

Jeremy gasps upsettingly as they reach the crying Yumi run off.

* * *

Odd opens up the door to his room that he has to sleep in alone...he sees Kiwi in Ulrich's bed. "You get off of there!" He shouts, shocking Kiwi and causing the dog to whimper as he hides underneath the chair. Odd realizes what he did and steps up to him. "Oh...oh, Kiwi buddy, I'm sorry..."

The sisters lay down in their beds, looking at each other with tears in their eyes. They let tears fall down their faces in dismay.

Jeremy sits in his room, working as hard as he can. If he hadn't insisted on a guinea pig, none of this would've ever happened...

Tears fall onto the cherry soda can as Yumi sniffles, sitting on her bed. She couldn't believe what happened to him...

However, in the scanner room, one of them opens up to reveal Ulrich! "Jeremy?" He asks and gets no answer as he steps out. "Nice, thank you for such a warm welcome."

When he touches the button, his hand starts to disappear. "Hey, what's going on?"

* * *

Night soon turns into morning at Kadic. Jeremy is still working on finding Ulrich, who phases through the door somehow.

"Jeremy, what's happening to me?"

Jeremy hears nothing and continues working. A knock is heard at the door. "Come in!"

"Yo, Jeremy!" Ulrich calls out, the door opening to reveal Amy, Aelita, Odd, and the two dogs. "Uh, Odd, you can hear me, right?"

Odd just closes the door silently. "Well? Anything new?" Aelita asks curiously.

"Nothing. Still no sign of Ulrich," He reports to them.

"Jeremy, he has to be somewhere," Amy frowns in concern, crossing her arms. "You know how upset Yumi is over this..."

"Come on, he couldn't just disappear into thin air. Ames is right," Odd replies, to the ire of Ulrich.

"What do I have to do to make you see me?!"

"I must've made a mistake somewhere. But for now, I don't know where I could've messed up."

"Yoo hoo, yoo hoo, Odd," Ulrich waves a hand in front of Odd, who gives no reaction.

"Maybe it's because you've never materialized someone directly into Sector Five," Amy suggests, the two dogs suddenly barking as they look at him.

"Ah, finally, someone who can see me." He smiles gratefully. It was the same dog who tears up his shoes and pees in his bed, but he'll take it.

"Kiwi, will you cut that out?" Odd asks in annoyance.

"Come on girl, quiet down," Amy places her hand on top of Kiki's snout, causing her to slightly whimper.

"Yeah, you're good dogs. You got any ideas how to make them realize I'm here?"

Kiwi suddenly jumps out of Odd's arms, leaping towards Ulrich.

"Maybe an emergent property appeared to the algorithms and altered the normal functioning of the virtualization. It's possible," Aelita rubs her chin.

"Looks more like a big system bug to me," Ulrich suddenly speaks up, to their confusion. Odd looks around. "I'm down here. Lower."

They look towards Kiwi. "Surprise~!" Ulrich sings, Amy dropping Kiki in shock. Luckily, the dog lands on her feet, barking happily and running around Ulrich.

"That's fantastic. All my training methods have finally paid off. Kiwi's talking!" Odd exclaims happily.

"No, no, it's me talking. Ulrich, from inside Kiwi's body."

Odd bends down to him. "But what are you doing inside my dog? That's crazy!"

"This whole thing is crazy," Amy drags a hand down her face. She's definitely not dreaming...

"I entered Kiwi's body by accident. It's thanks to him that I can talk to you. Otherwise, it was just like some kind of completely disembodied ghost."

"What an adorable little diggity dog," Odd starts petting him.

"Knock that off or I'll bite ya."

Aelita and Amy giggle behind him. "Oh, you mangy mutt!"

Jeremy snaps his fingers in realization. "I think I know what happened. During the virtualization, Ulrich's body and mind got separated."

"Is that the reason why you couldn't localize him on Lyoko?" Aelita asks curiously.

"Right. Because it's not Ulrich who's there, it's just his...inanimate body, his corporal envelope, which doesn't give the same signal."

Ulrich, or Kiwi in this case, turns around to him. "Think you can put me back together?"

"Since we have no classes today, I'll go back to the computer lab with Aelita and run another search," Jeremy bends down to him. "Once we locate your body, I'm sure we can find a way to put you back into it, okay?"

"Great. And how long will that take you?"

"...I hope I have it all worked out by this afternoon," He says after a few seconds.

"Cool, that would give me time to see about my future!"

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Odd asks him, but Kiwi starts barking, meaning that Ulrich is out of his body. "Ulrich? You still there?"

Kiwi shakes his head, a little disoriented from Ulrich's possession of him.

* * *

Yumi's phone rings and she picks it up dejectedly. "Yes Jeremy?" She sits up with a happy smile. "Alive?! Oh, that's great. Where did you find him? ...Huh? Kiwi?"

Jim is getting ready in his room, looking at himself in the mirror. "Hey," He chuckles at his appearance. Ulrich suddenly comes through the wall. "Hey, who's that handsome looking guy? It's Jim Morales!" Ulrich enters his body and opens an eye.

He clears his throat. "Who's that handsome looking guy? Who's that handsome looking guy? Who's that handsome looking guy?"

Once he's sure that he got it right, he steps out the room, tripping onto the ground. A bar of soap slides to a stop in front of Nicolas.

"Oh, thank you for finding it for me. I've been looking for it everywhere," He chuckles as he runs off, because he actually did that on purpose.

"Oh, my back! Oh!" Ulrich cries out, actually feeling the pain. Now he knows how it feels to be an adult. Jim's phone rings and he answers it. "Hello? Ms. Hertz, just the person I in fact was hoping to talk to you about the academic review and-"

"Really Jim, call me Suzanne," She insists to him. The teacher is standing on the staircase that leads to the gym. "Actually, I have a favor to ask you. Meet me in the gym in five minutes. It's very important."

"Uh, okay. I'll be there, Ms—uh, Suzanne." To be honest, it felt weird to him calling her that.

In the factory lab, Aelita stands next to Jeremy, trying to locate Ulrich's body. "Where can he be...?"

* * *

Ulrich enters the gym as Jim, looking around for Ms. Hertz. "Jim, darling!" He turns around and sees her leaning against the wall. "You once told me you used to be a professional ballroom dancer in Buenos Aires. Right?"

He's surprised by this fact, though he really shouldn't be at this point. "Uh, yeah, that's right."

"Good, then I'm going to need your help. Ever since you mentioned that, I have been absolutely dying to learn how to tango."

"Uh," His eyes widen. There is no way that he knows how to tango, he's only in 9th grade. "Well, uh, just a minute Suzanne. But first, I wanted to discuss the case of Ulrich Stern."

"Oh no, no, please Jim now," She narrows her eyes, slightly annoyed for the topic change. "The academic review is the right time to deal with him."

"But that's what I mean! It'll be too late then, we need to discuss this now!" He insists to her with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, don't be like that, Jim. I've got a date with Pedro for the Sunday afternoon dance and brunch, and I've got to learn how to dance the tango! But if I don't, he won't pay any attention to me," She frowns up at him.

"Okay, but first, let's talk about Stern. If he had a second chance, he could get better, I think."

"Oh!" The teacher backs away a little, exasperated at this point. "I must've given that boy a thousand chances. Honestly, I'm sick and tired of that lazy good-for-nothing! Come on now, Jim, let's tango," She holds out her hands.

"Uh uh. No second chance for Ulrich Stern, no Australian tango lessons! I am out of here!" He storms past Ms. Hertz, who scoffs.

"Argentinian tango!" She corrects as she balls up her fists.

* * *

In the cafeteria, the students are laughing and throwing things. Ulrich, as Jim, gives a nervous look. "Quiet down! Sounds like a zoo around here!" He grins anxiously as everyone stares at him for a few seconds.

"Fire away!" Odd declares while standing on the table. Ulrich ducks and looks up.

"Odd, cut it out, it's me, Ulrich!" He shouts over the commotion.

"Huh?!"

"Ulrich?!" Yumi asks in shock. Croissants are thrown and Ulrich runs out of the cafeteria, followed by Odd, Amy, and Yumi.

"What are you doing inside Jim?" Yumi questions, Amy crossing her arms at Odd.

"Really, Odd?" She deadpans at his behavior inside.

"I didn't know it was him!"

"Trying to smooth things out with Ms. Hertz, but up till now, no luck," He replies as Yumi's phone rings.

"Hello? Yes Jeremy?"

"We finally located Ulrich's body," He says into the microphone happily, Aelita standing next to him with a smile. "It turned up in Sector Five."

"Okay great, I'll tell him," She hangs up, turning to her friend. "You have to get to the factory. It looks like Jeremy's solved your problem."

"Okay. After the academic review. It's too important, especially after what just happened with Ms. Hertz," he looks away awkwardly.

"Huh? What happened?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. I'll be over there as soon as I can."

Amy's eyes widen as she turns to Odd. "Um, Odd, about the academic review-"

"Odd Della Robbia and Amelia Smith," The principal approaches the four. "It's time for your class' academic review. You _are _the class representative, and you insisted on Amelia being your vice representative."

"Ohhh no!" Odd places a hand on his head. He had totally forgotten.

"Now hurry up."

"Oh," Odd complains as he jumps and lands next to Ulrich. Amy walks down the steps and they walk together after the principal. Yumi's phone rings again.

"Yumi, something is wrong," Jeremy tells her immediately. "Ulrich's body seems to be...moving on its own."

"But isn't that normal?" She asks curiously. Normally bodies are supposed to move...

"Of course not. Without Ulrich's brain, it-it shouldn't do anything...better get over here as soon as you can."

"Right now, I'm by myself. The others are at the academic review."

"Oh, rats!" Jeremy seems to have forgotten about it too. "Aelita, can you send a text message and tell them we've got an emergency?"

She nods in confirmation.

* * *

"Well then, how should we begin?" The principal announces, "Shall we treat the student case files in ascending or descending alphabetical order?"

Odd and Amy's phones go off at the same time. "Della Robbia and Smith, I wish you would show a little courtesy. Cell phones are forbidden here. Turn yours off!"

"I-I'm sorry sir," Odd stammers, turning off his phone. Amy frowns, but reluctantly does the same. Unfortunately, this means that the others won't be able to get a hold of them for a while...Ulrich frowns at this. Since he doesn't have his phone, he can't even make up an excuse to take a call outside...

"Well then, whom should we begin with?" He states an A name and then a Z name. Ulrich says the Z name, but Ms. Hertz argues back with the A name. "Ladies choice. We begin then with the case file of Miss Soria Abulabbas."

Ms. Hertz smiles, Ulrich narrowing his eyes at her. She's definitely not making this easy...

* * *

"_Virtualization._" The two girls land in the mountain sector, taking off into a run, reaching the edge of the sector within seconds. "We're okay, Jeremy. We've reached the edge of the mountain sector."

"Okay, I'm sending you the transporter," He enters Scipio and the transporter arrives soon afterwards. It swallows them up and heads all the way in the opposite side, reaching Sector Five. "Holosphere system connected."

Yumi and Aelita land in the Arena, standing back-to-back. The wall opens in front of Yumi and they run through it. The Core Zone entrance opens up as a hallway and then they reach the room, the key across from them.

"The key is over there, just on the other side," Aelita points to it.

"Let's go," They're about to move when pillars from the ceiling threaten to move. Aelita gasps a little.

* * *

"Right, and now let's look at the file of Jeremy Belpois," The principal speaks up.

"All is well, nothing to add," Mr. Mirti says first.

"Yes, I think that everyone would agree with me when I say that he is an exemplary student. In short, he never makes a mistake."

"Never makes a mistake? You must be kidding!" Jim retorts back, as it's obvious that Jeremy's grades in gym are not ideal.

"Mr. Morales," Ms. Hertz narrows her eyes. "Sports aren't everything, you know."

"Alright. Next student..."

* * *

Yumi backflips away from a column, both of them standing in front of another one. They manage to run past, move to the side, or jump away from the obstacles. The next platform lowers in front of Yumi and she jumps, backflipping to the next one. Aelita hangs onto the edge, Yumi helping her onto her feet. Just as she's about to reach the key, Aelita tries to jump past a column. Luckily, she's not squished as Yumi had pressed the key in time.

"At your service," Yumi bows to her playfully. Everything resets and they run to the next room.

"Now, take the next passage on your left," Jeremy orders them. They do so and come to a stop, looking around. "_And now, go right_." They turn and go through another door.

* * *

"Does everyone agree that Della Robbia has remarkable potential, and that he's lazy as the day is long?" Mr. Delmas gives Odd a look.

"But wait," Odd holds up his hands. "Personally, I think he's made a lot of progress, especially in gym. Isn't that so, Mr. Morales?"

"Uh, yes, yes," Ulrich smiles at them. "A lot of progress. The other students aren't afraid anymore when it's his turn with the javelin, and he stopped dropping the shot put on his toes."

Odd gives him a glare as Amy stifles a laugh. "Alright, I'll make a note of that in his file..."

* * *

The girls see the moving body of Ulrich in sight. "Ulrich?"

It's actually XANA possessing him, which is why he is moving. He scoffs at them, causing Yumi to gasp.

"Hello, ladies," He grins before turning around. "Super sprint!" He goes down the hall and jumps off platforms.

"He's closing in on the great hall of the Core of Lyoko. Try not to lose him, okay?"

"_Easy for you to say, he's fast!_"

The two girls end up coming to a stop as they've lost him. "Jeremy?"

"_He changed directions_," He reports as they look around. "_You see another way out?_"

"No, just a shaft," Aelita answers as they see a gap across from them.

"_That's it! Go ahead, jump_!"

Yumi and Aelita jump off the platform.

* * *

"And now it's time for Amelia Smith..." The principal announces, Amy blushing in embarrassment.

"Same as Belpois, all is well," Mr. Mirti smiles at the girl.

"A model student. Despite her father's high expectations, she couldn't be better."

Amy takes a deep breath, adjusting her bangs away from her face. Her "father" is never an easy subject for teachers to talk about with her...especially ever since she figured out that he's not really her father. He may have raised her since birth, but he didn't have a hand in creating her, and her DNA with him doesn't match. Not to mention a father wouldn't push her the way he does.

"Yes, well, Mr. Smith isn't exactly the most ideal parent," Ulrich informs them, the girl grinning in relief.

"I hate to agree about his approach, but he does seem very high-maintenance than a father should be about his children..."

Odd takes a hold of Amy's hand and she smiles softly at him. "So now we come to the case of Ulrich Stern," That smile turns into a cringe once she's heard what the principal said. It doesn't help either that Ulrich is technically in the room... "Anyone care for some turnip soup? Afraid that's all there is."

"I think we have a serious problem," Mr. Fumet frowns deeply.

"Yes, this is scandalous!" The principal takes his seat. "They could have left some sort of variety, like tomato or vegetable or even just coffee!"

"No, I was referring to Ulrich Stern," Mr. Fumet corrects himself.

"He has simply stopped working. He does absolutely nothing at all!" Ms. Hertz narrows her eyes. "His grades are terrible! At best, as far as I'm concerned, I recommend he be transferred down to 9th grade remedial where he has a vague chance of catching up."

Odd also cringes towards his best friend. "Right," The principal stops sipping his soup. "So is everyone in agreement?"

The four teachers murmur a yes as Ulrich stands up. "I do not agree at all."

"Neither do we!" Odd and Amy chime in.

"Go on, you have the floor, Jim."

"You can't make a decision based only on my—his grades. They're far from excellent, I'm not denying that, but you go from there to saying that I—that he doesn't lift a finger is an awful lot to assume. And don't forget that you were-"

"We were what?" The principal interrupts, wondering where he's going with this.

"You were once adolescents."

* * *

XANA Ulrich appears in another room, super sprinting down the platform and going through a wall! "He's reached the Great Hall at the Core of Lyoko," Jeremy tells the two as they're still trying to catch up. "_Hurry up, ladies! Can you see a way in_?"

They stop in front of the wall XANA Ulrich went through. "No, it's a dead end."

"_Oh, what luck! XANA must have opened up a passage for him leading directly into the Core of Lyoko._"

"What about you, can you do the same?" Yumi asks curiously.

"No. I wish I could, but, you'll have to go by way of the Celestial Dome," He answers regrettably. He just hopes that they'll reach him before it's too late...

"_Okay, we'll take the elevator._"

* * *

"Remember how much your emotions affected your work at school?" Ulrich asks the teachers. "Who in this room could say that they have never felt lost? Never had problems with their parents, never had girl or boy problems?"

Mr. Chardin actually starts crying.

"Stern is gonna straighten out! He promised me, and Amelia too." She stares up at him wide-eyed and he gives her a pleading look. The girl sighs slowly in defeat. He really didn't want to go to remedial, and the last thing she wanted to do was allow him to be put there. "So seriously now, don't you all think he deserves a second chance?"

"Well, if you look at it from that point of view, then we might wanna reconsider his case..." Principal Delmas rubs his chin.

"Yes, yes, I think that's a good idea..."

"I disagree completely!" Ms. Hertz stands up angrily. "And as the senior teacher, I feel absolutely bound to impose my veto! Stern should be transferred to 9th grade remedial, and that's all!"

Ulrich blinks at her in shock.

* * *

Aelita and Yumi finally arrive at the elevator. "_Hurry!_ The shield layer of the sphere just took a 30-point energy hit."

Right now, XANA Ulrich is pointing his saber at the Core of Lyoko, a green laser coming from it. The two jump onto the elevator, landing safely as it spins around.

"Jeremy, we're almost there. Can you program the Overwing?"

* * *

"Come now, Suzanne...you were a teenager once, you know," The principal raises a brow at her as she stubbornly crosses her arms.

"Yes, of course I was, but I still stand by my decision!"

Amy and Odd glance to each other in worry. "Suzanne, can I have a word with you?" Ulrich stands up and they step away towards the end of the table to talk. "Listen, Suzanne, if you give Stern a second chance, then, uh, you have my word that I'll teach you the tango, the rumba, the cha-cha-cha, and any other stupid—uh, ballroom dance you want, I swear."

As much as she very much agrees that Stern should be sent to remedial...she really needs to learn how to ballroom dance for Pedro.

Yumi and Aelita fly up to the south entrance, watching it close and open. The geisha flies inside.

Ms. Hertz turns to the other teachers and the two teens. "Well then, alright. Since everyone is against me, we will leave that thumb-twiddling Mr. Stern in his current class."

"YEAH!" Ulrich cheers and thankfully, no one notices the different tone in voice.

"But if he doesn't shape up, I'll ship him out!" Ms. Hertz warns him.

"Can I please go to the bathroom?" Odd raises a hand.

"Uh, me too, sir. The, uh...the emotion, you know what I mean."

"Umm, I'll take them," Amy offers, standing up. She knew that it's not the real Jim in there right now, but hearing him say that felt weird...

* * *

XANA Ulrich stops for a second, about to continue the attack before an energy field hits his body. He looks towards the source to see Aelita across from him. She fires another pink orb, but misses. A Manta arrives as another one flies past them. Yumi deflects the lasers with her fans, Aelita ducking from another by the one near XANA Ulrich. She fires her attack and destroys it, aiming for XANA Ulrich next. He uses his sword to avoid it.

Yumi ducks her head as a third Manta arrives, Aelita still trying to get a hit on XANA Ulrich. He continues attacking the Core, resulting in the first shield exploding.

"Jeremy," Odd pants as the three are in the elevator, exhausted from the run. "We're here."

"About time. Ulrich, first of all, you've gotta leave Jim's body now."

"Hope he doesn't flip out on us..." Ulrich states as his consciousness leaves the gym teacher's body, and he immediately falls unconscious, probably because of how long Ulrich's been using his body.

"I guess this is something he'd rather not talk about," Odd jokes as he and Amy stare down at him.

"If he'll even wake up by then," She giggles a bit.

"_Odd, Amy, I'm sending you two over right now._ Ulrich, you wait in one of the cabins. The minute your body devirtualizes, I'll refusion it with your mind. Just be patient, okay?"

"Just don't mess it up this time, Einstein," He replies as the scanner closes in front of him. The two stand in the other scanners, waiting to be virtualized.

"Transfer Amy. Transfer Odd. Scanner Amy. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

They close their eyes as they feel the whoosh, appearing in the mountain sector. The two land side-by-side, Odd landing on his girlfriend's back. She opens up her wings and takes flight.

XANA Ulrich's still affecting the Core while Aelita fires a pink orb. "Energy field!" She misses the Manta at the last second. Yumi's still dealing with the one in front of her as Aelita jumps, but gets devirtualized nevertheless.

When she arrives, she notices Jim on the floor.

Luckily, Amy and Odd arrive in the Arena, the transporter orb releasing them as they stand back-to-back. The wall opens up and Amy runs up first, followed by Odd.

Yumi throws her fan at the Manta, who knocks it away. She backflips to avoid the lasers, hit by the last one and devirtualized. The Manta is also destroyed and Yumi sees Jim. "Who went and left our gym teacher on the floor asleep?"

XANA Ulrich thinks that he's free to destroy Lyoko, but he doesn't account for two people heading for him. "Amy, Odd, move it. There's only one shield layer left protecting the Core of Lyoko," Jeremy informs them.

They arrive in the Celestial Dome, the Overboard appearing. "Move it, huh? Easy for you to say, we only have two legs each!" Odd calls out, jumping onto his vehicle and Amy lands behind him. "Oh, perfect timing, Einstein."

"We absolutely gotta stop him," Amy narrows her eyes as she sees the entrance. "if Lyoko goes, so do we!"

"We got this, Ames! After all, it's us again!"

She shakes her head with a small smile. They enter the room and XANA Ulrich continues once again. "Guys, one more blow with his saber and the second shield layer's destroyed!"

He's just about to point it again when he's hit by several laser arrows. Odd flies up to him, Amy gripping his shoulders. The Manta flies past them. "Laser Arrow!" He fires at the monster, missing it. Amy grins as she gestures to herself.

"This requires a lady's touch." She pulls out her spear and throws it. The weapon spins around and hits the target, getting rid of the Flying Manta.

"That's my favorite girl!" Odd cheers, spinning around and jumping off. He grabs Amy in his arms as his vehicle hits XANA Ulrich, knocking him down. His saber lands a few feet away. The duo land nearby, jumping up the stairs and landing in front of him.

"What a cute couple...Triplicate!"

His body doubles, but one of the duplicates gets hit with the Overboard while Odd hits the other with his laser arrow. He tries to hit the real XANA Ulrich, who speeds around them and grabs his sword back. He sprints up towards the two, Amy using her spear to block his blows. He kicks both of them off the platform, and they seemingly disappear. He's just about to attack the Core again when Amy's legs swing up, grabbing his waist. She throws him over the platform while holding onto Odd, who hits the forehead with his laser arrow. They both watch as his body turns into pixels. Amy gets back on the platform first, helping up Odd.

He smiles at her. "We're okay, Jeremy," He winks at his girlfriend, who giggles. If she was able to blush, she'd be doing it right now.

"Ulrich, now's the time. I'm starting up your fusion," Jeremy says, the boy glancing around anxiously. He finishes the process, the girls gasping as the scanner opens up again. Ulrich sits in front of them with a small smile.

"Oh, it's a great feeling to have my body back..."

* * *

Jim opens up the door, failing to notice the bar of soap in front of his feet. "Stop!" Ulrich suddenly warns him. "There, under your foot," He points to the soap, picking it up.

"Thank you, Stern. Saved me on that one, but, uh...why did you do that?"

"Let's just say that I've been in your shoes," Ulrich grins up at him. Thankfully, they were able to take him back to his room before he could wake up.

"Well done, my boy," Jim congratulates as they walk down the hall together. "I can see that something positive's got into that head of yours!"

"Jim!" Ms. Hertz stands in front of him, and that's when Ulrich realizes that he forgot something. "I'm ready to dance! What should we start with? Tango, pase doble, rumba?"

"Personally, I'm starting with a hot cup of coffee and 6 donuts! After that, I've got jogging with the 8th graders."

"But...what about my ballroom dance lessons?" Ms. Hertz frowns up at him. "You promised me!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, Suzanne, I think you had one too many herbal teas last night. They do weird things to your head."

She glares, growling in anger as she punches him. He's sent flying into the floor and Ulrich cringes, slowly backing away.

He knew that he should've mentioned that in a note or something...


	65. Triple Trouble

**Angel: I went to go see Sonic the Hedgehog movie on Friday (first trailer design was god-awful, thank god they improved it), and I'm not gonna spoil for those who haven't seen it or want to, but it was honestly a good, fun movie. Some kids were even dressed as Sonic! I felt Sonic's loneliness hit me through the screen, I felt so bad for him.**

Odd is firing at monsters in the mountain sector, but he seems to be off his game as he misses. "Oh no, missed again!" He fires at Three Bloks, flying over them. They follow after Aelita next, who was trying to reach the tower and failing. They continue to fire relentlessly as she comes to a stop.

"Watch out! If the Scyphozoa pulls Aelita into the way tower, it's all over! We can say goodbye to the mountain sector! _And then...bye bye Lyoko too_!"

"And us," Amy inputs as she drives underneath her boyfriend.

"We got the picture, Einstein," Odd tells him, Ulrich driving up to Amy. They glance to the platform underneath them, revving up and jumping over. They land near the tower in front of the Bloks. Ulrich jumps off, leaving his Overbike driving away. Amy swerves around, coming to a stop behind him. Aelita stops as the bike zips past her, the Bloks firing. Amy backflips out of her racecar, helping Ulrich deflect the lasers away from their friend. He turns around and winks, running up to the monsters.

"Amy!"

"Got it!" She leads Aelita towards the tower.

"Triplicate!" He and his duplicates run up to the Bloks. Both are immediately destroyed and Ulrich leaps into the air, stabbing one in the eye. "Impact!"

Odd flies to the tower on his Overboard. "Laser Arrow!" He fires at a Blok, but the arrow only grazes it, much to his disappointment. Yumi flies past him as Amy's hands turn into rock.

"Rock Tomb!" She punches the ground, and it cracks towards the monster on her left. It creates a hole, sending the Blok into the Digital Sea. Ulrich rushes over to help out, getting hit in the leg. Yumi lands near him, glancing over her shoulder.

"Amy, you deal with jellyfish over there, we'll take it from here!" She throws her fan, destroying one of the Bloks. Amy flips towards the Scyphozoa while Aelita creates a rock for Yumi to use. She flings it at an approaching Blok, sending him to the Digital Sea.

The fairy flies into the air to avoid the jellyfish's tentacles, spinning her hands together. "Rock Spear!" She fires tiny little spears, hitting the head dead on.

"There you go, princess," Ulrich turns to Aelita, who smiles as her sister lands nearby.

"Hey, what am I here, a groupie?" Odd calls out above their heads.

* * *

"That makes 12 for me, anyone top that?" Ulrich asks while Odd puts in the code.

"13," Amy smiles a little. "Scyphozoa counts!"

"I got 10. Yumi?"

"Oh, not many, only 15. Odd, how many of XANA's monsters did you wipe out this week?"

"2," Odd mutters under his breath.

"That's all? What's going on? What's your problem?" Yumi notices that Odd is sulking.

"You know darn well! You all got superpowers: telekinesis, super sprint, powers in each sector, flight, you can all make stuff appear or do things or increase speed. Me, I've got zilch. The only power I ever had was Future Flash, and it got wiped out when Jeremy was updating the supercomputer. And he never reprogrammed it because it was, I quote, useless! So just knock it off with your high scores and low scores, okay?"

"I'm sorry, Odd," Amy frowns, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to upset you like you are now."

"I'm not upset! I'm more concerned if anything," She takes a hold of his hand. "You can always come to me if something's bothering you."

"Thanks..."

* * *

In the courtyard, Odd and Amy walk up to their friends at the vending machine. He walks right past them without a word.

"He's still sulking again," Yumi says to the others, Amy giving him a coin.

"Yeah...I don't know what to do," Amy turns to them, baffled. "He's stuck on how the rest of us are doing better than he is..."

Odd puts in a coin, but his drink spills right out before the cup, upsetting him further. "Oh, I don't believe it! Is the whole world trying to bring me down or what?"

"Hey..." Jeremy places a hand on his back. "Look, I'm on your side. I put a little something together that's bound to cheer you up, Odd."

"I hope it's nothing to eat because you're an awful cook."

Amy laughs a little, holding her stomach. "No. It's a special power just for you and nobody else: teleportation."

"You're the best, Einstein! If I were a girl, I'd propose to you immediately!"

"I'd prefer it if you didn't," Jeremy deadpans at him, Amy rolling her eyes in amusement.

* * *

To test it out, he heads to the mountain sector with Aelita and Amy in Lyoko, virtualizing in front of them. "I'm standing by, Jeremy."

"This new power will allow you to travel instantly over short distances," Jeremy explains to the blond.

"_Cool! How does it work?_"

"First, you have to visualize the place you wanna go to, okay?"

Odd looks around for a good spot before noticing something up ahead. "Like that big mountain, for instance?"

"_Sure, why not? Next, you activate the program by saying the word teleportation_."

"Okay..." He takes a few seconds, hoping that this would go well. He's tired at having little stats and only having a weapon and shield. He wasn't mad at his girlfriend, he thought her powers were cool, but he wants something of his own like the others.

"Teleportation."

A green light appears around him, transporting the cat-boy onto the small mountain. "Wow!" He exclaims in awe. "Fantastic!"

Aelita glances to her right, glancing between him and the spot. "No, not fantastic at all!"

"Why, what-" Amy looks in her direction and gasps sharply.

"Uh oh...looks like something's bugged up," Jeremy sees it too, but Odd doesn't seem to realize the problem.

"Okay, I'll try again."

"No, wait!" The girls warn him, but it's too late.

"Teleportation." He appears between the girls, concerning them. "Yoo hoo! Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Yeah, but honestly, one of you would've been enough. Look up there!" Aelita points towards the mountain, where he sees another Odd staring at him.

"Huh? What?"

"And..." Amy steps away to reveal another Odd right where he landed from virtualization.

"Jeremy, I take back my marriage proposal and give it to Ames instead!"

"Huh?!"

"Nobody panic!" Jeremy says with wide eyes. "It's only a minor bug."

"_You call this minor?_" Amy asks in disbelief as he's typing away.

"I'll rematerialize you!"

One of the scanners open and Odd stumbles out, moaning like a zombie. "Odd!" Jeremy catches him, "What's wrong?"

"I..." Odd opens one eye, kneeling and pointing up at them. "Fooled ya that time, didn't I?!" He giggles at their faces.

"Unbelievable, what a total meathead," Ulrich grumbles at him. "You're lucky Amy has a lot of patience!"

Then the same thing happens again as another Odd steps out, to their shock. Jeremy blinks at him as he does the same prank. "We know, fooled us that time."

"How'd you know what I was gonna say?" He looks up in confusion. The last Odd steps out, but instead of saying something, they just stand there in disbelief.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" The third Odd asks and then he sees his duplicates. "Huh?!"

* * *

"Look on the bright side, now you've got two more great buddies, and Ames has two more boyfriends!" The first Odd tells them in the lab.

"That's right!" The other two chime in unison.

"Get real, that's three times as many bad jokes," Ulrich deadpans at them.

"And two too many Odd Della Robbias at school," Yumi glances up towards Amy, who's just rubbing a temple at what the first Odd said. The last thing she expected today was to have two duplicates of Odd...

"Why don't the two Odds lay low here to stop anyone from getting suspicious and the other Odd can go to school as usual and everything will be cool?" Aelita suggests with a small smile.

"Good idea. I'll stay here and try to find out what went wrong, okay?" Jeremy asks them, Odd 1 narrowing his eyes.

"No way, Jose, it's lunchtime and we're starved. It's meatballs and gravy time!"

They all raise their brows at the three. The trio sure do act like Odd, alright... "What if we hid in my room and went to the lunchroom one at a time?"

"Great idea!" The other two nod in agreement. "Nice one, Odd!"

"Thanks a lot, guys. I thought of it, so me first, okay? Besides, I wanna spend time with my little Ames!"

"No me, I'm too hungry to wait! And you can't just hog Ames to yourself!"

"Forget it! Me first, I'm starved and I wanna go with her too!"

"Oh my god," Amy pinches her nose at this, blushing in embarrassment. Since when did this turn into a free-for-all just to be near her?

"Stop," Ulrich orders them, holding up his hands. "Leave this to me, okay? Eeny meeny miny moe, catch a Della Robbia by the toe, you go," He points to Odd 1, who cheers happily. He runs up to Amy, puckering up his lips, but she pushes him away gently.

"Ah ah! No kissing until you're back to normal! It'd just feel weird for me," She backs away a bit.

* * *

"Yo Jimbo, how's it going?" Odd 2 greets as he's heading back to his—or rather, their—room.

"Fine, thank you, Della Robbia," He smiles a bit over his shoulder. "But watch your tone. Don't get too familiar, the name's Jim."

Then Odd 3 walks past him, having just entered the hall. "Yo Jimbo, how's it going?"

"Fine, thank you, Della Robbia. But watch your tone, don't..." He realizes that the same conversation had just happened and he turns around to find the dorm hall empty. He scratches the top of his head, wondering what just happened...

* * *

Jim arrives in the cafeteria, seeing Odd 1 right in front of him. "Hey Jimbo! How's it going?"

"Uh, I'm, uh...great. Actually, I think I might even go lie down for a little while," He backs away, a little freaked out by seeing Odd almost everywhere.

"I think your doubles might've scared him," Amy smirks a little as she watches him leave with a giggle. He was so disturbed that he didn't even get his food...

He and Amy stand in front of Rosa, who places down the normal amount for the boy and girl. "Rosa, you look beautiful today!"

Both she and the brunette both smile in amusement. "Have you ever thought of becoming like...like a model or something? Because you-"

"Save it, will ya, Odd? I'll give you an extra helping, just spare me the baloney. And for you, Amelia, I'll give you a free dessert."

"Thanks Rosa," The girl smiles as she places down some cake. Odd 1 is finished with his meal within minutes, his friends staring at him, either shocked or disgusted. He licks the gravy off of his lips, seeing their looks.

"What? I can't keep my two best friends waiting, now can I?"

"But you can shovel a whole two helpings," Amy shakes her head at him.

"Wait here for your next pudding pop~!" He sings at her, kissing her cheek and walking off. She blushes as the others give her teasing looks. She clears her throat.

"What? He's my boyfriend. Not gonna apologize for what we say or do to each other," The girl crosses her arms stubbornly. "Even though I told them none of that..."

"Then why does it feel weird for you to do romantic things with him today?" Aelita asks curiously.

"It's not that I hate it, it's just that I don't know which one is which. They may all act the same, but one Odd is all I need," She takes a bite out of her meatball. "Though it is fun to see how it can freak people out like with Jim!" She giggles a bit.

Odd 1 jumps down the steps, holding a banana.

The other Odds are playing with Kiwi and Kiki, the dogs barking happily. Odd 1 arrives in the room. "Next, Bon Appetit!"

Rosa continues giving out food as Odd 2 steps in front of her. "Rosa, you look beautiful today!"

"Don't push it, Odd," She deadpans at him, "You already got a huge plate of meatballs. I'll give you some more potatoes, but that's it. Move on!"

Despite the smaller portion, Odd 2 eats anyway, licking his plate clean. He brings Amy's hand up to his lips, kissing it and winking at her, walking off. She sighs slowly at this and he goes back to the room.

"It's your turn."

Odd 3 arrives and uses the same technique. "Rosa-"

"Alright, not another word! That's it! The other kids ate as much as you and the lunchroom would've gone under a long time ago!" She points for him to leave without any food, much to his dismay.

* * *

Amy sits across the three Odds, petting Kiki. "Hey, gym class starts in five minutes. Get going," Ulrich informs the trio.

"Who's the lucky winner?"

"Count me out. It's not good exercising on a full stomach," Odd 1 denies, "I don't wanna be sick."

"You took so many helpings, that we had to go hungry!"

"That's right, you selfish hog! And you've had the most time with Ames, we want some too!"

"What, me, selfish?! After I wolfed down my lunch as fast as I could," Odd 1 takes his phone. "If that's how you feel, I'm out of here!" He storms out with Ulrich and Amy stands up.

"Ames, skip class and go on a date with me!"

"No me! I'm more charismatic!"

"I already ate, she'd get fat with you!"

"Guys!" She interrupts sharply, looking over her shoulder. "Odds, whatever! I have class too, so it wouldn't make a difference!" She opens up the door to get out of there as quick as she could. "I wish there was two other mes so that I don't have to feel so...ugh," She blushes, facepalming.

"Aww," The two Odds sag their shoulders in dismay.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to the movies. Now that I have clones, I can skip class and get away with it." Odd 2 stands up, dropping his magazine.

"No you don't, not so fast, pal!" Odd 3 gets onto his feet, glaring at him. "I haven't eaten anything, so I'm going for takeout and you're going to class!"

"Are you kidding me?!" He opens up the drawer, taking the money.

"Hey, that's my money," Odd 3 protests at him.

"No way, it's mine!"

Odd 3 takes it anyway. "Go on, go then and I hope you choke on your burger!"

Odd 2 takes what was left, frowning. "Maybe I can get Ames a rose..."

* * *

Odd 3 is about to take off when he's spotted by Jim. "Della Robbia? I must've seen you everywhere today...except in gym class! So listen up, young man. Get to the gym now and work up a sweat or you're gonna have something else to sweat about!"

He whines as he heads for class, without anything to eat...well, at least he's the one who gets to be in class with Amy!

Odd 1 heads for the park, looking up at a tree. He takes a seat and lays down, though he wishes that Amy was here with him instead of being in class.

Odd 3's stomach grumbles as he narrows his eyes in annoyance. There was no way he'd be able to get through class without something... "Contrary to what some of you smart alecks might believe, throwing a discus has nothing to do with throwing out a CD that you're tired of listening to. No, it is an Olympic discipline that requires strength, skill, muscular coordination, and above all, a discus."

Amy scoots upwards, sitting in front of Odd 3 as she sneaks him a chocolate bar. "It's all I've got, but it should keep your energy up for the time being," She whispers to the duplicate, who smiles and takes it eagerly.

"Ames, you're the best! If I could, I'd kiss you right here and now!"

"Watch yourself, good buddy," Ulrich points to Amy's red ears. "Or you'll make her look like a tomato!"

Aelita giggles and the girl looks over her shoulder, glaring at all three of them.

"Shut up!"

* * *

Jeremy is typing away at the computer when he notices something wrong. "Oh no!"

Odd 2 walks up to a news stand. "Hello, what do you have in cheap movie guide magazines?"

"Well, the cheapest one is a buck and a half," He lowers his sumo magazine to look at him, glancing upwards. "I got one left."

"Nothing for 75 cents?" Odd 2 looks at the coins in his hand.

"Uh uh."

He walks away dejectedly, glancing over his shoulder. The man wouldn't leave his post, would he? He plucks the magazine and reads it. "Wheelchair Zombie 4, beginning at 2:30? Great!"

"What do you think you're doing?" The man demands, "This isn't a public library." Odd 2 runs off with a smirk. "Hey! Come back!"

* * *

Odd 1's phone rings while he's still in the park and he picks up, eyes closed. "This had better be important, Jeremy."

"I found out how to solve this teleportation bug problem," He says into the microphone. "The three of you each have to get into a scanner together, in order to fuse you back into one during the virtualization."

"Okay, I get it. For once, it sounds really easy," Odd smiles in relief. He wasn't sure how much longer he could handle his duplicates trying to fight for Amy's attention.

"I wish it was, but...there's a little problem. Your three entities are unstable. At a certain point, all three of you could disappear into thin air, understand?"

"That's horrible, what do we have to do? I can't leave my little Ames all alone in the world!" Odd bites his fingernails nervously.

"Get back here to the computer lab right now, you and the terrible twins. If any of you is missing, the fusion is impossible," Jeremy explains to him, silently rolling his eyes. He was happy for his friends as a couple, but sometimes Odd could be overly dramatic.

"Okay, don't worry, I'll go find them."

* * *

"A circuit in series differs from a circuit in parallel," Yumi is in science class with Ms. Hertz. "In that any single bulb that is missing from the circuit will cut the flow of electricity. Watch this demonstration," She takes a light bulb, but a XANA specter comes out of it. This shocks the science teacher as it exits out the window and lands right behind Jim.

"Let's put this into practice. After all, actions speak louder than words. So here's the demonstration for you."

Jeremy does a scan, and an activated tower pops up on screen. "Oh great," He deadpans at the sight. "That's all we need."

He calls Yumi immediately to warn her. Her phone rings and she answers it, glancing away. "Okay Jeremy, I'm on it."

* * *

"So, bend your knees like this," While Jim's speaking, grey smoke appears behind him. "Into a position which keeps your shifting weight in balance. Your arm holding the discus outstretched like this," He stretches his arm behind his back, Herb standing up.

"B-Behind you, Jim! There's something weird right behind you, look!"

"Listen up Herb, I was not born yesterday. What are you trying to pull?" He asks in annoyance.

"He's not lying, look!" Amy stands up, pointing at his legs which start to turn into stone. He's unable to move as he's turned into a statue. Herb just laughs at him.

"That is what I call having a hard day." He's suddenly a statue, concerning the class.

"This is XANA's doing," Ulrich narrows his eyes. "Let's get to the factory."

"And quick!" Amy takes the lead as the three run behind her. The brunette slides to a stop, Odd 3 pulling her backwards a bit so she doesn't get touched. They run in the other direction, seeing other students being turned into stone, including the whole gym class. They dash towards the science building, but Odd 3 trips and lands on his face. He looks back at the smoke, getting turned into a statue as well.

"Odd!" Ulrich exclaims as the other three had made it inside.

"Oh no!" Amy covers her mouth in shock.

"We have to get him out of here," Aelita stares at the duplicate.

"Okay. You wouldn't happen to have a pair of wings on you?" Ulrich glances to the sisters.

"Sorry, but that only applies to Lyoko," Amy looks back outside. "We can't even step outside long enough to get him without being petrified!"

"What we've gotta do is deactivate the tower," Yumi speaks up behind them. "If we stay here, we'll all end up as statues! The north entrance is still a no smoke zone."

Amy looks outside one last time before following after her friends. If she got turned into a statue, she wouldn't be able to help Odd and deactivate the tower. She didn't want to leave him all alone, but hopefully he'll be okay.

"I'll tell Jeremy about Odd," Ulrich puts his phone up to his ear.

"Yes Ulrich? Petrified? Where? That means a change of plans!" He types furiously to contact Odd, or at least, one of them.

Odd 1 appears in his room, Kiwi wagging his tail at the sight of him. His phone rings and he answers it. "Jeremy? What? That's all we need. And what's more, the other me isn't in my room."

"Well, you'd better find him and then go and get number 3 who's petrified on campus, or else you'll never be able to reunited and become one of the same!"

"Great idea, but how should I know where he went?" Odd asks curiously, Kiwi wanting to be petted.

"Figure it out: what would you do in your day if you were you?"

"Me? Well, Amy sometimes makes plans, and I always ask her what she wants to do," He replies while rubbing Kiwi's stomach.

"You do whatever she wants?" Jeremy raises a brow.

"Half the time. Today's her day, after all."

"There you go! Now you know what to do," He hangs up and Odd calls up Amy, who stops running for a second, looking at her phone.

"Man, whatever it is, it's not a good time," She holds it up to her ear, glancing over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"Ames, hypothetically, if I wasn't in my situation right now, what would you have us do for our date?"

"You're asking me this now while I'm trying not to get turned into a statue?!" She screeches in disbelief, eyes widening and running off again from more smoke.

"No! So that I can find the other me!"

"Oh...well, either to the movies or to Presto Burger, since that's our place. Find him soon, okay?"

"Umm...can you go with me? He'll listen to you when we get there," He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. She slides to a stop and looks around for any smoke-filled routes to the city.

"I'll meet you at that news stand, the one we usually go to for movie magazines," She hangs up, looking up towards her friends. "Guys, go on without me. Odd needs my help locating his twin."

"Are you sure?" Aelita asks skeptically as she looks over her shoulder.

"No...but I don't think I have a choice," She glances away towards the smoke behind her.

"Good luck, Amy!" Yumi calls out as the brunette takes a different path. Soon, they reach the elevator and press the button.

"_Jeremy, we're here. Amy went to go help the Odds, but they'll be back soon."_

"I hope so. Okay, I'll start up the virtualization."

The three scanners open, the trio stepping inside. "Transfer Aelita. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Ulrich."

* * *

"Movie or Presto Burger? Movie or Presto Burger? Movie or Presto Burger?" Odd 1 murmurs to himself, seeing a waving Amy near the news stand. "Ames, you're here!"

"I got Jackson to drive me. Apparently the smoke doesn't affect cars," She shrugs towards him as he runs up to her, engulfing her into a tight hug. She smiles and returns it, glad that it's her real boyfriend and not a clone.

"Not you again!" The man points to the boy in accusation. "Get over here, I wanna give you a piece of my mind!"

"Huh?" Amy turns to him in confusion.

"What's that? You mean I've been here already?" Odd 1 questions curiously.

"Yeah, and if you're planning to read another movie magazine for free, you better think again!"

Odd 1 points to the one from before. "You mean like this magazine here?"

"Yeah! You better cough up the money, because you're not gonna scam me again!"

He reads it anyway. "Surfer Zombie 4 at 2:30 at the Majestic!"

"Hey, where you going?" He watches the couple run off. "GET BACK HERE!"

* * *

"_Virtualization_!"

The three appear in the mountain sector, landing safely. "I see it. The activated tower is over there," Aelita points to the tower, which is down a looooong path from where they're standing. They run off as quick as they can, seeing a hole in front of them...while a Megatank appears. It devirtualizes Yumi in one hit.

She lays down in the scanner, hitting her fist against the metal for the cheap shot.

Odd 2 is walking down the sidewalk, humming to himself when a hand stops him from moving. "Can't I have two minutes on-" He turns around and sees Amy standing there with Odd 1. "A-Ames! I was just gonna go find a flower shop!"

"No. We need your help," She shakes her head. "When you and the other Odds are merged back together, then you can buy me all the flowers you want. But we have to work together, so no fighting over me anymore, please."

"But..." His lip quivers, "You're really pretty and sweet, and I wanted to experience it."

"This is so complicated to explain to a clone," She murmurs, pinching her nose.

The smoke surrounds the cafeteria, having affected more faculty and students, including the principal and Rosa herself.

The three run through the entrance of the school, seeing the smoke approaching them. "Well, they say smoke is dangerous for your health!" Odd 2 comments at the sight, since he hadn't seen it at all while he was out.

"Better not hang around. Where's Odd number 3?" The two look towards Amy, who points to where she saw him last.

"Other side of the science building, that's where Ulrich, sis, and I saw him get petrified. But it's already smoke-filled, so we can't access this way."

"Okay, I guess the best way to go is up," Odd 2 points up to the roof.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on Lyoko, Ulrich and Aelita are still hiding from the Megatank, as he's blocking the only way to the activated tower. They see the lasers firing between them.

"This is crazy, we can't move. We're stuck!" Ulrich mutters to her.

"Hang on," Aelita creates two energy fields between her hands, creating a shield. The Megatank prepares to activate the laser again, but she stands in front of it and uses her two projectiles to block the laser. "Come on, Ulrich!"

He nods in understanding and sprints forward. "Super sprint!" He runs all the way up to a rock, glancing over his shoulder and coming to a stop. "Aelita, watch out behind you!"

She turns around and notices another Megatank laser approaching towards her. She drops the energy fields and leans back so that the lasers pass right by her. Ulrich narrowly misses the second one, and one of the Megatanks destroy the other with their lasers.

* * *

The smoke is spreading out of the school as the two Odds and Amy reach the roof. They stop short as they recognize the statue below them. "He's right down there! Now we've gotta bring him back."

"Well if Tarzan can do it, so can we, right?" Odd 1 points to a hose right behind them.

"Just what I was thinking!"

"At least they're not fighting over me anymore," Amy murmurs to herself in relief.

Ulrich runs past the lasers as the monster in front of him attacks again. He hides behind another rock, peeking past it. He had no idea how he was gonna get past that Megatank...

One of the Odds jumps towards Odd 3 using the hose, eventually reaching the statue. He lowers himself upside down, securing him. "We're good, pull us up!"

Amy and Odd 2 pull them both up.

Ulrich rushes up to another rock, narrowly dodging another laser. He comes to a stop and speeds up. "Super sprint!" He focuses on the monster in front of him, running on the side of the path. The Megatank looks around in confusion as he jumps back onto the path. The monster immediately fires at the sight of him, jumping up and stabbing the target with his sword. The explosion knocks Ulrich back a bit, though not enough to devirtualize him. His sword slides to a stop nearby.

Amy and Odd 2 pull the statue up.

Ulrich rushes up to another rock, narrowly dodging another laser. He comes to a stop and speeds up. "Super sprint!" He focuses on the monster in front of him, running on the side of the path. The Megatank looks around in confusion as he jumps back onto the path. The monster immediately fires at the sight of him, jumping up and stabbing the target with his sword. The explosion knocks Ulrich back a bit, not enough to devirtualize him. His sword slides to a stop nearby.

Odd 2 and Amy pull up Odd 1, both of them slightly exhausted. "Thanks a lot."

"The pleasure's all mine. Well, what do we do now?"

"Hmm," They all look at the smoke, noticing how it hasn't touched the forest. "We have to get back to the smoke-free section down there. I've got an idea."

"I think I just read your mind!" Odd 2 smirks in realization. They both look at the brunette.

"Ames, do you trust me? Well, us?"

"...Why do I feel like I'm gonna regret this?" Amy asks nervously, sweating a bit.

"Go ahead, the coast is clear," Ulrich tells Aelita, who starts to run, and then stops, pointing behind him.

"Ulrich! Watch out!"

Another Megatank arrives and before Ulrich can grab his sword, it's destroyed by the circular laser. "Oh!"

"One...two...three!"

Odd 2 yells out a Tarzan scream as he jumps all the way across to the trees. He manages to land in one, creating a makeshift zipline from the roof into the woods. "Okay, your turn!" He's left dangling from a tree as Odd 1 and Odd 3 go next, yelling in the same way.

"Hey, it works!"

"Sure it did, what did you expect?"

"Better than Tarzan!"

"Your turn, Ames!" Odd 1 looks up at her and she glances at the ground nervously, holding her belt over the zipline. "You can do it, my little lady!"

She takes a deep breath and jumps off, screaming as she slides, eventually coming to a stop at the statue of Odd 3. "Oh, that was actually kind of fun!" She smiles, looking up towards the roof.

"Told ya to trust us!"

"Now help get us down!"

She releases the belt, landing safely near the tree.

The Megatank rolls up to Ulrich, who runs away from it and further away from the tower. "Energy field!" Aelita fires her power, but it only rolls away once touched by the monster.

The two Odds are carrying Odd 3 as best as they can, though the smoke is now chasing after them.

"Oh no," Amy looks over her shoulder. "Hurry!"

"We're trying!"

Ulrich is about to go faster. "Super spri-" He gets flattened and devirtualized instead.

"It wasn't enough that they shoot at us, now they're trying to run us over," He grumbles once he's out of the scanner. "That's really not fair."

The smoke gets closer and closer as they've reached the secret entrance.

"Hurry up!" Odd 3 is pushed inside and Odd 1 closes it just in time before the smoke could touch them, but now the whole park is covered in it.

"Oops, sorry! There are times when it pays to have a head as hard as a rock."

"Come on, let's get you guys back together," Amy giggles, taking the lead.

"It's between the two of you now, Aelita," Jeremy says in worry.

"Yes, I know. And he's pretty tough," She jumps away as the Megatank tries to get in between the two rocks, but he's too big, thankfully. She throws an energy field, and it does nothing to him.

The four reach the bridge, seeing the smoke _again_.

"XANA _really _wants to prevent us today, huh?" Amy rubs a temple, running down the bridge as the two Odds follow her.

"To think I do everything I can to get out of gym!" Odd 1 pants in exhaustion as Odd 3 is really heavy. Yumi and Ulrich arrive. "About time! Any longer, and I'd have gone to the missing persons bureau!"

They all run away, Yumi and Ulrich holding onto the statue instead.

"We're okay, Jeremy. The Della Robbia family has been reunited," Yumi reports, both her and Ulrich tired from the workout.

"_Perfect. Amy, you go in first, Aelita needs some help_."

"On it!" Amy jumps into a scanner and it closes around her. "Transfer Amy. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

She lands behind Aelita, running up to her sister.

The three Odds go in next, Ulrich and Yumi placing the statue into the last one.

"Transfer Odd. Transfer Odd. Transfer Odd. Scanner Odd. Scanner Odd. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

And so, all of them are combined into one single Odd, who lands safely and looks around for any duplicates.

"_Well Odd_?"

"I suddenly feel a little lonely, but that's cool. You're the best, Einstein."

"_Of course I am. Did you have any doubts_?"

The Megatank continues to graze between the two rocks, eventually rolling backwards and firing the laser again. Amy takes Aelita by the back of her shirt and flies upwards. Aelita fires another energy field.

"Energy field!"

It hits the armor.

"Step aside, Aelita, let an expert do the job!" Odd calls out, flying in on his Overboard. He turns around and aims his hand. He fires once and destroys the hard-to-beat monster. "Yeah! Get ready, girls!"

The smoke comes in from the bridge, heading towards the elevator. It sneaks its way in and heads for the lab.

Up ahead, two Bloks come out of hiding from behind the tower, who fire on sigh. Odd jumps off his board and destroys one. He lands on top of the other, who looks around before he reveals himself. He waves his hand and hits the target dead on, landing as the Blok exploes behind him. He looks up and sees Amy flying Aelita over.

"My lady's tower is straight ahead," He gestures to it like a gentlemen as Amy drops her sister in front of the tower. She runs inside as Amy looks over her shoulder, smirking.

"Not so useless now, are you, pudding pop?"

He simply winks at her.

Aelita stops in the center and flies up to the top. The smoke reaches Jeremy, alarming him. He stands up on the chair. "Hurry Aelita!"

She lands on the top pad and walks up to the interface, pressing her palm against it.

_Aelita_

_Code _

_Lyoko_

The smoke disappears and he smiles in relief. "Everything okay, Jeremy?" Ulrich asks from the scanner room.

"No sweat," He sits back down. "I just have to launch the return to the past."

He presses enter and the time reversion is set, so that everyone who was turned into statues go back to normal.

* * *

"I finally understood what went wrong with the teleportation process," Jeremy explains, watching Odd eat the last of his meatballs. "If you want, I could reboot the program, with no bugs this time!"

"No thanks," Odd denies to him.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," He shrugs with a big smile. "I sure am. You saw that last battle of mine, huh? I am a top gun, a real fighting machine. I mean, a guy like me doesn't need special powers."

"Yeah, you're strong, very funny, and handsome, but most of all, you're modest," Yumi replies sarcastically.

"Right! You hit the nail right on the head. In fact, you might say that...I'm one of a kind."

They all start laughing together over what happened. "Ames, can I have that kiss now?"

"Yes," She rolls her eyes in amusement, pecking his lips. Honestly, it was weird to be fought over by clones of her boyfriend. Thankfully he also realized that he's special in his own way.


	66. Double Trouble

Ulrich is sitting in history class, crossing his fingers together. "Please let me get a good grade, please let me get a good grade, just for once," He pleads to the universe. "I'm begging you, please let me get a good grade..."

"You know, you might have better luck if you study before an exam. It beats praying for them," Jeremy whispers as he's sitting across the boy. He just narrows his eyes at his genius friend.

"Excellent work, Herb. I'm not surprised either, I gave you an A minus as usual, the minus to show you can always improve. Well done."

"Thank you, sir," He nods his head proudly.

"I don't get it, how could such a good student be such a nerd?" Sissi whispers to him, glancing at Jeremy. "But then again, you did crush Jeremy, who's even nerdier than you are."

"Amelia, good work to you. A B plus, I'm sure your mother will be proud," He gives her a soft smile and she returns it weakly, glad that he didn't say parents unlike other teachers. Some of them forget that mentioning her father (or rather, someone pretending to be him) is a...sensitive situation. "Keeping with the time-honored tradition, I've saved the best paper for last."

Ulrich pauses at that. "I'm the only one left. He did just say the best, didn't he, huh?"

"I hate to burst your bubble, but it sounded like sarcasm," Odd tells him quietly.

"And given your grades with history, you're about to find out what you got in 3, 2, 1..." Amy points to the teacher.

"Ulrich Stern, there were so many spelling errors in this assignment that at fist, I thought it was written in some obscure and primitive language. But no, in fact, it was in English, but unfortunately, I've given you an F plus. The plus to give you room to do worse next time."

He leaves Ulrich alone to wallow in his disappointment.

"That wasn't just sarcastic, it was bombastic," Odd tells his friend.

"He did worse than you," Amy murmurs to her boyfriend. And that was saying a lot!

* * *

The door knocks from the principal's office. "Come in. Oh, Ms. Ishiyama," He leans back in his seat as Yumi stands in front of him. "Well, I must say I'm flattered that you answered my request to come and see me. Given your constant lateness and repeated absences over these past few weeks, I'm just flabbergasted that you actually decided to show up. To what do I owe this great honor?"

"I'm sorry, sir, I really am," She looks away regrettably. XANA had attacked more and more frequently, causing her to miss most of her classes...

"Perhaps, but not as much as I am." She stares up at him. "I'm sincerely sorry to have to say this to you, Yumi, but unfortunately, you don't leave me any choice. If I hear that you're absent or late just one more time, I shall be forced to expel you from the Academy," He states to her shock.

* * *

"Expulsion?!" Odd asks in disbelief once they've heard the news. "You're kidding!"

"He can't do that just for all the absences and being late!" Amy opens her mouth wide.

"Oh no, Delmas was dead serious this time," She informs the two.

"This can't go on much longer," Jeremy speaks up, rubbing his eyes as he's taken off his glasses. "It's getting harder and harder to keep up with our school work _and _fight against XANA."

"Better believe it, Einstein! If you ask me, XANA's trying to wear us down," Odd says, Aelita rubbing her chin.

"So what do we do then?" Amy looks towards all of them.

"Well, there is one thing we can do. If we could recruit one more Lyoko Warrior, it would give us some breathing room," Aelita suggests, winking at Amy, who shakes her head.

"No, I don't like that look."

"And who did you have in mind?" Yumi asks her.

"There's William," She replies, the older girl gasping.

"I knew it," Amy sighs, crossing her arms.

"He's already shown us what he can do."

"No way! We've already been over this. William's too much of a hothead. No, he can't be trusted," Yumi protests furiously.

"As far as I'm concerned, Aelita's right. It's a good idea," Yumi grips Odd's arm.

"No, it's a very bad idea!"

"Yumi, I get it, but we really could use some help here," Amy rubs a temple. "If my schoolwork keeps going through the ringer like this, you know who's gonna notice, and you know how much I _don't _want him to do that..."

She frowns at Amy. Despite her high average, there was some assignments that Amy's missed over the past few weeks or hadn't gotten good grades on. And she knew how much embarrassment the brunette's father could put her through once he finds out. She didn't want to do that to her friend, but she really doesn't want William to help out...

"Look, we're all really tired. Why don't we talk about this tomorrow?" Jeremy suggests to them. "Let's take advantage of the fact that XANA hasn't attacked and get a good night's sleep. I'll stay up a little while and work on a way to virtualize you directly into Sector 5, okay guys? I've got some calculations to do."

"That's what you call getting some sleep, Jeremy?" Aelita smiles in amusement.

"I don't need all that much sleep. And besides, I'll sleep a lot better once we defeat XANA," He turns to the screen. "We all will, Aelita. Not before."

Amy shrugs at Aelita and Odd, walking off. "Come on, guys. I for one need all the sleep I can get to prepare for the storm that's Stan Smith." She refused to call him Dad.

Jeremy works all night, pressing keys and downloading programs. By next morning, he's fallen asleep at the computer, woken up by the alarm of an activated tower. He pushes up his glasses, failing to notice the shadow looming over him until it's too late.

* * *

It's quiet in the halls as people are getting dressed for breakfast. Jeremy storms into the sisters' room, where he sees both of them talking, putting on their boots.

"Aelita, I have to talk to you!"

"Well, what are you so excited about?" She asks him, Amy adjusting her hair.

"I did it! I finally found a way to virtualize all of you into Sector 5 directly!"

The two blink in shock. "We have to run a test right now. Come on, let's go to the computer lab!"

"But we have a physics test this morning..." Aelita glances up at Amy, both of them feeling that something is off. It seems weird for Jeremy to just skip that.

"You and I have fabulous grades, Aelita. We can afford to skip one exam."

"I don't think we should," Aelita narrows her eyes.

"Agreed. And I need the grade," Amy crosses her arms. "It's bad enough I've missed a few assignments."

"Besides, we have to tell the others."

* * *

"No," Ulrich denies once they've been told, crossing his arms. "No way we're skipping the exam, I need a decent grade to bring up my average."

"Ulrich's right," Odd closes his eyes. "What's more, if we're all absent, they're bound to suspect something."

"And I'm sure to get expelled," Yumi glances at all of them.

"Why are _you _trying to get out of it, anyway?" Amy points to Jeremy. "Good grades or not, you'd never miss a test."

"Some adventurers you are," Jeremy deadpans at them. The brunette is so baffled by what he's saying, she's not sure how to describe it.

"Don't be like that. We'll go after the test is over, Jeremy, at lunchtime," Aelita raises a brow.

"Okay, go ahead. I'll meet you in the lunchroom. I have to go back and get some stuff," They watch him leave as he opens and closes the door. But Jeremy isn't actually Jeremy, because it's a polymorphic specter sent by XANA!

The real Jeremy is just getting out of the sewer water, walking up the stairs all soaking wet. "Oh no..." He murmurs at the time, running out of there.

* * *

Odd clicks his pen next to Amy as Ulrich tries to focus. XANA Jeremy writes furiously onto his paper. "Hey, Jeremy, what's the answer to question number one?" He whispers to his supposed friend. He'd ask his girlfriend, but he knows better than to bother her when she's focused.

"Is Aelita done yet?"

"How should I know?" He asks in confusion.

"Ask her."

"Aelita," Odd glances to the seat behind him. "Jeremy wants to know if you're finished yet."

"Huh?" She looks up in confusion.

"Odd," Ms. Hertz hears the whispering, standing up. "Would you like me to give you some help?"

"Oh gee, thanks Ms. Hertz, I sure could use a little," He slides his paper forward.

"I've had quite enough of watching you copy answers left and right, Odd."

"But no, ma'am, I was just-"

"Jeremy, have you completed the exam?" She notices XANA Jeremy holding his paper.

"Yes, ma'am. And Amy has too."

"What?" Amy lifts up her head, turning to him, "But I-"

He walks over to her, leans over, and quickly puts in the rest of her answers, to Odd and Amy's shock. "Well then, you will both please escort Mr. Della Robbia to the principal's office. It's time Odd was punished."

The teacher takes her paper. Amy opens her mouth in disbelief, glancing between Ms. Hertz and XANA Jeremy. Was Jeremy so desperate to get Aelita out of class that he just did the rest of the test for her?!

* * *

The lab doors open as Jeremy rushes into the room. He puts on the microphone and rushes to call Odd ASAP.

XANA Jeremy is just about to reach the principal's office with Odd and Amy in tow. "Why wouldn't you let me copy off you this time? We wouldn't be here now! And why would you finish Ames' test for her? That's cheating, Jeremy!"

"And if you studied like everyone else...we wouldn't be here now. And besides, this way, Stan won't suspect anything."

"Huh?" Amy asks him, staring at her friend. He's never called the man by his first name.

"Look A, not everyone else studies. And B, I am NOT like everyone else. I'm special, unique. Like you, by the way."

XANA Jeremy growls at him and his phone rings. "Hello?"

"Odd, it's me, Jeremy."

"Hm?" Odd glances at Amy, who's chewing out XANA Jeremy.

"The next time you want me to leave class, let me do it on my own terms! You can't just finish my test for me, if Ms. Hertz notices the same answers for half my test, we'll get caught!"

"I memorized your handwriting and what you would say, so there's no problem at all," He smirks at her and Odd notices the look. Something didn't seem right with him...

"Today isn't April Fools day!"

"Odd, listen to me!" Jeremy insists to him. "XANA has created a clone of me from a polymorphic specter. We fought at the factory and he tried to drown me, but I survived. I don't know what he's planning, but-"

"Who's that?" XANA Jeremy closes the door near them.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"He's right next to you, isn't he?" Jeremy asks knowingly.

"Uhhh, yeah, not just me, Ames too. I mean...I don't know!"

"Look in his eyes, Odd. Can you see the sign of XANA?" Jeremy replies and he looks up to see the XANA symbol.

"You didn't answer me, who is it?"

"Hey, chill out, Jeremy, you don't need to know everything," Amy steps in between them and he grabs her arm in response. She gasps and sees his eyes.

"J-J-Jeremy, I think you're right. What do I do now, huh?" Odd stammers as he grabs the girl protectively. XANA Jeremy raises an electrified fist, zapping Odd and knocking him unconscious.

"Nothing. There's nothing you can do."

"Odd!" Amy bends down to him, only to get shocked from behind. XANA Jeremy chuckles evilly, throwing her over his shoulder as she's unconscious. He walks away from the boy.

"Odd. Odd. Odd! What's going on? Answer me, will you? ODD!" Jeremy shouts from the phone, but he doesn't answer.

* * *

"May I remind each of you not to spend too much time in the dark room printing your photos, since the darkroom is for everyone to share," Jim orders Yumi's class. "It's nobody's personal darkroom. I remember when I was a war photographer. We had to develop our prints fast while bombs were falling!"

"You were a war photographer, huh Jim?" Christophe asks curiously and he rubs his neck.

"Yeah...but I'd rather not talk about it. Okay Yumi, and William, you're the first up."

As much as she didn't want to with William of all people, she didn't have a choice. They step inside and she silently moves the tray over.

"You know, I had another dream about you last night," He speaks up as he walks past her.

"Is that so?" She questions sarcastically.

"There was this giant computer in this huge room, like a factory, you know?" She raises a brow at him. "And then both you and I were on this bridge, fighting against some factory worker who was doing these wild acrobatics."

Her eyes widen at the description. That was the time the factory was in danger of being blown up. "You really dreamed that?" At the back of her mind, she wonders just how he can remember that, because a return in time was launched.

"Yeah...I've been having that same dream for a really long time...it's totally weird. Then again, of course it's only a dream...and they're always a little bit weird. Right, shall we go?"

She stares after him as her phone rings and she picks it up. "Jeremy? What's going on?"

A red light shines above the doors of the darkroom. "This light means that your classmates have started the developing. When you see that, absolutely no one should open the door. The light would ruin the pictures."

"Listen Jeremy, if I skip class one more time, I'll be expelled. You get it?! What do we do then?" Yumi questions in annoyance. She had already been told about the situation. William moves away the curtain.

"I don't know what's going on, but you can always get out through there."

"And Jim?"

"Leave it to me," He looks out the window. "I'll take care of Jim. He won't notice a thing. Just don't be too long, that's all," He gestures towards outside with a smug smile.

"But why would you do that for me?" She wonders, as she hasn't exactly been nice to him in the past, and she outright refused for him to be in the group.

"Let's just say that in my dream, I really enjoyed helping you out. So...why not try it in real life? It might just as much fun," He crosses his arms and she puts the phone to her ear.

"Okay Jeremy, I'm coming."

"Great. Find Odd and Amy, and go get Ulrich and Aelita. I'm going to need all of you to deactivate the tower that my evil twin set up. Speaking of whom, I wonder where he could be right now..." Jeremy looks away from the screen.

* * *

XANA Jeremy is carrying Amy in his arms, growling as he's just about reached the entrance to the factory...

Amy wakes up and sees the situation. "XANA..." She murmurs as she sees his eyes. He stops and looks at her, the girl flinching. "Let go of me! What are you trying to pull, XANA?"

"That's for me to know..." He shocks her entire body, rendering her unconscious again. "And for you to find out."

Yumi pulls up Odd, whose hair is a mess. "Jeremy, I found Odd. He's a little woozy, but he's okay. No sign of Amy, though. We're gonna try to get Ulrich and Aelita and then we'll meet you."

"Okay, but hurry up. I'll start setting up your transfer to L—wait, did you say that she's missing? Where could she have gone?"

The doors open to reveal a smug XANA Jeremy. "Right here. Well, what do you know? You actually survived."

"Huh?!" He turns around and sees the two. "Oh no, Amy!"

"You're a real swimming champ," XANA Jeremy steps up to him. "I'm almost proud to resemble you, I really am." He holds out a hand and shocks the boy, sending him on the ground. "With the exception that I am far more powerful than you."

"NOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

In Ms. Hertz's class, Aelita tries to finish up as quick as she can, only to get a text message. Luckily, Ms. Hertz doesn't hear as she's walking around. Ulrich's mobile buzzes and he puts his pencil to his mouth, putting it to his ear.

"Ulrich, we have to go. It looks like there's an emergency."

"Sorry, emergency or not, I'm not moving. I need the grade and this time, I'm off to a decent start," He glances away to the teacher, who had walked right past him.

"Okay, but I better go. Meet up with us when you're finished."

He hums in response and hangs up.

* * *

XANA Jeremy plants Amy into a scanner, chuckling as he watches the scanner doors close around her. He climbs up the ladder and into the lab, virtualizing her onto Lyoko. She lands in the mountain sector roughly, her wings gone and her weapon disappeared.

"Huh?" She looks at herself, puzzled as to why she's on Lyoko. "After Jeremy did my test...took us to the principal...and then Odd got that phone call and he attacked us! I remember," She looks around to find the area empty...that is until she hears a familiar hiss, looking up to see the Scyphozoa.

The elevator moves downwards thanks to XANA Jeremy, who's wrestling with the real boy, who had woken up. After struggling a bit, Jeremy is thrown down the shaft.

* * *

Jim stares up at the light, as it's been long enough that they were in there. "What are they doing in there? What's taking so long? Yumi! William, come on!" He knocks on the door. William is wetting the prints.

"We're almost done, Jim. Wait'll you see the prints, they're fantastic!"

"Taking long enough...I'd like to see 'em so hurry up, will ya?"

"Believe me, Jim, we're going as fast as we can!" William calls out.

* * *

"So what does Jeremy's evil twin look like?" Yumi wonders as the elevator comes up.

"Well, just like Einstein, except with muscles and superpowers," Odd grunts, clenching a fist. "He's gonna regret stealing Ames!" They rush inside and he presses the button. "We have to hurry before XANA steals her memory.

They arrive in the lab, Jeremy glancing over his shoulder. "Where's Ulrich?"

"He'll be here as soon as he finishes his exam," Aelita smiles at him.

"Okay, get down to the scanners on the double, huh? I'll start up your transfer."

"Where did your nasty twin go? And where's Ames?" Odd asks, raising a brow.

"I have no idea, but the faster we deactivate the tower, the faster we'll be rid of him."

Odd rubs his chin, still getting the feeling that something was off. "He's right, let's get going," Yumi states, waving a hand.

"Odd, what are you waiting for? Let's go."

"Okay, okay, let's go then," Odd snaps his fingers, Yumi pressing the button.

"Alright, time is almost up," Ms. Hertz announces to the class. Ulrich concentrates as hard as he can.

"One more minute..."

"I'm just not sure," Odd states skeptically as the scanners open. "I should've looked him in the eye, you never know?"

"I'm sure it was him," Yumi replies confidently as she approaches a scanner. "Aren't you, Aelita?"

"Uh huh," Aelita taps her nose.

"Female intuition. You can trust our flair," The Japanese girl gestures to herself.

"...If you say so," He looks away, but still, at the back of his mind, something wasn't right. If that was the real Jeremy, then where is Amy?

"_Are you ready? I'll transfer you as close as I can to the activated tower_."

The scanners close around them. "I'm starting up the process..." A XANA eye narrows at the screen.

The real Jeremy is climbing up the elevator shaft, panting in exhaustion.

"_Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Odd. Virtualization._"

The three virtualize, landing one by one. "Okay Jeremy, bring our vehicles. We're raring to go over here!" Odd stands up.

"_Sorry Odd, but I have another plan_."

They glance to each other in confusion.

XANA Jeremy touches the keyboard, shocking it. "Such a great plan that you guys are gonna just flip out."

"...We've been had by Jeremy's twin. Nothing like female intuition, huh girls?"

"Oh no! What's he gonna do?" Yumi asks in worry.

"You want a little male intuition? Something very nasty."

XANA Jeremy chuckles evilly, typing rapidly and bugging up the supercomputer.

This bugs up Odd and Yumi, but not Aelita. "What's happening to us?"

"He's bugged you up!" Aelita realizes, staring at them.

"But why us and not you?"

"There's your answer, look!" Yumi points up ahead as the Scyphozoa arrives...with a possessed Amy in tow.

"Ames!" Odd cries out as she's riding on top of the jellyfish.

"The specter must've virtualized her here and taken her memory!" Aelita backs up a bit as the girl slowly stands up, glaring at them with the XANA symbol in her eyes.

XANA Jeremy twitches a little while the real one is just about to reach him.

* * *

"William!" Jim slams on the door. "Yumi! That's it, ya hear now? Open up!"

"Can't, Jim. We're working on the contrast. You know how important the contrast is. I mean, you know better than we do. If we open up now, we'll lose everything!"

He rubs at his eyes, noticing something. "Hey Yumi! Why do you leave all the talking to William?" There's a pause as William stands there for a second. "Yumi, answer me!"

"I'm right here, Jim," William says in a falsetto voice. "I guarantee you it'll be worth waiting for. William and I are making some incredibly beautiful photographs."

"Uh, okay...but hurry it up, will you?"

"We will, Jim!" William answers in his normal voice, glad that he bought it.

* * *

Other monsters have already shown up as Amy holds out a hand, firing a sharp rock spear. Odd jumps over it, staring at her.

"Ames, snap out of it! It's me, your pudding pop!"

She doesn't listen as she steps forward and he runs on all fours to her. He flips over the Kankerlots and aims his arm. "Laser Arrow!" The arrows bug up as they touch the two monsters, resulting in no effect on them. "Huh? Oh no, it didn't work!"

The lasers go right past him and he tackles Amy onto the ground, staring into her evil eyes. "Ames, come on!"

He bugs up and she pushes him off her, growling.

Yumi flips over the projectiles, propelling herself to a rock. She flips again and takes off into a run. Odd walks up to the Kankerlots as the lasers don't affect him.

"At this rate, there isn't gonna be any winner!" He aims his arrows again, which don't work again. "Go on, knock yourselves out."

Amy focuses on her sister instead, she and the Scyphozoa approaching her. Yumi flips from another laser, holding her fans as she hides behind a rock. She notices Aelita's dilemma. "Oh no! Aelita!" She attempts to backflip towards her, only to get hit in the side, sliding to a stop. She stands up, spins around, and defends herself with her weapons as best as she can. "We can't do anything bugged up like this!"

Aelita whimpers a bit, Amy holding out a hand to her.

Jeremy reaches the scanner room, scooching in front of the door.

"Aelita, go on! You've gotta defend yourself!" Yumi calls out. Aelita jumps over a tentacle, throwing two energy fields. The Scyphozoa dodges both of them. She aims for Amy next, but she simply catches it into her hand, absorbing the field.

"She can do that?" Odd screeches in surprise.

Aelita runs away from them, only to reach the edge. She looks up at the jellyfish, trying to attack again, but he smacks her arm. Amy hits her across the face with a rock dart, distracting her long enough for the Scyphozoa to capture her.

"It's horrible not being able to do anything!" Yumi cries out as she can only watch.

Odd continues walking as the Kankerlots are still firing at him.

Jeremy enters the code and the doors open to the scanner room. He runs inside.

The Scyphozoa finishes stealing Aelita's memory, letting her land safely on the ground. She looks up at Amy, who chuckles evilly. They both smile wickedly to each other before running towards the way tower. "Now they're gonna make a dash for the way tower!" Odd frowns at Amy, upset that they can't do anything to stop her.

"This can't be!" Yumi cries out in dismay as they watch her.

"And given the circumstances, there's not much we can do!"

Ulrich has finally finished his test, opening up the entrance to the bridge. He dashes across, hoping that he's not too late. He jumps across to the elevator and pushes the button.

XANA Jeremy is still at the computer, turning around and seeing Jeremy. "I take back what I said. You're not even half as smart as me. As a matter of fact, you're a stupid dope." He chuckles, snapping his fingers and electrocuting Jeremy. "Sorry, but one of us is going to have to go." He holds out his hands to the boy, only to be hit from behind. He falls down, revealing it to be Ulrich.

"Right, and I think that's gonna have to be you. Hey, I think I need glasses, because I'm seeing double."

"Thanks Ulrich," Jeremy breathes in relief. "You got here just in time." He rushes towards the computer.

"What's going on in Lyoko?" Ulrich asks him as he sees all the bugs.

"I wish I knew..._Odd, Yumi_!"

"Jeremy, is that you? For real?" She wonders hopefully.

"_Yes_."

"_I can vouch for that, it's him alright_," Ulrich speaks up.

"_How's it going for you over there_?"

"Well, you could say that we're all bugged up," Odd looks at his hands.

"And a little ridiculous too!" Yumi adds in as the Kankerlots have their fun.

"Okay, I'll take care of that."

"_Hurry, both Aelita and Ames are under XANA's spell_," Odd warns him. "_And they're heading for the way tower!_"

XANA Jeremy opens his eyes. "_We can lose the mountain sector!_"

"Don't panic. I'm sending you Ulrich as back-up."

XANA Jeremy growls behind them, glaring. "Uh, sorry, major problem," Jeremy corrects himself. "This might take a little more time."

The two sisters are just about to reach the way tower, which is hiding behind some rocks.

XANA Jeremy knocks Ulrich into the wall with his electricity, laughing evilly as he attacks the brunette again.

"I'm starting up the de-bugging. I sure hope this is gonna work," He watches as the ID cards separate.

Slowly, the two become de-bugged and Odd kicks away a Kankerlot. The two run off to go stop the girls. "You're the man, Einstein!"

"_Thanks. Now go catch Amy and Aelita before one of them enters the XANA code. I'm bringing up your vehicles."_

He taps enter as Ulrich is struggling with the evil clone.

The Kankerlots have started to follow the duo, firing lasers. They manage to avoid them as they jump onto their rides once they appear. "Here we go!" Odd hollers as the four start firing upwards. "It's great to have my svelte body back!"

Yumi giggles at him.

Ulrich looks up to XANA Jeremy, tackling him. "Things are heating up over here. Better hurry," Jeremy tells the two.

"_We're on it! Where are the girls?_"

He looks to the left screen in worry, seeing the two dots getting closer and closer. "Almost at the tower, but you can still catch them."

The lasers fly past the two. "Go on, Yumi! I'll cover you!"

She flies up ahead. "Okay."

The Kankerlots relentlessly continue their attack on Odd, who turns around and fires right at them. He destroys one, swerving back and forth as he heads towards them. He jumps off the board. "Yahoo!" He slides and jumps on their heads, running in the opposite direction to get them away from Yumi. One hit to the back devirtualizes him. The three look to each other and head back to Yumi, who is unaware of what's happened.

"I hope it's not gonna be too late!" She reaches the way tower, seeing the girls. Aelita is on Amy's back as she flies them over.

XANA Jeremy shocks Ulrich, who shouts in pain. Amy lands in front of the way tower, Aelita jumping off her back.

"Aelita! Amy!" Yumi shouts, landing in front of the two. She jumps off and they narrow her eyes, running forward as she throws her fans. They quickly dodge and head for the tower. "NO!"

She runs towards them, but it's too late as they get inside. "Oh Jeremy..._there was nothing I could do_."

Odd shuts his eyes closed, leaning against the scanner. "_Jeremy, we're going to lose the mountain sector! Don't forget to bring us in_..."

XANA Jeremy stops attacking Ulrich in favor of focusing on Jeremy.

Aelita steps up to the middle, flying towards the top. Amy stands nearby, watching her fly up to the top. She lands and walks up to the interface. She inputs the XANA code...

_Aelita_

_Code_

_XANA_

Yumi looks up in horror as the tower starts to disappear, the two girls landing on the rock. They look towards the path, seeing the area fading away.

"Jeremy, now's the time..."

They fall through a few seconds later. "I'm gonna rematerialize you!" He quickly manages to do so before they could get into the Digital Sea.

Odd waits patiently as he sees Yumi appear, giving her a thumbs up. He gasps sharply, standing up and turning around, crossing his fingers. Amy appears in front of him safe and sound. Odd smiles happily as she kneels and he catches the girl, pulling her into a tight hug.

"You scared me to death, Ames..."

"I'm sorry..." She murmurs, hugging him back and he shakes his head.

"I'm just glad that you're okay." He places his lips on hers and she returns the kiss.

* * *

The mountain sector is now completely gone, taking the activated tower with it...XANA Jeremy completely disappears, Jeremy running up to his friend.

"You okay?"

"No..." Ulrich mutters under his breath.

"The mountain sector has completely disappeared. There's no way of getting into Sector 5 now," Jeremy tells them sadly.

"Now XANA can attack the Core of Lyoko at any time, and destroy it for good, and there'll be nothing we can do against him!" Aelita says in dismay.

"Lyoko's gone for good..." Jeremy shuts his eyes. "And without it, there's not a thing we can do to fight XANA..."

Something suddenly pops up on the screen, downloading. "Wait a minute! These are the results of the calculations I made this morning!"

"What about them?" Odd asks in confusion.

"Hmm...I think I may have found a way to virtualize you directly into Sector 5 at last!"

"You mean the struggle against XANA goes on?" Ulrich asks him.

"He's not rid of us yet," Jeremy narrows his eyes.

"If that's the case, then we're gonna need somebody else. After what's happened, we don't have a choice, it seems."

She notices everyone staring at her, since she was so against the idea. "What? I changed my mind, so?"

"Mhm," Ulrich nods playfully.

* * *

Speaking of the newest member, he's still inside the darkroom as Jim is picking the lock. "Hey, right now, ya hear?! William and Yumi, I'm gonna open up this door and don't think I can't do it! I used to be a safecracker. I mean a locksmith!" He falls into the room, where all the photos fly off.

"Oh, we told you not to come in, Jim! Now you've ruined my pictures! I mean, our pictures!"

Jim looks around for the girl as he stands up. "Yumi? Where's Yumi?"

"Here I am, Jim." He turns to the door, where Yumi was hiding. "That's so uncool for our prints, we worked really hard on them."

He looks at her in embarrassment.

William has just listened to Yumi explaining everything to him. "So then, you're saying, my dream...really wasn't a dream?" He crosses his arms, leaning across the bench.

"Right," She confirms, turning around.

"It really happened? Are you sure?"

"I am," She nods with a small smile.

"And you're also sure that you need my help?" He asks smugly.

"I am!"

"You think he'll say yes?" Aelita asks as they look on.

"Of course. If Yumi asked him to dive off a cliff, he'd do it in a second," Odd puts his arms behind his back. "Just like I would for Ames!"

"Aww," She smiles, kissing his cheek.

"By the way, how did your physics test go?" Jeremy asks Ulrich.

"Hey, it went really well. Who'd have thought that studying for a test would help?"

"Ulrich turning into a good student for once, William turning into a Lyoko Warrior, our little group is going through a lot of pretty huge changes," Odd couldn't help but comment and they hum in agreement. They watch as Yumi and William fist-bump.

"Did you know who find out yet?" Aelita questions Amy curiously, the brunette rolling her eyes.

"No, but I wouldn't put it past him to find out soon. But I'll be ready for him."


	67. Final Round

**Angel: Last episode of the season! I am on episode 79, so I will hopefully continue updating the way I have. Somewhere down the line, though, I might have to change it to one day just so I can get back on track. I usually stick to three days because of my schoolwork, in which something from all four of my classes has to be done by Fridays or Sundays, depending on the class. It works for me right now.**

**Oh, and to my Spanish reviewer, hopefully she can understand because I don't speak Spanish XD But Odd has been jealous before! It happened in Final Mix (35), Ultimatum (43) and XANA's Kiss (45), where he was jealous of Christophe twice. He also admitted that he gets jealous whenever a guy besides Ulrich and Jeremy is near Amy. Just because he didn't act upon his feelings for her doesn't mean it doesn't count on being jealous. Hopefully you've read those 3 episodes, because I know I've written Odd being jealous before.**

**Amy has never dated anyone besides Odd anyway, so he is her first boyfriend, and she is his first actual girlfriend. I probably should've made that clear, but oh well, kinda late for that XD**

It's late at night while the others are in the factory. They're just about to make William a part of the group, and just like everyone else, he had to go through the scan that makes him remember everything that happens.

"You swear not to give away the secret?" Yumi asks him, surrounded by everyone except Jeremy. "I swear it."

"_Good answer, William. Now for the final step, the scanner._ We're going to record a virtual image of you in the supercomputer. _After that, you'll be immune to the returns to the past. That'll really make you part of the group._"

"Well? You're ready? You scared?" Ulrich questions and he turns around

"Me? No, why? What about you? Were you scared the first time?"

"No," He denies and Odd glances over his shoulder.

"Oh yeah right."

"I'm telling you, I wasn't scared," Ulrich glares at his friend.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I mixed you up with another Ulrich Stern. Jeremy told me all about it!"

Amy giggles as Ulrich grunts at him. "Hey, you can still change your mind," Yumi speaks up.

"Are you kidding?" He chuckles, stepping into the scanner. He slowly turns around and Jeremy starts up the scan.

"Scanner William."

His avatar appears on the screen and Jeremy smiles once it's done. "Welcome to the club, William."

The scanner opens and he leans against it slightly, eyes closed. "Well tell us, how do you feel now?" Odd wonders as they stare. He opens his eyes with a smirk.

"Ready to take on XANA and his monsters. And I just can't wait to see what I look like on Lyoko."

"Get real," Yumi crosses her arms. "XANA is much more dangerous and devious than you can imagine."

"Plus, before you can put up a decent fight on Lyoko, it's gonna take time. A lot of time," Ulrich adds in.

"At first, you'd better just hang back to check things out, and to try to learn," Aelita points to her eye.

"Okay, okay," He laughs, stepping out. "Don't flip out. I'm not the kind of gut who tries to steal the show."

Yumi looks doubtful at that statement, as she's seen him try to show off before. "It's just that...we've been fighting XANA for over a year. He's adapted, and you were just made into the group. You're a rookie, and our enemy has gotten much stronger," Amy holds up a finger. "Just watch us and learn piece by piece."

* * *

The six exit the elevator. Jeremy wasn't coming along as he was still working on how to get them to Sector 5 successfully.

"I'm really hoping that XANA doesn't go on the attack tomorrow. I'm signed up for the inter Academy skateboard championship! And I'm gonna win it too!" Odd smiles and Amy hugs his arm.

"I'll be in the front row cheering you on!"

Aelita giggles at the two. "You're not someone who likes to steal the show either," Yumi replies with a small smile.

"Odd is right, because in life, you should always aim for the top!"

"Why not? That way when you fall back down, you crash a lot harder," Ulrich jokes, causing all of them to laugh.

"So...can I ask," William starts off, glancing between Amy and Aelita. "How are you two sisters again?"

"Half-sisters," Amy corrects him, giving Aelita a brief look. She nods and they turn to him. "We have the same father...Franz Hopper. He's also the one who created Lyoko, and virtualized Aelita there. But he had given up his form to save us both. Though there was a piece of him saved, and so Jeremy's been working on a program to locate him! I didn't know about him until Jeremy had accessed his files...about how he helped my mom have me through insemination. He wanted to take me there too someday, but she refused, and I lived unaware of my past until a few months ago."

"Wow...that's deep," William blinks at her. He can definitely see that the two girls have the same pink from their hair, with Amy's streaks being the same color as Aelita's hair. But when he saw them the first time, he never thought that they'd be actually related.

"Yeah..." She sighs a bit. "But I've accepted it. I've only gotten the full story from my mom. Her...ex husband won't tell me a thing." Sometimes it still felt weird saying that.

* * *

The next morning, everyone competing in the competition having already arrived in the gym. There's a ramp in the middle of the court. "Thanks for coming with me, Ulrich," Odd says as he's lacing himself up. Ulrich and Amy are sitting at the stairs in front of him.

"Well somebody's gotta pick you up and dust you off every time you face plant. I mean, what are friends for, Odd?"

"Ha ha," Amy deadpans, lightly hitting him in the arm. "I've seen him practice, Ulrich. He's gonna win!" She pumps a fist. "I know you can do it, pudding pop!"

"Thanks, my little lady," He winks towards her.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Jim booms from the top of the stairs. "Kadic Academy is very proud to welcome you all today to this grand skateboarding championship. I'm sure all of you are going to knock us out with your knollies, your ollies, your kick flips, and other Smith grinds."

"Wow, incredible! You're really up on your skateboarding, Jim," Ulrich compliments him.

"Yep, I sure am. Actually, I was a roller derby champion way back in the 70s."

"That must've been around the same time he got into disco," Amy whispers to Odd, giggling.

"Oh, what a shame that you'd rather not talk about it?" Ulrich asks knowingly.

"Actually, I'd be glad to, but I don't have the time." He blows the whistle, the brunette blinking rapidly. That was a first for Jim. "Okay, into the pipe, all of ya!"

He sits at the top of the ramp, two boys ready to start. One of them is Christophe as Jim blows again. The two take off, but immediately fall as they tried to get back to the other side of the ramp. The crowd winces as it looked bad.

Another blow and it's Tania against another boy. Once they start, they fall once they get to the middle, a skateboard hitting Tania's head.

Next one up is Odd, Amy waving from the crowd. Odd waves back with a happy smile and starts. Unlike everyone else, he pulls out some impressive tricks. They start clapping, cheering at his moves. Ulrich stands up and pumps a fist. Amy gets onto her feet, bouncing up and down as she claps for him. He finishes off, the whole audience cheering.

"And there you go. The perfect combination of exceptional skills and incredible elegance! In a word, classy."

"That was amazing, Odd!" Amy is about to run over to him when a girl skateboards in front of her, facing Odd.

"Hey Odd."

He looks to see Sam in front of the brunette. "Great run out there."

"S-S-Sam?!" He stutters in surprise, falling off his skateboard. "How are you?"

"Not bad."

"Now that was real class," Ulrich replies smugly, Amy narrowing her eyes at the girl's head.

* * *

A beep goes off from Jeremy's computer, him and Aelita in his room. They were testing out a program. "Hey, it works!"

"Really?" Aelita asks happily.

"Yeah! Thanks to this program, we should be able to find your father on Lyoko."

"Let's go and check it out in the lab right now!" Aelita replies eagerly.

"Without Amy?"

"I want it to be a surprise for her!" The girl smiles at him. "As a thank you for everything she's done for me. She is my older sister, after all."

Tamiya is recording as Milly comes on screen. "And this is the room of our man of the hour, Jeremy Belpois!"

She knocks and he answers it. "Huh? What are you doing here?"

"You're kidding! Don't tell us you forgot," Milly smiles up at him.

"We're filming you for a whole day for our special edition of the Kadic Herald: A Day in the Life of Jeremy Belpois!" Tamiya explains to the boy.

"You are?" He forgot that he agreed to do it. With everything that's happened, it's easy to push things like this aside. "I did forget, completely. I'm sorry, but I have too many things to do today."

"Great! We wanted to film the Kadic Academy Valedictorian during his busy day. We've already filmed Kadic Academy Salutatorian, Amelia Smith! We even got her in some cute moments with Odd!"

"You won't even know we're there, I swear," Tamiya promises him.

"Don't worry, I'll go to the computer lab by myself," Aelita whispers to Jeremy. "I'll call you after I've tested the program."

"Okay!" He turns to the girls. "I'm all yours now."

They hum happily to his agreement.

* * *

Other skateboarders are doing their turn while Odd is talking with Sam. "Not that I'm saying I'm glad to see you, Sam, but aren't you supposed to be living somewhere out on the coast?" Odd wonders curiously.

"Yeah...I wonder just _why _you came back," Amy mutters, crossing her arms.

"I am, but I also signed up for the championship. I'm only here for the day."

"Samantha Knight," Jim announces and she turns back to him.

"My turn," She winks at him. "Don't move, I'll be right back."

Amy growls as she skates away. "How weird is that to run into her? I'd almost forgotten how she almost ruined my relationship with Ames!" The growl turns into a sigh in relief. For a moment there, she thought that he was happy to see her.

"And how you were really in love," Ulrich teases him.

"Come on! Can't you like somebody without being in love?" Odd retorts back.

"Sure I can, but you were totally in love, good buddy."

"I'm gonna get something to drink..." Amy murmurs, standing up and walking away.

"Hey, cool it with that kind of talk around Ames, okay?" Odd glares up at Ulrich.

"I wasn't the one who decided to not regard her feelings when you started seeing Sam."

"Huh? She liked me back then?" He asks in surprise, blinking.

"She got so jealous, it was practically obvious to everyone except you."

His eyes soften, staring at the back of his girlfriend's head near the drink station. He knew that she didn't like Sam, but it must've really upset her back then...

He glances to Sam skating and she winks at him again. "Well, I feel nothing for her. Nothing I say!" Odd crosses his arms.

"Odd...you and I know both know that she was different."

"Well so is Ames!" He turns around with a fierce look. "I wouldn't just forget about her."

* * *

Aelita is testing the program to locate her father when the Core appears on screen. "Oh no!"

"For breakfast, you like juice or milk?" Milly asks Jeremy as they're standing in the hall.

"Hot chocolate."

"Eggs or toast?"

"Cereal," He looks away, hoping this will be over soon.

"Butter or jam?"

"Maple syrup. Honestly, are you sure your readers care about this stuff?"

"Look Jeremy, I'm the reporter, and I know what our readers want to read," Milly defends fiercely and his phone rings. He smiles sheepishly at them.

"Aelita? Something wrong?"

"Yes, XANA has launched an attack on the chamber in the Core of Lyoko!" She reports to him.

"Okay, tell the others. I'll be there just as soon as I can."

"So you're the reporter? What does that make me, then? Jeremy's right, you know, those are stupid questions," Tamiya is arguing with her friend.

"If you have better ones, what's stopping you from asking them, huh?!"

"You are, okay?"

"Um, ladies," Jeremy speaks up nervously. "I have an idea. We can do this interview later on, after you two have finished fighting with one another."

"You're staying here until you finish answering my fascinating questions!"

He frowns at Milly.

* * *

Odd is doing his turn again, Sam watching him fondly. "Oh that Odd, he's so...so..."

"So messy, you wouldn't believe what his room looks like," Ulrich leans in a bit towards her, trying to make sure that she left his friend alone. Not just for Odd, but for Amy's sake as she looks like she wants to kill someone.

"He's like me. My room is a permanent disaster zone."

Amy squeezes her cup, the water spilling all over her hand. "You two aren't good together," Ulrich shakes his head rapidly. "Besides, he's not in love with you."

Before Sam can say anything, his phone rings. "Aelita?" He whispers into the phone. "No problem, I'll tell Odd and we'll be right there."

"Ulrich Stern," The principal speaks up, getting their attention. "Someone here would like to see you."

"Hello Ulrich," Mr. Stern greets him.

"Dad, but..."

"Amelia!"

A loud voice suddenly booms and the girl looks up to see her 'father' storming over. She glares at his presence.

"What's he doing here?" Ulrich whispers to her as the man looks mad.

"I don't know," Amy whispers back and her father grabs her arm, making her stand up. "Hey!"

He lets her go when they reach the wall. "We're going to have a talk."

"Dad, not here."

"You can use her room if you like," Mr. Delmas suggests, Amy rubbing a temple.

"I wanna settle this right here and now!" Mr. Smith yells, getting some of the students' attention.

"Stop it!" Amy hisses at him. "You wanna talk, then we do it in my room, but not here!"

Mr. Smith looks around as half the crowd is staring at them. He growls in defeat because there's a chance that someone would recognize him and report this to the news. His family business wasn't something to made public unless it was on his own terms.

* * *

Aelita calls up Yumi next. "Yumi, emergency. XANA's attacking the chamber at the Core of Lyoko!"

"Oh no, not today!" She laments, sitting up. "My parents are gone for the day, and I have to look after my brother. Okay, calm down, I'll sneak out when he's not looking."

"Dream on, sis."

"Huh?" She looks towards her door to see a smug Hiroki leaning in her doorway.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Ulrich looks up at his dad.

"I'm worried about your grades, son, that's the reason I came. I think you and I have to talk."

"I'm sorry, but today...today's not a very good time," He rubs the back of his neck, seeing Amy and Mr. Smith still whispering.

"And I think the time is long overdue."

"It's just that I wasn't expecting to see you-"

"And I wasn't expecting to receive a report card as bad as yours was. Come with me now. Mr. Delmas was kind enough to lend his office."

Amy glances at Ulrich and they look around as they couldn't leave without letting Odd know what to do. Since he's skateboarding, they didn't want to distract him. Ulrich jerks his head towards Sam and Amy sighs slowly. She didn't want Sam telling Odd, but she's the only person they know who would understand.

"Sam?" Ulrich sits next to her. "Can you give Odd a message from us?"

"Yeah, sure," She glances at Amy, who's staring at her father. Sam could already tell Amy didn't want to look at her, and the feeling was mutual. Then she gasps as she sees the necklace Odd gave the brunette for Valentine's Day, gritting her teeth and glaring at her.

"Tell him to get to he-knows-where right away."

"Okay," She replies, watching the two teens leave with their fathers.

* * *

William is practicing out in the woods when Aelita calls him, a slightly worried look on her face. Everyone else seems to be too busy, unfortunately... "Yes? Aelita? Cool, great! I'll be right there." He runs over to the secret entrance.

"Wow!" Odd walks over to Sam and sits next to her. "Now this is what I call fun! Hey, where did Ulrich and my Ames go, Sam?"

She grits her teeth to herself at the nickname. Odd never gave _her _a nickname... "I dunno."

"They didn't say anything?" He asks in confusion, wondering why they left without a word. Amy would've at least mentioned something.

"...No," Sam lies again. Maybe if he stayed, she'd convince him that she was the right girl for him. Amy left even though this was important to him, but she didn't.

"Okay! Then tell me, how was I?"

"Wow, you really rock!" She smiles up at him, glad he's not suspicious.

* * *

"Come on, Hiroki! Do me a favor! Let me go and don't say anything to Mom and Dad. I'll make it up to you, I promise!" She pleads to her little brother, who's sitting in front of her door and blocking the way.

"You'll make it up to me how?" He asks curiously and she glances away, trying to think of something.

"Look, I'll...want me to give you my discman?"

"No~"

"Oh..." She sighs, looking away again. "I'll...I'll find you the entire saga of Surfer Zombie!"

"Johnny just lent it to me."

She frowns at her bad luck. "Mm...I'll...I'll do all your homework for a month!"

"Including my math homework?"

"Yes!" She smiles, hoping that he'll relent.

"Huh, interesting...but no."

She groans at this.

* * *

"If XANA's monsters destroy the sphere, Lyoko is gone for good and without Lyoko, we don't have any way to fight XANA!" Aelita explains to William once he's arrived.

"I read you, loud and clear. Well then, what are we waiting for?"

"For the others to get here," Aelita says obviously.

"They can meet up with us later, and from what I've heard about Mr. Smith, he's never gonna let Amy leave. Let's not waste time. After all, that's the reason you recruited me...right?"

However, she has a bad feeling about it, since he's inexperienced.

* * *

A couple of mushrooms are laying around in the science room. "Mycology is a very complicated science," Jeremy states to the camera while holding one. "It's the branch of botany that deals with all forms of fungi. There are several thousand species, and they range in form from a single cell to a mass body of branch filamentous hyphae that often produce specialized fruiting bodies. The kingdom includes easts, mold, smut, and mushrooms."

"_That's_ what you call an interesting question?" Milly replies sarcastically.

"My question was fine, it's the answer that's a bore!" Tamiya states as Jeremy's phone rings again.

"Yes Aelita?"

"I'm sorry, but I've decided to take back control of this interview," Milly orders her.

"Oh sure, that's just typical. As soon as I'm the one to ask a question, you get all bent out of shape!"

"Completely untrue!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"William's right, Aelita. Saving Lyoko takes top priority. So go in, and I'll be there as fast as I can to transfer Odd, Amy, Ulrich, and Yumi when they show up," Jeremy answers, and they can hear the arguing in the background.

"Okay, but don't drag your feet. Come on, let's go."

"Yeah!" William cheers at her.

"And that's just the way it's gonna be!"

"Uh, ladies, I have...uh, go to the bathroom," He speaks up, and the two stare at him. "You weren't planning on filming me in the bathroom?"

"I've started up the virtualization process, to bring us directly into Sector 5. We only have a few seconds to get to the scanner room and go in."

"Let's go," William rushes towards the ladder and she frowns at him, still unsure if this was the right thing to do...

"How long were you planning to shoot this door?" Milly wonders as Tamiya is filming the bathroom door.

"Interesting to know how long a really good student uses the bathroom, right?"

"Wrong!"

Jeremy climbs out the window, landing safely on the steps. And with that, he runs off.

* * *

Aelita and William both step into the scanners. A few seconds later, the doors close around them, William smiling smugly. They're both transferred, scanned, and sent to Sector 5. They land there safely and Aelita lands in front of William.

William examines his sword. "Wow...that's some pretty classic gear. And you? No weapon? You fight with your bare hands?"

She turns around, slowly getting annoyed with all of the questions. "What's your superpower?"

"This isn't a video game, William. Let me remind you that we have an important mission to accomplish!"

"Okay, okay, sorry," He nods at her, looking around. "So, where are the monsters?"

"Follow me, we only have a couple of minutes to trip a key lever that gets us into the chamber at the Core of Lyoko."

"Killer! This is 10 thousand times better than Galactic Battle!" He places his sword on his shoulder, following after Aelita. They only have 3 minutes to press the key.

Jeremy is in the sewers on his scooter, hoping that his friends weren't in any danger.

William runs in front of Aelita, both of them stopping in a room that is totally flat. "It's a movie set, wow!"

She searches for the key and points across the room. "The key, it's over there!"

"I'm on it!" He runs towards it.

"No, wait!" She tries to warn him, but it's too late as a pillar appears in front of him.

"What?' He asks in confusion, hearing a roar. "What's that noise I hear?"

"Creepers!" She turns to some appearing from a hole.

"Creepy crawlers? I love this! You take care of the key, I'll take care of these guys!" He lifts up his sword and it falls onto the ground. William picks it back up.

"Watch it, they can be really tough!"

"Works for me, so can I," He runs up towards them and she sighs wearily. They really should've trained him more...

"Geronimo!" William hollers and the two take off to deal with their perspective goals.

* * *

Amy opens the door and storms in, slamming it when her father enters. "What gives you the right to embarrass me like that in front of my boyfriend at his skateboarding competition?!" She yells loudly as soon as she faces him.

"Boyfriend? **Boyfriend**?!" He booms right back. "The heck he is! I come here to discuss your two Bs and I find out you have a boyfriend?!"

"Bs...?" She blinks at him slowly, her anger boiling. "You came here to yell at me...for Bs?!"

"Yes," He replies thinly. "You should be getting straight As. When you take control of my company-"

"No!" She interrupts sharply. "That's not the point! I don't even want to be a CEO! I wanna be an artist, Dad! Or should I even call you that?"

He chuckles at her exclamation and she stares at him. It's like she's looking at a totally different person...a crazy one.

"Oh, honey. An artist is not the job you're working for. By the time you graduate, you'll take over the company. And if you think you can get away with this, I'll not only drag you outta here, I'll take Della Robbia with me. He's a punk kid, a player. He doesn't care about you. He just wants to accomplish his romantic conquests. He'll break your heart, and he's not good enough for you. I've seen his grades, and they're horrible. Not to mention his family isn't financially stable enough to support you. You're too young to have a boyfriend, anyway. So if you can't understand that, then I'll make you see."

She pauses at his threat, not sure of what to do now...

* * *

"I really want to understand why your grades are so consistently poor," Mr. Stern demands to his son.

"It's just that I...can't seem to concentrate all the time." He can't say the real reason: that XANA sometimes affects his studies.

"Why not?"

"Well, you remember when you were my age."

"Yes! At your age, I had straight As. And I was preparing my college application!" He shouts at Ulrich, who sighs to himself.

* * *

Aelita dodges past pillars as they're coming out of nowhere now. She's almost to the key as William flings his sword around, firing little slashes at the monster. He cuts one and he smirks at one in front of him, slashing it to destruction. He then spins around and defeats three of them in one go.

"Wow! I can't believe it! I am the man!"

Aelita focuses on the key up ahead, with only 15 seconds left on the clock. A platform appears in front of her and she jumps onto it. She leaps onto another one and presses the key. She lands back on the floor, standing up.

"It's okay, William. Come over here," She calls out and he continues defeating monsters.

"Wait, just one or two more of them, okay? This is too cool," He runs up to two more and defeats them...but a wall appears between him and Aelita.

"William! No...!"

"_Aelita. What's going on? _Where are Ulrich, Odd, Amy, and Yumi?" Jeremy asks from the lab, as he's finally arrived.

"_How would I know? Last time I checked, big sis was with Mr. Smith. The others aren't in the computer lab?_"

"No."

"_Hey, Jeremy_," William speaks up. "_There's this really weird-looking creature that just showed up_." He backs away slowly. "Like some kind of uh...giant jellyfish?"

The Scyphozoa is floating right in front of William. "What?! _Aelita, you have to get to William. Hurry! You have to go around the outside_."

She appears in the hall, looking around and going left.

"_Take the next hallway on your left. No, left! Faster, before the Scyphozoa goes after William! Take the corridor on the right, go on! _William, get out of there, hurry up! William, do you hear me?"

"I'm not afraid of some dumb jellyfish," William replies arrogantly.

"_William, just do what I say. I don't know what the Scyphozoa wants with you, but it can't be good!_"

The jellyfish knocks the sword out of William's hand, and it slides to a stop. "Rats..." He's now defenseless against the monster.

Aelita stops, wondering where to go next.

"_Aelita, check the next hallway on your left. It's not much further_."

She does so and sees another opening. "_William, get out of there right now! William, do you read me?!_" Jeremy urges, but William just picks up his weapon.

"Relax. The Scyphozoa hasn't moved an inch. Must be scared of-whoa!" The tentacles touch him.

"I don't believe it! William's been captured by the Scyphozoa! Oh no! _Aelita, XANA's possessed William through the Scyphozoa!"_

"I'm almost there," She reports, finally reaching the room. The Scyphozoa flies away and William is kneeling nearby. He stands up slowly as she approaches him from behind. "William? Are you okay?"

He pants slowly...then turns around and reveals his XANA eyes. She gasps, backing away and firing her energy fields at him. He deflects them with the sword like it was nothing. He then devirtualizes her in one slash, roaring. This was his new self now...

* * *

Amy sighs slowly as she paces around. Odd hadn't done anything to suggest that he'd gone back to his womanizing ways. She didn't really care about his grades, because smarts weren't something she looked for in a guy. He makes her laugh, he supports her and her dreams, and he makes her happy... That was really all she wanted, and she could care less about how much money they had. Money didn't make the man that Odd is today. Instead, her 'father' is being a jerk, again. He can't control her like a puppet. Not after what she found out.

"I know about Franz Hopper."

His eyes widen as he looks at her. She turns away from him, looking out the window. "I know about him, and that he's my father. And I know that his daughter Aelita is my half-sister. So as far as I'm concerned, you're not my real father. The father I have would never hurt me like this."

"...Who told you that?"

"So you did know!" She yells, whipping around to him. "After months of calling and asking for the truth, you finally admit it! Why didn't you tell me, huh?! Why did you and mom have to lie to me, to my own face?!"

"Did your friends show you this?" He crosses his arms in denial. "I made sure those records were sealed. So how did you get across it?"

"It doesn't matter how I found out, and what my friends do is none of your business," She seethes, slowly walking up to him. "But since you're here, you're going to listen to me now. This is my life. I make my own decisions. So don't stand there and think you can threaten me or my friends. Because if word of this gets out, your whole world just falls apart if the judge finds out that you swept this under the rug."

He sweats a bit at her revelation. She knew that he'd lose everything if the news found out. "Is this how you're going to speak to me?"

"Oh, I'm not done," She shakes her head, chuckling bitterly. All of a sudden, she had all the confidence she needed to talk back to him. "You don't get to make my decisions for me anymore. If I want to be an artist, I can. I don't need your _approval_," She leans her head back in disgust.

"Amelia, if you don't stop, I'll cut off the money and then you'll be stuck here. And if you don't think I can, try me. My assets may have been gone, but I have a separate secret account that's still going towards your tuition."

"Fine! Go ahead, do it! But you know what happens if you do. Either way people will find out like I did about Hopper! You still lied, you can't just make it go away. You'll lose custody and I'll still be rebelling against you! So either you shut up and listen or I tell the press how you left your daughter on the streets!"

He seethes as he keeps his mouth shut.

"You're gonna continue funding, and I'm going to college to be whatever I choose to be. Odd and I are staying here. And you're no longer my father. All my life, you've hated. I hate what you say. I hate what you think. I **hate** you," She growls out. "Screw you for not telling me the truth. You don't care about me, you're making this all about you as usual."

"...Is that all?" He asks slowly, gulping at how she has the advantage. When he came here, he was expecting her to comply, not this conversation.

"Other than the fact that you don't get my friends involved in your problems...no. And to go to hell, now get out," She points to the door.

He says nothing, looking back at her one last time before he closes the door. Her phone rings and she answers it. "Yes?"

"Amy! Aelita told me that your dad showed up..." Jeremy starts off in concern. "Is everything okay?"

"...You know what, Jeremy? Yeah...I'm okay."

* * *

"I'm especially concerned about your friends, Ulrich. I don't think they're a very good influence on you. Especially that Odd and Amelia."

"How would you know?! You don't know my friends! You don't even know me in fact!" Ulrich argues back furiously. "We haven't spoken for a year!"

"That doesn't mean I don't know what is best for you!" Mr. Stern shouts back, standing up.

"Oh yeah and what's that?"

"That you show respect for your work! Need I remind you that I'm the one paying and you're costing me a small fortune!"

His phone rings and he answers it. "Yes Jeremy? Be right there. I've gotta go."

"I'm not finished speaking to you!" Mr. Stern narrows his eyes.

"Well I finished listening." And with that, he slams the door shut, leaving a shocked father...

* * *

"Take one more step and I'll tell Dad everything!" Hiroki threatens his sister at the front door. Her phone goes off and she answers it.

"Well what a coincidence, it's Dad. Go on and tell him."

He takes the phone as she smirks. "Daddy, Yumi wants to-" She walks right past him as he gives a look of confusion. "Hey, that's not Dad, it's Jeremy!"

She walks right out the door, no longer caring if she got into trouble with her parents. Her friends needed her. He glares at the entrance.

* * *

"Odd, what are you doing?" Ulrich asks into the phone while rushing to the park. "You're not in the computer lab?"

"Why should I be in the lab? I'm in the finals," Odd replies in puzzlement.

"But didn't Sam tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

As soon as he hears the explanation, he watches the girl finish her round and she smiles at him. "I'd like to see you top that!"

Odd narrows his eyes at Sam. "Sam, why didn't you give me Ulrich and Ames' message? It was really important."

"Important? Oh...I'm sorry, I just...I just really wanted you to stay. Amy isn't good enough for you, you know. She didn't keep her promise to stay for you. I stayed, and look where we are now. We're so lucky to be together again, even for a day, and I'm leaving tonight."

"Not good enough?!" Odd's hands turns into fists. "Ames is sweet, beautiful, funny, and I would rather be with her than be with a liar. If the reason she had to leave was important to her, it's important to me! I'm not sorry, Sam, but I'd rather have the girl I love."

Her mouth opens in shock at his confession. She thought Odd was just using Amy, but...he loves her?

"Now there's something I have to do," He walks past her.

"Even more important than hanging out with me?" She frowns and he comes to a stop, turning his head to her.

"Yes! And I don't want you around me or Ames again. I don't want to be with you, and I never will."

The whistle blows from Jim. "The next contestant is Odd Della Robbia." However, Odd has already left. "Odd?"

* * *

"I don't believe it!" Jeremy exclaims at what's going on.

"Ready," William orders all the monsters in the chamber room. All of them are Creepers...a whole bunch of them. "Yaaaa!" However, there's a slight hesitation in his eyes as he looks around...

"_Jeremy, we're here_," Yumi reports to him.

"_At last! Get to the scanner room. I'll explain everything on the way_."

The Creepers prepare their lasers, charging them up in their mouths. William holds his sword, which lights up. They all stare at the two shields from the heart.

Yumi and Amy are virtualized first. "Virtualization."

The two appear back to back, landing in the Arena. The boys appear soon after and they wait for the door to open. Once it goes, they run through the passage.

"Fire!" William orders, firing his own attack as all the monsters fire at the same time, immediately destroying the first shield.

"We've just lost the first shield layer!" Jeremy states as Aelita's mouth is open in shock.

They jump onto the elevator and it spins all the way before coming to a stop. They rush forward towards the door.

William prepares another attack. "If the second one goes..."

"Lyoko will disappear forever," Aelita finishes for Jeremy.

"And William along with it."

The four have reached the chamber, going up the flight of stairs. "At last, they're there now!"

Yumi flips to a stop in front of the others, and they look up to see what's going on.

"Fire!"

And with that, the second shield layer is gone.

"WILLIAM!" Ulrich shouts up at him. He finally notices the four and throws his sword. It lands nearby and he lands with a large thump, even leaving a hole in the floor.

"He doesn't look too happy to see us," Odd comments as he's across them.

"Yep. Looks like me when I saw my father," Ulrich mutters and Amy shakes her head.

"No time for family chats. We have to stop them," She narrows her eyes.

"If we lose Lyoko, Amy and I lose our father as well!" Aelita gasps in realization.

"That's right..."

Something suddenly pops up on screen. "Is-is that the program I started a while ago?"

"Yes! Unbelievable! It really works! I found Franz Hopper!"

"Run the rematerialization program, hurry!" She urges him.

William takes his sword, putting it over his shoulder. He chuckles at the four, Ulrich staring him down. "Okay, now," He tells the others, who run to go stop the Creepers. William sees them and fires an attack, devirtualizing Odd instantly.

Ulrich super sprints up to him. "It's not very nice to attack people from behind."

He says nothing and attacks again, knocking Ulrich's sword out of his hand the second time. It goes flying and Ulrich has no time to react as William slices at him from behind, and then he's gone too. He looks up at the girls, who start destroying monsters. Suddenly Amy falls off the platform as the sword went flying like a boomerang. She screams as she falls, devirtualizing slowly. William lands behind Yumi and catches his sword, hitting her too. He stares at her as she looks up at him.

"I knew it was a bad idea to bring you into the group..." Is the last thing she says before she disappears.

Yumi appears in the scanner room, frowning up at the others.

"Nothing can stop them anymore," Jeremy says gravely as they look at the heart.

"They're going to destroy the sphere!"

"Almost there..."

All the Creepers roar as William himself floats over to the sphere. He then pierces it with his sword, an evil grin plastered on his face.

The others appear via elevator, running up to the computer. "It can't be!" Aelita says in lament. Orange blurry lines gather around Lyoko...and then the screen disappears.

"I couldn't rematerialize Franz Hopper. I didn't have enough time..."

"We've lost everything," Aelita frowns, Amy sighing sadly.

"William as well..."

It seems not, as William is floating around in the darkness, in a new form. He opens his eyes, the XANA symbol flashing onto his chest.

* * *

Everyone is gathered around inside the Hermitage, contemplating what's happened. Jeremy speaks up a few seconds later in the sad silence. "We have no other way to fight XANA now...the entire world is in danger."

"It's impossible even to imagine it," Ulrich says gravely.

"And William...do you think he's...?"

"This is horrible!" Odd holds his cheeks as Amy closes her eyes.

"Yeah...and there's nothing we can do."

"I was really hoping...we'd see our father again," Aelita glances over her shoulder to Amy as she's holding a picture of Franz Hopper.

"I'm sorry...I did everything I could," Jeremy glances between the two sisters. They couldn't be anymore different...and yet they were still related. All they had for family was each other now.

"I know you did, Jeremy..."

"It's not your fault," Amy opens her eyes to look at him. The laptop starts beeping, getting their attention. Jeremy opens it and sees something.

"Hey! What the...? This is incredible!"

"Well tell us. What's going on?" Odd asks curiously.

"I just received a coded message. A message directly from the internet, and it's signed..."

"Who?" Aelita stares at him. "Tell us, Jeremy!"

"...Franz Hopper."

"Huh?!" They all gasp in unison.

* * *

"Wow, I can't believe you told him off like that," Yumi says in surprise once they're back in the doorms. It's nighttime as Yumi is on the phone.

"And you confronted him about our father?" Aelita asks her.

"That's right," Amy nods at them, narrowing his eyes. "He can't order me around anymore if he's not family."

A knock is heard at their door, Aelita glancing at Amy. "Come in."

It's Odd as he rubs his neck. "Ames, can we talk? Alone?"

Amy looks at Aelita, who gets the hint. "I'm going to head for the showers," She walks out the door, closing it behind her. Yumi silently hangs up. Odd sits next to Amy, who sits up.

"I'm...sorry about Sam," He whispers softly. "And I want you to know that part of my life is over. It has been since we got together." He reaches out and takes her hand, rubbing his thumb against it. "I promise I'll be the best boyfriend you deserve."

She smiles at him sadly. "Odd...there's something I have to tell you."

He looks concerned, turning to face her. "What?"

"My father...threatened to take you out of Kadic. He said I had to either...break your heart or he'd take us both out of school," She shakes her head. "And I just didn't want to do that. I cherish you too much to let that happen."

"S-So," He stammers in a broken voice, "Are we both leaving?"

"No," She denies to his relief. "I told him that I knew about Franz Hopper. He didn't bother denying it, but he also didn't tell me his side of the story. The coward. I cut him out of my life. From now on, I make my own choices and live my life the way I want to."

He smiles softly, kissing her cheek. "I'm glad, Ames. You took a stand against him."

"Thanks," She hums, closing her eyes. "But...be careful, okay? I don't know if he'll go against his word to leave me alone. And...I don't wanna lose you."

"You think I want to lose you too?" He chuckles a bit, hugging her. "You're stuck with me wherever you go, goddess."

She laughs at his joke and then suddenly her phone rings. They both stare at it skeptically, wondering if it should be answered. Amy lifts it up, sighing in relief.

"It's my mother," She gets out of his hold, sitting up as she answers it. "Hello? ...He did what?" She sounds more surprised than horrified. Odd waits for a while as she listens. "Wow...so it's over? ...Okay. I'll call you tomorrow."

She hangs up, sighing slowly. Odd looks at her for an explanation.

"...He gave up custody," She closes her eyes. "Not that it makes a difference. I still hate him."

Odd rubs her back and she rests her head on his shoulder. "She told him that they couldn't have a child, and that what I found out from Hopper was true. Mr. Smith," She grits her teeth at the mention of him, "And my dad were friends. She was grateful for everything he did to help her have me, and Mr. Smith kept it hidden so that the press wouldn't find out his precious child wasn't his. She didn't say much since I already know everything."

"At least they're not denying it or lying," Odd hugs her waist.

"I wish that they told me," She whispers softly. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm moving on with Aelita as my sister and I'm taking my life back."

"And I'll be right there with you, Ames."


	68. William Returns

Principal Delmas is on the phone late at night at the Academy. "I can't hear you very well, Mr. Dunbar. Are you trying to say that your son William has gone overseas to stay with you? And that he won't be attending classes here until you bring him home?"

"Yes, that's correct, sir," It's actually Jeremy who's speaking via the voice synthesizer in the computer lab.

"I see. But it's quite surprising that he would leave without even bothering to tell any of us."

"Uh, it was a very sudden decision. You know how youngsters can be at this age. I'm sure your own daughter Sissi is capable of doing the same thing." The principal glances to a photo of his daughter.

"That's very possible, yes...but I didn't realize that you knew my daughter, and by her nickname as well," He raises an eyebrow in confusion.

"Uh, that is...well, actually, I don't really know her obviously, but well...you see, William talks so much about her," Jeremy rubs the back of his neck, realizing his mistake. "It's always Sissi this and Sissi that, and so it's almost as if I really did know her."

Aelita is standing next to him, giving a skeptical look. "Ah, I didn't know that William was such a close friend of Elizabeth."

"Well, Sissi's a role model for William. An example, and how could it be otherwise? I mean, considering the sort of father that she has."

"Thank you, Mr. Dunbar, I was delighted to have this little chat with you, and please give William my best regards and tell him that we hope he'll return to school very soon, and that he'll always be welcome," The principal says happily.

"I will tell him. Goodbye, Mr. Delmas, and many thanks for your understanding."

"You're very welcome, sir," He hangs up the phone and so does Jeremy as he presses enter.

"Phew...I guess I make a good grown-up," The blond takes off the microphone.

"Yes, but now all we have to do is find William," Aelita adds in.

"You're right, we'd better get back to work."

Ever since Lyoko was destroyed, the two had been working hard to be able to fight XANA again, who hasn't been active since then. But they know that he'll strike again. Amy and Odd were the same: the cutesy couple that their friends have gotten used to. Though, they hadn't said that they love each other yet. Odd definitely knew his feelings, but he wasn't sure if she would freak out or not once he said it...

* * *

The next morning, Jeremy is talking to the others at the bench. "Piece of cake."

"Okay, so it worked with the principal, but what'll happen when William's real parents want to see their son?" Yumi asks curiously.

"We can't exactly tell them that William is on a virtual world, possessed by a rouge computer program," Amy crosses her arms.

"They're right, and I'm not so sure that voice synthesizer of yours is gonna do the trick, Jeremy," Ulrich leans back a bit.

"Who knows?" Jeremy replies, his glasses over his face. "Maybe by then, we'll have localized William."

"How are you gonna do that?" Odd raises a brow, hugging Amy from behind.

"Thanks to the data we got from our father before he disappeared into the network," Aelita smiles a bit at her sister, "Jeremy and I have just about recreated Lyoko."

"You're recreating Lyoko?" Odd asks in surprise.

"We may even be ready for tonight."

"That's right. In fact, Aelita and I have worked on it every night for the last week," Jeremy puts down his glasses.

"Oh, so that's why you look like a couple of zombies, huh? And I thought that you looked like wrecks cuz you were partying all night! I was getting jealous," Odd replies, the two giving him deadpan looks.

"Oh, so those dates with your girlfriend mean nothing?" Amy raises a brow in amusement.

"Of course they do! And so does our anniversary."

"Huh? Your anniversary is today?" Ulrich blinks in shock that they've lasted that long.

"Yup! And I won't disappoint either," He winks at Amy, who giggles.

Milly and Tamiya are eating together, but it's silence between them. "Hi Milly, hi Tamiya," Yumi greets as the group walks past them. "You wouldn't mind if we sat here with you, would ya?"

Milly turns away and they both stand up, huffing and walking away to their confusion. Jeremy gives a slightly soured look, sitting down.

"They're still sulking?" Ulrich asks him. They haven't forgotten that Jeremy had ditched them last week in the bathroom.

"What do you think?"

"Well, you did sneak out the bathroom window in the middle of an interview," Odd takes his seat next to his girlfriend. "And for ace reporters like them, that is pretty insulting."

"Being mad at me isn't as bad as they're being really mad at each other," Jeremy pops open his soda, taking a sip.

"But how come?" Ulrich wonders curiously.

"They had a massive argument over the newspaper, I think."

"You mean the Kadic News is folded for good? That's the best news I've heard-"

"No it's not," Odd interrupts Yumi. "How am I gonna know who's going out with who now? I guess I'll have to console myself by watching Jim dancing to old disco music. He really-"

Sissi is trying to listen in on the conversation, but her friends are too loud. "Well, personally, out of all of the seasons of the year, I like the spring best of all."

"I like summer best because it's nice and warm," Nicolas speaks up and she gives a look of boredom.

"Quiet, huh? I can't hear anything!"

"Well if you can't hear anything, then we should speak louder, shouldn't we?" Herb asks her.

"Dork, it's not you I wanna listen to!"

"Odd, don't tell me you've been watching Paco, the King of Disco again," Ulrich deadpans at his friend.

"I can't help myself. Whenever I'm in a bad mood, I put the film on. Or I just cuddle my little Ames. I don't know why he's so ashamed that he used to be an actor."

Amy blushes, putting a bang behind her ear. "It's probably because the film was a flop," Ulrich takes a sip of his drink.

"I don't see what makes their conversation more interesting than ours," Herb grumbles to Nicolas.

"Yeah me neither."

"Well I do, okay?" Sissi smirks a little at the gossip.

"Maybe you and Odd could do an interview about your anniversary," Aelita smiles a little at the two.

"Ahh," The couple glance at each other. The two weren't sure if they wanted to put it out there so soon. Odd reaches behind Amy's back and then when he shows her his hand, he's holding a bouquet of light pink roses.

"Aww, Odd," She takes them into her hands. "That's really sweet. How'd you do that?"

"A little trick I learned just for you," He winks at her.

"And that he failed at 25 times," Ulrich tells the brunette, causing all of them except Odd to laugh.

* * *

Sissi's door knocks, "Come in!"

Milly opens the door. "You wanted to see me, huh Sissi?" She hums with a nod...and then Milly sees Tamiya standing in the room. "What's _she _doing here?"

"That's what I was gonna say. What's she doing here?"

"I thought it was _me _you wanted to see!"

"Same here!"

Sissi just walks past the bickering two. "Well at least you agree on that," She closes her door. "It's not much, but it's a pretty good start. And it's all thanks to me," She brings them together, smiling, but they don't like her look. "Which is why for the good of the Kadic News...I've decided to become the editor-in-chief."

"You've decided what?!" Milly screeches in shock.

"Who do you think you are?"

"The daughter of the principal," She retorts back to Tamiya. "The only person who can stop you from printing that poor excuse for a paper that you've so proud of." She smiles, leaning against her closet.

"But you're not a real journalist!" Milly argues to the girl.

"She's right, you don't even know the meaning of the word scoop."

"Wrong again, little ones. A scoop, huh? How about enormous scoops?"

The two girls look at each other, wondering just what she has up her sleeve...

* * *

"I'm all set," Jeremy tells the others, as he's preparing to finish off the final touches to the new Lyoko. They nod and he taps enter. "Here we go."

A new program launches and Odd turns to Jeremy in confusion. "I don't wanna be a party pooper, but there doesn't seem to be very much happening."

"The data that our father transmitted wasn't enough!" Aelita frowns in lament and Jeremy takes off his glasses, rubbing a temple.

"I guess we must've been really crazy to think that we could recreate Lyoko!"

"Hey wait, look at that!" Yumi points at the screen, where it shows the map. Lyoko starts to reboot, and is recreated.

"That's incredible!" Ulrich looks in shock as Amy smiles. "It worked!"

"Aelita, Jeremy, you guys are gods!" Odd compliments them, Aelita smiling happily.

"You did it!" Amy claps for them.

"Well almost, but not quite," Jeremy taps enter and the sphere appears on the map in front of them. "The time being, all we've been able to recreate is Sector 5 of Lyoko. We've still gotta work to recreate the other sectors...but we should be able to do that soon."

"Okay, but it can wait a night or two," Yumi spins around the chair. "You guys deserve a good night's sleep."

"Yes, Yumi's right, Jeremy. We're going to be needing every bit of our strength to look for William. We'll get started tomorrow."

"Ahh...yeah," He sighs in defeat at Aelita's reasoning. "Well, alright."

"We have reservations at Le Chateau," Odd speaks up, Amy's eyes widening as she turns to him in surprise.

"Whoa, that place is high-end!" Yumi blinks at him. "How'd you manage that?"

"I have my ways," He winks, placing an arm around Amy. "Only the best for my favorite girl."

"Well, I'm impressed, but I don't really care where we eat as long as we're together."

He smiles at her and the others smile at each other.

A few minutes later, they leave the factory together. "Hey, do you guys wanna watch Paco, the King of Disco with us? It'll take your mind off things," Odd says, looking over his shoulder while holding Amy's hand.

"I think you need a break from that video," She shakes her head.

However, somehow the scanner operates on its own, opening up and smoke coming from it...

* * *

The next morning, Odd starts brushing his teeth by himself when Jim appears, shoving a paper in front of the mirror for the boy to see. "Hey, what's this?!"

Odd looks between the paper and him in confusion. "Umm...a newspaper without much news?" Jim turns the paper around and he sees the picture of Jim from the disco video. "Let me see that!" He snatches the paper, chuckling nervously.

"You promised not to tell anyone!" Jim facepalms himself. "To think I actually trusted you and your sneaky little girlfriend!"

"Jim, we didn't give your secret away, we swear!" Odd rubs the back of his neck. His eyes pop out as his toothbrush falls onto the floor. "Who told them that Ames and I are celebrating our one-year anniversary?!"

"You must think I'm an imbecile," Jim points to his eye.

* * *

Odd slams the paper between the girls on the bench. "Do you know what Jim's gonna do to us for this?!"

Amy is standing next to him, arms crossed as she does not look happy. Ever since she left the building, people have been whispering and gossiping about her and Odd. Mostly about how they won't last another year or that he's hiding something, and it was getting on her last nerve.

"No, but I can't wait to find out," Sissi remarks, smirking. "And I'm sure that my readers are dying to know too. Or that you're destined to fail in your little relationship."

Amy growls, clenching her fists. "Sissi, since when have you been involved with the Kadic News, huh?" Jeremy asks in annoyance as the others join the couple. They've already read the paper, and so they stand by their friends.

"Ever since I made myself editor-in-chief. Oh, and since you're all together as usual, I'd like to ask Yumi, Amy, and Odd a few questions for the next issue...What are you two waiting for? Come on, we're rolling!" Milly and Tamiya reluctantly start filming.

"Buzz off, we're not answering anything," Amy narrows her eyes in rage.

"Well Yumi, and the...happy couple, our readers would really like to know how you and William are getting along. Or why you two haven't professed your love for each other yet."

"W-What?!" Amy and Odd stammer in unison, eyes wide.

"Hey, I don't need to prove that I love her, because I do!"

Both of them blush profusely, everyone around them shocked that Odd said that out loud, on camera!

Sissi smiles smugly, that worked itself out on all its own, and all she did was ask a question. Milly points the camera to Yumi.

"Uh, W-William, m-me and William?" Yumi looks just as uncomfortable. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," She crosses her arms, trying to look as normal as possible.

"Would you rather I ask the same question to William?" All of them look up at her from the mention of his name. "He may be not as shy as you. As a matter of fact, where is he? The last time I saw him was a week ago."

"He's gone abroad. His father called your father to tell him," Ulrich glares at her, wishing she'd leave things alone. Amy elbows him in the arm, but he just looks smug at his answer.

"Oh? How come you know that, huh?"

He clams up a little, now understanding why Amy did that. "Uh, I, uh..."

"Are you talking about me?"

Everyone turns to see William himself leaning against a tree.

* * *

"All I remember is being virtualized by Lyoko and being captured by the Scyphozoa," He taps the side of his head. "It's a blank after that. That is, till this morning when I woke up in the factory." Odd pinches his arm. "Hey, what are you doing, Odd? You're hurting me."

"Just checking to make sure you're not one of XANA's ghosts!"

"No danger of that," Jeremy adjusts his glasses. "There isn't any activated tower on Lyoko. William couldn't have been sent by XANA."

"But even if you somehow managed to make it out alive, you don't just break out of the Scyphozoa's control like that. There's usually another factor to it, like putting in a XANA code, or devirtualizing yourself, and that's hard to do when we had just recreated Sector 5," Amy raises a brow, staring at William. Something about his explanation wasn't right.

"That's exactly what I did, so you can stop pinching me, Odd," William ruffles Odd's hair and the bell rings.

Yumi winks at William. "Anyhow, you're just in time for a quiz in math."

"Timing, huh? I haven't studied at all," He frowns a little.

"So? Since when have you ever studied?" She retorts back and he chuckles, running after her.

"The next problem is explaining William's sudden return to Delmas," Odd says while adjusting his hair.

"Yeah, you said it," Jeremy replies in agreement. They had already spent one day explaining William's absence with the voice synthesizer. "What I don't get is why when Lyoko disappeared, William didn't fall into the Digital Sea. It's really weird, Amy's right...I'd love to know how he managed to escape."

Amy and Odd glance to each other, looking away in embarrassment. They haven't spoken much ever since Odd suddenly declared that he loved her right in front of Sissi.

* * *

Later that night, a knock is heard from the sisters' door. "Who is it?"

"Hey Aelita, Amy, we're not disturbing you, I hope," Sissi comes in, followed by Milly and Tamiya.

"Oh great," Amy mutters under her breath.

"Odd left you these outside your door," Tamiya hands Amy a heart-shaped box that has chocolates inside.

"We would really like to do a feature story on you for our next issue. It's true that we don't know a lot about you. Are you really Odd's cousin? Why hasn't Amy mentioned you before? And well, is it really all that cold in Canada? And why did you suddenly come here in the middle of the year? And why do you and Amy have the same pink color from your hair, despite the two of you being strangers before? Our readers are interested."

Milly and Tamiya chuckle nervously, as they weren't told about this interview at all. They never really asked Aelita because it wasn't their business, and to them, they already knew the full story.

Amy narrows her eyes, slamming her book shut. "Why don't you-"

"Can't you let them study in peace, huh?" William interrupts Amy before she could snap at Sissi. "Alright, get going, all three of you. You've annoyed them enough."

"Oh William!" Sissi exclaims at the sight of him, "You came back! I thought you were overseas!"

"Get going, I said," He jerks a thumb to the hall.

"Okay, okay, we're out of here," Sissi admits defeat, leaving with the two girls. William shuts the door behind him.

"Not that we're not grateful for the save, but this is the girls' dorm, William," Amy raises a brow at his sudden appearance.

"Thanks, William. Without you, we'd have been Sissi's next victim, and that's even worse than-"

"Becoming a prisoner of XANA, is that what you're saying?"

They both gasp at his change of voice and he opens his eyes, revealing the symbol of XANA!

"William only came back cause of Aelita! That's a scoop, isn't it?" Sissi asks happily. "Ooh, or maybe it's because he and Amy are secretly dating behind Odd's back, which means she might be cheating on him! That explains the box of chocolates, William could've left it saying it was from Odd, but it's really from him!"

"No!" Milly protests to her.

"That's not true, Amy's not like that!"

"I can't wait to tell the news to Jeremy and Odd to see what they have to say!"

"Now hold on," Tamiya speaks up.

"There's no reason for them to know before our readers do."

"Once we've printed it, then we'll ask them what they think of it." They did regret Odd being in trouble, and for possibly damaging his relationship with Amy. And now Sissi's spreading a rumor that's not even true.

* * *

"William came to Aelita and Amy's room? You're kidding!" Jeremy says in shock, but for the reason that Sissi's thinking. "Are you sure he did?"

"We sure are," Sissi nudges Milly, "We were there. What do you think? Think that William and Amy are secretly together?"

"Well, uh, I think...um...I know why! They're gonna help him catch up on...um, what he missed in math! I'm sorry, but I gotta go now...take a shower," He walks off and Sissi crosses her arms with a huff.

"Sissi, you want a scoop?" Milly asks her.

"Hmm?" She turns to the girl.

"A real one this time? Okay, here! I quit!"

"So do I, Sissi," Tamiya replies with a smile.

"But you couldn't possibly do that!"

They walk off, arms around each other. "Wanna bet?"

"Oh, and another thing," Milly looks over her shoulder. "We're not printing that rumor about Amy because it's not true! We really prefer her with Odd anyway." They leave through the double doors, glad that they're not going around based on Sissi's baseless stories and deceitful ways with the paper.

* * *

Jeremy opens the door to the room, only to see two empty beds...and an unconscious Amy on the floor. "Amy! Oh no," He bends down to her, shaking her slightly.

Ulrich's phone rings while he's reading a magazine and he picks it out of his pocket. "Yeah Jeremy?"

Jeremy is using Aelita's computer to see where the two are. "Ulrich, there's something weird going on with William."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"He left for the factory with Aelita and knocked Amy out. I picked up the signals at their cell phones. I'm pretty sure this is XANA's doing," Jeremy continues shaking Amy again.

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a hunch. It's strange that he escaped the Digital Sea. Meet ya at the factory just as soon as I wake Amy up, okay?"

"Right, no problem. You get Yumi, I'll clue Odd in."

"You mean, he's not with you?"

"Odd?" Ulrich glances at the empty bed. "No. As a matter of fact, I don't know where he is. Amy might know."

"Yeah, but I can't ask her because she's still unconscious!" Jeremy pinches his nose, hanging up the phone.

"AMY!" Jeremy slaps her across the face.

"Ow! What do you think you're doing?" Amy wakes up, glaring at her friend.

"Finally! Amy, can you tell me what happened?"

"Sissi, Milly, and Tamiya came in and tried to ask the both of us intruding questions. I tried to get her to back off, but then William arrived. I told him that he couldn't be there, and then he showed us the XANA symbol in his eyes! He shocked the both of us and took off with Aelita. I think they were heading for the factory."

"Oh no, that's just what I was afraid of," Jeremy looks back up at the computer, which shows the factory's location. "Come on, no time to lose!"

* * *

"Go on, keep trying. I'm sure you can do a lot better than that." Jim and Odd are in the gym, where Odd is being punished for leaking the secret, even though he didn't. "You remember the scene, don't you? You told me that you've watched the film a dozen times, right?"

Odd is dressed just like Paco from the film. "But Jim, I swear, it's not my fault. I didn't tell anybody!"

"You're gonna continue till you know the steps by heart." Odd frowns angrily at him. "Unless of course, you'd like me to change your class instead, and then you wouldn't be able to sit next to your pretty girlfriend anymore!" He laughs, sliding up to the upset blond. "Yeah, all your pals will be so sorry enough to not have you with them."

He sags his shoulders in defeat. "Okay, okay, I get the picture, Jim." He starts dancing to the music.

* * *

Yumi is watching the same film from her laptop. "Odd was right, this film is incredibly funny." Her phone goes off. "Oh no, just when I was trying to chill out..." She sees an SOS message.

William types rapidly onto the keyboard from the lab, looking at the unconscious Aelita in the elevator. He walks over as he's already started a virtualization process. The doors close as the symbol in his eyes flicker.

"Impossible to reach Odd, I've already tried three times!" Ulrich says to the two as they're running across the bridge.

"Amy, do you know where he is? I'll bet he's living it up somewhere, just when we need him!" Jeremy glances at her. She looks at her phone and sees one voicemail from him while she was passed out. She holds it up to her ear.

"Ms. Smith, this is Jim Morales. Why is it that you're not here in the gym, to take responsibility for your actions?! Either you arrive here by tonight or I'll switch Della Robbia to a different class."

"Bad news: Jim got to Odd. I guess he wants payback for the paper," Amy cringes at them once she's hung up.

* * *

The scanners close around Aelita and William. Both of them are virtualized into Sector 5. Aelita lands on the floor and he walks up to her. His outfit is almost as it was when he was first virtualized, but it's now pure black, with the XANA symbol on his chest. Smoke emerges from his hand and he points it at Aelita, lifting her up in the air. He walks forward with her, going through the door.

"They're not here," Ulrich looks around the lab. Jeremy sits in his chair.

"I can see that. They're in Sector 5. And I don't like that at all. Hurry, guys. Head for the scanner room."

"We're on our way," The two run off.

"I keep trying to reach Odd. We're really gonna be needing him. Jim couldn't let him not have his mobile, right?" Jeremy tries to call again.

* * *

Odd's phone goes off over the loud music and he hops around, dancing.

"That's better," Jim turns off the radio. "Much, much better. Just a few more hours and you'll be all set."

He pants in exhaustion, wanting to be anywhere but there.

* * *

"Oh no, where could Odd be, I wonder?"

"_We're ready, Jeremy."_

"Okay, I'll launch the procedure. Transfer Amy. Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Amy. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization."

Their hair flies and then they're in Sector 5. The two land back-to-back. "_Ulrich, Amy, you've gotta take the corridor right in front of you_."

"Is there a key we gotta trip?"

"_No, when we recreated Sector 5, we got rid of that procedure_. Oh...and we managed to do something else. Hold still, Amy," He grins, tapping away at the keys. Amy's wings virtualize on her back and she suddenly takes flight.

"My wings!" She gasps in surprise, looking at them.

"We weren't able to give you your elemental powers from each sector, though. You're still stuck with Virtual Flow. Now step on it while they're not too far away, guys."

"Ah well...maybe it's for the best," She shrugs slowly. "Now come on!"

"_Once you're in the Core Zone, I'll guide you_."

Aelita wakes up and finally realizes the situation. "What's going on?" She murmurs as she sees William in front of her. "William, where are you taking me? Let me go!"

He does nothing of the sort, furthering the hold he has on her. She manages to slip out of the smoke, firing her pink orb. "Energy field!"

He lands on the ground, looking up and seeing Aelita trying to escape. "So, having fun without inviting us?" He growls as he turns around to Ulrich and Amy. "You sure have changed, haven't you? Amy, go catch up with your sister and watch over her. I'll take care of him."

"Okay," She nods at her friend, taking flight again and flying over them. William grunts as he watches her leave after the girl. He chuckles, turning back to Ulrich.

"Be careful, Ulrich. XANA sent some Creepers, just behind you," Jeremy warns him.

"Super smoke," William turns into moving smoke, following after the girls. The Creepers arrive and Ulrich blocks the incoming lasers with his sword.

"And I thought this was going to be easy!"

He dodges more projectiles from behind.

"Aelita, Amy, can you hear me?"

"Jeremy, what's going on?" Aelita demands as she comes to a stop. Amy has finally caught up with her.

"_Be very careful, girls. William's coming after you both."_

"He can sure try, I'm not scared of the creep," Amy narrows her eyes, turning to Aelita. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," She nods at her and Amy takes her arms, flying off.

"What's the matter with him?" Aelita wonders as Amy flies into a passageway.

"I have no idea. The tower in Sector 5 hasn't been activated, but it seems that William is under the control of XANA. You'd better get out of there fast, guys!"

"But what would he want Aelita for, though? If it's because of our connection to our father, then wouldn't he have taken me too?"

"_Possibly. But Aelita is the younger of you two—biologically. He must see her as the weaker threat for now_."

Amy turns left, flying as fast as she can. Aelita glances over their shoulders, not seeing anyone for now...Amy flies to the right, neither of them noticing black smoke trailing right behind him.

* * *

Yumi finally arrives, to his relief. "Ah, Yumi, at last! Head for the scanner room fast. Ulrich, Amy, and Aelita really need your help."

"And Odd?" She asks while pressing the button.

"I've been trying to reach him, based on what Amy told us, he's with Jim."

The doors close in front of the Japanese girl.

* * *

The music continues to play as Odd sags in exhaustion. "I can't take anymore of this. Honestly, Jim."

"Now that, my friend, is what you should've thought about before talking to the press."

A girl suddenly comes in from the front doors. "There he is!" Other girls join her, freaking out. Jim turns off the raido.

"Just what are you doing here at this hour, all of you?"

They squeal, running up to him. Odd notices his phone buzzing. "You see, Jim, we just watched your disco film, it's incredible too!" Tania exclaims to the man.

"You mean...you liked it that much?"

"It's a masterpiece!"

"Won't you give us your autograph, Jim?" They bounce up and down while Odd checks his phone.

"Yeah, sure. I'd be happy to if that's what you want."

"Oh no!" Odd exclaims at all the missed calls and messages from Jeremy and Amy. He looks up at Jim surrounded by students.

"To Leticia, is that right?"

Since he's distracted, Odd slips out of the costume and runs right out the door.

* * *

Amy flies into another room, stopping when she sees a dead end. Turning around, she sees the black smoke coming to a stop. William emerges in front of them, causing the two to gasp in horror. Amy flies higher as Aelita prepares her attack.

"Energy field!"

William takes it into his hand and throws it right back at Amy's wings, devirtualizing them in one hit. The two fall onto the floor and he approaches them. Amy stands up and swiftly pulls out her spear, stepping in front of Aelita.

"You step away from my sister," She growls at him. Aelita hits the wall.

"No!" Jeremy exclaims at the three dots.

"No, William!" Aelita pleads for him not to hurt Amy. "Listen to us!"

He fires the black smoke, two in fact. Amy slices at the smoke, but it has no effect. Her spear drops onto the floor as they're both captured. Aelita is knocked unconscious. He flies them off and follows after the two, so he can keep an eye on them.

"Ulrich, better make it snappy! William's taking the girls straight to the Dome Area!" Jeremy looks at the three in worry.

"I'm doing my best, Jeremy!" Ulrich exclaims as he's dodging monsters left and right. He runs past them, facing them again. "Obviously my best isn't good enough..."

A Creeper comes to a stop in front of him, Yumi flipping into view. She tosses a fan and destroys it. "I guess you could use some help," She says as she lands safely.

"You guessed right," He replies, relieved to see her. "Let's go!"

Yumi flips off the platform, hanging onto it. The Creeper looks over the edge, distracted as Ulrich runs up behind it and slices at it. The Creeper turns around and with one shot, knocks Ulrich's sword out of his hand. He quickly picks it back up, Yumi emerging from where she was. She throws her fan again, this time destroying the second Creeper.

"On three, we attack. One, two, three!" They split off into opposite directions. "Impact!" While running, he strikes a Creeper and gets rid of it. Yumi runs up to one, spinning around and pulling out her fan swiftly. She throws it and gets the Creeper on a high platform on the head. Ulrich turns his attention to the door. "Let's get out of here!"

Yumi catches her weapon as they go after the trio.

* * *

Odd finally arrives at the factory. "I didn't get here too late, I hope," He speaks up, getting Jeremy's attention.

"Odd, it's about time. What were you doing, huh?"

"I was taking the disco dancing class with Jim."

"Right, Amy did say he got to you. Now get to the scanner room, you're gonna go on a little trip."

"Funky!" He starts dancing again.

* * *

William reaches the Celestial Dome with Aelita and Amy. They would break free, but it's a tight hold unlike last time.

"William, for the last time, let us GO!" Amy screams at him. "You need to snap out of it!"

"Manta!" He calls out, ignoring her. The Flying Manta arrives in front of them and he keeps his hold on the two, transporting them onto the monster. He plants his feet on them and creates reins, flying off.

"William!"

He grips his hand and knocks her unconscious with the smoke.

"What's he trying to do now?"

"What's going on, Jeremy?" Yumi wonders as she and Ulrich are riding the elevator.

"_It looks like William wants out of Sector 5_..."

"But I thought you hadn't managed to create any other sectors," Yumi replies in confusion as they get off.

"That's what makes it so hard to understand," Jeremy rubs his temples in frustration. "At the end of Sector 5, there's nothing except..." His eyes widen slowly. "The Digital Sea."

Yumi gives a look of horror as they come to a stop. "_If he jumps into it with the girls, they'll be virtualized for good! Just like their father..."_

"Don't worry, Jeremy. We'll do all we can to stop him," Ulrich says in reassurance. They won't let that happen to their friends. Besides...Odd would be heartbroken if that happened.

"But for that, we're gonna need our vehicles," Yumi explains to him.

"Right. I'll see that you get them in no time flat," He snaps out of it and presses enter, bringing them up. Yumi jumps onto her Overwing, and Ulrich lands on his Overbike. They take off just as Odd is going through the Arena.

William flies towards a tunnel, Yumi and Ulrich seeing him in their sights. He hears their vehicles and turns around, growling. The Manta releases flying mines.

"Better watch out, there are the mines!"

Ulrich dodges them left and right, Yumi swerving in the same direction. Her eyes widen and she gasps as she narrowly misses a few.

"You okay, Yumi?" Ulrich looks over his shoulder.

"No problem," She answers, seeing something. "Ulrich, in front of you!"

He turns around and lifts up his bike as some mines were underneath. Two more trail after him, one of them devirtualizing him and his vehicle.

"Ulrich!" Yumi calls out, looking back towards William, who's managed to open a tunnel on his own, entering through it. Yumi flies after them.

Ulrich emerges from the scanner, eyes closed.

"_Move it, Odd. They just went into the tunnel_!" Jeremy urges as Odd arrives, jumping onto his Overboard.

"No problem, Einstein!"

William exits the tunnel into the uncreated desert sector. He continues on with the girls, Aelita waking up. She realizes where she is, seeing the sleeping Amy next to her.

"_Yumi, you have to stop William from jumping into the Digital Sea!_"

"I know, Jeremy, I'm on it!" She dives towards the Manta, Aelita looking up at William. Yumi catches up with him, preparing to throw her fan. He creates his sword in his hand, throwing it right at her. She falls off her Overboard, screaming as she's reaching the Digital Sea.

"Yumi, no!" Jeremy cries out.

"Yumi!" Aelita looks towards her in horror. Two laser arrows are fired, hitting the geisha and devirtualizing her slowly. William looks to where they came from, Jeremy seeing in relief. Yumi drops to her knees once the scanner opens.

Odd flies after the trio. "Bonzaaai!" He hits the Manta, but William throws the two over anyway. Aelita screams as she falls. Jeremy works quickly and activates Amy's wings just as Odd catches the pink-haired girl.

"Hm?" Amy opens her eyes, seeing Odd and Aelita up ahead.

"Amy!" Aelita smiles in relief.

"Taking a dive without me, my lady?" Odd asks her and she smiles a bit. She glares towards William, who turns around and charges towards them. Amy and Odd fly in the other direction. "I hate to cut in, William, Aelita and my beautiful Ames has always preferred the company of a real gentleman."

William still chases after them anyway. "Laser Arrow!"

"This'll teach you to knock me unconscious and kidnap us!" Amy flies upwards and throws her spear hard. The weapons hit the Manta, destroying it. William falls a little before he catches himself.

"Sorry, but I hate being tailgated," Odd replies as Amy holds up her hand, catching her spear.

The three leave and William admits defeat as he goes into the Digital Sea...

For now...

"You think William's gone forever?" Ulrich glances at the boy genius.

"...No. I think he just went back to his new master...XANA..."

* * *

Everyone is gathered in the gym. "Why would William want to drag us into the Digital Sea?" Aelita couldn't help but wonder. "I don't get it."

"Well, I think it's part of XANA's new strategy. And so we've gotta be very careful," Jeremy explains to all of them. "William could come back at any time..."

"And now we have to think up another excuse for his absence, and Delmas might not buy it this time," Yumi points out.

"Hello Jeremy," Tamiya greets politely.

"Hi Jeremy," Milly smiles at him.

"Hello," He replies back as the two take their seats in front of him.

"They don't hate you now?" Ulrich leans forward a bit to look at Jeremy.

"I guess they found someone they can hate even more," Jeremy glances towards Sissi, her and her friends sitting far away since no one wants to give up seats for them, on account of what the girl did. And they found out that she was threatening to put that 'cheating scandal' into the paper, which doesn't help either...

"Thank God they took her off the paper," Amy glares at the girl. She really caused a lot of trouble.

"They're kind of like us and William," Yumi smirks a little.

"Paco, Paco, Paco!" The crowd cheers.

"It's incredible! Jim's become a real star!" Odd says in shock.

"It's really thanks to you, right Odd?" Ulrich asks him. Suddenly the show starts, Jim emerging from the stage in his white suit. He starts dancing to the music, the crowd erupting into cheers. He smiles as he continues, Ulrich covering his ears.

"The guy's great! Incredible presence, a real superstar!" Odd shouts at the top of his lungs.

* * *

Amy and Odd walk around the woods silently. It's been like that ever since they found out what the principal's daughter tried to do. So both of them decided that they needed to talk about it in private...she knew it wasn't true, and she'd never do that to Odd. She doesn't even like William like that.

Odd sighs a bit, sitting in front of a tree. Amy says nothing, leaning against the wood and blowing a bit of air. It's silence for a few seconds before Odd finally says something.

"Ames? Can you tell me the truth about what happened?"

"Sissi came into our room to look for dirt," She answers quietly, closing her eyes. "I tried to get her to leave, and then...William stepped in and got them to back off. I was skeptical about it, and then my suspicions were confirmed when he showed us his eyes. He knocked me out and kidnapped Aelita. And then Jeremy found me and we went to the factory...I swear, Odd, whatever she said, it's not true. I would never _cheat_, that's not the kind of person I am. You're my first, and you always have been." She takes a deep breath.

"And to be honest...I wouldn't dare do it in the first place. I chose you for a reason. I don't care who thinks that I shouldn't be with you...because I...I love you."

His eyes widen at her words. They hadn't spoken about that either, and it was really embarrassing, but now...he's so happy to hear that from her.

"I know we said we wouldn't say that unless we were ready, but...I think I am. You're remarkable, sensitive, funny...you're unique. And I wouldn't change what we have for the world, Odd Della Robbia."

She gets nothing in return, thinking that she freaked him out or something as she dusts herself off. "Forget what just happened. Maybe I shouldn't have said that considering what happened with Sissi-"

She had no idea when he got up, but the next thing she knew, she feels his soft lips on hers. Despite her initial shock, she returns the gesture, wrapping her arms around him.

He pulls away a few seconds later, tilting her head so that she can look at him. She sees his happy smile. "Thanks Ames. I love you too...but you probably knew that since I blurted it out loud."

She giggles at the memory. "Yeah, it was pretty stupid to do that."

"Hey," Odd pouts at her, but he knew that she was messing with him. "I'm sorry about what William tried to do to you," He turns one of his hands into a fist. "I should've been there, but Jim-"

"Hey, hey," Amy murmurs softly, interrupting him. "It's okay. I understand you couldn't get out of it until you had the chance. And besides...you saved my sister. I think I can get over it easily."

"I was the hero!" He brags boastfully, causing her to laugh.

"You're still mine, though. Don't forget that."

"How dare you," He gasps a bit, hand to his heart. "What kind of amazing boyfriend would I be if I didn't put you first?"

She shakes her head in amusement. She's still not happy with what Sissi tried to do...

But she's happy with the aftermath with it. She couldn't believe she was saying this, but for once, she's glad that Sissi stirred things up. If she hadn't, the brunette might've never told Odd that she loves him, for real this time.


	69. Double Take

**Angel: Of course I gave Amy an upgrade. I wouldn't be uploading this chapter if I didn't. I would be behind on episodes if I hadn't, which I don't need right now XD**

"So then, the guy gets up and starts to scream 'Oh no, my canoe just sprang a leak'!" Odd finishes the joke, laughing. Amy giggles a little next to him. They're all in Jeremy's room, Odd and Amy leaning against the wall. Ulrich is sitting nearby while holding a magazine, while Yumi and Aelita are standing near Jeremy. "Come on, it's hysterical! The guy thinks it's gonna spring a leak! ...Oh, forget it. You guys have no sense of humor."

"We do, that's the problem. At least Amy laughed," Ulrich points out.

"Don't worry, a sense of humor comes with growing up," Yumi smirks a bit.

"Come on, I'm the funniest guy in school. In fact, if I wasn't me, I would be President of my own fan club."

Aelita laughs at him. "Now that's what I call funny!"

"Yeah, but the problem is, I...didn't mean it to be funny."

"You mind making a little bit less noise?" Jeremy asks in annoyance. "Some of us are trying to work. I've already spent a lot of sleepless nights recreating the rest of Lyoko and improving the digital equipment for all of you. And now I've gotta figure out what to do about William! You haven't forgotten that while you're doing your bad stand-up act-"

"It wasn't me, it was him!" Ulrich points to Odd.

"That William is stuck on Lyoko under the control of XANA! And if we don't do anything, people are gonna start noticing his absence...so keep it down."

"Okay Jeremy, sheesh..." Amy holds up her hands.

* * *

Principal Delmas is playing a computer game, which he's losing. The phone rings and he clicks the mouse, picking up the receiver.

"Delmas Academy, Jean-Pierre Kadic here, uh..." He realizes his mistake. He's too focused trying to beat it. "Kadic Academy, Jean-Pierre Delmas speaking."

"This is James Dunbar, William's father. I'm calling to say that my son won't be able to attend school this week. He's got a very high fever and he has to stay in bed."

He fails to put the penguin's head on its body. "Oh, rats! I hope it's not game over for him—uh, that is to say nothing too serious."

"Just a very bad flu," Jeremy says using his voice synthesizer. Delmas gets a game over from the screen.

"Oh, that's a relief. Please tell your son that we all wish him a speedy recovery, Mr. Dunbar. Uh, goodbye and thanks for calling." He hangs up and continues playing the game. He groans at another fail.

Jeremy sighs in relief once he's hung up. "I honestly don't know what we'd do without my voice synthesizer..."

"Well," Odd sits up, "Now that we handled Delmas, maybe we can go to more important stuff."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Meatballs and spaghetti!" Odd exclaims happily.

Jeremy raises a brow before giving a look of annoyance. "Odd...I know that you're a walking stomach, but I haven't got time to go to lunch. I have to get to the factory to test out the latest codes for your new equipment and for Am-"

Aelita shushes him and he clamps his mouth shut. Amy blinks at them in confusion before deciding to drop it.

"Can you program me some bell-bottom pants with an orange stripe on the side?" Odd asks, pulling up his pants a bit.

"Will ya?! I need a little thinking time!" Jeremy exclaims in irritation.

"What you need is to hear a good joke," Odd points at him, the others deciding to stay silent. "You don't laugh enough. Lighten up."

"Umm, I think we should go to lunch now," Amy helps up her boyfriend. "Jeremy needs to be alone with his attitude."

* * *

Ms. Weber is showing Mr. Delmas how to play the game. "It doesn't look that hard, sir," She beats it with ease. "There we are."

"Mm...by the way, Nicole, don't you have some work to finish up?"

She cringes a bit as the phone rings. "What now?"

"James Dunbar speaking. I'm calling you, sir, because I'm getting worried. I haven't heard from my son William for several days, and whenever I try to contact him on his mobile, he doesn't pick up." It's the real Mr. Dunbar.

"Well, isn't that a shame? I assure you, I'll do everything I possibly can to find your son," Mr. Delmas replies sarcastically. "I'll call the army, the FBI, even the president! So don't worry!"

"Well, there's no need to go _that _far for now."

"Now listen, Mr. Whoever alias Dunbar, you would do better to think about your own faith and not that of your so-called son once I discover who it is that's calling! So there!" And with that, he slams down the receiver. "Hear that, Nicole? That is the way you have to talk to practical jokers who enjoy playing tricks on you."

"Hmm," She rubs her chin. "There's one thing I don't get. How do you know that he was the practical joker and not the person you spoke to on the phone before?"

His eyes widen at her.

* * *

Odd slides away his tray. "Huh? You don't want your banana?" Aelita points to the lone fruit sitting on the tray. The brunette glances at her boyfriend, taking a bite out of her potato.

"It's for Einstein. The walking stomach has to look out for our local genius!"

"Ha. Given all of the frustration he's been showing lately, he could use it," Amy comments after swallowing her bite.

Ulrich looks up, eyes widening in alarm. "Uh oh...Delmas and Incredible Hulk at 11 o'clock!"

"Oh no, they're coming right towards us..." Amy murmurs, sliding in her seat a bit. She really hoped this didn't have to do with Mr. Smith...

"Hello Yumi," Mr. Delmas greets as the two men come to a stop in front of their table. "I was wondering, have you had any news of William Dunbar, by any chance? Jim said that you were close friends."

"Somebody told me that he was sick in bed with a very high fever," She explains to them, the brunette sighing in sweet relief. Odd pats her back. None of them have heard from him ever since he last visited Amy, which means that he agrees to her terms. Hopefully he won't pay her another surprise visit just because he thinks her A and B grades aren't good enough...

"Let me handle this, Jean-Pierre," Jim holds up a hand. "Listen Yumi, be honest with us. I know perfectly well that William isn't anymore sick than I am. Achoo!"

"Bless you, Jim," Aelita replies, Amy handing the gym teacher a napkin.

"Thank you," He sniffs into the napkin. "If you wanna know what I think, I think William is somewhere and something tells me that somehow, you know exactly where that somewhere is and that sometimes it's better to be honest with someone so uno, somebody should tell William we know he's around and dos, he oughta get back before tonight! If not, Mr. Delmas, our beloved principal, will call some police! That oughta do it."

"Uh...okay..." Amy blinks slowly, wondering why he decided to word it in that way. Either way, it was still a concern for them. It's bad enough he's been gone and no one can contact him, but now Jim wants to involve the police?

"No way!" Jeremy exclaims from the lab once he's heard what happened with Jim and Delmas. "That means I'm gonna have to slog away all afternoon trying to finish a program to get William out of XANA's clutches. And who knows if it'll even work?"

"Uh uh, that's impossible," Ulrich tells him from the courtyard, all of them around a bench. "We've got track this afternoon. You can't keep cutting Phys Ed all the time. One more time, you're gonna be in a lot of trouble."

"Okay, I'll get back to you."

"What are you gonna do?" Ulrich asks curiously.

"Improvise, as usual."

Ulrich is left confused as Jeremy hangs up. "Problem: being here and in class at the same time...it's not easy." He suddenly smirks as he has an idea.

* * *

Odd inserts a coin, but his drink doesn't come out. He presses 7 repeatedly and then punches the machine. Still nothing as he shakes his hand. "I don't believe it!"

Yumi is showing off her new phone to the girls as Odd walks back up to them dejectedly. "I don't believe it!"

They look up in the same direction as him. "Well he sure got ready fast."

Jeremy is sipping a soda in his gym clothes. He kicks it and it flies into the trash can near the machine. Amy opens her mouth in disbelief. Okay, now she _knows _that something is off. Jeremy's never that coordinated. "Two points! Hey everybody."

"You've already finished all you had to do?" Aelita raises a brow. He was at the factory; when did he have time to change?

"Piece of cake, sweetie pie, huh? What do you think? Sure I'm done, you're looking at the man!" They all glance to each other, baffled at his words. "How's it going, kid?" He tilts up his glasses towards Yumi. "You must've got all dolled up for me today. You wouldn't believe the vibes I'm feeling right now..."

Aelita and Ulrich both look angry towards him, the girl crossing her arms. "Hey, go back to being Jeremy, will you?" Yumi backs away a bit. Jeremy leans in towards Amy.

"My eyes can see straight through you, baby."

Odd grits his teeth while Amy steps forward, kicking up her knee. Jeremy groans in pain, kneeling down and holding his lower area.

"Ooo. Now that is something you can see clearly," Ulrich comments towards him.

"It's just that...whenever I see you, I don't feel like I'm myself," He smirks up at Amy, who gags.

"Jeremy, that kick should've given you a hint," She narrows her eyes at him.

Yumi looks towards the others.

"XANA," Odd deduces, since Jeremy's not a flirt. He can't flirt to save his life. Besides, he would never flirt with his crush's half-sister. He charges towards Jeremy, who grabs him by the shirt and throws him into the machine.

"Odd!" Amy exclaims at him. His drink finally arrives.

"Hey, cool."

"What's the matter with you?!" The brunette pushes Jeremy slightly, the others surrounding him. Yumi's phone rings and she picks it up.

"Hello, Yumi?"

She recoils back in shock to hear Jeremy's voice, despite him standing right in front of her. "Jeremy, but then..."

He appears on screen and she looks up towards the other one. "Well, what do you think of me, guys?"

"Hold on, you mind explaining this?" She points to the Jeremy 2.

"You mean you haven't figured out that I made a double of myself? A digital copy by activating a tower on Lyoko." Odd and Aelita join Yumi at her phone, looking between the two in awe. He's activated a tower in the desert sector. "This way, I can work on the program for finding William, and be at gym class at the same time."

"You might have warned us about it, Einstein," Odd rubs the back of his neck.

"Sorry guys, but I was in a big hurry."

"Anyway, you oughta know that your double has gotta be about the biggest flirt I've ever met," Yumi shows the other Jeremy. "He's focused on Amy, but she made him regret it when he tried the first time!" She chuckles at the memory of what happened.

"And I'll keep doing it if he doesn't stop staring at me," Amy crosses her arms with a huff.

"Very strange..." Jeremy looks at his double leaning across the door, his glasses up. He winks towards Amy, who rolls her eyes. "Must be some kind of emerging quality that appeared unexpectedly. Anyway guys, I may not have hit a home run with it, but a double is still pretty good."

* * *

Jim is taking attendance. "Belpois?"

"Present," He holds up four fingers.

"No, this has gotta be a dream!" Jim exclaims in disbelief. "Jeremy Belpois in person has finally decided to honor us with his presence, in the flesh? Although there's not a whole lot. After holding the world's record for absences from every single sport, we're all going to watch Mr. Skin and Bones make up for lost time by throwing his lack of weight around!" He starts laughing.

"And so it was in 1671 that Issac Newton created his famous reflection telescope," Ms. Hertz is giving a lecture to her 9th grade science class, gesturing to the wooden model. "And as I'm sure as you can see on this very rare and precious model of it..."

"Okay, let me get out of the line of fire before I give you the signal," Jim steps a few feet away. "Go on!"

Jeremy 2 tosses it and the ball goes flying.

"Newton and his law of gravity. The apple that fell-"

The ball Jeremy 2 threw lands it in the room...hitting the rare model of the reflection telescope.

Yumi raises a brow in confusion.

"Whoa..." Jim looks at the window, looking back to Jeremy 2. "Holy toledo, Belpois." He just blows his hand like it was no effort. "I mean...incredible, Belpois! How could you throw that thing so far with arms as scrawny as the wings of a chicken, huh?"

"Uh, well you see Jim, he's been working out a lot," Odd chuckles nervously.

"JIM!" He glances towards Ms. Hertz at the window. "You're worse than those barbarians who burned down the Alexandria library!"

"Thank you, Suzanne," He replies happily, to her annoyance. "Jeremy, you're gonna participate in the inter-school competition against the top student gymnasts! Those dodos at Central Prep won't know what hit 'em!"

"Oh..." Jeremy stops typing as he sees something's wrong at the tower he activated. Four other dots are approaching the area. "I don't believe it!"

At the top of the plateau are three Tarantulas...and William. He plants his sword into the platform. "Go on! You too!" They walk off as he eyes the tower in front of him, standing guard behind their master. William points his hands at it, lifting himself in the air slightly as smoke surrounds him. The wires connecting to the tower flicker red. The XANA symbol glows on his forehead.

Jeremy immediately makes a call.

Ulrich's phone rings and he answers it while keeping his eyes on Jim. "Okay champ, now let's see how well you throw the javelin."

Jeremy 2 winks towards Amy, spinning around the javelin so fast it blows away some hair from everyone around him.

"Jeremy, this better be important."

"It sure is. XANA's attacking the tower I activated. If it keeps up, XANA will be able to activate it as red and use it for his own evil purposes!"

Jeremy 2 readies the javelin in his hand. Jim nods in approval. "I get the idea. How can you get the process to stop?"

"To buy a little time, I can channel some of Sector 5's energy to shore up the tower's resistance," He does so, but he's not fast enough as the tower already turns red. William smiles evilly to himself.

Jeremy 2 stops in mid-throw. "Jeremy, hurry up!"

"I'm almost there!"

Jeremy 2 opens his eyes, being possessed by XANA as he points the javelin towards Amy. She gasps, standing up as Ulrich opens his eyes in shock.

William lands near his sword just as Jeremy finishes up. "Okay."

The tower turns green again as Jeremy 2's hair goes up...and then it falls as he turns back to normal. Amy sinks back down in her seat with a sigh of relief.

"Why was he fixated on you?" Aelita whispers to her.

"It can't be because of the flirting...it might be-"

"William," Odd finishes for her. "He's focusing on you solely."

Jeremy 2 throws the javelin and it goes flying, all the way to the garden shed to everyone's shock. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Michael Riley shouts from the inside.

"Yahoo!" Jim cheers for the clone. "I'm gonna be your personal manager, Belpois! Wait till they get a load of this. You and me, we're gonna go far! Trust me, we're gonna taste the thrill of victory! We're gonna breathe through the championships, the Nationals, the planetary, the interplanetary, the intergalactics!"

Amy rolls her eyes at this.

"To the factory," Ulrich whispers to the others and they slowly scooch away. "Stern, Della Robbia!" Jim suddenly calls out before they could leave, causing all four of them to stop. "Go on, pick yourselves a lane and let's see how you run the 400 meters against Belpois!"

They both stand up, raising a brow. The two approach the track, kneeling next to each other. "You ready, champ?" He grins in response. "On your marks, get ready, set, bang!"

Jeremy 2 takes off at an incredible speed, zipping around.

William lifts himself up again, regaining control of the tower. He smirks again.

Jeremy 2's eyes go XANA as he zips around faster, looking up towards Amy. "Oh no!" She runs down the row and jumps off. She only manages to run a few steps before the clone tackles her onto the ground, about to punch her.

"You won't get me that easy, XANA!" Jeremy takes back control, just as Jeremy 2 was about to punch Amy in the face.

"Get off!" Odd pulls him off her.

"Smith!" Jim yells at the girl. "You'd better be careful not to rough up my champion! You okay, kid?"

"I'm good, Jim," Jeremy 2 backflips onto his feet. Amy opens her mouth in disbelief.

"Me rough up _him_?! He's the one who chased me down!"

"Because you were trying to leave my class."

"Wha-?" She looks between Jeremy 2 and Jim in astonishment; how did he not see the clone come to a stop, stare at her, and then tackle her? Either he's trying to see the guy as the perfect student, or he's blind as a bat.

"Okay, I'll let it slide," Jim crosses his arms. "Better safe than sorry is what I always say. Any volunteers to go with Belpois to the infirmary?"

The other four raise their hands.

Amy grunts as they follow after the clone. Odd places a comforting hand on Amy's back. "I'm off to the factory with Aelita," Ulrich whispers to them. "Isolate Jeremy 2 and watch him."

"Yeah, right. Easy for you to say. I think you should go with him, Ames. If he gets his hands on you again, he might drag you off to the factory so that William can take you to the Digital Sea."

"No, I'm not leaving you alone with that psycho. Besides, you'll be there to protect me," She kisses his cheek and they run to catch up with him.

Ulrich takes out his phone to message Yumi.

Her phone vibrates and she lifts up her bag. Her phone slides onto the desk, revealing an SOS message from XANA.

She stands up with a smile. "Uh, ma'am, can I please leave the room?"

Ms. Hertz hits her head on the table while looking up. She was attempting to clean up the model as some of the pieces fell on the floor.

"Ouch! Yes, go...you haven't seen any pieces of mirror around, have you?"

* * *

Odd opens up the door for Jeremy 2 in the dorm building. "If the Olympic Champion would be so kind as to enter."

"Hopefully I earn a well-deserved reward," He puckers his lips at Amy.

"Ugh," She gives a look of disgust.

Odd then shuts the clone inside happily, Amy helping him push the lockers nearby in front of the door.

* * *

"Hurry up. I've hardly got enough energy to protect the tower," Jeremy tells them as they've arrived. Yumi, Ulrich, and Aelita step into the scanners.

"_We're ready, Jeremy_," Aelita reports from the scanner room.

"Okay. I'll start the procedure. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Ulrich." He taps enter. "Virtualization."

They all virtualize into their new forms. Ulrich's new form is a yellow and brown body suit. He stands up first, looking at himself and then noticing that he has two swords. "Twin blades, perfect for getting a close shave."

Aelita has a pink and pale green body suit, and Yumi has been re-designed as a ninja rather than a geisha.

"I love your skirt, Aelita," Yumi points to it.

"Thanks," She smiles at her friend. "Those shoulder pads aren't bad either."

"Hey, you two can discuss fashion with Amy later," Jeremy cracks his hands. "The activated tower is north by northwest."

They take off their vehicles, with Aelita riding the Overwing with Yumi. Soon, they can see what's going on. "I see it."

Ulrich speeds up and William turns around in irritation. He lowers himself onto the ground, putting his sword over his shoulder. He stands near the Tarantulas as the others come forward.

* * *

Odd spins the broom and it balances itself while spinning. "I hope Jeremy gets rid of that clone soon, I don't like him!"

"Relax, it's just a clone," Amy rolls her eyes. "Besides, hearing any Jeremy flirt grosses me out."

The door suddenly shakes and Odd stops the broom. They look over their shoulders to see that the clone is trying to get out.

"Oh great, here we go again!" Odd grumbles as they rush over, pressing against the lockers. Jeremy 2 manages to push back until he can get out. "Hey, stop pushing away, don't you like it in there?!"

"Odd, look out!" Amy pushes him out of the way as the lockers almost crush them. Jeremy 2 had pushed it. Odd knocks off the end, pointing his make-shift weapon towards the clone. He jumps over the lockers, showing his XANA eyes again. Amy takes a left-behind pipe into her hand, spinning it around.

"What is going on around here?" The principal just happens to arrive at the scene, walking down the stairs. The two look up nervously, realizing how this might look.

"Just where do you think you are, Belpois?"

"Uhh, no big deal, he's just a little bit edgy," Odd giggles anxiously.

"Yeah, sooo...we're trying to knock him back into his senses!" Amy gestures to the weapons, sweating a little.

"Now now, try to calm down, Belpois," Mr. Delmas places a hand on his shoulder. "Don't you think that talking it out would be much more constructive then lashing out blindly and violently?"

Jeremy 2 flashes his eyes and electrocutes the man, knocking him unconscious.

"Mr. Delmas!" Amy gasps, Odd running up to the clone. He snatches the broomstick and throws Odd into Delmas.

"Thanks a lot for the psychology lesson, sir," Odd looks out the open door. "Now we gotta catch him."

"Yeah, that'll be easy," Amy replies sarcastically.

* * *

William takes the sword off his shoulder, watching them approach. He and Ulrich narrow their eyes at each other. Ulrich backflips off his Overbike, sliding to a stop. The Overbike still moves towards William. "Super smoke!"

He turns into smoke, traveling onto the platform. He reforms and plants the sword in front of him, using the weapon as a ramp. The bike soars over him and hits a Tarantula, knocking it onto the path that leads to the tower. The bike lands in the Digital Sea.

Odd runs into the park, followed by Amy, but there's no sign of Jeremy 2. Odd slides onto the grass, panting.

"We can't do this," Amy exhales, hands on her knees as she looks towards the ground. "We have to warn Jeremy, there's no way he can take a XANAified clone on his own."

Odd pulls out his phone, eyeing the secret entrance. "Jeremy, your evil XANA-possessed copy is on his way to the factory. He's too fast for us to catch up to him...you're on your own, good buddy."

"We'll try to get there as fast as we can...but it's not looking good," Amy wheezes into Odd's phone.

"Okay guys," He leans in towards the keyboard. "Let's see what I can do."

He delays the elevator to the lab.

* * *

The two Tarantulas kneel, preparing to fire at the girls. Yumi gasps a little, dodging their lasers as they fly over the two monsters. However, one of them manages to hit the Overwing, causing both of them to fall off. Two light pink wings suddenly form on Aelita's back. She flies back up, looking at herself.

"Where did these wings come from?"

"You like 'em?" Jeremy smiles a little. "Just a little surprise I invented in my spare time, Aelita. Now you can fly like Amy can!"

"Jeremy," She smiles back, "You are the wind beneath my wings."

He blushes, tugging at his collar.

Yumi is still falling towards the Digital Sea and Aelita looks down at her. She swoops down, spinning and avoiding the projectiles from the Tarantulas. She flies down further and catches Yumi, flying her up towards the platform. They both land safely.

"Aelita..." Yumi stares at her. "You're an angel!"

Ulrich is dealing with William, sword-fighting. They clash weapons as William continues to swing the giant sword at him. He swings again, but Ulrich jumps over it, bringing his sabers together to form an X in front of the big blade. He slides back from William pushing, pulling back and backflipping. He slams his sword into the ground. Ulrich stares at him, panting.

Jeremy 2 speeds towards the elevator, punching the button. The elevator appears and Jeremy notices this.

"Okay, I can be just as resourceful as you, pal, you'll see!" He declares, pushing enter, stalling the elevator.

Yumi runs up the path, the Tarantula firing towards her. She leaps to her left, looking up at the monster.

William drags his sword along the sand, stepping up towards his opponent.

"Triplicate..." Ulrich narrows his eyes, his duplicates surrounding William. He stares at all of them.

"Super smoke!"

He appears behind the real Ulrich and devirtualizes him, getting rid of the clones.

Ulrich steps out of the scanner, holding his side. That hit really hurt...

The elevator descends down, but when Jeremy 2 reaches the lab, he notices that the door is locked. He grips the edges and starts to pull.

Aelita dodges all of the lasers while flying. William walks up to the two Tarantulas, looking up at the girl. She does some loops and swoops down. He eyes her and narrows his eyes at her sudden advantage. "Go on!" He shouts at the two monsters.

Aelita looks up and notices that one of the Tarantulas has jumped. She quickly ducks out of the way, watching it land right in front of the tower. She loses her balance a little, but flies away from the Digital Sea a few moments later.

Amy and Odd finally reach the bridge, running towards the entrance. Once they land in front of the elevator, she cringes at the busted button.

"He leaves an impression wherever he goes..."

"We'll have to find another way," The two run off.

Yumi lands on the platform, dropping one of her fans.

"_Yumi, watch out_," Jeremy warns her. "You've lost 40 life points already," He pushes up his glasses.

The Tarantula fires once more, but she flips into the air, tossing her lone fan. She lands, watching it fly away from her target. The spider-like monster jumps, landing right in front of her. It eyes the girl with a roar, the fan coming back around and sliding right through its face. She backflips away from the incoming explosion.

Aelita flies past her, going back up to the other one near William. He growls, finding her annoying as she flies towards the Tarantula. "Energy field!" She hits it dead on and it explodes next to William, who had blocked the one towards him with his sword. He looks over his shoulder to see her fly past.

Meanwhile, Jeremy 2 manages to get the door open, opening his XANA filled eyes. He rips open the doors, leaving smoke.

"Odd, Amy, where are you?" Jeremy asks worriedly as he watches the copy walk up to him slowly. He brings his hands together, creating electricity between them.

"Yoo hoo Jeremy 1 and 2!"

"Looking for us?"

They look up to see the duo in the ceiling. Odd jumps into the air, followed by Amy. "Bonzai!" Together, they kick the clone onto the ground. "You may be his evil twin, but you fight like a lousy twin!" He hits Jeremy 2 with the stick, only for it to break. "It's not too late to take back what I said, is it?"

The clone shocks him and he hits the top of the holomap, landing nearby. "Odd! You jerk," Amy grits her teeth towards the clone. Jeremy lets out a scream as Jeremy 2 adjusts his messy hair. He just stares at the clone, who stays there for a few seconds...and then prepares his electricity agin, his hair flying. He points his fist at Jeremy, giving him an electric shock that sends him into the wall.

Aelita soars underneath the platform, the Tarantula losing sight of her. It looks over the edge to see Aelita waiting.

"Energy field!" She fires the orb and hits it, the monster falling over before exploding. She flies to a stop in front of Yumi, who waves to her.

"Well done!"

She smiles and lands in front of the tower, the wings disappearing. She slowly steps inside.

Jeremy looks up at his clone, noticing the glare on his face as he prepares to finish his creator off.

Aelita floats towards the tower.

"Keep your hands off my buddy!" Odd runs towards him, only for Jeremy 2 to hold up his fist, punching him. Amy grips his fist from behind, getting shocked as his hand is surrounded by electricity. She lands on the ground just as her sister reaches the top.

Her feet touch the top pad as she steps up to the interview. She presses her hand against it.

_Aelita_

_Code _

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated," She declares as the codes disappear around her.

The clone suddenly stops, exploding into pixels as he fades from existence.

Ulrich climbs into the room, Amy groaning and lifting herself up slowly.

The tower goes from red to white, Yumi smiling in relief...

But she forgot about something.

William lands behind her, causing her to turn around in alarm. She stares at him sadly at his current state and he approaches her, pointing his sword right at her. A rock lands into the Digital Sea, and she gasps, realizing what he's trying to do.

"Jeremy, William's trying to push me into the Digital Sea!"

"Yumi, I'll bring you back in," Jeremy reaches towards the computer.

The tip of his sword gets closer and closer.

"Oh no!" Jeremy exclaims at the damage the clone caused with Odd earlier. "It's not working!"

"What do you expect? Everything's breaking up!"

"That's bad news," Ulrich frowns up at it. He really hated the rule about not being able to go immediately back to Lyoko after being devirtualized.

"Only one thing left to do. Come on, Ames!" Odd takes her hand and pulls her towards the ladder.

The tip of the blade is right at her neck...but then William retracts it and stands in front of Yumi. He lightly caresses her cheek with his finger and she wonders if it's the real William for a moment...and then he pushes her. She grabs his arm, pulling him with her towards the Digital Sea.

She screams as they both fall. She looks up towards the platform.

Odd and Amy come flying in, Odd using his Overboard while the brunette is flying. Amy's new avatar consists of a mermaid leafy green tube top, a translucent pale green miniskirt over pink leggings with green stripes around them and matching pink high-heeled ankle boots. Her hair stays the same length and color as her previous avatar, but now it's fully secured in a low ponytail secured only near the bottom by a pink flower. Her bangs are left out of the ponytail. There are also two pink and purple flowers in her hair as a clip near her right ear. There is also a green thistle ribbon tied around her right arm, and her seashell-shaped wings have faded spring green and magenta colors, and have a hot pink border. On her shoulders are tattoos that look like Kiki.

Odd has actually small cat ears on his head as he has a faded purple bodysuit, Kiwi's face on his shoulder pads. He still retains the stripes on his face and he has purple kneepads. A Kiwi symbol is on his chest as well. He also has a silver belt around his waist.

He catches her with the Overboard. "You didn't think we'd let you down, did ya?" The boy asks, turning around. They look towards William, who backflips into the Digital Sea. The three fly back towards the tower.

"Hey," Odd turns around to her. "What do you think of my new outfit, huh?"

She stares at the two, unable to say anything, but mostly because of what just happened. "Yeah, that's what I think too. But Ames, you look beautiful! Is there such a thing as improving what's already great?"

She giggles at him and if she could blush, she would've. "He makes a good point," Yumi speaks up. "I love the hair and skirt."

"Thanks. Both of you."

Jeremy taps enter. "Return to the past now."

Everything's engulfed in white.

* * *

Once time has been set back to normal, the others are sitting in the lab in silence. Jeremy wipes his glasses as they're all thinking the same dilemma...

William's still possessed by XANA. _And_ he's going to continue to be absent from school unless they come up with something, and something quick.

Aelita rubs the back of her head slowly. "...So there's no way of bringing him back, right?"

Jeremy puts his glasses back on. "Not for the time being."

"Have you got a plan B?" Yumi asks as he jumps out of his seat, facing them.

"Well...we haven't got any other choice. We'll have to make a copy of William to replace him here at the academy."

"Isn't that a little risky?" Ulrich wonders, crossing his arms.

"Yep," Jeremy answers knowingly. "But it's the only way to calm Jim and Delmas."

"Okay, but don't ever ask me to take the copy to the infirmary, okay?" Odd speaks up.

"And don't make him a flirt either," Amy narrows her eyes. "It was weird enough from your copy, the last thing I want for a _William _clone to get beat up."

"And you need to make sure that he's not fixated on Ames," Odd adds in.

* * *

Class for Yumi and the clone ends, the five waiting outside for them. "Hopefully William's copy hasn't developed emerging qualities like someone else I know," Odd comments, giving Jeremy a look.

"Hey, it was out of my control. You think I'd want my own copy to be a big flirty jerk?" He crosses his arms.

"He's never gonna let you live that down," Aelita giggles at Jeremy.

The two finally step out of the science building. "From this distance, he looks normal," Aelita eyes him.

"But up close?" Ulrich raises a brow at her.

Mr. Delmas walks up to the two. "Well, Dunbar, my boy, I'm glad to see that your fever has broken and you're feeling well," He places a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Uh, did I break anything else?"

Yumi glances at him awkwardly. Delmas just laughs, patting his arm. "Ah, don't forget to keep taking your medicines, eh?"

Yumi laughs nervously and he leaves. "Well, we're not out of the woods yet," Odd comments as they watch the exchange.

"It was the only way to make sure that whatever happened with Jeremy doesn't happen again..." Amy shrugs a little at the clone's stupidity. He would've given the clone William's qualities, but it wouldn't be the same, and no way were they allowing the clone to be possessed.


	70. Opening Act

**Angel: I used Flora's fairy forms as inspiration, but colors, wing shapes, and accessories are totally different with Amy's forms. Not to mention that Amy's powers within each Sector are limited. Thank you for 200 reviews!**

Yumi walks up to her friends, where they're all holding the Kadic News, much like everyone else. "Hi everybody!" She greets with a small smile.

"Hi Yumi," Jeremy greets back and she sits down next to Ulrich.

"What's happening, Yumi?" He asks casually.

"You mean to tell me there's actually real news in the Kadic News this time?" She raises a brow, looking over her shoulder to see that every single person has a copy.

"Don't tell me you haven't heard!" Odd exclaims at her. Ulrich simply shows her the paper and she reads it.

"Scoop of the year, blah blah blah, Chris coming to Kadic, blah blah blah, too amazing...wait, as in Chris from the-"

"Subdigitials," Ulrich nods in confirmation.

"The drummer, and he'll be at Kadic today!" Odd adds in.

"He's my favorite member of the band," Amy smiles happily, pulling up a picture of the Subdigitals on her phone. "I went to go see them in concert in my hometown."

"Hey you guys, cool it," Yumi holds up a hand. "Sounds like a phony scoop."

"Yeah it sure does," Jeremy seems to agree with her. "Just another one of Milly and Tamiya's dumb stories."

"Well it could be for real. It seems that Chris is coming here to visit his uncle," Aelita explains, looking up from her paper.

"Huh? You mean that Chris has an uncle who works here?" Now Yumi's interested.

"I wonder who that can be," Aelita smirks a little.

"You too, Aelita?" Jeremy leans in forward a bit. "How can you believe that stuff?"

"Well, everyone else does, and it seems so far-fetched to not believe," Amy shrugs at him.

* * *

They step through the halls after lunch, everyone outside murmuring in excitement. "If it's true, who do you think his uncle really is?" Yumi asks the group while Odd and Amy are in front, still reading the paper.

"Fumet, Chardin, Mr. Delmas—not Mr. Delmas. Sissi could never be Chris' cousin," Ulrich could almost laugh at the thought.

"If she was, she'd be shouting it out to anyone willing to listen to her," Aelita chimes in.

"And that'd be a world I don't wanna live in," Amy cringes at the possibility.

"What about Riley?" Ulrich couldn't help but wonder.

"Huh?! Michael Riley, the custodian? Right, well in that case, why not Jim?!" Odd exclaims, Amy holding out a hand to stop him.

"Odd, wait-!"

He bumps right into the man himself. "Well done, Della Robbia. Just as clumsy as ever."

"Jim! What a coincidence, we were just talking about you," Odd chuckles nervously.

"You were mostly gossiping," Amy whispers to him.

"Shh! Uh, yeah, it seems that the Sub Digital's drummer is coming to Kadic to visit his uncle and we thought you'd be the first to know."

"Uh, me?" Jim waves a hand. "No, what gave you an idea like that?"

"I almost forgot, how stupid of me!" Odd facepalms himself. "That's not your style of music at all, is it, Jim? You're more into like oldies, huh?"

"Yeah, but, wait a second, I also happen to like rock music, and I love the Subdigitals! Those guys are very talented artists, especially my nephew. He's really great."

Amy gasps at his sudden declaration. "Hey, I was right!" Odd exclaims excitedly, "You're Chris' uncle! I can't believe it!"

"Uhh, I didn't say that, did I?" Jim asks anxiously.

"Uh huh, you sure did, Jim." Odd turns around to the others. "That's what he said, right?"

He sighs slowly, sagging his shoulders. "Okay, okay, Chris is my nephew. But-"

"Wow, that's what I call a sensational scoop!" Odd smiles to his girlfriend and friends.

"I'm counting on you all not to tell anybody, especially you, Della Robbia," Jim narrows his eyes at the boy. "I don't want this getting around."

"I promise not to tell a living soul, Jim."

* * *

Though he does, and a few minutes later, Jim gets chased by Subdigital fans. "JIM!"

"Hey, you got the wrong guy!" He shouts at them, running past the cafeteria. "I don't know any Chris! I never heard of the guy, you hear? Go away, away I say!"

Tamiya takes a bunch of photos in the auditorium once Chris himself has arrived. "My dear Chris," Mr. Delmas starts off, "On behalf of the entire staff and student body of Kadic Academy, I would like to wish you a very warm welcome."

The students all cheer as he approaches the podium. "The floor is all yours."

Chris smiles, holding up a hand. "Good morning, everyone, and thank you for all for this enthusiasm," He greets the crowd. "As I guess all of you know, I came here to visit my uncle," He turns to Jim with a smile. "But there's another reason as well. The Subdigitals have decided to do a school tour to discover new talent and to develop that talent by giving you guys a chance to be the opening act at our next concert!"

The five turn to each other in surprise. The crowd erupts in excited cheers. "And thanks to the kind authorization of your principal, we've organized an audition for this afternoon in your gymnasium!"

* * *

Odd bursts into his room, followed by Ulrich, Yumi, and Amy walking behind him. "Where did it go?! I was positive I put it here!" He digs through a box.

"Since when do you actually put any of your things away, Odd?" Ulrich retorts as he stands behind the blonde.

"Ha ha, very funny!" Odd calls out as he looks up in annoyance. "You know, you guys could give me a hand!"

"If you tell us what you're looking for, maybe we could help," Yumi suggests to him.

"Can't exactly look if we don't know what it is," Amy shakes her head in amusement.

"My CD demo! Ohh, I absolutely have to play it for Chris!"

The Japanese girl inspects Kiwi's drawer, seeing a disc underneath the tiny dog. "Well, you did put it away, in Kiwi's drawer."

"Let's see," Odd snatches it from her. "Oh thanks! My adorable little diggity dog," He rubs Kiwi's head, kissing Amy on the cheek.

"Hmm," Yumi glares at him for the lack of appreciation.

"Glory and fame are just around the corner. I hope not too many kids show up."

It's the exact opposite as they look at a long line in front of the gym. It seems as if everyone wants to audition...

"Uh, you were saying?" Ulrich turns to Odd, who just hums in disappointment. It'll take forever to get through the line.

* * *

Aelita is searching through the room she shares with Amy to look for her demo. "Hmm..."

Kiki barks and she looks over to the dog, who's peeking through a box that the brunette had left behind before she left. Aelita peeks inside and smiles when she sees her own CD labeled 'Aelita remix.' "Ah! There you are!"

She laughs happily, bending down to the dog and petting her. Kiki barks at the contact from the girl, wagging her tail. Aelita giggles at her and stands up, about to leave when Jeremy comes into the doorway.

"Jeremy, it's you!"

"Yeah, I was thinking, Aelita, since Delmas cancelled classes today, we can make some headway on the program for our new virtual ship!"

He would do it himself, but she was on Lyoko for most of her life, and he could use some of her input.

"Well...I'd like to, but..." She looks away and he notices what's in her hand.

"Oh no, come on, don't tell me you're gonna waste your time going to that audition! Imagine what XANA might be plotting on the network even while we're talking! We've gotta find a way to travel there a-and I was counting on you, Aelita!"

"Alright," She slowly puts her disc into her pocket. "I won't go."

He smiles gratefully at her while Kiki just growls at him.

* * *

"Chris has got to choose my demo," Sissi waves her own disc in her hand in front of the others. "He's got a good ear for talent, and then I'll be the greatest DJ star of all time!"

Odd turns to her in annoyance as he's standing right behind them. "The biggest DJ of all time, huh? What does DJ stand for, dumb jerk?!"

"Just cool it, Odd," She warns him, turning to him with a glare. "You'll eat those words when you see me in a stretch limo!"

"I guess I don't have to then since my own Ames drives around in one!" He smirks at her and she growls, turning back to the line. Amy pats Odd's shoulder in comfort. He looks towards his CD in worry of what Chris will think.

"Odd, don't worry. You'll see, your mix will blow everyone away," Yumi glances at Ulrich with a smug smile.

"Yeah, as long as you don't bust our eardrums," Ulrich jokes to him.

"Hey man, with friends like you, who needs enemies? Thanks for your support, Ulrich!"

"Oh, Odd, come on," Amy hugs him from behind. "You'll do great! Don't listen to anyone who says otherwise."

Matthias is doing his turn with Chris, who bites his pen a little. The boy turns off the music, but it's not in the drummer's interest. "Thank you, uh...Matthias, is that right?"

"Uhh, yeah," He replies and Chris crosses out the name.

"Next!"

"Hello, I'm Sissi Delmas, the daughter of Jean-Pierre Delmas, the school principal," Sissi greets him and he gives a blank look as Herb and Nicolas are standing behind him with big smiles. She giggles nervously and decides to continue. "I'm gonna play my best track for you, it's called I'm Headed for the Stars!"

"Okay Sissi, I hope it really takes off for ya," He points his pen at her.

"You won't believe your ears, Chris!" She inserts the record and once it plays, it's so ear-shattering that it breaks the glass from Chris' table. Nicolas and Herb clap for her while he holds up a hand.

"Thank you, Sissi..." She was right...

He couldn't believe his ears at how awful it was.

"Hey Sissi, your stretch limo have a flat tire?" Odd jokes as the others walk past them.

"Dork!" She calls out and Amy rolls her eyes at the girl.

Odd inserts his music. "Ah hello, my name is Odd Della Robbia, and I think I'd better explain that my music is a little experimental. Actually, uh, well, pretty different. Well anyway, you're gonna love it! My Ames does!"

"Hm?" Amy looks up at being addressed, Chris looking over his shoulder.

"Well, isn't that sweet?"

She smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

* * *

"You see, this is where I'm stumped," Jeremy is explaining to Aelita, who's not really paying attention. "I still don't understand the real nature of the transitional interface between Lyoko and the network. Even though I've gone over and over the flux, and...hey, Aelita, are you listening?"

"Huh?" All she can think about is the audition. "Oh, I'm sorry, could you say that again?"

"Oh, never mind..." He sighs lightly, turning back to his computer. "There might be a way. I discovered that we could reconfigure the navigation parameters in relative function to the frequency of the flux-"

* * *

Odd finishes his demonstration. "And there you go!"

"Um, uh...well, um..." He has no words as the three glance to each other. "I..."

"Odd. Odd Della Robbia. And what you just heard is just a little taste of what I can do! I swear, I've got lots of other tracks. You wanna hear them?" He places down the headphones.

"Some other time maybe...thanks a lot, uh, Odd."

He walks back towards his friends, placing down his disc in disappointment. Once he joins them, they escort him towards the exit in sympathy.

"I was good, wasn't I?"

"Well...you gave it your best shot. That's the main thing," Yumi tells him.

"One thing's for sure, you said it was different, and you weren't lying," Ulrich adds in.

"At least he heard it," Amy kisses his cheek and he smiles a little. Jim walks into the room, seeing the four leave. He walks up to his nephew, who looks very stressed.

"Well now, kip, have you found a future star?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, Uncle Jim," He replies, to Jim's confusion.

* * *

Jeremy's computer beeps and he stares at it, appalled. "What do you mean, system error? Okay...don't blow your cool, Jeremy. We'll just shift the polarity of the contact flux and uh...hand me those figures, huh?"

He notices her staring off into space again. "Are you okay, Aelita?"

"...Something wrong?" She asks after a few seconds.

"It's okay, I can finish up on my own. If you wanna go, you can go."

"Are you sure?" She questions slowly.

"Yeah. I think I know what's holding us up," He gestures to his computer.

"Okay! I'm off then!" She stands up and runs out the door. "See you later! I have to call Amy!" He gives a deep sigh, turning around.

* * *

"It's not that simple," Chris is standing outside the gym with...Jim. "It's all part of this promotional operation. If we don't bring the record company some new talent, they'll be down on me like a ton of bricks. They've already made us change our name."

"Don't worry, my boy, there's gotta be a youngster around here with a ton of talent." As he's saying this, Aelita runs right past them.

Amy turns the corner and accidentally steps in mud near the track, groaning at the sight. "No time to fix 'em!"

"A few words for the Kadic News, Chris?" Milly calls out as she and Tamiya arrive.

"Just one or two questions!"

"Can I have an autograph, Chris?"

He sighs a little; what was he gonna do? He's already heard everyone...

The sisters slide into the gym, only to see that it's empty. "Oh no! I'm too late!"

"Odd must've been the last one..." Amy frowns a little. "Well...maybe you should still play it anyway. I could use a little break after the running. And then afterwards, we can go."

"Okay..." Aelita glances towards the station.

"When's your next concert?"

"Are you working on a new outline?"

"Calm down. He can't answer your questions if you all talk at once," Jim tries to settle the students down. "Now let's try it one at a time."

Chris hears Aelita playing and stops. "Hold on! Quiet down! That's fantastic, it's what i've been looking for all day today!"

Unfortunately, a tower in the forest sector gets activated by XANA.

By the time the drummer reaches the gym, but the two girls are already gone. "Hey, I, uh...oh no, I'm too late." He looks towards the ground.

"Whoa..." Chris looks at the muddy footprints, noting the dance moves. "And this one's got moves! Ah, I know that the record company is looking for music, but...I just can't let this girl slip by!"

Electricity sparks by the mixing board and a specter appears, approaching the man.

* * *

Aelita is sitting near the vending machine, Amy's hand on her back to try and cheer her up. "And you figure that compared to the rest of the candidates, I've got a pretty good chance of getting picked! Just thinking about being the opening act for the Subdigitals gives me the chills!"

"Uh..." Yumi glances to Ulrich skeptically.

"Odd, uh, it's not in the bag just yet."

"At least we tried, Aelita," Amy whispers to her.

"You guys want a scoop?" Milly and Tamiya approach the group.

"Chris finally found the opening act he was looking for," Tamiya adds in.

"I knew it! Fame, fortune, and glory are all mine now!" Odd cheers happily.

"Forget about it. No one knows who it is, not even Chris!" Milly states, both girls giving him a blank look.

"What? But how can that be? I didn't stop repeating my name!"

"No, it happened after the auditions. All he did was hear the music and see the dance steps on the floor. He didn't see the DJ or the dancer along with the DJ."

"Huh?!" The girls perk up upon hearing it.

"I don't believe it! First a mystery DJ and now a dancer?!" Odd exclaims at this. "There's TWO people he's looking for?"

"He went to see the principal to see if he could find the Cinderellas, whoever they are." The two girls run past them, leaving them confused. "Huh? What's the matter with them?"

"Huh. Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go, I guess," Odd comments as they stare after the duo.

Jeremy gasps upon seeing the alert. "Oh no, a XANA attack!" He pulls out his phone.

"Yeah Jeremy?" Ulrich asks him.

"The super scan has just picked up an activated tower. We've got to get to the factory fast."

"Okay, but Amy and Aelita took off, and no one knows where they went."

"Wait for me under the arches. I'll stop by their room first. See you in a few minutes," Jeremy hangs up with him.

* * *

The two sisters run up to Chris, who's leaning against the wall. "Chris!" They shout and he doesn't respond.

"I was looking for you. I wanted to give you this and introduce you to-"

He grips their wrists suddenly. Aelita drops the CD as they both struggle with him. "Chris, what are you doing?!" Amy demands and she looks up to see sunglasses flashing with the XANA symbol. "Oh my god. Aelita, run, I'll-"

He suddenly shocks them and they fall unconscious.

Milly and Tamiya walk up to Chris, who has the girls over his shoulders. "Chris!" Tamiya smiles at him.

"I bet you found out who the mystery DJ and dancer duo are! Is it-" They both gasp as they see the situation, staring in shock as he just walks past them without a word.

"Hi, leave me a message," Aelita's voice says from Yumi's phone as she's met up with Ulrich and Odd.

"She's not picking up," Yumi stares at her mobile.

"Ames isn't either," Odd frowns at the voicemail that he and Amy made together.

"They're not in their room, either," Jeremy speaks up as he arrives. "Aelita and I were working together, but she wasn't concentrating. She was more interested in showing her demo to Chris at the audition."

"Oh, now I understand why she and Amy took off like rockets."

"Do you think they're the mystery duo?" Odd asks in surprise.

"Kind of looks like it."

"But why didn't Ames tell me?" Odd replies, a bit hurt that she kept this a secret.

"I'm sure she wanted to, but didn't have the time," Yumi places a hand on his shoulder.

"You mind filling me in?" Jeremy questions curiously.

"Don't worry, we'll tell you on the way," The Japanese girl replies to him. "You two go and find them. They must've gone to the principal's office to see Chris. Meet us at the factory."

Odd and Ulrich nod in unison. "Mhm."

Chris walks into the tunnel with the girls in tow.

* * *

Jeremy and Yumi run past the cafeteria, where Milly and Tamiya are sitting in front of the doors. Both of their eyes are wide as if they saw something unnatural.

"Huh?" The two come to a stop.

"You look like you're in shock. Did Sissi say something intelligent for once?" Yumi asks the two.

"Chris just kidnapped Amy and Aelita," Tamiya explains to them.

"What?!" Jeremy's eyes widen at her sentence.

"Yeah, we saw him pass by with them on his shoulders. He was totally weird, like the mad killer in Executioner 2," Milly stands up.

"Shouldn't we call the police?" Tamiya couldn't help but wonder.

"Uh, I wouldn't do that! That was just for the...the video! Ha, I mean, the new Subdigitals video. They're doing this science fiction thing with robots invading the school."

"Right, we've gotta go now. We've got parts in the next scene they're shooting," Jeremy jerks a thumb behind him and they take off, to the 8th graders' confusion.

* * *

"Yes Jeremy? Huh?" Ulrich and Odd are just reaching the principal's office. "Chris? Okay."

"Uh? Hey look!" Odd picks up Aelita's CD. "This has to be Aelita's demo."

Ulrich peeks through the door to see Chris and Jim talking. "Odd, look. Chris and Jim."

"Outside?" He turns to his friend.

"They walked right into the lion's den!"

"The girls aren't there," Odd joins him. "Chris must've looked them up somewhere!"

"That's weird..." Ulrich eyes them closer. "He doesn't look XANA-ified, does he?"

"Only one way to find out," Odd smirks at him.

"Look, kid," Jim places a hand on Chris' shoulder. "There's nothing to worry about. We're gonna find your duo."

"Chris," Odd steps in, followed by a smirking Ulrich. "Check out this CD, it's just what you're looking for!"

"Hey, Stern, Della Robbia, cut that out!" Jim orders them.

"It's important, look. We've got the demo Chris has been looking for!" Ulrich gestures to Odd. "And we have a video of the dancer right here!" He holds up a CD of Amy's dancing that Odd had on him. Sometimes he goes to the library and his computer to watch the video, and keeps it on his person in case he really needed to watch it quickly.

Chris takes the disc, but Odd holds it, staring into his eyes. "What's wrong? You want an autograph or what?" Both of them notice his eyes are normal, and not XANA-ified.

"Uh, sorry, Chris, but I..."

"Beat it, you two. Scram! And I'll take that," He snatches the disc from Ulrich. "And I suggest you watch your step. I got my eye on you! We'll discuss this later."

"I just don't get it..." Odd dejectedly puts his hands in his pockets, frowning at the possibilities of what XANA could do to Amy. "If he didn't kidnap Aelita or Ames, then it must have been-"

"A polymorphic specter!" They both realize at the same time.

* * *

Chris 2 has reached the lab, carrying the girls to the scanner room. He places them inside one each and teleports away. The virtualization process starts up for both just as Jeremy and Yumi arrive from the elevator.

They reach the computer, only to notice what's happening. "What's going on? Aelita! Amy!" He tries to stop it, but it's too late. "Oh! Too late!"

The two virtualize into the forest sector. Amy lands safely, catching her sister into her arms. "W-What...?" She notices where they are as she helps Aelita onto her feet. She slowly opens her eyes and looks around.

"What are we doing here...?"

"I think I know why..." Amy points up ahead as two Krabs and William are headed right towards them.

Odd and Ulrich run into the park as Ulrich's phone rings. "Yeah, Jeremy, I'm listening."

"You can stop looking for the girls: they're on Lyoko."

"We know, there's a polymorphic specter on the loose. Okay, we're on our way, we're at the secret passage." He puts away his phone and is about to open the cover when they hear laughing. They look up in surprise to see Chris and Jim walking up to them.

"You guys are as easy to track down as a caribou in the great north! Stay where you are, we have a few questions to ask you."

"Sorry Jim, but we don't have time," Ulrich gets onto his feet. "We have to-"

"Well, we happen to be in a hurry, too," Chris holds up both the discs. "Are you the one who put these together?"

"Well, yeah, uh, no, the DJ is a friend of mine, Aelita. And the girl from the video is my girlfriend, Amy."

"What's their last names?" He asks curiously.

"What's the difference, they're in danger, and that's why we're in such a big hurry!" Ulrich changes the subject. He knows that Chris wants to track them down, but the situation right now was not a good time for it.

"What do you mean in danger? What's this all about?"

"Take us to them immediately, unless you'd rather settle this in the principal's office!"

They glance to each other, a little skeptical of allowing them to go to the lab. It was either risking their secret or delaying time to save them by going to Mr. Delmas.

"Okay then, come with us. But let me warn you about two things: try to avoid asking any questions, and get ready for a workout."

"Works for me, Stern, there's no work that I like better than working out!"

* * *

"Jeremy, I'm ready," Yumi announces from a scanner.

"_Okay, here we go_."

The scanner closes around her. "Scanner Yumi. Transfer Yumi. Virtualization."

Amy stands in front of Aelita protectively, swiftly pulling out her spear. Aelita prepares an orb. "Energy field!"

William slices it into bits. He hits her with smoke and Amy narrows her eyes, clenching a fist. Suddenly vines surround him, to her surprise. Despite that, he cuts right through them.

"What just happened?" Amy looks between her hands and William.

"Upgrade," Aelita tells her with a tiny smile. "It came with your outfit. You can control the elements of each sector in any way you want now. And you're not limited to just four powers per sector, either."

"Great! That'll be really helpful from now on while dealing with nasties like him," She directs a glare towards William. He's about to attack them when two fans fly in. The Krabs turn around to see Yumi standing a few feet away. She catches her weapons into her hands.

"You may be possessed by XANA, but you're still a rookie on Lyoko, William," She quips to him.

"Attack!" He orders the Krabs and they turn their attention on her instead. She flips from their lasers, spinning around as her hands touch the grass. Aelita smiles at her in relief, seeing William in front of them. Amy flashes green light in William's eyes, distracting him for a moment to allow the two to take off. Amy flies Aelita away from him and when he gets his sight back, he notices the two getting away.

"Follow them!" He points to the two, so that he can battle Yumi alone.

"Hey William!" She calls out, pulling out her fans. She runs up towards him, tossing her weapons and flipping into the air. He dodges her fans, but not the kick at him. He lands, sliding to a stop before approaching her again. She lands on his back, knocking him onto the ground.

"Jeremy, where are Odd and Ulrich? We're gonna need some back-up over here!"

"They're on their way. Meanwhile, try to get to the activated tower. It's directed south of your position." As he's speaking, purple electricity forms behind him, forming into the fake Chris. "I'll bring you up a vehicle."

The four run across the bridge.

Yumi backflips away from William's sword, tossing her fans. He deflects them like it was nothing, running towards her. She jumps into the air, catching her weapons.

The Krabs are chasing after the girls, tilting their heads up and firing at Amy. She flies around them, approaching a dead end. She comes to an abrupt stop, looking around at her surroundings.

"Hang on, sis!"

She dives forward into the air, flying towards the other side. Aelita looks over her shoulder, as the Krabs are unable to get past the large gap that will surely guarantee a drop into the Digital Sea.

"What's wrong, ladies? Having a bad leg day?" Aelita teases them, taking it back as another Krab fires at them from behind. Amy turns right and continues flying, the lone Krab trailing after them.

Chris 2 suddenly grabs Jeremy out of his spot and throws him onto the ground.

Yumi has taken off into a run, William following after her. "Jeremy, where's that vehicle, huh?" She wonders, coming to a stop. "The old William was hard to get rid of, but this one is a lot worse!" She turns to her opponent, pulling out her fans again. She tosses them into the air and they go flying towards William. She uses her telekinesis as he swings at them. The fans fly out of view and then hit him in the back.

Ulrich and Odd arrive with Jim and Chris, Jeremy landing in front of him. "Jeremy!" Ulrich and Odd check on him.

"What is this place?" Jim asks, looking up. "A mad scientist hideout?"

Then they notice the clone. "Who's that guy over there, a stunt double or a clone?"

"A polymorphic specter," Ulrich answers to Chris.

"Yeah well, specter or not, he's not getting my autograph," Chris walks up to the look-alike, who grabs him by the shirt and throws him onto the floor.

"Hey, hands off my nephew, pal," Jim steps in and restrains him. "Now you'll see what it's like to mess with an old Special Forces Agent!"

The polymorphic specter teleports out of his hold, shocking the gym teacher. "Hey, we really need you, Einstein, so wake up!"

Jeremy sits up, rubbing his head as Jim is thrown at the wall. "Get to—get to the scanner room," Jeremy stammers immediately. "Aelita and Amy, they're in trouble. Hurry up!"

Chris 2 walks up to them, only to get hit by the real Chris. "Hey, what's going on around here?" He demands to the trio.

"I told you not to ask any questions," Ulrich tells him, standing up.

Amy looks back at the Krab still following them, coming to a stop as another one is approaching up ahead. Amy flies past them, and one of them eventually hits her wings, causing both of them to fall. Aelita hangs onto the edge as Amy slides to a stop near her.

"Jeremy..." She pleads for him to answer.

Odd and Ulrich run into the scanners. "All set, Jeremy."

"_Okay, first let me program an Overwing_," He replies as the doors enclose the boys in.

He types as quickly as he can, the Overwing virtualizing. Aelita falls and Amy wakes up, overlooking tnhe edge.

"No!"

The Overwing appears underneath Aelita, saving her. Amy sighs in relief.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd."

"Thanks Jeremy," Aelita stands up. "That was a close one."

"_Move out, girls, hurry up!_" He urges the two.

"Alright," Aelita appears in front of Amy to show that she's okay, just as the OverRunner appears in front of the fairy. She jumps onto it and drives away, following after her sister. Before the Krabs can do anything, the boys are virtualized.

Ulrich lands in front of one while Odd lands on top of it. "Hey there, you little crab cakes! Did you miss us?" He fires his arrow at the eye. "Yeah!" He lands on the grass, putting up his feet so that Ulrich can jump off them, flipping on top of the other Krab. He pulls out his sword and hits the eye.

"Impact!"

He lands back on the grass, putting his sword back in place. "You can have the last one. Super sprint!" He runs off.

"Great! I love having seconds," Odd stands there bravely.

Chris 2 reappears, Jim looking up. "I'll get rid of that imposter now! No one does that to me and gets away with it! Geronimo!" He tackles the wrong Chris, as he was unable to tell them apart.

"No, Uncle Jim!"

They fall onto the ground, Chris unconscious. Jim realizes his mistake too late as the specter then forms into Jim himself.

Yumi backflips away from William's swings, which hit the ground instead. She takes out her fans and throws them, but he knocks them away from him. She notices a lake behind her while getting the weapons back, running towards the logs. She flips onto them, William following her. He hits her with smoke, knocking her down. She looks up and is unable to stop him from devirtualizing her. He hears something and looks up ahead to see the girls heading for the tower. He turns around to see Ulrich arriving. He jumps onto the log.

"If you're trying to get a date with Yumi, I'm not so sure that's the right way."

Yumi grunts once she's out of the scanner. She's been bested by him again...

The two stare at each other while standing on the log. Ulrich makes the first move, pulling out his swords and running towards his opponent.

"You'll have to be a math genius to know that there's one too many Jims here! Reminds me of the time I fought against Hurricane Windstorm in Vegas, back in 94."

Chris regains consciousness, taking a crowbar and preparing to hit the specter with it. "The third round I just won-"

He swings the crowbar...only for the specter to duck, and it hits his uncle in the face. "Uh...Oh, I'm sorry. I..."

"How are you guys doing? We've got our hands full here and if this keeps up, the Subdigitals are gonna need a new drummer!"

Jim 2 approaches Chris with a growl.

"We're doing our best, Einstein!" Odd runs on all fours away from the Krab. He runs up a tree, the Krab still firing at him. "Okay, let's get down to business!" He backflips, flying above the Krab. "Laser arrow!" He fires three times and destroys the monster, taking off.

William and Ulrich are still battling, Ulrich swinging his swords around. William does the same, but his adversary jumps over it. He tries to stab Ulrich into devirtualization, but he jumps backwards, the large sword now stuck in the log. Ulrich runs up to William, preparing to devirtualize him then and there, though he uses Super Smoke to disappear, then kick him behind the log. Ulrich shakes his head, his eyes widening as he clashes swords with William again. He runs off and William narrows his eyes.

"Manta!"

Ulrich looks behind him to see the monster appearing. William jumps off the log and Ulrich now finds himself surrounded. If he moved, instant goner. The Manta fires at him while William pushes Ulrich backwards with the sword. Suddenly the Manta is destroyed, courtesy of Odd.

"Hey guys!" He greets, flying his Overboard. William looks up, distracted as Ulrich jumps backwards.

Aelita finally reaches the tower, jumping off the Overwing. She runs inside, reaching the center. She flies up towards the top.

Chris's neck is grabbed by Jim 2, who threatens to electrocute him.

Aelita does a flip, reaching the top pad. She lands on it and presses on her hand onto the interface, deactivating the tower.

"Tower deactivated."

Amy smiles as she watches the color change, the specter completely disappearing. Jim gives Chris an accusing look for the injury, the drummer chuckling innocently.

William looks around and lowers his sword. "Don't worry, William. I'll fight you every step of the way," Ulrich declares and the boy super smokes away.

"Belpois, I want an explanation right now!" Jim and Chris approach the boy. "What is going on and what in the world is all this equipment for?!"

"I would, but, I'm getting tired of explaining it to you, Jim, cuz in 10 seconds, you won't remember any of it, anyway," Jeremy replies, as this must've been the 6th time that the gym teacher has discovered the lab.

"Not so fast!" Chris speaks up. "First tell me who Aelita and Amy are!"

"Mm. Return to the past now," Jeremy presses enter. He would've, but Chris still wouldn't remember anyway.

Everything is engulfed in white and turned back to normal.

* * *

"I finally figured out what was wrong with my demo," Odd smiles as the four are back in line. "I didn't push the second break with a series of scratches. You'll see, I'll do a lot better next time. Are you okay, Ames?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," She smiles at him. "Good luck."

"Well, I guess in the end, XANA's attack ended up giving us another free afternoon to work on our virtual ship," Jeremy turns to his computer, him and Aelita back in his room. "Huh, Aelita?"

She nods with a hum, a knock being heard. "Come in!"

Chris himself opens the door. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Aelita Stones."

"Uhh, that's me," Aelita smiles to him with a wave. "But, uh..."

"I'm really glad to meet you, Aelita," He holds up her disc. "I heard your demo and I think it's really great! Can we go over to the gym? I'd love to hear it live!"

"Oh, but I have a dancer, my close friend Amy-"

"Oh, Amelia Smith? I saw her video as well, and I'm actually on my way to go get her right now."

"...I'd like to, but I'm not sure I can," Aelita glances over to Jeremy.

"Go on, it's an offer you can't refuse," Jeremy tells her.

"Okay then, let's go!" She places down the laptop, running out the door. "By the way, how'd you get a hold of my demo? And of Amy's dance video?"

"Oh, one of your friends gave it to me."

Jeremy smiles, as he's the one who did that...with help from Amy sneaking it in to his room. What she didn't know was that he got her dance video from Odd. He realized now that he can't hold Aelita back from having fun, and she really wanted the opportunity.

* * *

"Amy Smith?"

Her eyes widen at the sudden voice, turning around to see Aelita and Chris standing behind them. "C-Chris!" Odd stammers at the sight of him, and he approaches Amy with a smile.

"Are you Amy?"

"Y-Yes, that's me," She stammers nervously. "How do you know my name?"

"Aelita's told me all about you," He gestures to the pink-haired girl, who smiles. "Said that you're the one who dances to all her beats."

"Err...yes," She rubs the back of her neck. "That'd be me."

"I was wondering if you could show me some of your moves," He grins down at her, the people in the line being well aware of his presence. Some of them are in awe, while others like Sissi are looking on in jealousy.

"Whoa," Ulrich blinks at the brunette.

"M-Me?! Well...I'd be happy to!"

"And your friends can come too," He points to Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd.

They all gasp in awe as Amy bounces up and down. "Thank you, Chris!"


	71. Wreck Room

Odd is brushing his teeth in the bathroom when Ulrich comes in, drying his hair with a towel. "You're not sick, are you, Odd? Usually you start the day singing something from Paco the King of Disco," He points out to his friend.

"I dreamt about a deadly epidemic that was transmitted by potatoes, meaning there was no more French fries or mashed potatoes for lunch. And then Ames went and left me! Do you believe in nightmares like that?"

"Absolutely," Ulrich smiles a little. "But don't worry, if you ask Einstein nicely, he'll program you some virtual fries. And please, the last thing Amy would do is leave you. After all, she risked her spot here at Kadic for ya with her fake father."

"Food is sacred and so is my Ames, Ulrich, so no jokes, okay?!" Odd frowns in disapproval towards Ulrich, pointing his toothbrush at him.

"Speaking of Einstein, I wonder where he is," Ulrich looks away.

Ulrich opens the door to Jeremy's room, to find the genius boy rested over his keyboard, fast asleep. He smirks in amusement, walking over and shaking him a little.

"Hey Jeremy, forget you had a bed?"

"Huh?" Jeremy sits up awake, adjusting his glasses. "I spent the night on the recovery program to bring back William. Hey, what's the time?"

"Ten two. Better hurry, we wouldn't wanna miss the blockbuster math class on Thales' theorem, would we?" Ulrich replies as he steps towards the door.

Jeremy stretches his arms. "Okay. See you there. Anyway, I finished the program. Soon as classes are over, we can launch it!"

Ulrich smiles and waves at him, leaving Jeremy to get ready on his own.

* * *

Jeremy slides up to a happy Rosa. "Hello Jeremy! Amelia told me that you'd be arriving late."

"Oh, really?" He blinks at her.

"Yes, she almost dragged Odd out of the line when he wanted to take your portion," She chuckles at the memory.

Jeremy walks up to his friends, sitting down and smiling gratefully at Amy. "Well done. No sleep, and almost no meal. Nothing like leading a healthy life," Ulrich comments to him, Aelita smiling in amusement.

Jeremy gives Odd a glare. "What's wrong? Ulrich told me that you were skipping breakfast, and I would've wasted a good meal myself if Ames hadn't pulled me by my ear out of the line!"

"Hey, I had a feeling that he'd eat, and I followed my instincts," She crosses her arms. "You'd hog it if it wasn't for me!"

"You want half of my banana as an apology?" Odd smiles sheepishly, holding it out to Jeremy.

"No thanks," Jeremy holds up a hand. "You can have it."

Odd swallows the half whole. "You better not deny that you pig out all the time," Aelita points at the boy.

"It's not exactly pigging out, it's more like a survival instinct."

"Huh? Survival?" Jeremy asks in confusion.

"Yeah. I've gotta store food reserves in case potatoes get contaminated or if my Ames decides to abandon me, leaving me to fend for myself! Like in the nightmare I had last night."

"What?" Amy stares at him, baffled.

"Your attention please, boys and girls," Mr. Delmas announces to everyone, waving a hand. "I have an important announcement to make."

"That's it, my nightmare's come true!" Odd puts his head into his hands. "Goodbye potatoes forever!"

"This afternoon after class, you will have the grand opening of the recreation room you've all been waiting for."

"Hm?" Odd removes his hands. "There's no epidemic! LONG LIVE FRENCH FRIES! YAHOO!" He then grabs Amy and gives her a bear hug, kissing her cheek repeatedly.

"Odd!" She exclaims at him. "People are staring!"

Mr. Delmas clears his throat. "This recreation room for boarding students was designed for relaxation. You will have at your disposal a foosball table in addition to a table for ping-pong, and a television set." The students all smile, clapping and cheering. "Alright, quiet down, please. Remember that with privileges come responsibilities meaning taking care of your rec room. And that responsibility begins today with the election of a monitor to supervise its use."

* * *

Once lunch is over, a group has gathered around outside the cafeteria. Yumi walks up to her friends. "Hi everybody. What's happening?"

"We have to elect a monitor for the new rec room," Aelita looks over her shoulder with a smile. Jeremy checks his backpack.

"Oh no! I left my computer upstairs. I'll see you later."

"It seems to me that as the principal's daughter, I'm the most obvious choice," Sissi brags to them.

"No way, forget about it!" Odd denies, crossing his arms. "If Sissi's elected monitor, I think I'd rather go to the study hall. We want a rec room where we can have a little fun."

"Oh yeah?" She demands, hands on her hips. "Then who would you pick, huh, yourself?"

"Why not me? Or Ames for that matter? Remember, we were already elected class rep and vice president."

"Why are you bringing me into this?" Amy whispers to her boyfriend.

"Yeah, that's right!"

Some of the other students seem to agree. "No one would know that you're our rep. You never seem to have enough time."

She smirks smugly at the two, Yumi leaning in towards him. "She's right, Odd. XANA's not gonna give you the time to supervise anything."

"It's none of your business, Yumi! You're a day student. Of course, if Odd is elected, you and your little gang will take over the rec room."

"Like you won't with Herb and Nicolas?! Mind your own business, Sissi!" Amy hisses at her and the two glare at each other.

"Okay, what's going on?" Jim asks as he approaches them. "Time to go to class, go on now."

"But we're trying to elect the rec room monitor, Jim, and we-"

"You call all this screaming an election?!" Ironically, he's the one screaming right now as her hair slightly flies. "We're gonna do this demographical! Demographtically...we're gonna vote, okay? You, and you, over there."

He points to Odd and Sissi. "Now let's see...Fiquet, Leduc, Dunbar, over here." Anais and Emily walk up to him.

"Huh? Is that me?" William 2 asks cluelessly.

"Come on, we haven't got all day! Now, whoever wants to vote for Anais Fiquet, hands up now."

Jeremy makes it back to his room, grabs his laptop, and quickly leaves.

"With two votes more than Elizabeth Delmas, the winner is...Dunbar!"

His eyes widen, people turning to him in surprise. Sissi just huffs, looking away. "Ha ha, I won!" William 2 cheers. "Does anyone know what I won?"

The Lyoko Warriors all stare at him, wondering if that was really the best decision. It's not any better than if it had been Sissi instead. "And now everyone, break ranks. I'll tell the principal who won the election," He walks off towards the principal's office.

"Oh, William?" Milly walks up towards him. "How about a word for the Kadic News? Some of the kids think you were elected because you're not part of a group. Do you think it's a victory for a democracy?"

"Uh, democracies? Who's he, anyway? I thought it was me who won this time."

Jeremy runs up to the group, back with his computer as he hears everyone laughing at William 2.

"Hey, what happened?"

"A disaster," Yumi answers for him.

* * *

"Now then, to sum up Thales' theorem, in a triangle ABC if I as appointed..."

"This _is _a disaster," Jeremy whispers once he's heard who's monitor. "William's copy doesn't have the same personality as the original...he can blend in with the crowd, but alone he stands out like a sore thumb."

"And you can't give him the same personality either after what happened with yours," Amy murmurs over her shoulder.

"Well, at least for now, nobody thinks what he says is stupid. They think he's like a comedian."

"Yeah, but they're bound to get onto him. After school, I'd better launch the recovery program for getting back the real William," Jeremy explains to them.

"I hope it works, Jeremy, cuz the one we have now is about as brilliant as Kiwi."

Odd, having heard this, whips around to Ulrich. "Hey, my dog is very, very, intelligent so there!"

"Odd," Amy warns him.

"Odd, do you want to add a corollary to Thales' theorem?" The math teacher asks and he cringes, turning around.

"What collar, ma'am? No, my dog doesn't have any fleas. Uh, I mean, I don't have a dog, or fleas either."

Some of the students laugh as Amy shakes her head at him. "Real nice..."

* * *

The bell rings for the end of class and the students run out. The five meet Yumi in the hall. "Well, I'll run over to the factory now and start the recovery program, and then-"

"I'll go with you," Aelita interrupts, placing a hand on his shoulder. "That way, we can both welcome William home, okay?"

"Yeah, why not?" He smiles at her gratefully.

"We'll go to the rec room so there'll be four of us to stop his double from doing anything dumb," Ulrich tells the two, the others smiling a little.

"Odd, can I talk to you?" Amy asks him and he looks towards his friends in confusion. Jeremy and Aelita just shrug, heading towards the lab. The brunette leads him away and smiles towards her boyfriend. "Ulrich told me about your nightmare."

"H-He did?!" He stammers nervously, wondering what she'll do.

"Yeah, but I just wanted to tell you...that I love you and that I couldn't leave you even if I wanted to."

"Yahoo! I still have a girlfriend!" He cheers for everyone around to hear, some people giggling at him.

* * *

William struggles to open the door, but he's turning it the wrong way. "Oh no, the lock is broken."

"You're turning the key the wrong way, you chowderhead!" Jim calls out and once the door is open. The students step in to explore, happy with the sight. Just as promised, there's a TV, a foosball table, and a ping-pong table.

"Now I want you all to behave like adults. And don't forget, this recreation room is under _your _responsibility," Jim warns the group. He looks away and his eyes widen in awe. "Whoa! Ping pong, my favorite game!"

"And he wants us to behave like adults," Amy rolls her eyes at him.

Jeremy and Aelita head for the lab, the girl taking his hands out of excitement. "Jeremy, William's coming back, I just can't wait!"

"Uh, me neither," He smiles anxiously at her touch.

"Listen, you kids. We're gonna break in this table right now! Okay, Della Robbia, over here. Best of three sets, are you ready?"

"Oh no, how am I gonna keep an eye on William?" Odd leans in towards the others.

"Go on, we'll handle him," Ulrich replies, Amy kissing his cheek.

"Good luck, pudding pop."

"William, could you open the fridge for me?" Heidi walks up to the boy.

"Huh?" He just looks confused and Yumi steps in between them.

"Hey, don't waste his time. Uh, the monitor should step back from things like that."

"Step back? If I do, I'll bang into the wall," He points to the pillar behind him and she sighs to herself, walking off to the fridge.

Jeremy has activated a tower to help with the program. "Are you gonna use the tower of William's clone?" Aelita looks at the screen.

"Yeah, because the original William's digital DNA is stored in that tower."

"Ha ha, 20 to 5!" Jim cheers as he's winning. "Nice point!" He hits the ball and Odd makes no effort to hit it. "We won, you lose! Heh heh. I was interstate champion when I was young. Why don't I tell you why I used to be called the Killer Raquet?"

"Eh, thanks Jim, maybe some other time," Odd waves it off, walking away. William 2 takes the ping pong ball.

"For once, I'd rather have talked about it," Jim shrugs at this. "Dunbar, don't just stand there like a statue! Come on, it's your turn."

Before William can move, Yumi grabs his arm. "Uh, Jim, he can't play and be monitor at the same time."

"I'll play against you, Jim!" Ulrich holds up a hand.

"No, no. I need someone of my caliber. Come on, let's see how you play, Dunbar."

Amy glances to the boy in worry, wondering just how this was gonna play out...

"Here goes..." Jeremy taps enter. In the desert sector, a tower is activated in green. William 2 serves first, and it flies right past Jim's head.

"Dunbar! Don't you know what ping-pong is all about?" Jim gives him a disapproving frown.

"No."

The four glance at each other at his answer.

Sissi is sitting in front of the TV with Nicolas and Herb, flipping through channels. "Just for you, ladies, this fabulous hair remover."

"TV ads are such a drag..." Nicolas frowns, hugging the pillow.

"I've got the remote, so I decide!"

"Why don't you switch over to one of the science channels, huh, Sissi?" Herb suggests to her.

"Yeah, sure."

"Really?!" He smiles happily. "Do you mean that?"

"What do you think, nerd?!" She retorts back, turning towards the TV.

A red alert beeps on the screen. "Oh no! There's a bug in the program. I sure hope it didn't put the tower offline..." Jeremy says as he gets to work on fixing it.

"It's already max point, Dunbar. Try to score one point at least," Jim taps the ball against the table. William 2 suddenly twitches a little, because of the bug. Jim serves and he hits it back, gaining a point. "That's impossible! Beginner's luck."

"Killer Raquet, was that it, Jim? Well, before I'm finished with you, they're gonna call you Clumsy Raquet! Ready?" He's suddenly talking like the original, and his face has changed from dumb to confident.

"Ahh...well, we'll just see about that!"

"I'll bet you that Einstein just tweaked the program," Ulrich murmurs as they stare at him.

"Anyway, we've gotta come up with something, and right now," Yumi whispers to them.

"I have an idea," Odd offers and steps up to William 2.

"Your serve, Dunbar."

The blonde fake sneezes, messing up the serve. "Ah! Della Robbia, you're trying to distract me or what, you little cheater?!"

"Hey, out of the way, loser," William 2 waves Odd away.

"I'll call Jeremy," Yumi holds up her phone and dials him.

"Yumi, what's up?" He asks into the microphone.

"What's up with you? He's worse than ever!"

"The program has bugged some files in the tower...but I don't know which ones. And it's impossible to deactivate so I can begin all over again," While he's speaking, Aelita walks away from the chair.

"We'll have to deactivate the program manually. I'm going to Lyoko."

"All alone? No!" Jeremy immediately disagrees. With the original William still after her, if he sees her alone, it's one trip to the Digital Sea for her. "It's too dangerous!"

"The super scan doesn't show any XANA attack," She looks over her shoulder. "Anyway, do we have a choice?"

He leans back in his chair, thinking for a second. If it was the only way to fix the program...

"No. Okay...but be careful."

The doors close in front of her.

Jim and William 2 are going back and forth with their swings, the ball flying around. Some people have stopped to watch.

* * *

Aelita steps up to a scanner and steps inside. "Transfer Aelita. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization."

She's sent to the desert sector, landing safely. The tower is just a few feet away at her right side. She stands up and runs towards it, but when she tries to enter...it doesn't allow her to. "Jeremy, what's going on?"

"Oh no...Aelita, your identification file is all bugged up as well! The tower doesn't recognize you. It's too risky, I've gotta get you back."

"No, Jeremy...then I wouldn't be able to get back quickly if XANA attacks. _Try to debug the tower, I'll stay here and wait._"

Needless to say, this does nothing to reassure him. He still had a bad feeling about it. "I'm not convinced, Aelita..." He gets to work, and then he notices that three enemies are approaching Aelita. "Oh no! Aelita! I told you it was dangerous. You got visitors."

Three Tarantulas arrive at the tower. "I'm programming you an Overwing. You'd better take shelter in another tower."

He programs an Overwing for Aelita, tapping enter. She jumps onto it once it appears, flying above the Tarantulas.

"Catch me if you can, ladies~!" She teases, flying over their heads. However, the Tarantulas aren't focused on her, but on the tower itself.

"Bad news, XANA's trying to take over the tower," Jeremy frowns towards the screen.

"I'll handle the Tarantulas," She looks over her shoulder and turns the Overwing around. The Tarantulas stand in front of the tower.

* * *

William 2 twitches a bit, missing the ball. "Ha ha! It's max point again. You're not such a big shot now, huh?"

"I haven't even got a way to transfer energy from Sector 5 to protect the tower!" Jeremy laments, thinking he'd be able to do it like last time when they thought William had returned on his own. "That's also bugged up..."

Aelita flies towards the Tarantulas, and they immediately open fire on her. She holds up her arm.

"Energy field!" She throws the pink projectile and misses.

William 2 stands there blankly as the ping pong ball goes flying past him. "Finito! Out! Basta! Yours truly, Big Jim the Killer Raquet strikes again!"

Amy's phone rings from her jacket pocket and she plucks it out. "Phew. Einstein saved us in the nick of time." She sees the message and sees the symbol.

"Not really. XANA alert, let's get to the factory, and quick!"

Aelita swings around the Overwing, the tower turning red.

William 2 opens his eyes to show the evil symbol in his pupils. He tackles Yumi onto the ground, shocking everyone around them.

"Dunbar! What's the matter with you?" Jim grabs him from behind, and William 2 punches him away. He squeezes at Yumi's neck, the students running out the door. Ulrich grabs a chair and hits William 2 with it. He flickers and lands next to the Japanese girl.

"Yumi, are you okay?" Amy bends down to her friend.

"Yeah..."

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Odd helps his girlfriend pull up Yumi, all four of them running out the door. William 2 gains consciousness, glaring up at them.

"Let's split up! That way, two or three of us will get to the factory!" Yumi suggests to them.

"Okay!" The three say in unison. Odd grabs Amy's hand and runs right, Ulrich going left. Yumi continues running forward.

Sissi suddenly grabs Ulrich's arm. "What's gotten into William?! Why did he turn into Dr. Shrank?"

He looks over his shoulder to see William 2 approaching them. Sissi yelps at him. "I'm the one he wants. You're okay," He's about to leave when she grabs his arm.

"Ulrich, don't leave me here. I beg you, please!"

"Oh, that's all I needed," He mutters under his breath. "Come on, hurry up!" He runs off with the girl, William chasing after them.

* * *

Aelita circles around the Tarantulas, avoiding the lasers. As she flies around the tower, she prepares another pink orb.

"Energy field!" She tosses it at a Tarantula and destroys it. "One down. How's it going, Jeremy?"

"The tower won't recognize your ID, Aelita," Jeremy looks up at the screen, seeing more trouble. "Aelita...at 300 meters south, from where you are!"

She gasps at the sight in front of her. "It's...it's..."

"William," Jeremy replies in surprise. "Yeah...it's him."

William, the real one, is running away from three Krabs. He seems to be in trouble as they're firing right at him. He looks behind him and continues running. He jumps into the air and lands on one. He pulls out his sword and stabs it into the eye. He leaps and lands as the Krab explodes behind him. The other two continue in pursuit.

"Fantastic! The program worked! I'll go help him," Aelita smiles in relief, flying over to him.

"_No, Aelita, wait. _I-It could be a trap!"

"But what if the program really worked?" She wonders as she approaches. "This is our only chance to bring back William!"

"Well, go on, then. But be careful." He leans back in his chair, wondering if William is really back to normal.

"_Okay_."

* * *

Ulrich and Sissi run into the dorm room, using a chair to block William 2 inside. "That'll hold him for a while," He runs up the stairs with the girl, but the door and the chair break into pieces as William 2 had broken through them. He looks up at the duo, following them.

Odd, Amy, and Yumi meet each other at the secret entrance in the park.

"Did you see Ulrich?" Yumi looks up at them in worry.

"Yeah, he had the copy on his tail," Odd jerks a thumb behind him.

"And judging by the copy's new strength, he won't last long..." Amy wipes the sweat from her forehead.

"Let's hurry up!"

Amy removes the cover, climbing inside first. Odd and Yumi follow soon after.

Sissi and Ulrich reach the stairs, only for the door to the dorm rooms to be locked. "It's shut!" He jiggles at the doorknob.

"It's all over for us!" Sissi gasps in fear and he sees something about their heads.

"Maybe not."

A hatch is in the ceiling.

Yumi, Odd, and Amy skateboard through the sewers, jumping above the gap.

Ulrich climbs up the ladder as they're in the attic. "Give me your hand," He holds out his hand and she takes it.

William 2 arrives at the top of the stairs, seeing the entrance to the attic open.

* * *

William is still being chased by the Krabs on Lyoko as they fire at him. One of the projectiles knocks the sword out of his hand. He reaches out towards it, but one of the legs stops nearby. The Krab prepares to destroy him when an Energy Field flies past, hitting the Krab. William looks up to see Aelita flying up to him.

"Need a little help?" She smiles at him before the Krab interrupts. She flies around him and he grabs his sword back. He slices at the legs, causing the Krab to go off balance. Unable to stand up, William takes his chance to stab it in the eye, jumping and landing a few feet away. His sword disappears into smoke as Aelita stops near him. "You're back at least, that's great!"

"Good to see you again, _Aelita," _He says her name in a demonic voice.

"Oh no! Jeremy!" Aelita cries out as he aims his hand at her.

"Aelita!" Jeremy exclaims in worry. She's hit with the smoke, knocking her off the Overwing.

* * *

Ulrich is struggling to get a panel open, as it hasn't been touched in years. He hits it as William 2 bursts into the attic. The symbol in his eyes flash again and he grabs Sissi's wrist.

"Hurry up!"

The door to the lab opens, revealing the three. Jeremy notices that one of them is missing. "Ulrich's not with you?"

"He's playing the clown with a clone," Odd jerks a thumb behind him.

"Rats!" He mutters under his breath. "Hurry guys, get into the scanner room now!"

Aelita is being escorted by William, who's stolen the Overwing. She wakes up, staring at him in horror. She really thought he was back to normal...she should've known to have hope.

"Aelita, get a move on! If he leads you into the Digital Sea, you'll be virtualized for good! The same as your father!"

She jumps off the Overwing, rolling onto the sand. Aelita slides to a stop and William looks to see that she's off the vehicle. He turns around, flying right towards her. She gets onto her feet, staring at him.

William 2 steps towards the opening to the roof, where the two have climbed onto. Sissi trudges up the roof and they look to see how high up they are.

"Oh no..." Ulrich murmurs to himself at his situation. "Why me...?"

The three step into the scanners, turning around. Jeremy starts up the process, all three transferred, scanned, and sent to Lyoko.

Aelita runs away from William, who's hot on her trail. A rock lifts up into the air nearby, flying past the elf girl and heading towards William. It knocks him off the Overwing and towards the sand. He super smokes to safety as Odd and Amy appear on both sides of the girl.

"Hop on, princess, and stand clear of closing doors, all aboard!" He flies himself over to her and she jumps on. "Come on, Ames!" He waves her forward. No way was he going to let her face William alone when she's a target as well. They head for the tower and William comes to a stop.

"You sure are a tough customer."

He turns around to see Yumi using her telekinesis on the rock. She punches the ground and it's flung towards William. His sword appears in his hand, slashing the rock to bits. He rushes towards the ninja, jumping into the air to devirtualize her. She flips out of the way and he swings again, but she lands and kicks him in the back.

William notices his fallen sword near his feet.

* * *

"Faster, Ulrich!" Sissi calls out as she's balancing herself, walking across the roof. Ulrich meanwhile is crawling, as he doesn't have the heart to stand up.

"I can't...I just can't!"

William 2 jumps out of the opening, landing on the roof and running towards them. Sissi looks over her shoulder to see him coming in fast. She bends down, grabs a piece of the pipeline, and throws it towards him.

"Go away, you monster!"

She misses the first time, but the second one hits him in the face. "I'll hold him here while you escape," Ulrich looks up at her.

"I won't go!" She walks back towards him, William 2 standing up and glaring.

* * *

Yumi tosses her fans, but he uses his smoke to dodge it. He moves past her and appears from behind, kicking her onto the ground.

"Identification, Aelita," Jeremy taps enter, hoping that he's fixed it by now. He still gets an error message, unfortunately. "Oh no, not again! I'm never gonna get there! _Aelita, you're gonna have to wait before you can enter the tower."_

Just as he's finished warning them, the three have arrived at the tower, which is still being guarded by the two Tarantulas. They kneel, preparing to fire.

"Okay. You two handle one, and I'll deal with the other," Aelita activates her wings, flying next to her sister. Amy gives her a thumbs up, flying after Odd.

* * *

Ulrich reaches Sissi, who holds out her hand towards him. "Ulrich, come on!"

He looks over his shoulder, seeing William 2 running towards them. "Too late! You and me, William," He's suddenly forgotten about his fear as he stands up, ready to face the clone. He reaches Ulrich and they both wrestle. William 2 is just too strong, however, and he pushes Ulrich off the roof. He rolls down the structure.

"ULRICH!" Sissi shouts at the top of her lungs. He flies into the air, but manages to grab the gutter pipe line, dangling over the ground. William 2 walks over, preparing to finish him off.

"Hands off, William! Don't you touch my Ulrich!" Sissi screams, jumping and sliding down the roof. She knocks William 2 off and falls, Ulrich grabbing her wrist just in time.

"Sorry to say this, Sissi, but you're not as light as you say you are."

William 2 lands on the ground, looking up towards the roof. He then turns around and goes back the way he came.

* * *

Yumi flips away from William's attacks, spinning around and pointing her fan right at his forehead. He just chuckles and kicks her again, causing her to stumble back. She leaps into the air as his sword hits the sand, landing a few feet away. She throws a fan at him, but he blocks it and the weapon goes flying over their heads. It circles around and hits Yumi in the hand. She shakes her sparking hand, frowning a little. William then jumps and with one strike, devirtualizes her.

She holds her head once she's out of the scanner.

"Aelita, Odd, Amy, William's heading straight for you!" Jeremy warns in worry. "It's all over..."

"Great, it was already hard enough without William," Odd comments as all three of them are dodging the lasers from the monsters. Odd decides to lure one away. "This way, sweetie-pie! But I don't actually mean it, you're still my sweetie-pie, Ames!"

"Always," She smiles in amusement, flying over to Aelita, in case William came back before Odd did. He jumps off his Overboard, landing on a rock. He jumps away from the projectiles.

"You'll have to do better than that!"

The Tarantula walks around and finds him, firing rapidly. Odd jumps and hides behind one of them, running close enough to peek at the monster. He steps away, hands on his hips.

"Hey! I'll bet you can't climb, either!" He brags, running up the rock. The Tarantula stares up at the cat-boy, noticing all the rocks. "Don't tell me you're not even gonna try!" His Overboard flies towards him and Odd leaps off the rock, heading towards the monster. The Overboard catches them and then he jumps over the Tarantula, firing twice. He lands on his board just as the spider-like monster explodes behind him. He flies back towards the girls.

Ulrich tries to hang on as best as he can. "Ulrich, you're gonna fall if you don't let me go, go on!" She calls out.

"Don't be silly, Sissi, we're both gonna get out of this, you'll see!"

As soon as he says that, the clone comes back onto the roof.

"Hurry up, will ya?!" Jeremy urges the tower, Yumi standing nearby. They both watch in shock as the debugging is complete. "I did it!"

"Bravo, Jeremy," Aelita congratulates him. "One last thing to take care of, and I'm in. Amy, wanna test out those new abilities of yours?"

"You mean this?" Amy grins as her hands turn into rock. She points them towards the monster, firing darts at its legs, knocking it down.

"Energy field!" Aelita flies towards it and hits the monster dead-on, devirtualizing it. Amy gasps when she sees something behind her sister.

"Aelita, watch out!" Amy jumps in front of Aelita, getting hit. She slides all the way to the edge, right near the Digital Sea. Yumi and Jeremy both gasp at this.

"Amy, no!" Aelita cries out to her. William runs up to the fairy, deciding to deal with her first, and then Aelita. He holds out his hand to the girl just as Odd comes in.

"Bonzai!" He knocks William away from Amy, who stands up slowly.

"Aelita, the tower, hurry!" She urges and the girl nods, running towards it. However...a slash from William's sword hits her in the back, and Aelita devirtualizes before she could deactivate the tower.

"Oh no, Aelita!" Jeremy starts to panic a little.

"No!" Both Odd and Amy shout.

William 2 walks down slowly.

Odd shakes his head, looking up at William. "Oh, sorry, William, I forgot to hit the brakes."

William devirtualizes him and Amy gasps, realizing what he did for her. She clenches her fists, activating her wings.

"William!"

He looks up and is tackled by the girl, who stands over him. "I know you're possessed by XANA...but nobody does that to Odd and my sister." She creates sand underneath William, which swallows him up. As he's sinking, he looks to see Amy running towards the tower, growling. The sand drags him into the Digital Sea, and then he's gone...for now.

"_Ulrich's in trouble! Now what are we gonna do_?"

"Jeremy, I'm heading for the tower. See if I can deactivate it."

"That's crazy, Amy!" Jeremy shakes his head rapidly. "What if you're wrong and Ulrich...might not make it?"

"We have to at least try! And besides, I have a good feeling about this. Just trust me."

He hesitates on it, but nods slowly. "Okay...do it."

Amy slowly enters the tower and floats towards the top.

William 2 smirks at the two, grabbing Ulrich's hand and squeezing it.

Amy logs into the interface.

_Amelia_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

Ulrich shouts in pain, the clone disappearing into pixels. Sissi looks up in confusion. "Ulrich, we're saved!"

It seems not as the pipe is about to give out. "I'm not so sure of that!"

Jeremy works on the return in time just as the pipe breaks. "Return to the past now."

The two scream as they fall, the return trip starting. Everything is engulfed in white as the two are still falling towards the ground.

* * *

Time has been reset to when they're electing a monitor. "It seems to me that as the principal's daughter, I'm the obvious choice," Sissi suggests with a smile.

"That's true, now that's a great idea," Odd claps for her, to the girl's confusion. They're perfectly fine with her being monitor, so as long as it's not the clone. Odd himself would've suggested his girlfriend, but with her being vice president and with her dancing for Aelita, she wouldn't have the time to fight XANA.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, we need somebody who's unselfish and never thinks about herself," Ulrich suggests with a small smile. "And Sissi really fits that description."

The others hum, nodding in agreement with him.

"...What are you five up to, anyway?" She demands suspiciously.

"It's unanimous then, huh?" Odd looks towards the other students. They all seem to agree.

"Hey, what's going on?" Jim walks up to the group. "It's time to go back to class now."

"We know, Jim," Ulrich walks up to him. "We just elected Sissi monitor of the rec room."

"You did?" He asks in surprise. "Well, I thought you'd choose somebody like...Dunbar. Yeah, right, I can see him!"

"But...how could you not see me? I'm in front of you."

The students laugh, especially the six. "That William's such a comedian!" Odd points to the clone.

"He must be the funniest kid at Kadic! Ha ha!" Ulrich laughs along with them.

"Yeah, why?"

"It's nothing," Yumi approaches him. "Come on, let's go to history class."

She leads the boy away. "Well, the copy's all we got," Aelita points out.

"For now, anyway. It's back to square one," Jeremy says as they start heading for classes. "I'll bring back William one day...I swear I will."

"You can do it, Jeremy," Amy glances over her shoulder with a smile. He smiles back for her optimism. "Um, Odd...? Thanks for sacrificing yourself with William on Lyoko, but you didn't really have to, you know."

"Of course I did!" He declares, pumping a fist. "My Ames was in trouble. I had to do something."

She just giggles at him, kissing his cheek. "You'll never change, will you?"

"I just can't believe that you deactivated the tower," Ulrich states to her.

"Because of her connection to our father, she's developed the ability to deactivate all towers instead of just one!" Aelita smiles, holding up a finger. "Pretty cool, huh? Now we won't have to worry if I ever get devirtualized in the future! I'm proud of you, big sister."

"Aw, thanks, little sis," Amy winks at her. "In a way, you and William did help me."

They all laugh at the irony. If he hadn't devirtualized the pink-haired girl, she never would've deactivated it in the first place!

**Angel: Let me say this, I did have Aelita deactivate the tower in my original final draft of this chapter. Amy wasn't supposed to deactivate a tower for the first time in Lyoko and not Sector 5 until a few episodes later. But I changed it at last minute to teach the person who asked me rudely to change the ending a lesson. And that lesson is to think about what you say to someone in PM before you send it, and to be polite and respectful. **

**Rocket Power is a show that I watched back when I wasn't expanding my archive that much, but even if I did write it, I would have no idea what to do with it. I haven't even gone through the full series yet and something tells me that I won't finish it anytime soon XD Besides, I already have an old Nick cartoon that I need to get back to at some point. Don't need to add another one to my to-do list.**


	72. Skidbladnir

It's a late night at the factory as the Lyoko Warriors are in the lab. "Okay," Jeremy speaks up, Aelita sitting nearby. "The connecting blocks have been configured. Now we have to compile the structural intermediate data. Did you scan the random distortion components?"

"It's done," Aelita smiles at him, Odd throwing a tennis ball.

"Okay. I'm programming the axonometric vectors to browse the dipolar coordinates."

"Jeremy, how's the virtual submarine going?" Odd wonders, tossing the tennis ball. "I can't wait to go on a XANA hunt!"

The ball hits the wall near Amy, who's reading a magazine. The ball goes flying past Jeremy, who looks over his shoulder.

"Odd!"

He just shushes the boy genius. "You don't wanna wake up our sleeping beauties," He jerks a thumb to Yumi and Ulrich, the girl rested on his shoulder. Amy silently squeals at the two.

Jeremy's laptop goes off and Aelita looks up. "The coordinates have been recognized by the supercomputer."

"That's great teamwork, huh Aelita?" Jeremy smiles at her. "I couldn't have done it without your help!"

"The programming is complete. Time to launch the construction phase. I'm ready."

Yumi suddenly wakes up, noticing her position. "Just a few more seconds, and I'll be all set too." She smiles at the boy, gasping when she notices his eyelids moving. She moves away just in time as he lets out a yawn, unaware of what just happened. "Okay, I'm ready. Now?"

"Yeah, now!" The two tap enter at the same time, and the hub that'll hold the ship is created. Yumi walks up to the computer.

"Hey, what's that room? It's new to me."

"It's new to everyone. Aelita just programmed it into the Core Zone. We use it as a sort of hangar for our sub."

"We've gotta christen it, give it a name," Odd suggests to him.

"Odd, we don't christen a ship until the building is over, that's when it get its real name!" Jeremy looks away with a sly smile. "But nothing says we can't give it a codename."

"Good idea...what if we call her Melanie?"

"Melanie? You mean like that redhead you were so mad about once?" Aelita asks him. Odd giggles sheepishly as he looks towards his girlfriend, who stands next to him.

"You had a crush on a girl who reminds you of a submarine?" Ulrich questions Odd playfully, who pouts.

"You know, it's pretty late. Why don't we talk about it while we're walking?" Yumi suggests as she heads for the elevator. Her parents might start asking questions again if she breaks curfew. Slowly, the ship starts to form on the screen.

* * *

"The rest of the calculations should keep running by themselves until tomorrow afternoon," Jeremy explains as they walk through the foggy night. "By then, the atomic layers of the virtual external structure will be complete, at 4 PM sharp. Aelita will be launching phase 2 of the programming operation. The construction of the core. And we're gonna have to be on time because if we're not, the kinetic dipolar distortion energy will enter a dangerous and destructive chromodynamics sinusoidal phase."

"Mind saying that in English?" Ulrich wonders in confusion. They have to remember that the others don't speak their Einstein language.

"If we're not in the factory by 4, the core will collapse into itself. Kind of like a black hole."

"A-Are you saying Melanie will be destroyed?" Odd stammers nervously at the thought.

"Yeah, it sure will," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "And it's gonna take months before we can reprogram it. Months during which XANA can continue doing his dirty work without any interference from us."

"Relax, you two have got this," Amy waves it off.

"Jeremy and I still have some technical stuff to work on before we go to sleep."

"Just make sure you don't stay there too long. Ever since Jim almost caught me in Odd's room, he's getting more cautious by doing TWO night inspections before the next morning," Amy holds up two fingers.

"Hey, Ames?" Odd asks her suddenly. "Are you mad I called our ship Melanie?"

"Not really," She shakes her head. "You're over her, aren't you?"

"Of course!" He takes a hold of her hand. "It's always been you, Ames."

"Aww," Aelita smiles at the two as Amy blushes bashfully.

* * *

"I can't believe it!" Jeremy exclaims once they're in his room. "Pretty soon, we'll be able to track XANA on the network!"

"We might even be able to localize my dad," Aelita grins, glancing at him.

A flashlight is looking around the hall, hearing the two voices in Jeremy's room. "But we better not get our hopes up. Even if it's possible, it's not gonna be easy."

"I know, but I completely lost hope when XANA destroyed all of Lyoko."

Jim suddenly bursts the door open. "Belpois!" He shines the light in their eyes, Aelita cringing at the brightness. "What are you doing here?"

"Uhh, I'm...this is my room," He replies dumbly.

"Huh? Ah...I know that," Jim closes his eyes once inspecting the room. "As I was saying, Miss Stones, what are you doing in here?"

"Well, um...mm," She closes her eyes, unable to come up with a reasonable explanation.

"You ought to know that the girls have to stay upstairs, which is their floor, and they're not allowed downstairs where the boys are down here! And so tomorrow, you can repeat word-for-word what I just said about downstairs and upstairs to the principal!"

And with that, he slams the door shut.

* * *

The next morning, the two are in Mr. Delmas' office. "Now listen to me, both of you. Kadic is a highly respectable institution. The rule is strict. Girls have no right to be in the boys' rooms, and vice versa, and especially after lights out. There's no excuse for your conduct."

"We didn't do anything bad," Jeremy opens his eyes.

"He's right, we were just studying," Aelita chimes in, hoping to get out of this.

"Well, since you like to study so much, you'll be glad to know that that's what you'll do in the library for the entire afternoon. I hope that's clear. Jim, you're in charge."

"Mr. Delmas, you can count on me to take care of them," Jim replies confidently, to the two's dismay.

* * *

"Shakespeare's work has been divided into a number of categories. Comedies, tragedies, history plays, and dark comedies. We're going to work on his most..."

"This is a disaster!" Jeremy whispers to the others sitting behind him and Aelita. "If we're not back in the factory by 4 sharp, it's so long Melanie!"

"I told you to watch out for Jim," Amy whispers back knowingly.

"So what are you gonna do?" Ulrich murmurs to them.

"Skip out. No matter what the consequences are," Aelita closes her eyes.

"What?! But you can't do that. You leave the library, they'll throw you out of school for sure," Odd tells them.

"Yeah, and then what would we do?" Amy gestures to herself, "I can't run the supercomputer by myself if you let yourselves get kicked out."

"We absolutely need the submarine to travel through the network," Jeremy replies back.

"What if you guys get expelled? Amy's right, how do we fight XANA?" Ulrich murmurs in concern.

"I have an idea!" Odd says, out loud for everyone to hear.

"Yes Odd? We're listening," Ms. Kensington turns around, hands on her hips. "What do you find so much more interesting than Shakespeare?"

"Um...Ames?"

"Hm?!" She blushes deeply as some people laugh, others just smiling at the two.

* * *

"Actually, Melanie as a code name is pretty lame," Ulrich comments to Odd.

"You prefer Sissi?" He retorts back.

"At least you saved yourself in English," Aelita smirks in amusement as Amy has said nothing since class. "You've also made Amy go mute!"

"Honesty with my favorite girl: it's my specialty!" He puts an arm around her.

"Come on, that's enough! Melanie or not, we've still got a pretty serious problem," Jeremy changes the subject.

"What about using lunchtime to get away?" Odd suggests to him. "We can just tell Jim you're in the infirmary cuz something you ate didn't agree with you."

"Is that really gonna work?" Amy raises a brow skeptically.

"Huh? Are you sure about that?" Jeremy turns to Aelita.

"What's on the menu for lunch?"

"Ravioli," Ulrich answers her.

"Oh yeah, it's bound to work," Jeremy states, both of them suddenly hearing laughter.

"Belpois! Stones!" Jim chuckles, approaching them. "We're gonna have lunch together. That way, I can get you to the library right on time."

Jeremy frowns towards the pink-haired girl. Amy sighs a little towards the boys. Jim is definitely not letting them up this time around...

Yumi arrives just as Aelita and Jeremy are leaving. "Well, what's happening?"

"They've got company for lunch..." Ulrich looks in their direction.

"We've got to find a way to get them out of there by 4 o'clock!" Yumi whispers as they're watching the two across from Jim.

"Yeah, but how?"

"I don't think he'll ever let this go until their punishment is over," Amy murmurs to them.

"Hmm..." Odd looks to his phone, dialing.

"And that was when I had to bail out, little little big storm over the North Atlantic. Well, I made it, but then I realized that I wasn't going to get back in time for dinner!" His phone suddenly rings, the two glancing at each other. "Yeah, Jim Morales sp-oh! Oh, would you repeat that? What? I won the lottery? HOORAY!" He cheers loudly, getting everyone's attention. The students all stare at him and he smiles in embarrassment, sitting back down.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely! But if you don't come to claim your prize immediately, we're sorry, but it's going to be given to the runner-up," Odd muffles into the phone.

"Hey, just a second..." Jim narrows his eyes suspiciously. "I never bought a lottery ticket in my life!"

"Uh, really, are you sure?" Odd asks while the gym teacher is looking around. "Ah...you wouldn't by any chance have a twin brother who could have bought one?"

Jim looms over the boy and Amy cringes, tapping her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Della Robbia, you're the one who's gonna wish you had a twin brother to do the detention I'm gonna give you!" He threatens Odd, who smiles nervously.

Aelita and Jeremy close their eyes in dismay.

Jim plants his feet on the desk, glaring at the two. "Uh uh, not together. Separate desks. You know what they say about dividing to...multiply...to conquer, I meant, uh—Belpois, over there, and Stones over there."

She walks all the way down to the right upper corner.

* * *

Odd walks into his room, going over to his dresser. Kiwi barks, joining his side. "Kiwi, I just came to borrow something from you, so calm down, okay? You can play with Kiki."

He looks up at Amy holding her dog, who lets her walk onto the floor. The two dogs bark happily at one another, wagging their tails. "Ah," Odd smiles once he's found it. Amy steps up to him and stares at the object.

"Odd...you can't be serious..."

"I am!" He looks up at her with a pout.

"Pudding pop...it's not gonna work."

"You'll see!" He points up at her.

* * *

Jim is reading a sumo magazine, Jeremy looking at his watch nervously. It's already 2:30.

The door opens behind him, Odd planting a toy mouse. Jeremy watches it roll past him. "Red alert! Red alert! Ms. Hertz's mice have escaped from the lab! They're taking over the whole school, we have to catch them right now!"

Jim sees the toy, seeing it hit the edge and gives a deadpan look. "Do you really want to know what has to be caught, Della Robbia? An idiot in a purple outfit and a dumb, ridiculous haircut and who's gonna be in big trouble if he and his toy mouse don't get out of here pronto!"

"Ridiculous, my haircut?" Odd asks furiously. "I bet you're jealous, huh?"

"Della Robbia," Jim says in a warning tone.

"Okay, okay...have you seen a mouse made of plastic?"

"Out! Go on!"

Odd reluctantly leaves, Amy leaning against the wall nearby. "Aw," She hugs him, patting his hair. "If it helps, I don't think it's ridiculous or dumb. It's...unique."

"What about the idiot part?"

"...Well..." She looks away slightly, giving him his answer.

"You're lucky that I love you," He puts his hands into his pockets, walking past Ulrich.

"How'd it go?"

"A fiasco. I even got Kiwi mad...and we can't use the door next time!" Odd tells him.

"I told you it wasn't gonna work!" Amy shrugs at the two. "Jim may be dumb sometimes, but he's not _that _gullible!"

"Well," Ulrich stands up. "How bout the window?"

* * *

Jeremy gasps at his beeping laptop, glancing towards Jim quickly. He opens it up and sees the hangar under attack.

Creepers are heading right towards it, using the elevator.

Jim lowers his magazine, seeing Aelita use her phone to message the others. "Confiscated!" He snatches her phone away. "You're here to study, and that's all! Meaning that there's no gabbing your head off on your mobile. Your cellphone, Belpois."

Jeremy slides his phone over and he takes that too. "And your thing that goes beep, shut it immediately or I'll throw it in the garbage."

He dejectedly closes his laptop. "Now look, I was not born yesterday, so don't think you can fool me. Whatever game you wanna play, remember, I can beat you at it."

"Any luck?" Odd and Amy are helping Ulrich stand at the window.

"The window's locked," He informs them. Jeremy blinks as he sees the boy outside.

"Okay, then come down here. You're not that light!"

Jeremy waves a little, flashing his watch. "Hold on! I think Jeremy's trying to give me a signal!" The light from the watch hits Ulrich's eyes, causing him to fall onto the grass.

"You mean his message wasn't clear?" Odd wonders as the boy is rubbing his eyes.

"It was a little bit _too _clear..."

"Well, are your bright ideas working out?" Yumi approaches them, hands on her hips.

"No, but speaking of bright ideas, Jeremy just tried to blind us with one of his."

"Let me have a look," Yumi states and together, the three get her to the window. She notices the flashes.

"Come on, it's simple. Concentrate!" He hisses as she focuses on what he's trying to say.

"...It's Morse Code, turkeys. Well, not you, Amy."

"Gee, thanks," The girl deadpans towards her.

"Morse code turkeys? Sounds pretty scrumptious!" Odd smiles at the thought of food, Amy elbowing his arm.

"Jeremy's trying to communicate! Three short, three long, three short. SOS!"

"How'd you learn Morse code?" Ulrich wonders, struggling to hold her up on his end.

"Hiroki and I keep secrets from our parents that way. Fac...tor...y. Factory!"

"SOS factory? Not a word about Melanie?" Odd looks up at her.

She jumps off, getting a blank look from Odd. "No time to lose. We've gotta get to the factory. The message ended with the word William!"

"Uh oh," Amy's eyes widen, glancing to the boys.

* * *

William is flying on a Manta towards the hangar, which is at the top of the Celestial Dome. He enters into the hangar, scoffing at the sight. He jumps off the Manta and lands on the platform. "Attack..." He orders all the Creepers.

They charge up their lasers, preparing to fire.

"Fire!"

Together, they hit at the ship's shields, William just watching.

Odd, Amy, Ulrich, and Yumi approach the bridge at the factory.

* * *

Jeremy nods to Aelita, who nods back and stands up. "Uh, Jim, is it true you're a math teacher in the tropics?" She asks curiously as she approaches him.

"Uhh, affirmative," He drops the newspaper, looking at her quizzically.

"I can't figure out what the square the hypotenuse could be. Could you help me, please?" She opens up her book to him.

"Yeah, but, uh, it's not all that easy," He scratches the side of his head. "Because, um...in the tropics, the hypotenuse is, um, was variable."

"Yeah! Because the heat," She laughs a little.

"Right."

While she's distracting him, Jeremy opens his laptop to see the ship in trouble.

* * *

The four arrive in the lab, running up to the computer. "Einstein left us a message!" Odd points to the screen.

"XANA's attacking Melanie. Yumi, take over for me. Odd, Amy, and Ulrich, off to Lyoko," The Japanese girl reads, glancing at the three nervously.

"Okay, go on, Yumi, you've done it before," Ulrich smiles at her.

"Yeah, but what if I make a mistake?" She's definitely done that before.

"We have no choice. We can't afford to lose Melanie," Odd walks off to the scanner room.

"He's right, remember what Jeremy said? It'll take months to do it all over again," Amy holds up a finger.

"You can do it, Yumi, I have faith in you," Ulrich informs the taller girl, who smiles a little. The brunette winks at her, giving a thumbs up.

"I would even say that the hypothermia, they have a hypotenuse. Depends on the hyperactivity of the nuse..." Jim looks up at Aelita after reading the book.

"Oh! Who would have thought? You know, you're a walking encyclopedia, Jim!" She compliments and he smirks smugly.

"Well, you see, Aelita...when you're out there all alone in the tropical jungle with nothing more than a cigarette lighter, if you don't know all you need to know, zap! You're dead meat," He slices a finger in front of his neck.

"Wooow!" She clasps her hands together. "You're incredible!"

Jeremy continues messaging Yumi via laptop. "We've got a huge problem. Once the protective shields are gone, nothing can stop XANA from totally wiping out Melanie! And according to Jeremy, it can't be reprogrammed! _So as soon as you get to Sector Five, you're gonna have to work fast_!"

Amy, Ulrich, and Odd step into the scanners.

"And try not to mix things up because I don't wanna find myself with my arms where my legs should be and my nose in my navel," Odd gestures to himself. "Can you imagine that?"

"...No," Ulrich says after a few seconds, causing Amy to laugh.

"Well, are you ready?" Yumi closes her eyes, hoping that she can pull this off.

"_Do your stuff, Yumi._"

"_Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Transfer Amy_," The scanners close around the trio and Yumi sees their ID cards popping up. "_Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Scanner Amy. Virtualization_."

One by one, they feel the whoosh from the tiny compartment and land directly into Sector Five, landing back-to-back.

"Two arms, two legs, one head, one tail...all present and accounted for!" Odd turns to Amy, picking her up and spinning her around. Her hair twirls around her body. "And so is my little Ames!"

"Odd!" She laughs, staring down at him as her hands are on his shoulders.

"It worked, Yumi. We're in the arena," Ulrich reports to her.

She sighs in relief. "Thanks Jeremy..."

He smiles, typing another message while Jim is still talking with Aelita.

"Energy level...Melanie...window. F9."

The trio stop in front of the wall, which opens up. "_Keep going until you reach the access hall. Then take a platform elevator to the hangar._"

"Got it!" Ulrich calls out as Amy flies over them.

"Wow...Aelita did a fantastic job..." Odd comments in awe once they come to a stop, seeing the room.

The boys run forward, Amy taking flight as they stop in front of the entryway. The elevator lowers itself in front of them.

"Here we go," Ulrich glances at them both. Amy flies above the platform and drops her wings, landing on the elevator. The boys step on and it takes them upwards.

"Well, everything's cool up to now..." Yumi murmurs slowly, hoping that nothing goes wrong from her end.

"_Yumi, we're almost at the hangar._" Ulrich's voice snaps her out of her thoughts.

"Okay, I'll let Jeremy know."

* * *

He smiles once he's gotten the message, failing to hear someone step up behind him. Mr. Delmas closes the laptop.

"Belpois!" He scolds, the boy frowning. "You've been punished for not having obeyed the rules, but it seems you never learn! No computer communication!"

"Huh?!" Jim looks up, Aelita giving a look of disbelief over today. "Uh, Mr. Delmas, I didn't know you were here."

"Bravo for your surveillance, Jim!" The principal replies sarcastically.

"I, um, was helping Aelita here with some hippopotamus—that is, uh...hippapotnuse problems...

"I'm confiscating this for the rest of the day!" He holds Jeremy's laptop in his hands.

"No, please sir!" Jeremy begs with him. "You can't do that! You see, I must have my computer, it's urgent!"

"He's right, Mr. Delmas," Aelita speaks up behind him. "It's really..."

"Vital," Jeremy finishes for her.

"Vital?! Ridiculous! Would you like to know what's vital? Listen, it's vital to be aware that there is no one in life who can go unpunished for being disobedient!" And with that, the man walks off with the laptop. Jeremy tries to go after him.

"No!"

Jim slides in front of the door. "Sorry about that, Belpois, but you still have a little punishment time left and until then, I'm gonna stand between you and that door!"

Both of them frown at their bad luck.

* * *

The three reach the ship, looking up at it in awe. "You grab William's attention, while Ames and I handle the Creepers," Odd whispers to him, taking a hold of Amy's hand and rubbing his thumb across it. She smiles towards him and he returns the gesture. "Ames, fly me over there."

"Okay," She nods at her boyfriend. When the elevator comes to a stop, it's only Ulrich there. He steps forward, seeing William right next to him.

"Yo, big shot."

William lowers his sword, seeing his opponent. "Wanna mix it up a little?" Ulrich pulls out his swords, ducking from William's swings. Meanwhile, Amy is flying underneath the platform, Odd hugging her from behind. She flies to the platform and he jumps off, landing near a monster. Amy soars into the air and lands next to him.

The Creeper turns around, only for Odd to fire one of his arrows. "Laser Arrow!"

Amy flings her spear and it goes flying. Both of them hit the monster dead on. Odd smiles at his girlfriend and she smiles back as she catches her weapon. Then they see the two other Creepers, Amy flying into the air. Odd lands on her back, not using his claws to hang onto her since that would hurt. The Creepers fire to where they were standing, Odd jumping off her and landing on the platform. He fires twice as Amy tosses her weapon again.

William flings his sword at Ulrich, who dodges his attempts. He suddenly finds himself at the edge, looking over his shoulder...

It's not an easy fall that he'd be able to bounce back from. He jumps onto one of the thin components of the platform, clashing swords with William. He ducks from another swing, spins around, and kicks William onto the ground. He swings his saber, only for William to block it with his arm. He pushes Ulrich back, and he backflips back onto his feet.

William looks up at something. "Mantas!"

Three Mantas fly into the north entrance of the Celestial Dome.

The Creepers continue to fire at the couple, Odd backflipping. He narrowly misses a laser as he lands back on his feet. Amy looks up at the sky and gasps.

"Guys...we have Mantas in the house..."

"That's all we needed, XANA's air force," Odd mutters under his breath, shaking his head.

"Answer, Jeremy, come on!" Yumi urges, unaware that Jeremy's laptop has been taken away. "Oh, what is the matter with him?!"

"Jim, if you let us go now, we promise to do double detention, starting tomorrow! Or, well...or triple! We'll do triple detention for a whole week, okay?" Jeremy pleads with the gym teacher, desperately trying to get out of the library. He didn't care what the consequences were, their friends needed their help.

Jim simply shakes his head.

The Mantas start firing at the ship's shields.

Ulrich approaches William, clashing swords again. Ulrich swings his foot to try and kick his opponent, who ducks and jumps away. Ulrich throws one of his swords, William narrowly dodging out of the way. The sword heads right towards Amy and she looks over her shoulder, yelping and leaping away. The sword hits the wall instead.

"Watch where you throw your swords!" She warns him angrily. "I could've been a goner!"

"Sorry," He calls out sheepishly as he notices Odd's glare towards him.

Amy looks up at the Mantas and flies up towards them. Odd jumps, swings from a pole, and spins around, firing at the Creeper in front of him. He hits the target dead on and does a handstand. Another Creeper fires, and he swings around the pole to avoid the projectiles.

The Mantas notice Amy and two of them start focusing on her instead. She flies around in a circle.

William takes a stance as Ulrich runs up to him. He flips over William's sword and lunges forward, sliding onto the ground. With his legs, he knocks William off the platform, getting back onto his feet. He looks over the edge for William, who has disappeared. He had landed on a Manta, who hits Ulrich in the side, and this also causes him to lose his second sword. He watches it fall off the platform.

"Yumi, we need back-up. We can't go it all alone."

"Ulrich, I...I've lost contact with Jeremy. Oh no, the submarine shields are getting weaker!" She exclaims in worry.

"_Improvise. Aelita and Jeremy have to get here now, regardless of Jim!_"

She sighs a little, pulling out her phone. She calls her younger brother, who takes the phone from the living room table. Johnny is sitting nearby. Hiroki is now wearing a blue shirt over a turquoise blue long-sleeved shirt, and green pants.

"Yumi? Do you a favor, huh? Like what? No, because Johnny and me are playing Babylon Ninja Fighter 5 right now-"

"Hold on," Johnny places his hand over the speaker. "She's so cool! Come on, let's give her a little help!"

"If you let me get to level 5 first," Hiroki looks at him with a small smile.

"Okay," Johnny agrees happily, removing his hand.

"You got it, sis, but on one condition. You do my homework for a month."

"You're a real crook, Hiroki, but okay," She agrees reluctantly. "And make it fast! I'll deal with Amy later."

Hiroki hangs up, getting onto his feet.

"Hey, don't forget to tell her it was me who convinced you to change your mind," Johnny grips the end of his friend's shirt.

"Yeah, sure," Hiroki shrugs at him. "...But I already told you, you got no chance against Ulrich."

Johnny sighs a little, sagging.

* * *

William lands back on the platform, readying his weapon. Ulrich steps back a bit, ducking underneath the weapon and hitting William in the stomach. He recovers a second later, only to be struck again by Ulrich's foot. He narrows his eyes, getting annoyed now.

Yumi worriedly looks at the ship, hoping that her friends were here soon. "Amy, you've gotta stop those Mantas, and now!"

"I'm trying, Yumi, but they're pretty tough! And we both know that me not having my powers puts me at a disadvantage," Amy throws her spear, the Manta ducking out of the way.

* * *

Jeremy looks at his watch, glancing at Aelita. "Just 15 minutes of detention to go," He whispers at her. Both of them don't know that the two little boys are outside the library, holding the two dogs. He had picked the lock to Amy's room. They nod to each other and Johnny opens the door. They both place Kiwi and Kiki inside. The two dogs walk around, Jeremy staring in confusion. He silently wondered how they got here, but decides to ask later.

"Huh?" Jim notices the two. "What's going on around here? Oh, I get it. The mouse didn't work, so now they're mechanical dogs. Pretty good imitations, Della Robbia..."

The two dogs start barking and that's when he realizes that they're real. "But...hey, they're the real things! Mangy mutts!"

Kiki growls at him, biting the man in the leg for the insult. "Ow!"

Aelita giggles a little at the sight. One thing that Kiki hates is being called a mutt. The two dogs run out of the library.

"Hey! Stay where you are! Get back here!"

The two stare at each other for the unexpected distraction.

Jim runs down the steps, hearing the barks. "I gotcha!"

When he's out of sight, Aelita and Jeremy quickly head out of there.

* * *

The Creeper in front of Odd fires, but he keeps swinging around the lasers, letting go and landing safely on a pole. He backflips and lands in front of the monster. He fires straight at it and watches it be destroyed.

"They're just like sitting ducks! Uh, sitting Creepers, that is!"

He suddenly gets hit in the back, landing on the platform.

"Odd!" Amy screams, Odd looking up at the Manta. It's suddenly destroyed and he looks in the direction it came from to see the fairy flying past.

"Thanks, my little Ames!" He grips onto the platform and flips back up, firing at the second Manta. Amy lands next to her boyfriend, both of them dealing with the last one.

Across from them, Ulrich is still weaponless, ducking from William's swings. He glances behind at his sword, backflipping and landing above it. He grabs his weapon back and speeds towards William, managing to get him in the shoulder. William jumps up and clashes swords with him again, both of them glaring at each other.

"You're not gonna win, William...Better let your master know!" Ulrich warns his opponent.

The elevator opens up and Yumi turns around in relief. "Hey, it's about time!"

"Okay, Yumi, Aelita, head for the scanners! Only 8 minutes to go," Jeremy looks at his watch.

"Get over here, sweetie. I'm gonna need you!" Odd calls out to Amy. She clears her throat bashfully at the nickname, standing in front of him. Odd jumps onto her back again and she flies towards the Manta.

Jeremy puts on the microphone. "Ulrich, Odd, Amy, backup is on the way."

"Great, things are heating up around here!" Odd replies as Amy looks down at the monster, following its every move from above. He points his arm and hits the monster on the target. He then sees one in front of Amy. "Oh no..."

She gasps and turns around, but the Manta hits her in the back, devirtualizing her wings. She falls, looking towards the harsh landing and screaming.

"Ames!" Odd pulls her into his arms bridal style and she hugs his neck. He jumps onto a pole and spins around, landing on the platform again. Amy looks up at him in relief.

"Thanks..." She murmurs to him as he puts her down, smiling. She smiles too, and then the moment is ruined as he gets devirtualized by a Manta. "Odd!"

Once he gets out of the scanner, he kneels down in exhaustion.

William pants as he stares down his opponent, the Manta knocking Ulrich off his feet. William is about to finish him off when a fan and spear go flying, knocking his sword out of his hands. He turns towards Aelita and Yumi arriving.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, ladies," Ulrich tells them in relief, standing up. Yumi holds up her hand and catches her fan.

"Thank goodness!" Amy stares at them happily.

"It's always nice to feel needed, isn't it?"

"It's about time!" Odd exclaims once he's in the lab. "Do you realize it's five minutes to 4?"

"I know, Odd, I know. Only 5 minutes to run Melanie's core program," He types furiously. "But even more important, all of our protection shields are just about down to 0!"

The Manta focuses on the girls, who do their best. "You were right, they are tough," Yumi comments to Amy.

Ulrich swings his sword towards William's head, who ducks from every single swipe. With his hand, he knocks the sword out of Ulrich's hand and into his. With one last hit, he devirtualizes Ulrich, smiling wickedly. He takes his own sword back, looking up towards the ship. He leaps, landing on top of it. He hits the shield with his sword.

Ulrich steps out of the scanner up with a deep frown. "Hurry, ladies! The sub only has 7 percent of its life points left!"

The Manta fires and the three split up. The Manta looks to Yumi, who lightly tosses her fan, missing. Amy spins around, throwing her spear, but misses as well. Aelita fires a pink orb.

"Energy field!" She manages to destroy it, Odd gasping towards the screen.

"Yumi, Aelita, Amy, the sub shield is almost totally gone. _One more hit, and it's all over for Melanie!"_

The three look up at William, as there are no more monsters to deal with. Yumi throws both fans, which William deflects. He then fires a slash from his sword, hitting Amy and devirtualizing her in one go.

Amy groans as she steps out of the scanner. "Jeremy...we really gotta work on powers in Sector Five..." She pinches her nose.

"_Agreed._"

Aelita prepares one big energy field just as William prepares to deal the final blow to the ship. "Energy field!" She throws it and devirtualizes him. That big one took a bit of energy, but other than that, she's okay.

"You okay, Aelita?" Yumi asks her and she nods.

"3:59 and 45 seconds...46...47..."

Jeremy taps enter, smiling. "It's done. The programming for phase 2 is underway."

"Wait...so it worked?" Amy asks as she enters the lab via the ladder.

"Yeah it did!" Odd runs up to her, hugging her waist and spinning her around again.

"YEAH!" The two girls cheer, high-fiving. The watch the ship as the programming finishes.

"Jeremy, our ship is finally completed."

Ulrich arrives in the lab via elevator, holding his head. "Oh wow!" Odd comments as he steps forward. "Close call for Melanie, huh?"

* * *

Later, they meet at the Hermitage to discuss ship names. They didn't want to take the chance of being at school and getting in trouble all over again. "But Melanie's a great name. Why don't we keep it?"

"It's a nice name for a girl you used to be interested in, but not a submarine," Yumi points out.

"Well, for a ship that's gonna hunt down XANA on the network, we need a name that's got some punch, don't you think?" Jeremy asks him.

"There's no way I'm gonna get on a ship named Melanie, this is serious business," Amy holds up a finger.

"Yeah, like, um...Nautilus for example."

"Hmm, that's pretty original," Odd narrows his eyes at him. He's sitting on the floor behind Amy, hugging her waist.

"Find a better one, then!"

"Aelita, are you coming?" Ulrich calls out as she's upstairs.

"I'll be right there!" She takes a book from the shelf. "My father used to read this book to me when I was 5. Do you remember that, Amy?"

"No...I think this was after I stopped visiting," Amy rubs her chin in thought. "But he did send me a copy that my mother read to me when I was 6."

"Viking Gods and Legends?" Jeremy asks at the title.

Aelita shows him the pages. "Look at that. It was a mythical tall ship that could even sail on land and it always reached its destination, no matter what kind of wind it was blowing."

"The Skidbladnir...?" Jeremy says slowly.

"Skid-ski-blah-ski-skid-ski-ski...ka-what?!" Odd asks in confusion.

"I really like that name," Yumi comments with a smile.

"Yeah, I like it too," Ulrich agrees with her.

"That perfectly describes our new ship!" Amy smiles up at her sister.

"Okay," Jeremy stands up. "Our new ship's name is now Skidbladnir!"

"The Skid, what about Skid for short?" Odd suggests, as there's no way he could pronounce the full thing correctly from now on.

"Hey, what about Jim? How did he react when he found out that you guys were gone?" Ulrich wonders curiously.

"Well, we haven't seen him since, so...maybe he forgot about us," Jeremy smiles slyly.

"I haven't seen him on campus at all! He must have other things on his mind."

He's still chasing the two dogs in the park. "Where are you, you little doggie? I know you're around here. Come on now, Uncle Jim's got a little snack for ya! Come on now...you won't get away from me, you hairy hounds, you!"

They just bark in response.

* * *

Odd and Amy are both laughing as she's holding Kiki in her arms, walking to her room. They had managed to find their pets standing in front of Odd's room, and now the girl was bringing Kiki back to where she belongs.

"You sure gave Jim a run for his money. Good girl," Amy pets her dog, who barks happily, wagging her tail.

"Ames' cute little diggity dog!" Odd pats her head as Amy opens the door, looking around the room. Aelita is nowhere in sight. "Aelita isn't here?"

"She mentioned going to Jeremy's room to make sure everything is running smoothly with the Skid. And maybe seeing if they can do something about me having no powers on Sector 5," She bends down to Kiki's drawer, placing her inside and closing it. "They'll be back in time for dinner, but he's gonna lock his door just in case!"

He chuckles, closing the door behind him. "So...we're totally alone?"

"Not technically," Amy glances to her closed drawer, standing up. "Something on your mind?"

"Yeah..." He strides up to her, cupping her chin. "You."

She blushes, playing with a strand of hair. Before she could say anything, Odd smashes his lips onto hers. She enters a dream-like state, slowly kissing him back. Her fingers start to knot into his hair.

"Ames..." He gasps out between the kiss and she smirks. He loves it when she plays with his hair. To her surprise, he pushes her onto her bed. She snakes her arms around his neck while his embrace her waist. He has to scooch up a bit so he could be at level with her forehead. They part for air, looking into each other's eyes with a smile. They both have rosy shades on their cheeks. She hugs him again, burying her face into his shoulder. She feels how his arms tighten around her waist.

Odd inhales her flowery scent, nuzzling into her soft hair. She squirms a bit when she feels Odd's lips on her neck. He trails kisses from her jawline to her shoulder. Her breath hitches and she closes her eyes. Amy feels him going back up to her jawline. He kisses to her chin and smoothly transitions to her lips. She kisses him passionately as he holds her hands, bringing them up to her head.

He licks at her lip and she grants him permission, his tongue slipping inside her mouth. Both of their tongues swirl around each other, their hot saliva mixing.

They both part, panting and catching their breath.

"One of these days, one of us is gonna have asthma," Odd whispers, pressing his forehead to hers.

"I'd still love you," She smirks a little and he chuckles.

"Ditto."

"Come on. Let's go eat. I'm hungry and a little birdie told me she's making your favorite," She murmurs, opening her eyes.

"Aww...but..." He pouts, placing his cheek on her chest and hugging her. She blushes profusely as it felt like she was a teddy bear. "You're all nice and warm."

"Y-You can cuddle me later. Rosa promised me that she'd give you a second portion."

"Okay, I'm up!" He gets onto his feet and she giggles.


	73. Maiden Voyage

"For those unfamiliar with the sport, rock climbing is a noble discipline," Jim is lecturing the class in the gym. He's wearing a dark red long-sleeved sweater and grey gym pants. "Which can carry you to great heights. A good climber commands both mind and body. This philosophy was well understood by the famous Sherpa Ginseng Long, who scaled Mount Everest using only his bare hands thanks to the ancestral techniques still taught today by the Buddhist monks from the order of Kishi Soul. And so, don't forget that only about challenging ourselves can you move mountains, and might I add, climb them! Belpois, get up there. See if you're up for the challenge."

"Oh no," Amy murmurs under her breath as Jeremy frowns a little in worry. He gets onto his feet and reluctantly walks over.

"This will be the practical part of today's lesson."

He walks up to the wall, staring up at it. "Go on," Jim urges him. He starts to climb, struggling to do so. He's usually in the sidelines when it comes to demonstrations. "What's the matter? Pull up with your arms and push off with your legs. You got chewing gum for muscles or what?"

Jeremy grits his teeth, sweating a little. His friends look on in concern, but he keeps going. He reaches out to the next part, only to fall. He didn't even make it that far.

"Of course if the only exercise you get is clicking your computer mouse, you're not gonna conquer any peaks!" Jim reveals why he chose Jeremy: to set an example. "Della Robbia, Smith, show your buddy here how it's done."

Jeremy dejectedly walks down the steps, his friends glancing over their shoulders with worried looks. Aelita places a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he just walks off.

* * *

They all have new outfits for the semester. For the brunette, Amy wears a multi-layer dress, of black color. With this dress, she wears a pink coat with several white swirl details and underneath the dress, she wears black leggings with various white flower designs and wears brown high heels that go up to her ankles. White socks compliment her shoes with light blue soles and light pink loop earrings on her ears. Her hair is pulled half up and half down, with fuchsia ties holding up the mini ponytail. And of course, the necklace Odd gave to her for Valentine's Day is still around her neck.

Jeremy is frowning during lunchtime, Aelita glancing at him while eating her brussel sprouts. Sissi approaches the table. "It's no big deal, Jeremy," The pink-haired girl tries her best to cheer him up.

"Well sourpuss, having a hard time lifting your brain with those string bean arms?" She quips and he looks up at the blond.

"Odd, do you mind?"

"Ames, I hate to talk with my mouth full, would you mind taking over?" Odd looks at her.

"Actually, I think Aelita says it better than myself," Amy smirks, crossing her arms.

"Sissi, your head is so full of helium, you can float to the top!" She laughs, everyone else but Jeremy laughing along with her.

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you don't actually ask for it," Herb tells Sissi.

"Shut up, you dork!" She yells at him, huffing and walking off.

"What happened this morning?" Yumi finally decides to ask.

"He had to scale the rock wall in gym," Ulrich explains to her.

"Okay, enough said!"

"I don't believe it," Jeremy laments over what happened. "I can't be _that_ bad in every single sport!"

"Of course not! Actually, no, you really are lame in anything athletic," Aelita raises a brow, Amy snickering into her cup of water as she takes a sip. Jeremy just glares at her. "Anyway, who cares? You can't be a champion at everything!"

"Besides, we don't need a reminder of your former clone; don't turn into him," Amy warns the genius, pointing a finger at him.

"Come on, Einstein, stop sulking!" The two look up at Odd. "Listen, if you want, we can try scaling the wall together!"

"You think I have time for that monkey business? I got too much work to do!"

"That's for sure! You and Aelita spend all of your time shut up in the computer lab. What are you working on?" Yumi couldn't help but wonder.

"We're ironing out the final kinks on the Skid," Aelita answers with a smile. "And a little...surprise for Amy."

Amy raises a curious brow when she says that, glancing at the others, who just shrug cluelessly. "You're still on that? I thought it was done!" Ulrich comments in surprise.

"Ulrich, traveling through the network is not exactly like taking a stroll through Lyoko. And once in the Digital Sea, it's still a complete mystery!" Jeremy defends, looking towards the other four. "For all we know, the Skid could disintegrate during its first dive!"

"Well, that's reassuring," Odd looks at Jeremy's lunch. "Uh, you gonna eat that?"

"Go ahead," Jeremy grumbles, not in the mood to eat.

"Cool!" Odd slides his tray over to him.

"You know, Jeremy, we're gonna have to test it out one day if we wanna take on XANA," Yumi suggests to her friend.

"Oh! Can we? Please?" Amy clasps her hands together.

"I said quiet down!" Mr. Delmas orders the room. However, they keep talking. "Quiet, I said!"

"MR. DELMAS SAID QUIET DOWN, AND THAT MEANS NOW!" Jim shouts at the top of his lungs. Silence immediately follows as all the students stare at Jim in shock, looking up at the gym teacher. He just stands there in satisfaction as Mr. Delmas gives him a quick look, clearing his throat.

"Thank you, Jim..."

"That's alright, Mr. Delmas. Always glad to help!" Jim replies eagerly.

"Yes, of course. In case you've forgotten, let me remind you that today is FSRP Day, which stands for Fire Safety Risk and Prevention. And so all afternoon classes have been cancelled."

They all cheer at the news. "And so as I was saying, children, your classes are cancelled...but part of this free time will be devoted to a complete building evacuation exercise. This drill is designed to make absolutely certain that you're all familiar with our security procedures. Procedures that you will need to know by heart, it goes without saying that all access to the buildings will be prohibited during the exercise. Therefore-"

"Yumi is right, you know," Aelita whispers while the man is still talking. "We'd better make a trial run in the Skid, just to see how it works."

"Yeah, but, I don't know if we're ready," Jeremy says skeptically.

"We've got to try it out before XANA gets even more powerful," Ulrich points out and he looks away in thought.

"When are we gonna get this chance again before you're actually finished? It could take weeks at this rate," Amy holds up a finger.

"Thank you for your attention." He looks back to his friends, who are all smiling.

"Well, okay. We'll take advantage of the safety drill to get over to the computer lab."

"Way to go, Jeremy," Aelita smiles happily along with the others.

"Yeah, cool!"

"But listen up, this is only a trial run to work out the launch procedures," Jeremy warns them all.

"Relax, we'll just dive in, test it, and come back," Odd replies as Amy grins.

"We'll be so quick, XANA won't even know we're there!"

* * *

"As we all know," Jeremy is showing them a map of Lyoko in the lab. "Lyoko is made up of five sectors. These sectors are actually located in the center of some sort of giant hollow sphere. Imagine a kind of enormous virtual bubble suspended in a sort of liquid element. This liquid element is the world information network."

"And the Digital Sea?" Yumi asks curiously.

"The Digital Sea is a part of the network!" Aelita continues next to Jeremy. "It's a kind of overflow that's accessible through the sort of floodgate. XANA goes through this floodgate to attack us on Lyoko and the Skid will use the very same gate to get us out!"

"And once we're off Lyoko, what then?" Ulrich questions them.

"Well, I imagine you'll be in some kind of immense network of tunnels...but I don't have an update to tell you exactly what you'll find. It'll be a surprise! And so will your new...well, I don't wanna spoil it, Amy."

"Okay...?" She asks slowly, raising a brow in confusion.

"That's fabulous. I love surprises, just as much as I love my little Ames. Well, what are we waiting for?" Odd walks off first.

"Hang on, Odd! I haven't even begun explaining about configuring the parameters of the engines of the procedure for transferring virtual mass or..."

"Don't bother," Odd puts in the code. "We'll work it out as we go along. Nothing like hands-on experience."

"But-"

"Jeremy, don't worry," Aelita interrupts him with a smile. "I'll be right there with them." She waves to the boy as she follows after the others, Jeremy smiling in relief. He didn't know what he'd do without her. The elevator descends into the scanner room.

"_You there yet? I'll start up the process_."

"Ladies first," Ulrich gestures to the scanners as Odd takes Amy's hand elegantly. He escorts her to the scanner.

"Well, they say chivalry isn't dead," She smiles at him, kissing his cheek. He blushes a little as Yumi smiles at Ulrich. The scanners close around all three girls once they're inside.

"Transfer Aelita. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Amy. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Amy. Virtualization." He taps enter, and they materialize into Sector Five.

"It's okay, Jeremy. It's all quiet here," Yumi reports to him as he's finishing up virtualizing the boys.

"Virtualization."

The two land in front of the trio. "Your elevator is waiting! But first...Amy, when you step in, try to create a platform."

"Eh?" She glances to the others, everyone except Aelita shrugging. "Okay..."

They run into the hangar and Amy holds out a palm. To their surprise, a pillar appears not too far away. "Wow..."

"_Aelita managed to program some powers for you on Sector Five. Not so unlucky anymore, huh?_"

"So that's why you kept acting weird," Amy smiles at her sister. "Thanks, Aelita."

"No problem, sis," Aelita winks at her and they run forward to the elevator, stopping at the edge. The elevator appears in front of them and they all step on. They're taken upwards and to the Skid, where it floats in the middle of the room.

"It's beautiful, huh?" Yumi murmurs as they stare at it.

"Fantastic..." Ulrich comments slowly.

"Einstein, we made it to the Skid Hangar," Odd reports as the elevator stops. "Now what do we do?"

"Each of you get in a transporter spot," Jeremy tells them. Five spots are in front of them and they step on one each, with Aelita being in the center.

"Well, who's driving?" Odd asks curiously.

"I am, of course," Aelita smiles at him. Jeremy starts up the process to get them into the ship.

"You guys ready? Energize!"

One by one, they're sent to their stations, with Aelita up at front. "Wow! It's working, Jeremy." She takes a look at all of the controls. "Everything's in place according to plan. Opening interface." She pulls up a few screens. "Cockpit to Nav Skids. Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Aelita!" Yumi replies underneath the base.

"Loud and clear, Aelita," Ulrich is below Yumi.

"Me too! This is cool, it's like being in a spaceship!" Odd says as he stares outside.

"All good here," Amy smiles from behind Yumi.

"Yeah, but be careful, Odd. This isn't Galactic Invaders," Ulrich warns his best friend.

"Yeah, yeah, you're just jealous 'cause I wiped out three times as many aliens as you did last night!"

"Because you cheated as usual!"

The three girls silently roll their eyes at the bickering. "Okay, if you guys are done blabbering, maybe we can get on with the job?"

"_Standing by, Jeremy,_" Aelita waits for his instructions.

"Okay, now...get ready for lift-off. Releasing support," Jeremy presses enter, and the Skid is set free. Aelita taps a button and pulls two levers towards herself.

"We have ignition. Powering vertical." The engines turn vertical and Aelita closes her eyes, thinking of her father. "For you, Daddy...liftoff!"

The Skid lifts up into the air and out of the hangar. "All indicators are go. You guys are good for leaving Sector Five."

"Roger," Aelita replies and the Skid soars out of the Celestial Dome. The Skid flies away, soaring around.

"_Tunnel open in two seconds._" Jeremy opens up one of the tunnels and Aelita smiles, pulling the left lever to the side. The Skid flies into the open tunnel and goes out into the Desert Sector.

"It's working, Jeremy! Our Skid is working!" She cheers happily.

"_Great!_" Yumi comments happily.

"_Nice work, Einstein!_" Jeremy looks away in embarrassment at Odd's compliment.

"_Great job, Aelita!_"

"_Both of you guys worked really hard! Keep it up!_"

Jeremy opens up a soda and sips it. "Good, the test was a success. Aelita, you all set to turn it around? And go back into dry dock?"

"_What? No way!_" Ulrich protests at this.

"_Hey Einstein, I thought we were supposed to test this thing!_"

"Yeah, well that's what we did. We just finished a dry run," Jeremy states in confusion.

"_A test in the Digital Sea, otherwise what's the point?_"

"They're right, Jeremy, if we just stay here in the sky on Lyoko, it isn't much of a trial run. _Don't you want to see what the network looks like?_" Aelita agrees with them and he looks at his empty can. He did wonder at the back of his mind...but he still had a bad feeling about it.

"Yeah! I wanna see it!" Amy pouts a little.

He lets out a defeated sign. "_I feel like I'm gonna regret this, but okay. _Get ready to dive into the Digital Sea! _Five minutes maximum._"

"Yeah!" Odd cheers at this.

"Okay then," Aelita prepares the ship. "Shields, activated. Sonar, activated. Stabilizers, online and checked out. Primary access, clear. Laser generators, online. Cockpit to Nav Skids. Ready for a dive?"

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Anytime, princess."

"Ready as I'll ever be, sis!"

Jeremy leans in a bit, waiting. "Here we go!" The ship dives towards the water and goes inside the Digital Sea.

"Base lab to Skid, do you read me? Lab calling Skid. Aelita, come in. Answer please!" He grips his can, now worried. He knew he shouldn't have said yes!

"..._Skid to base lab_," Aelita reports a few seconds later and he sighs in relief. "_Jeremy, we're in the Digital Sea!_"

"That's what I wanted to hear, Aelita," He smiles a little. "I nearly had a heart attack waiting, but I'm okay now."

The door opens up to the network, the Skid flying inside. The entrance closes behind them and Jeremy taps a key. "Holo web system online. _Well, what does the network look like?_"

"It's...it's beautiful!" Aelita exclaims in awe. "I'm sending you a visual, Jeremy," She presses on some buttons and he sees the sight.

"Wow...!"

"_Yeah, you said it, Einstein_," Odd comments as they look on.

Suddenly Amy's hair glows and she looks around in confusion. "Huh? What's happening?" Little specks fly from her hair as it floats around. The girl looks at her hands and hair in shock, focused on the sight happening in her Skid. Once it stops glowing, her entire hair is colored pink just like Aelita's with green streaks in it. "Whoa! My hair changed color...as soon as we entered the Digital Sea..."

"I think it has to do with the fact that you're a fairy with different powers in each sector," Yumi theorizes as Odd's face appears on the glass in front of Amy. "Maybe that's a sign that you have powers in the Digital Sea too!"

"Either way, you look beautiful!" Odd tells her with a smile. "Then again, you always do."

"Aw," She beams at him. "You're so sweet."

"It actually suits you since we're in the network," Aelita compliments, looking to her levers. "Rotation." The Skid changes the Navs so that they're facing forward, the arms lifting up.

"Aelita, engage the turbo prop and the auxiliary engines to break clear of Lyoko's gravity field, okay?" Jeremy tells her.

"Right, whatever you say," Aelita smiles, pressing a button. "Turbo propeller engaged." The thrusters start up and the Skid takes off. Aelita flies it upwards and they begin to explore. She goes left and right as there are pillars everywhere, light blue specks in the sea. Yumi looks around in amazement, gasping as they fly past signs.

Ulrich glances out the window as Aelita swerves to the left. Odd smiles, glancing over his shoulder. Amy clasps her hands, her mouth open in awe.

"This is so cool!" She exclaims, despite the fact that she's facing underneath the ship in her Nav Skid, it felt like they were really inside the Digital Sea. Almost like the aquarium, but this is nothing compared to that.

Jeremy finishes his soda, putting it down. "Okay! That's it, you guys. Now head for home."

"_Aw, can't we stay here a little longer_?" Odd complains like a child.

"I said five minutes, Odd!" Jeremy points out with a small chuckle. "Aelita."

"Roger, Jeremy. Turning around," Aelita pushes a black button. "Starboard propulsion engaged. Bearing 160." She activates the propellers and turns the ship around, going back the way they came. Suddenly, Jeremy gets a bunch of alerts.

"What's going on around here?! Aelita, I don't know why, but I just lost all trace of you on my radar. It might just be a transmission problem. _Can you check it out?_"

She silently does so, some symbols flashing red on her screen. "Jeremy, the navigation system doesn't respond. There's a bug in it!"

"This can't be!" Jeremy grips the soda can. "Without a navigation system, you'll never find your way back to Lyoko! You'll be stuck floating on the network until you use up all the Skid's virtual power reserves..."

"_And then what?_" Yumi couldn't help but ask.

"Once the virtual energy is exhausted, the Skid'll break up and you'll all end up in the Digital Sea for good!"

Amy gasps sharply, covering her mouth. "Eternal virtualization...like our father," Aelita looks away, Amy closing her eyes.

"Well, that's just great," Ulrich grumbles at this.

"By the way, Einstein, I hope you've got a solution because I didn't bring my bathing suit," Odd looks at himself.

"Which I hope doesn't come to that," Amy speaks up.

"Yeah, well, to get you guys out of there, I have to debug the system. Except that there are seven million codes to crack! By then, you'll all be in the drink, unless..."

"_Unless what?_" Ulrich wonders as Jeremy rubs his chin.

"I've got sub programs that just might debug and repair the system...but I have to go get them from my room, and so I have to leave you guys on your own for just a moment."

"_Oh, that's cool, Einstein, you couldn't have brought the stuff with you?_" Odd replies sarcastically.

"Hey, I wasn't the one who insisted on doing this trial run, Odd, so just cool it if you don't mind!"

"Both of you cool it!" Amy snaps at the two.

"It won't help to get all worked up. Hurry and get your CD-Rom, we'll wait here," Aelita says in agreement.

"Okay, I'll be right back. Whatever you do, don't move from there," Jeremy tells them as he takes off the microphone.

"Just be careful, Jeremy," Amy warns him, "That drill is still going on, remember? They might give you a hard time." However, since he's already left, he doesn't hear her warning.

"_Pretty funny,_" Odd retorts back. "Weird, it looks like an upside-down city," He states as Aelita drives the ship around.

"If you ask me, all these buildings are the network's interconnected databases," Aelita notes as she notices all of the lines. "Okay, why don't we turn on some light?" She activates the lights from the outside.

* * *

Jeremy lifts up the manhole cover and crawls out of the entrance. He runs down the path to the school.

"Belpois!"

He stops in shock to see Jim running up to him. "What do you think you're doing here? Why aren't you with all of the other kids in the schoolyard, huh?"

Jeremy tilts up his glasses, looking past him. "Darn it! Fire Safety Day, I forgot all about it too, just my luck."

Unfortunately for him, the firefighters are blocking his way to the dorms... "Go on, hurry up, The principal sees you here, he's gonna ring my bell," Jim gestures to his right.

"Yeah, but I-I need to get something from my room. I-It'll just take a second!"

"No, no you don't! You were all warned this morning and a warning in hand is worth two in the...Bush League. Beat it!" Jim orders the boy, who walks away in defeat. He looks over his shoulder, seeing Jim leave the area. He smiles smugly and runs past the guards.

"Did I ever tell you about when I fought forest fires?" Jim asks the firefighters.

* * *

"..Hey, you think we'll live to see the light of day?" Odd suddenly questions during all the silence.

"Don't worry, Odd," Aelita shakes her head. "Jeremy will find a way to fix it, I'm sure." Suddenly, everything around them turns red.

"Guys, wait...has anyone noticed a change in the light?" Yumi notices it first.

"You're right, that's strange..." Aelita comments, unsure of what's going on.

* * *

Jeremy looks down the hall to see the principal approaching. He cringes, hiding behind one of the pillars. He sees the open entrance to his right and smiles, running inside. He rushes up the stairs and into the hall...only to stop when he sees Mr. Fumet standing guard.

"Another teacher standing guard. What is this, Fort Knox?" He scoffs in disbelief, running off. Mr. Fumet, thinking he heard something, looks up in Jeremy's direction. However, he sees nothing and goes back to reading his magazine.

The blond peeks around the corner. "Well...there isn't any other way." He runs right past the teacher.

* * *

"Hey, you guys see that dark thing up there?" Ulrich wonders, and it looks like a giant black sphere up ahead.

"Yes, I'll shut the lights to get a better view," Aelita turns them off.

"Aelita...? You think that's Lyoko?" Yumi asks slowly.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, its gravity is pulling us towards it," She shakes her head. The ship is indeed moving on its own over to whatever it is.

* * *

Jeremy lifts up the door to the roof, looking around. No one can see him up here...but there's only one way to get to his room.

"This is not gonna be a piece of cake..." He murmurs to himself. "Okay, let's do it," He climbs up the roof all the way to the top. He sits on top and looks up ahead. He gets onto his feet, wobbling a bit. "Whoa!' He manages to balance himself, walking across the roof slowly.

"This is definitely more Amy's thing, for the record!" He mutters, reaching one of the structures. He looks downwards, his vision starting to get hazy. He closes his eyes for a second. Sports was not his strong suit...he knew that now. But no matter what, he had to help his friends.

He grips onto the right side, crawling around it. His foot is too far away to reach the other side, so he jumps and lands safely, to his relief. He turns around and continues stepping forward slowly. His foot slips and he slides down, but he grips onto the railing, a piece falling off and going towards the ground.

* * *

"Oh, I'd love to see that paper-pusher Einstein's face when he figures out that we didn't need his help to come back in," Odd replies as Aelita stares at the world.

"Yeah, it's nice to be back to Lyoko."

Amy gets the same feeling as her sister. "But it's not Lyoko," They say at the same time.

"Huh? What?"

"It's not Lyoko," Aelita repeats, shaking her head. "Hang on now, retro brakes!"

The Skid moves backwards as Aelita spins the ship around and starts going straight.

* * *

Jeremy manages to snap out of it, climbing difficultly. He slips and falls, grabbing on just in time and climbing back up. "Who said climbing can take you to great heights?" He gets back onto the roof, sighing in relief. "I guess I should monkey around more often..."

He scoots towards an open window and slides, peeking inside. He slips in through the attic and climbs down the ladder, silently glad that he's out of that situation. He pulls open the door that leads to the dorms and peeks around the corner. For once, no one is standing guard. He runs down the hall and rushes into his room.

He takes the CD on his desk.

* * *

"There's something else up ahead," Yumi notices as the water is still red.

"Hey look, it's ugly and uglier. They look like some sort of eel," Ulrich states, Aelita squinting up ahead to see eel-like creatures.

"I've never met an eel I didn't like!" Odd chimes in.

"Whatever they are, they sure aren't friendly," Amy cringes as they focus their attention on the ship.

"Heads up, I'm breaking off," Aelita spins the ship around and Amy's Nav Skid glows, the yellow glow surrounding the whole ship. The lasers hit the shield, but it has no effect on the Skid. "Amy, did you just shield the whole ship?"

"I think so...but I feel exhausted already," She closes her eyes as Aelita slips past the monsters.

"I've seen spiked heels, like with Ames, but spiked eels? Never!" Odd comments, chuckling, "Right Ames?"

Amy doesn't respond as she seems to be unconscious. "A-Ames?"

"Amy, can you hear us?"

"Amy, report back in."

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Aelita states as she can sense her sister still in her Skid. "Shielding the whole ship drained her a little. She just has to take a brief nap."

Odd frowns in worry, the others silent.

* * *

Jeremy runs down the stairs, getting the attention of a firefighter that was standing in front of the entrance. "Hey, HEY!"

"Sorry, got my own fire to put out!" He shouts to the man, going towards the park.

The eels start firing as they're following the ship. Aelita flies upwards, the eels hot on their trail.

Jeremy reaches the manhole cover and takes it off. He crawls down the ladder, hoping that he's not too late to save his friends.

The eels continue firing as the Skid swerves to the right. She's trying to lose them, but it's impossible. Aelita turns left, and then flies upwards, swooping downwards.

"Holy cow, Aelita, be careful, or you'll get us all killed! Who taught you how to pilot?" Odd calls out.

"You did, Odd," Aelita retorts back.

"Oh..."

The two eels spin around and fire relentlessly, the Skid spinning around in a circle, alarming everyone except Amy. The fairy still has her head tilted to the left, eyes closed. Aelita tilts the ship towards the left slightly.

"Aelita, we'll never make it against these monsters!"

"I know, we're almost out of energy, and the shield Amy created is almost down! The Skid could disintegrate at any moment if Jeremy doesn't get back soon!" Aelita exclaims in worry.

"We could try waking up Ames, maybe she can do something!"

"No, we can't," Aelita shakes her head. "If it drains her power again, she might not be able to use them for an emergency."

Thankfully, Jeremy arrives back in the lab, running up to the computer. He places in the CD and a screen pops up. He puts the microphone back on.

"Okay Aelita, I'm here in the computer lab. How are you holding up?"

"We're in big trouble, Jeremy! XANA's attacking us with some kind of fish, and Amy used some of her power to shield us, but she hasn't woken up yet. They're some kind of moray or conger eels. Have you started up the debugging program?"

"Yes, but you're burning way too much power, and if this continues, you guys will be gone before the debugging's done! We have to buy some time. But first...Amy, Odd and Sam are going out!"

"Huh?!" Her eyes pop open out of her head as she sits up. "...Don't ever say that again, Jeremy, do you hear me?"

"You're alright!" Yumi exclaims in relief.

"Have a good sleep, Sleeping Beauty?" Ulrich teases her, though happy to hear her voice again.

"Glad to have you awake," Aelita smiles a little.

"Ames, why didn't you tell us that shielding the ship on your own would affect you like that?" Odd asks her, a bit upset.

"I did what I had to. I'm sorry, Odd," She smiles sheepishly. "It was instinct. Had to do something or else we would've been hit a long time ago by those eels."

"Okay, now how are we gonna buy time?" Aelita asks curiously.

"Get those morays off your tail! And then launch the Nav Skids."

"What?!" Odd suddenly shouts, "We're gonna fight them one-on-one?"

"_Exactly, Odd. Just like in Galactic Invaders_. _And Amy, it seems like you can use underwater powers here_!"

"Oh," She smirks a little. "That'll help nicely..."

"Okay, bring 'em on!" Odd prepares himself for launch.

"Are you all set? Nav Skids away!"

Aelita pulls down all four levers, releasing all four Skids. They surround the eels. "Hey, these are more maneuverable than my Overboard! GANGWAAAAAY!"

The eels start chasing after them. "Now be really careful. If you get hit, it means you'll be lost at sea!" Jeremy warns the four.

"Gotcha, Einstein," Odd spins around his skid, pulling the right lever. "Fire torpedoes." He presses the button and two torpedoes shoot out from the front. They fly towards an eel, but miss and hit one of the platforms instead. "Unbelievable! It's up to you, girls!"

"They're tough customers," Yumi looks above her.

"You said it!" Odd comments as he flies over the Japanese girl.

"Well so are we," Amy smirks a little.

"Yumi, behind you!" Ulrich warns and Yumi spins around, eyeing her target.

"Okay, come and get me...now! Time to try out those new powers, Amy!"

"Okay..." She takes a deep breath, pulling the left lever forward. "Let's try this!"

A bunch of bubbles shoot out from the front, and both projectiles manage to hit one of the eels. "Got it!"

"Nice shot, Yumi!" Amy compliments her.

"Hey, you too! That was a nice move!"

"Nice one, girls, especially you, Yumi. You get better and better," Ulrich replies as she flies next to his Skid. Amy smirks in amusement from above.

"Maybe, but not good enough."

"Careful, don't forget that the Nav Skid's autonomy _is _limited," Jeremy adds in.

"_We'll do what we can, Jeremy, but these monsters are hard to hit!_" Yumi explains to him.

"Well, don't try to work any miracles. Just keep them away from the Skid."

"_Right_," Ulrich agrees and Amy salutes.

"Now that we can do."

One of the eels notices the Skid up ahead, but gets run down by Ulrich. "Hey fish freak, looking for some more bait?" He flies upwards away from the ship, the monster firing straight at him. Ulrich swerves to the right, the eel falling for it. He tilts a lever to the left, narrowly dodging out of the way. He smiles at his maneuver, the eel still on his trail. Ulrich picks up speed, the eel firing at him, and then Ulrich loses the monster. "This time I lost him."

"The program is debugged. I'm sending you your coordinates. Get out of there and fast!" Jeremy taps enter.

"Nav Skids in," Aelita pulls the two levers backwards, three of them coming back and landing in place. They stick to where they belong. Ulrich comes in last and lands where he was. More eels land in front of the window. Aelita narrows her eyes. "Maximum propulsion."

She presses three buttons and moves forward, slipping past the eels. "Trial run's over, everybody. Back to dry dock."

* * *

"I would never have thought that the world information network was a real live ocean!" Jeremy exclaims in amazement, turning around to the others once he's brought them back in.

"Yeah, with fish and everything. Big ones, too," Odd adds in. Aelita looks away, closing her eyes.

"To think that our father is in the network somewhere..."

"Yeah..." Amy crosses her arms. "It'll take forever to find him in a place like that."

"Same for William," Yumi hums a little.

"...That huge sphere we saw, what was that, anyway?" Ulrich wonders, referring back to the black sphere they thought was Lyoko.

"Another virtual world just like Lyoko, a replica that XANA must've created from the data that he stole from Amy and Aelita," Jeremy tells them, to the ire of the boys.

"Wait...so there are other virtual worlds out there like Lyoko? Created by XANA?" Amy asks slowly, turning to the others. "If we hadn't gone for that trial run, we might've never noticed it."

"I really wonder what he's thinking of doing with it..." Jeremy murmurs to himself.

"We'll go and explore it!" Ulrich suggests, smiling.

"Yeah!"

"Right...but not tonight," Jeremy jumps onto the ground. "The only thing that I feel like exploring is my bed. I'm wiped out."

"You're wiped out from sitting in your cushy chair?" Odd asks skeptically. "How do you think we should feel, then?"

"Odd, if I told you what I was doing while you were on the network, you'd never believe me," Jeremy smiles in amusement.

"Let me take a wild guess, okay? Uh, you did a little rock scaling on the dormitory roof."

"Huh?!" Jeremy asks in shock, Amy looking between the two with wide eyes. "But how'd you know that?"

Odd lifts up his eyebrows in surprise. He was just speculating; he didn't think that he was actually right! Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi open their mouths in shock, and then everyone except Jeremy starts laughing. "You know, Einstein, you can be really hilarious when you wanna be! Even when you don't wanna be!"

Jeremy just gives them a look.


	74. Crash Course

Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi walk underneath the arches at the hall of the rec room. "Hey..." Ulrich looks at his watch. "Odd oughta be here already, we were supposed to play foosball."

"You know Odd: Something probably came up at the last second," Yumi points out, crossing her arms.

"But he's afraid to show up. If I know Odd, he's hiding somewhere cuz he knows I'll beat him!" Ulrich brags as Aelita looks up ahead, chuckling.

"If you ask me, it might just be my sister," She replies in amusement, as they can see up ahead Odd and Amy walking together. They sit on a bench and she giggles at something he said.

"Well, what do you know? The lovebirds are at it again," Ulrich sends Yumi a small smile.

* * *

In the rec room, Christophe and Matthias are playing ping pong, Ulrich watching them over his shoulder. He takes a sip of his soda as Odd and Amy walk in. Matthias and Christophe look up to see her, stopping the game as they stare at her. She pays no mind to them as they smile at the girl. She sits next to Yumi and Odd sits next to her.

"Ah, you know...life isn't bad at all..." He puts his feet up, hands behind his head.

"I didn't know that you've already forgotten about Melanie, Odd," Aelita smirks playfully.

"Who's she? Oh yeah, Melanie. Right, well, uh...she wasn't very...uh...she was just a little too...well, actually a lot more...well, you see what I mean?"

Amy raises a brow, looking towards the others. "No," Aelita answers him.

"What I see, Odd, is that you used to collect girlfriends the way other people collect stamps," Ulrich points at him. "No offense."

"Hey, I tell you, what I have with Ames is for real! You don't have to bring that up every single time, you know, it's been over a year."

"Eh, I'm not really that upset over it anymore," Amy shrugs lightly. "I mean...I trust him even when others tell me not to, and he hasn't even looked at another girl."

"Believe me, Ames, you're the one!" Odd winks at her and she smiles. "You're funny, caring, and really cool too. Why do you think that Christophe and Matthias stopped playing their game once you walked in?"

"Aww," Yumi nudges Amy, who looks away bashfully.

"Oddddd!" She pouts a little, though touched.

"At least it's original, not like the way he said it about all the girls he fell for."

Odd and Amy both cringe a little at the memory, but quickly snap out of it. "Maybe, but Ames has something special the others don't. She's crazy about dogs like me!"

"Is that the only reason?" She rolls her eyes in amusement.

"You're also very forgiving like the time I took your dessert when you weren't looking!"

The others end up laughing. "What's so funny?" Odd blushes in embarrassment.

"That makes up for all of the girls you went out with in the world?" Yumi looks at Odd.

"Yeah, and this afternoon, we're going to the movies together," Odd defends the two.

"We are?" Amy turns to him in surprise. "As much as I'd like to, don't you remember-"

"To see what? Wheelchairs on before or Snorkeling Combat 2?" Ulrich asks sarcastically.

"No way, those days are over! We're going to see something real romantic and intellectual. The picture's called Petals of Desire."

The four just continue to laugh, Amy clearing her throat. "The problem with you guys is that you have no sense of romance and no intellect!" Odd narrows his eyes at them. "I planned a romantic date for this afternoon, and you're laughing, Ames!"

"I'm sorry," She giggles, holding up a hand. She suddenly looks away nervously towards Aelita, as she wanted to say something. "I appreciate it, Odd, really, but-"

"Speaking of intellect, has anyone seen Jeremy?" Ulrich couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, he went back to his room," Aelita tells him. "I think he's got a few big problems..."

* * *

"The only problem is our friend XANA," Jeremy states once they meet in his room. "You remember the last few times he attacked?"

"Which time? The one with the trees or at the swimming pool?" Odd asks curiously.

"Odd, we agreed not to bring up that day at the pool, right?" Ulrich reminds him.

"Why? What happened at the swimming pool, huh?" Aelita questions, getting a blush from Ulrich in return. That was a day he did not want to talk about. Yumi's blushing as well as they look away from each other.

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all," Yumi agrees with him.

Aelita turns to her sister, who whistles as she darts her eyes away. "You know too?!"

"Odd!" Ulrich hisses at his friend.

"Hey, she's my girlfriend, of course I was gonna tell her!" Odd retorts back.

"Whatever!" Jeremy changes the subject. "I meant all the attacks at XANA has launched recently, okay? Haven't you noticed what the target has been?'

"Well, yeah, us," Odd points out.

"Yes, but especially Aelita, Amy, and me, and it just so happens that we're the only ones who can use the supercomputer," Jeremy crosses his arms. Amy is much more confident using it now as Aelita had given her a thorough lesson at this point.

"Come on, we've all done it," Ulrich adds, as they've all used the computer for simple functions.

"Following our instructions on the phone or laptop," Jeremy interjects, "But what would happen if Aelita, Amy, or I weren't around to give you guys any help?"

Odd gasps sharply, hugging Amy close for protection. "Not in that way!" Jeremy sweats a little. "XANA wins hands down without us. Which is why I'm giving you three a crash course on using the supercomputer this afternoon."

"What? No way!" Odd immediately protests. "Count me out. I'm going to the movies with Ames."

"And I've got a test to study for," Yumi crosses her arms.

"And I've got Penchak Silat practice," Ulrich adds in. Amy bites her lip nervously.

"If you guys think you have better things to do, I can't force you to come, but then don't expect us to gain a round on XANA," He turns around to face them.

"You're right, but you know, some days it isn't easy being heroes..."

"Then listen, we'll meet up at the computer lab after lunch, and if you pick it up quickly, it'll be over in a couple of hours, okay?" Jeremy questions to them.

"Okay..." Odd stands up, the others leaving.

"Odd...wait," Amy calls out and he looks over his shoulder.

"...Uh, Jeremy, I...I can't make it this afternoon," Aelita stares at him.

"Hmm? Why not?" He turns to her in confusion.

"Um, I've got my audition with the SubDigitals. You know, for the concert? Today's the final round of tryouts..."

"...And you have to be there too!" Odd facepalms himself. "Oh, I forgot! But why didn't you just tell me, Ames?"

"I tried, but either I got interrupted or things got in the way," She fiddles with her thumbs nervously. "I'm sorry, I know how much you were looking forward to it..."

"But that's impossible!" Jeremy protests to both of the girls. "What if something happens to me while you're gone?"

"That's no problem. While you're teaching everyone how to run the supercomputer, we'll keep our phones on. If XANA attacks, we'll be back in no time," Aelita suggests with a smile.

"...Okay...maybe you're right. I've worried too much. Go ahead, I can manage without you both," Jeremy turns around to his computer.

"Thanks Jeremy," Aelita kisses his cheek and he blushes, smiling.

"There'll be other dates, Ames," Odd takes a hold of her hand. "If this is important to you, then it's important to me! Sorry I forgot..."

"That's okay," She kisses his cheek. "How about later tonight? Find us a showing after the audition."

"Okay. You're the best, Ames!" He pulls her into a bear hug and she giggles.

* * *

"So much for my training session, great," Ulrich grumbles as they trudge down the hall.

"What about me? I'm gonna flunk another exam for sure!" Yumi complains while walking between the boys.

"That's nothing! You think you've got it bad, huh? How am I gonna tell Ames that Petals of Desire is sold out for today?" Odd pouts a little. When he called the theater, he had to give up his tickets to someone else...

"Think about it, Odd, you're better off!" Ulrich jokes a little, "You don't have to pay all that money to sleep through two hours of a film!"

"It's a lot better than sleeping through a class given by our friend Einstein!" Odd points out.

* * *

Later, they meet him in the lab. "Okay, to start off, we're going to go through a little bit of theory," Jeremy holds up packets of paper. "I've printed you up a small list of basic functions to prepare you-"

"Hey, wait a minute, Einstein!" Odd interrupts him, "Wouldn't it be easier if we just went straight to the practical side? You tell us what button to push in and presto, huh?"

"Odd," Jeremy says sharply, "Working the supercomputer isn't like fooling around in a game console. Before I can trust you with the controls, I want to be sure you know this thing inside out!" They look at their papers skeptically.

"Will you all relax?" He relaxes in his chair. "You'll see, guys, the theoretical stuff is actually a lot of fun!"

"Right, it's gonna be a million laughs!" Ulrich says sarcastically.

* * *

In town, the girls are just arriving at the place for the final round. "Eyes on the prize! You memorized all your steps, right?"

"After lunch and dinner for the past week," Amy grins at her, twirling around. "Trust me, I wouldn't let my little sis down like that."

Aelita opens the door to the room. "Aelita, Amelia, hello! I'm glad that you two could make it. Let me introduce everyone," He leads them inside of the room. "You already know Nick and Bennoit, my partners. Sophie, who holds the purse strings."

"Hello girls," She greets with a smile.

"And that big baron in his cage is Simon, our sound engineer. And this is Mehdi and Lise, who are the other contestants for this final audition."

"Hi," The two say to everyone.

"And just Amy, please," Amy waves a hand.

* * *

Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd are against the wall, the two looking totally lost while Odd is asleep. "And so if we export the virtual memory from the B block into the inertial matrix, you could reconfigure the transfer file! This will let you delay the alignment of the quantum qubits. I'm sure you see where I'm going with this, any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one," Ulrich calls out. "How do you expect us to remember all this blah blah junk?!"

"If you guys were a little more attentive, you'd been able to understand it," Jeremy retorts back.

"Ulrich's right, Jeremy," Yumi narrows her eyes at his statement. "Stop trying to teach us everything you know. Just show us how to do some practical stuff, like virtualizing us onto Lyoko, or programming up the vehicles."

"Okay fine, I guess we may as well get to the practical end..." Jeremy looks away and Odd wakes up.

"A-Are we there yet?"

* * *

Medhi is doing his turn, the girls watching him. Aelita looks up at the team behind the booth and the music stops.

"Okay, Medhi, nice one," Chris compliments him. He smiles and places down the headphones.

"So you're a mix and dance duo?" Lise asks the two.

"Yup! It's either both of us or not at all," Amy puts her arms around Aelita.

"She helps me get the crowd to dance along to my music," She smiles a little. "I can't imagine doing without her."

"Wow! You seem very close, just like sisters."

The two smile in amusement.

* * *

The door to the scanner room opens and only Odd steps in. They're testing how to virtualize each other onto Lyoko.

"Make sure you hit the right button, I'm ready," Odd tells Ulrich. "But I don't want to end up there with four arms and 3 legs!"

"Uh, okay, um...tramp-transfer Odd. That right?" Ulrich turns to Jeremy, who simply nods with a hum. Ulrich starts pressing buttons, but if he was honest, he had no idea what he was doing. "Transfer Odd." He taps enter and the doors close around the short blond. Odd's avatar appears. "Scanner Odd."

His hair lifts up as he closes his eyes, being turned around for scanning. "And, uh, virtualization."

A few seconds later, Odd lets out a scream. "_You turned me into a garden gnome!_"

"Oh no!" Ulrich starts to panic.

However, Odd is perfectly fine, standing in the ice sector. "Relax, just kidding. Everything's cool here."

"Oh," Ulrich sighs in relief, "Not so bad for a beginner, huh?"

"Yeah, not bad," Jeremy scoffs a little. "You were confused there for a second, and almost hit the wrong button, Mister I don't need new theory."

"You're never satisfied! Did I get him to Lyoko, yes or no?" Ulrich asks in irritation.

"Yes, because I was here with you. And you weren't even under the stress of a XANA attack," Jeremy points out.

Just as he says this, an alert of an activated tower pops up. "Give me my seat back!" Jeremy types rapidly. "Activated tower, mountain sector. Head for the scanners, hurry up!"

Suddenly they hear something, looking up and gasping. A specter appears from the ceiling, turning to look like one of the agents that discovered the factory.

"Leave him to me!" Ulrich runs up to him, jumping into the air. The clone grabs his foot and throws him onto the ground. It turns around to the wires on the floor, ripping one apart.

"Hey!" Jeremy steps down from his chair. The clone lunges towards him.

"Jeremy!" Yumi shouts in horror.

"No!"

She watches him get electrocuted. "JEREMY!" He falls unconscious onto the floor. Yumi narrows her eyes at him in anger, about to attack when he turns into smoke on his own. She steps back in shock as he disappears completely. "He disappeared..." She walks up to Ulrich as he gets up, rubbing the back of his neck.

* * *

"Well, take our breath away, girls. It's all yours," Chris instructs, the two standing up. They both smile as she puts on the headphones. The record starts spinning and she turns up the volume. Amy taps her foot onto the ground, the two other contestants gasping. Amy swings down her arm, shaking her hips as she shimmies her arms back and forth. The others look on, impressed.

Yumi presses her ear to Jeremy's stomach. "He's still breathing, but he took a lot of volts..."

"_Hey, uh, guys_?" Odd speaks up. "_Remember me?_"

Ulrich takes a seat in the chair, putting the microphone on. "Odd? I think we're in a big jam. XANA's sicked a polymorphic specter on us, and Einstein's out cold."

"_Oh, well then, it's a good thing he showed us how to work the supercomputer_!"

"Oh, yeah, you're right! It's up to us," Ulrich fully turns to the keyboard. "Anyone have any idea what to do now?"

"Yes, call Aelita," Yumi pulls out her mobile.

Aelita's phone rings, but since she's doing her mix with Amy, she doesn't hear it. Amy's too focused on the music to hear anything.

"...No answer. I'll send her a text message."

"You might as well send one to Amy too: She's not picking up either," Ulrich looks over his shoulder.

"_Okay, we'll just have to improvise. What do I do?_"

"Uh, for openers, Odd, try and get to the mountain sector." Yumi turns to the screen.

"Yumi, shouldn't we bring Odd back to Earth while we try to get into contact with the girls?" Ulrich asks skeptically, looking back to the notes.

"Okay, you know how to rematerialize him?" Yumi raises a brow towards the screen.

"Uhh, no. Do you?"

"No sense arguing, guys," Odd shakes his head. "I'd rather stay here and fight! Just tell me where I can find a way tower!"

"Let's see...um, a way tower...oh, I know! To find a way tower, you have to bring up a radar window with these two keys!" Yumi taps two keys to the upper right, but it seems to pull up Odd's avatar, to their horror.

"_Hey, what are you doing?! Get it right_!"

"Stop it! Hurry up," Ulrich urges and she presses the same two buttons again, making it stop.

"_Thanks. Well then, plan B...try to bring up my Overboard. Maybe I can find that stupid way tower on my own from the air._"

"Okay, um...Overboard, Overboard," Ulrich flips through his packet. "Darn it, Einstein's notes are all over the place!"

"I think it's this one, here," Yumi tries to help him.

"Oh, take your time, okay?" Odd taps his foot impatiently. "Cuz I've got nothing better to do! _Speaking of which, any sign of Spectre Gadget?_"

"Yeah, how come he disappeared like that?" Yumi wonders to Ulrich.

"Guess he had another date."

She suddenly realizes who, gasping. "Aelita, Amy! The spectre must have gone after them, we have to warn them right away! See ya later!" She runs off.

"Hold on, you're not gonna leave me alone like this!" Ulrich calls out in protest.

"You're doing great, Ulrich. Just keep it up!" She smiles, pressing the button to the elevator and leaving him. He frowns towards the keyboard.

Odd runs down the path, stopping at the edge of the sector. "I don't believe it! Where is this way tower?"

"I-I don't know," Ulrich stammers nervously. "But, uh, Odd, you've got some thingamajigs...heading your way."

Odd turns around and sees three Bloks up ahead. "Huh? You're making progress, Ulrich, but those thingamajigs are Bloks, and they don't look too friendly!" He rushes past the Bloks, who fire lasers at him. He crawls on all fours and points his arm at them.

"Laser Arrow!" His arrows only graze them. He slides a bit. "I don't believe it, I missed them all!"

He turns around and runs in the other direction. "Okay, you monsters cool it!" Odd warns them, getting hit in the tail. "Ouch!" He leaps into the air.

* * *

The specter is traveling on the sidewalk, moving past people as it heads for the recording studio.

Aelita removes her headphones as Amy takes a bow. "Well, I guess that's it, then," She smiles towards the crew, Amy waving to them.

"Okay, thanks a lot to all four of you for that great stuff. Just give us a few seconds to talk it over, and we'll let you know our decision," Chris informs all of them, Aelita bending down towards her bag. She looks at her phone and her eyes widen.

"Oh no!"

"Aelita and Amy have got to be our choice," Chris states to the others.

"Oh yeah, no doubt about that."

"I mean, come on, when's the last time you saw a DJ and dancer duo? They seem like great partners."

They nod in agreement, smiling.

* * *

"Hey, where's my ride? Are you sending it over or not?" Odd calls out as he runs away from the Bloks.

"Uhh, I'm working on it! Let's see, uh...oh, there it is, I got it!"

The lasers hit a rock. "Well, try to work faster!" Odd runs up the rock, landing at the top. He jumps off, firing his arrow. "Laser Arrow!" He fires three times, but only manages to get one of them. He takes off running.

"Materialization Overboard!" Ulrich taps a button, but the Overbike arrives instead.

"Ulrich! Y-You just sent me the Overbike!"

"Uh, sorry, Odd, I can't send you anything else..." Ulrich says regrettably.

"Well, it's better than nothing. But there's another problem. You were supposed to send it to me!" Odd frowns a little, pointing a thumb to himself. "Not to them! Dummy!"

The Overbike is behind the Bloks, but he'd have to get past them first to drive it. "Well, I guess it's up to me to unblock the situation!"

Odd runs up to them, and causes one to destroy the other. "Yahoo!" He jumps on top of the other one and lands, running up to the Overbike. "Time to saddle up!"

And with that, he jumps over the Blok and takes off.

* * *

Chris presses a button to talk to the contestants. "Well, Medhi, Lise, I'm really sorry, guys, but..." He looks to his left, seeing that Amy and Aelita have already left. "But where are they?"

"Amy left a note, sir," Sophie holds it up. "She said something came up, but that if you need anything, here's her number."

The girls run down the sidewalk as fast as they can, only to be cornered by the specter, and they know that it's him because he's flickering.

"No...!"

"Run!" Amy grabs her hand and rushes in the other direction. He chases after them, and they look over his shoulder. He's getting closer, reaching out an arm...

When a limo pulls up and hits him, knocking him onto the road. A car drives right past it and Jackson rolls down the window.

"Jackson!" Amy gasps in relief. "But how did you-"

"Yumi called me," He smiles, jerking a thumb to Yumi in the back. She opens up the door.

"Hurry, get in!" She urges the two and they rush inside the limo.

"Let's move it!" Aelita exclaims to the chauffeur, who slams on the pedal. The car who had touched the specter had stopped, the driver getting out.

"Uh, are you okay?" He calls out. "Nothing broken?"

The specter just stares at him as the driver walks up. The lenses from his sunglasses flash red. "Everything cool?"

He grabs the man and throws him away. "Hey, that's-ah!"

The specter walks up to the car and gets in it. "Hey, you okay?" A bystander asks the man, the car turning around to chase after the limo.

"I'm so glad you helped us out, Mr. Jackson. Thank you," Aelita says gratefully to the man.

"Just Jackson, Aelita. A friend of Amelia's is a friend of mine," He winks at her. "And you can rely on me anytime. After all...you are Amelia's half-sister."

"Mom told you, didn't she?" Amy sighs a little.

"Of course she did. I work for her now, actually." The girls blink at him in shock, waiting for an answer. Amy knew that he had to give up all the money, but not the fact that all of the employees went with it. "After your father, excuse me, Mr. Smith settled the divorce, he had to give all of his assets to her, and along with that all of his employees at the home. Not that they weren't glad to quit. He was getting too much to bear, so we severed ties with him. Last time I heard, he was living in a crummy apartment. She probably didn't want you to worry."

"I'm not worried," She deadpans, looking out the window. "He's not my real father, so why should I be invested in his life now?"

"But he still raised you ever since you were born," Aelita speaks up. "I know the guy's a jerk, but I'm sure that deep down he still loves you."

"He tries to _control _me when we all know the truth," Amy closes her eyes. "Everything he decided, he did it without my input. It's always his way, and I can't live my life like that...any conversation with him is guaranteed to be an emotional prison cell. If that's love in his eyes, I don't want it."

* * *

Odd drives the Overbike, looking around for the way tower. "Hey Ulrich, where is this way tower?"

"Sorry Odd, I'm afraid to push some of these buttons," Ulrich looks up from his notes.

"_Well, you better. I'm starting to rust over here!_"

He pushes two, but all that does is start up a countdown. "Oh, what's that number doing here?"

Yumi calls him, to his relief. "Great, Yumi, just in time! I've got some sort of countdown window up here."

"Hang on, I got the experts with me! Here," She hands Aelita the phone.

"Ulrich, it's Aelita. Is there anything written above the window?" She asks curiously, Amy looking over her shoulder.

"Uhh, yeah, it says big fat cheese head. What does that mean?"

"I-It's a code," Aelita stammers, blushing a little. "You've started a delayed virtualization directly into the mountain sector."

"Ulrich, has Odd found the way tower?" Yumi questions next.

"No...but I just got a mega idea," Ulrich has stepped into the elevator and it closes.

"Ulrich! Ulrich!" Yumi stares at the phone, hanging up.

"He must've gone to the mountain sector on his own..." Amy sighs in realization.

"Big fat cheese head?" The Japanese girl turns to Aelita in confusion.

"It's, uh...um, a private joke between Jeremy and me," Aelita blushes redder, looking away.

"Um, girls? We have a problem..." Amy points to the back window. They both look outside and gasp, seeing the specter speeding up to them.

"Yumi!"

"...That way!" Yumi points to the left.

"But that's off the road!" Amy exclaims in fear.

"That's our best shot! Step on it," She orders Jackson.

"Hang on, ladies!" He swerves to the left and they scream as the car flies over the staircase. The limo lands at the end of the staircase and they pant slowly. It was a miracle that the limo wasn't damaged. "This baby's got very strong wheels and exterior. I used to be a race car driver in my younger days."

"Good to know," Yumi raises a brow, impressed.

Ulrich steps into the scanner just in time, being transferred, scanned, and sent to Lyoko. He lands on his feet safely and takes off into a run.

Jackson swerves to a stop in front of the bridge. "Go save your friends."

"Thanks, Jackson!" Amy calls out as they rush out of the car, running down the bridge. Unfortunately, the car following them swerves past the limo, driving up to them. They look over their shoulders, jumping up and grabbing the rope. The car comes to a stop at the edge.

Odd looks at his surroundings. "This ice floe sure is deserted!" He finally catches sight on a way tower. "Well, nothing to lose. Let's try that tower."

He swerves to the right, heading towards it. He drives the Overbike inside, going past the walls of code before exiting into the ice sector again...He skides the bike to a stop.

"I can't believe it, I'm still stuck in the ice sector..."

The girls arrive in the lab, seeing what Ulrich had done. "Ulrich just virtualized himself into the mountain sector!" She suddenly gasps, as she notices where Odd is.

"_Odd, that way tower is just a little further, bearing northwest from your position. We'll meet you in the mountain sector. Move it_!"

"Well, better late than never!" He spins the bike around and heads off.

"Your turn now, Yumi. Virtualize us!"

"The boys need all the help they can get," Amy speaks up as they walk to the ladder. Aelita opens the door and goes first while Yumi sits in the chair. She begins the process.

Ulrich comes to a stop, and then sees the tower. He runs up towards it, hiding behind a rock. He knew that leaving it unguarded would be too easy, especially with Jeremy out of commission. And he's exactly right as he notices three Krabs...

And William.

"Uh oh..." He murmurs to himself. "Bingo."

"Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy." The specter is hiding in the ceiling, going unnoticed by Yumi. "Virtualization."

The two girls land right behind Ulrich. "I did it!" Yumi cheers happily.

"Nice one, Yumi," Amy smiles a little, and they approach Ulrich.

"Yoo-hoo, guess who?"

Ulrich immediately turns around, pointing his swords like an X in front of them. "Whoa! What's on the menu?"

"Relax, it's just us," Amy puts down the swords.

"Usual stuff. A whole seafood platter over there, and William's the lemon."

"That's just what we needed," Amy rolls her eyes. "But we can handle 'em."

"Yeah!" Yumi exclaims, glad that this was working. However, the specter lands right behind her. She whips around, her mouth opening in shock as he approaches her, putting a hand in front of her face.

Ulrich and the girls hear something, looking back to see Odd arriving on the Overbike. "Yahoo!" He skids to a stop.

"You sure took your time," Ulrich quips at him.

"Yeah, but at least I got here, and no thanks to you," Odd walks up to them. "If you knew how many towers I've been through before I got to the right one..."

"We're going to need more vehicles, Yumi. Do you read me, Yumi?"

Yumi is thrown to the wall by the specter, sliding down a bit. "_Yumi, answer us_!"

She stands up, sporting a few bruises on her face.

"Transmission problems?" Odd wonders as they walk up to him.

"No, I think it's worse. I'm pretty sure that the specter's in the computer lab."

"Oh no," Amy gasps a little.

"Okay, I'll go. Shoot me, Odd," Ulrich tells them.

"No, I should be the one," Odd gestures to himself. "I've already lost lots of life points, you still got all yours. You'd be more useful here. What's more, that's exactly what we did during the swimming pool attack!"

"I don't ever wanna hear about the swimming pool again!" Ulrich grunts, pulling out his swords.

"Wait! Before you finish me off..." Odd hugs Amy tight. "Ames, if I don't make it, I'll always love you."

"Um...but you're just going back to the lab," She bites her lip. "It's not like you're dying or anything..."

"I know, but hey, at least you'd be blushing if you could!"

"Be careful, Odd," She looks at him in worry.

"I will, my little-"

Ulrich suddenly devirtualizes him with his swords. "That'll teach ya, huh? Saddle up, princess."

"Okay," She smiles in amusement. Amy's wings activate behind her back.

Odd emerges into the scanner room, slowly stepping out.

* * *

The specter is about to hit the girl again when Jackson catches his fist, twisting his arm. He throws him into the wall with incredible strength. Yumi opens her mouth in shock as the chauffeur bends down to her.

"Yumi, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but look out!"

Jackson turns around, getting knocked in the head.

* * *

Ulrich and Aelita drive down the path, the fairy flying above them. "This is gonna be a close one," Aelita comments, as they can tell that the enemies have seen them. William points his sword.

Yumi weakly looks up at the specter, who cracks his knuckles together. He's suddenly electrocuted from behind by Odd.

Ulrich swerves past the lasers, Amy avoiding them from another Krab. Ulrich looks over his shoulder. "Right now, girls!"

Aelita activates her wings, flying behind the samurai. Amy lowers herself to fly next to her sister before they both fly into the air together. The Krabs fire at the two, but they dodge every single one. Ulrich stands on his Overbike, spinning his swords into his hands. He drives it underneath a Krab, leaping backwards. He lands on top of the Krab and stabs the target.

"Impact!"

He lands near William, the Krab exploding behind him.

"Yumi, are you okay?" Odd bends down to the girl.

"I...I didn't realize you were back..."

"Neither did he, but he sure knows now," Odd helps her to her feet, Jackson groaning as he sits up.

"Jackson!" Yumi gasps as they look at him. "Are you alright?"

"This is nothing," He waves it off. "With being in the CIA, there was nothing we weren't prepared for."

"Thanks for the save," She says gratefully.

"We've got no time to lose, he could reform again any second," Odd takes her to the elevator. "Okay, don't move!"

"You think you can virtualize me, Odd?" She looks towards him.

"Relax, I'm a computer whiz, you know that!" He begins typing, both her and Jackson skeptical.

"I'll stay here and deal with that nasty specter," Jackson narrows his eyes, standing behind Odd.

"Cool! My own bodyguard!"

William looks up to see the girls landing near the tower, running towards it. "Super smoke!" He moves towards them, stopping in front of the tower. Amy glares at him, moving back a few feet with Aelita. She fires an energy field, but he absorbs it with his sword.

Amy holds out her hands, rocks coming out of nowhere. She flings them towards William, but he leaps over them, and they crash into each other. Ulrich super sprints around a Krab, landing on top and destroying it. He runs up to the last Krab.

William steps towards the two, throwing his sword. They try to attack, but are too late as the sword hits Aelita, knocking her into Amy. They fall onto the ground, Ulrich looking at them.

"Girls!"

William just laughs at the display, Amy clenching a fist. She slowly looks up at William, who walks towards them.

"So that's how you wanna play it, huh?"

She takes her spear and runs towards him. He holds out his hand, his sword flying into his hands just in time to clash weapons with Amy. They glare at each other past the sparks, striking their weapons back and forth. Ulrich dodges a laser from the Krab.

"Super sprint!" He gets hit by one of the lasers, the monster towering over him. He's about to strike him with the leg, but Ulrich rolls out of the way. He looks between the Krab and William, wondering which one to tackle first. Amy wasn't going to last long with him...

A fan comes out of nowhere, hitting William's hand. He loses his grip on the sword and Amy looks up in relief to see Yumi.

"What's this, William? Another girl catch your eye?"

He growls at her. "Nice one, Odd," Aelita compliments, looking up. "Just in time!"

"Thank you, thank you. That was just a taste of my talent. Einstein would be so-"

The specter suddenly arrives in the room, growling at the boy. "That's funny, I always thought you were taller..."

The Krab stands in front of Ulrich near the edge, wobbling a bit. He slices a leg and it comes off. The Krab loses balance and falls into the Digital Sea.

"Later gator," Ulrich salutes to it.

Yumi pulls out a fan, tossing the weapon. William just knocks it away, walking up towards the girls. They back away with each step he takes.

Odd whimpers as he presses his back to the wall, Jackson standing in front of him protectively. Odd giggles nervously. "Hey, look up there!"

Jackson punches it in the face and he grabs their collars out of anger. "It works most of the time...!"

William runs up to the trio, Yumi throwing a fan, but he deflects it once again. "You're finished, Yumi!"

"We'll see about that!" She flips into the air, only to be devirtualized in mid-air. He lands in front of the two, who look around. Aelita activates her wings, flying above. He throws his sword at her.

"Aelita!" Amy flies in front of her, the sword piercing her. She devirtualizes right in front of Aelita, who moves away from the weapon.

"Amy, no!"

Ulrich leaps into the air, tossing his swords, which hit William and get rid of him for now. Aelita lands in front of the tower, running inside. She gets to the middle and floats to the top.

The specter holds out a ripped cord towards Odd. "No!" Both he and Jackson cry out.

Aelita lands on the pad, approaching the interface. She presses her hand to it.

_Aelita_

_Code _

_Lyoko_

Just before the cord could touch him, the tower deactivates. "Tower deactivated."

The specter slowly disappears, dropping Odd. Amy appears from the elevator, seeing the two. "Jackson, Odd!"

She runs up to them, hugging her boyfriend. "What happened?"

"Tell you later," They both reply in unison.

Jeremy finally gains conscious, seeing his friends and Jackson in his vision. "What happened...? Huh...Aelita...the specter...uh, tower...did you—did you do it?"

"Me?" She gestures to herself. "I didn't do anything," She smiles as he looks towards the others.

* * *

"I have to say, that you guys held your own in the end," Jeremy states once he's been told everything back at the rec room. "But you have to admit I was right. If XANA attacks Aelita, Amy, or me now, I know you'll be able to take over."

"So that means you trust us, huh?" Yumi asks him.

"Yeah," He scoffs a little. "Uh...a bit."

"Well, that's good news, because the day after tomorrow, we'll be gone all day. Amy and I have got my dress rehearsal. The SubDigitals chose us to be the opening act of their concert! Even though we walked out on them. Thank goodness Amy gave them our numbers."

"That's fabulous, Aelita," Jeremy smiles at her. "Well done."

"That's great! By the way, guys," Ulrich notices the couple approach as they're smiling. "How was Petals of Desire?"

"Oh, we didn't see it," Odd sits next to him.

"I managed to convince him that we didn't need to see it, so I let him pick whatever other movie he wanted," Amy giggles a bit.

"I'm over all that romantic stuff...well, not totally. I'll still do romantic stuff when it counts," He winks at the girl. "We went to see an action film, like the day of the swimming pool attack for instance."

"Mm, Odd!" Yumi grunts at him in frustration. "Don't talk about the swimming pool, okay?"

"Hey, don't tell me you're never gonna tell us what happened at the pool, huh?" Aelita glances towards the four.

"Well..."

"Well, it's simple, really," Odd sits up. "Ah, let's see now. You remember the attack in the gymnasium?"

"Odd, we told you never to bring up the attack in the gym, right?" Jeremy warns him.

"Why? What happened in the gym?" Ulrich asks curiously.

"Oh, nothing," Jeremy and Aelita blush.

"Nothing at all!" They glance to each other.

"Oh? Well, now it's your turn," Ulrich looks to Amy and Odd. "What about the time you two were in our room and noticed your dogs-"

"Hey!" Odd punches him in the arm. "You said you wouldn't bring that up!"

"Why? What happened?" Yumi raises a brow.

"Nothing!" The two say rapidly, looking away from each other. When they had gotten back from lunch, they had witnessed their dogs...

Well...

Let's just say they learned more about dog reproduction than they would've liked.


	75. Replika

It's night in Kadic as Odd is playing video games. "Ha ha! Take that, fireball!"

Ulrich lifts up his head, looking over to his roommate. "And you, you slimy vortex! You'll see! You think you're so smart. Wait til I discombobulate you into the black hole!"

"Odd, you mind cooling it a little?" Ulrich calls out in annoyance.

"Ah! Great, thanks a lot! You just made me miss the bonus ball! I'm dying from sleep deprivation and now you're making me start all over again!" Odd complains at him.

"At 4 AM?!" Ulrich exclaims, to which Odd hums in agreement. He places his pillow over his head in disbelief.

* * *

The next morning, Odd is deep asleep, holding his console. Ulrich has since woken up, shaking the boy. "Odd, wake up. Time to rise and shine~!"

Odd blinks his eyes open. "What are you guys dressed like that for?" He notices Jeremy, Aelita, and Amy standing nearby.

"It'll come to you. Think it over, Odd," Jeremy teases while Amy giggles at him.

"Hm...oh no, phys ed!" He sits up in alarm, slumming back down onto his bed. "Forget about it, guys. I can't go. Galactic Battle totally wiped me out..."

"Oh, I told you to stop playing video games when we have classes the next day," Amy sighs knowingly.

"I don't think an excuse like that is gonna sit too well with Jim," Ulrich smirks in amusement.

"Aelita, do me a big favor. Think of a nice legitimate excuse so I can stay here and sleep."

Both girls frown in disapproval. "Me?" Aelita jerks a thumb to herself, skeptical. "What am I supposed to tell him?"

"Just tough it out, Odd, and go to class-"

He falls asleep, Amy giving him a deadpan look. "Ladies and gentleman, my lazy boyfriend," She gestures to him.

"Thanks a lot..." Aelita mutters towards him.

"God forbid if he did that before a date," Ulrich snorts towards Amy.

"You kidding? I'd dump him right there and then if he did that to me before dates that I spend money on all the time," She crosses her arms, leaving the room. "Let's go."

* * *

"Della Robbia?" Jim is taking role outside. "Della Robbia? I don't wanna have to repeat that! DELLA ROBBIA!"

"Mmm, Odd felt sick so he went to the infirmary this morning, Jim," Aelita raises a hand.

"Absent then. I guess when you're not feeling well, the only thing to do is head for the infirmary."

Aelita smiles, glad that it worked. "Hey, wait a minute! Why aren't you there with him, Smith?"

"Uhm," Amy sweats a little, looking towards her friend. "He insisted on me coming to class today. Didn't want me to fall behind for him."

"Mm...Delmas," Jim calls out with a pencil in his mouth.

"Present."

"Debassier."

"Present."

"Ducro?"

"Yeah."

"You say present or here. None of this yeah stuff, okay?" He scolds as Nicolas moves from his spot and stops near a girl.

"Yeah, okay."

"Uh, hello Naomi," He rubs the back of his neck. "Uh...how would you feel about having a fantastic and breathtaking experience together with me in the moonlight tonight?"

"You're gotta be kidding, you dork!" She narrows her eyes and he smiles sheepishly.

"Right! Today, we're going to work on the high jump. For once, I won't go to great lengths to tell you how this kind of sport can take you to great heights. So just watch. Demonstration! Gain momentum!" He runs towards a post that he set up earlier. He jumps into the air. "Release and-!" He hits the mattress with his back, causing the class to laugh at him. He pouts at them all.

* * *

Yolanda escorts Jim to the infirmary. "I've told you over and over again. If you insist on doing this sort of thing, this is where you'll end up," She scolds and he pouts.

"Yeah, it's an occupational hazard..."

She opens the door and he sees the empty bed. "I see you've already sent Della Robbia home."

"Odd? But he hasn't been here at all!" She states in confusion.

"Oh?" He turns to her intrigued.

* * *

The door to the room opens as someone steps inside, seeing Odd sleeping. "Well, what kind of lame-o speech did GI Jim bore you with today, my little Ames?" He asks tiredly, not even looking up. "That's about the only part I'm sorry I missed. Every time he opens his mouth, he cracks me up..."

Both the principal and Jim are frowning down at him. "Mm, well why don't we share a little laughter in my office, now!"

"Uh oh," Odd looks up at him wide-eyed. His vision is a bit blurry, so he rubs his eyes. "Oh no, please tell me that I'm still sleeping and that this is a nightmare!"

"Uh uh," Jim waves a finger. "You're wide awake, Della Robbia, but you're right about one thing: this is your nightmare!"

* * *

"Disappointed, disappointed, that's the only word for it!" Mr. Delmas says to both Odd and Aelita in his office. "Ms. Stones, Odd, I am deeply disappointed in both of you!"

"I agree with that, sir!" Jim holds up a finger. "These two took me for some sort of idiot!"

"You shamelessly acted with total indifference to the ethical values that this institution was designed to teach you! You lied, both of you! Therefore, 4 hours of detention. I've already given your accomplice her punishment!"

They both glance towards each other. "Really? Only 4, sir?" Jim asks, a bit surprised.

"Yes! And that's because I consider myself to be too..."

"Too weak?"

"Mmm," Mr. Delmas gives him a glare. "Magnanimous!"

* * *

Amy is waiting for them by the tree, walking up to the two once she sees them. "So?"

"4 hours of detention," Odd grunts, her mouth opening in shock. "What'd you get?"

"Apparently Mr. Smith's still got his temper despite being broke," Amy rolls her eyes. "He interfered by calling Mr. Delmas while he was chewing me out and threatened to withdraw all of his previous donations to the school unless he got to decide my punishment for me. So now I'm stuck with no allowance for the week after he spoke with Mom. Not that I care about that or that he stepped in. Still doesn't make him less of a jerk."

"Thanks for the lame excuse, Aelita," Odd says bitterly, Amy slapping his arm.

"Hey, how would I know Jim would pull his back out and go to the infirmary?" Aelita defends as Amy steps in between them.

"Doesn't matter. We could've been expelled. Detention-"

"If you had taken the time to think of a better excuse, I wouldn't have had 4 hours of detention!" Odd interrupts her and Aelita scrunches up her nose.

"Hey, both of you are on the same team, remember? You're supposed to take responsibility-"

"And if you were just a bit less selfish, you'd realize that I got stuck with 4 hours of detention too, and for what?! Because you needed to sleep?! YOU LAZY LOSER!" She shouts at him, surprising her older sister.

"Guys!" She exclaims in disbelief. "Putting the blame on each other won't solve anything-"

"Uh, hi Aelita," Nicolas walks up to her. "Um, how would you feel about having a fantastic and breathtaking experience together in the moonlight tonight?"

"You're serious," Amy raises a brow.

"Aelita would rather have detention than go out with you!" Odd replies in disgust.

"Odd, you can't speak for her like that. It's her own deci-"

Nicolas glares at him and Aelita smiles. "How nice of you to ask, Nicolas. Thanks, I'd really like that!" She cringes a bit at her agreement. She only did it to get a shot at Odd. He just smiles back.

"I'm not hallucinating!" Odd crosses his arms. "You're not gonna go out with that nerd, are you?"

"Aelita, are you sure-"

"I'd rather hang out with a nerd than a selfish potato head like you!" She tells him, walking off. Odd just frowns at her.

Amy throws up her hands in disbelief. "I can't finish a sentence today."

* * *

Ulrich eats his food, humming. "These fries are tasty."

"Hm!" Odd sits down across from Ulrich.

"I say something wrong?"

Odd just looks to Aelita, who raises an amused brow. He stuffs his mouth with fries.

"Well, it looks as if we've got a bit of a cold war on our hands," Yumi looks between the two.

"And it just might escalate," Jeremy looks up as Amy arrives at their table. Odd and Aelita look up at her at the same time.

"Ames, sit next to me!"

"No, me. At least you can rely on me unlike your selfish lazy boyfriend!" Aelita glances at him.

"Oh yeah? I'm there for her more than you are!"

"Oh man..." Amy sweats as she looks between them, conflicted. She really doesn't want to be the person to choose between her own sister and her boyfriend. She felt like a tug of rope all of a sudden.

"Listen, you two. Why don't you kiss and make-up? We've got more important things to worry about," Jeremy tries to make it less awkward for the girl. "Besides, Amy loves both of you very much and wouldn't trade that for anything."

"No! She has to choose!" Odd looks up at her, gripping her arm. "It's either me or her!"

Amy's stomach growls and she stares at it. "I think my stomach speaks for myself right now."

She moves around and sits next to Yumi, in equal distance between both of them.

"We should get around to exploring the network with the Skid some more," Ulrich leans in a bit.

"That's right," Jeremy agrees with him. "And especially to check out that sphere you came across on your first trip."

"Great, when do we go?" Yumi whispers to them.

"The longer we wait, the stronger XANA gets, so I say we try tonight. That is, if our two friends are ready to bury the hatchet," Jeremy looks between the two.

"As long as I don't have to talk to that dummy!" Odd points to Aelita.

"Odd!" Amy warns him with narrowed eyes.

"Suits me! What would I have to say to a lazy, selfish brat anyway?" Aelita retorts back.

"Aelita," The brunette turns to her with the same tone.

"Are you gonna choose sides or not?" Aelita turns her head and Odd does the same.

"Yeah, who do you support more on this?" Odd crosses his arms.

"Mmm!" Amy whines, planting her face onto the table. "I just wanna eat...Is that so hard to ask for?!" Jeremy pats her back in sympathy. He felt really bad for the girl, he actually does. They couldn't really force her to choose between two people she loves, right...?

"That's progress, sort of..." Yumi comments as the two won't even look at each other.

"Is it? Is it really?" Amy muffles from her spot.

Nicolas approaches the table. "Hey, Aelita. Are we still on for tonight?"

"I'm sorry...I mean, I really am, but something just came up," She looks away, to his disappointment. "I've got a...a...a...a big test I have to study for!"

"Yeah well, I guess that figures," Nicolas shrugs a little. "It was too true to be good...I mean...you know what I mean, right?" He walks away dejectedly to sit across Herb. "Mm..."

Herb is just eating while reading his book. "Uh, listen Herb, how would you feel about having a fantastic and breathtaking experience in the moonlight tonight?"

"Huh?" He just looks up in confusion.

Amy puts down her fork, her tray empty. As soon as she does so, Aelita stands up, picking it up. "Let me get that for you!"

She blinks as Odd stands up. "It's fine, I can-"

"No, me! I'm a gentleman, after all."

"And I'm her sister, so I rank higher than you," Aelita glares at him as he grips the tray, both of them tugging it towards each other.

"Unbelievable," Amy rubs a temple, looking away from them.

* * *

A fishing line is cast, landing in the water. Nicolas is smiling widely next to a skeptical Herb. "This is your fantastic and breathtaking experience? A dumb fishing trip?" They're actually near the factory as it has the only body of water they're aware of.

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe how fantastic and breathtaking it can be to catch a big, fat Pike!"

"And you're a clownfish, you know that, Nicolas?" Herb retorts back, only to be shushed.

"You'll scare the fish away if you talk too loud," He looks towards the water, Herb sitting down defeatedly. The Lyoko Warriors run across the bridge right over their heads.

Amy gives a tired look as the two are pulling at her arms, arguing.

"Guys!" She pushes them away. "Can't I have a little time to myself, please?"

"No!" They both tell her fiercely and she bites her lip, looking between them with a conflicted and sad look on her face.

"Take your time, why don't you, doing all of those special favors for my sister?" Aelita glares at him.

"Give it a rest, huh? I can spoil my girlfriend if I want to," He gives her a smug look and she growls.

"What's Odd doing out at this hour?" Herb narrows his eyes suspiciously. "He and Amy might sneak out time to time, but never here."

"And I thought Aelita had a huge test to study for. Plus, why is she saying Amy is her sister when she and Odd are supposed to be cousins?" Nicolas drops the fishing line, looking towards the entrance. "Hmm. Let's go."

* * *

The elevator doors open as both Aelita and Odd are still hugging Amy's arms. "Um, guys? I have to go into a scanner..."

"I'll-"

"I'll escort you, my lady!" Odd scoops her up into his arms, causing her to shout in alarm. He rushes over to a scanner and places her inside.

"Okay, can you stop with all of these special favors?" She crosses her arms in annoyance.

"What are you talking about?" They both ask innocently and before she can say anything else, the scanner closes around her.

Aelita walks up to the one next to Amy, only for Odd to cut in. He chuckles, putting his arms behind his head. She frowns at him as Ulrich is across from them.

"Odd, aren't you overdoing it a little?" Yumi asks from behind.

"Thanks Yumi, it's obvious whose side you're on!"

She sighs at him.

"Incredible," Ulrich comments at this. "You think they were back in kindergarten."

"Alright now, cool it, guys," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "Let's concentrate on our mission...Transfer Amy. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Virtualization."

The three land in the middle of the room, followed by Aelita and Yumi. She lands next to Odd, the two surrounding Amy.

"I thought I'd be able to get away from this on Lyoko..." She mutters, closing her eyes in disbelief. The two look towards each other and turn away in anger.

They run up to the wall, and watch as it opens up to reveal a hallway. They run through, Odd and Aelita glaring at each other past Amy in the center. They arrive in the hangar, coming to a stop at the edge. The elevator comes to a stop in front of them. The five slowly step on and the elevator goes upwards. When it stops, they run up towards their stations.

"_Hurry over to your transporter spots_."

Odd turns around to Ulrich and Amy. "Doesn't it freak you out to have a real loser at the controls?"

Ulrich sighs at him, turning away as Amy whips around to him. "Odd! You're my boyfriend, but she's my sister."

"Which means I win," Aelita quips to the cat-boy.

"No, it doesn't. I'm not choosing between-"

"That's right, she doesn't have to choose, because it's obviously me!" Odd jerks a thumb to himself.

"Obviously not! It's me!"

Amy looks between the two as they argue, about to cry.

"Guys, cut it out, okay?" Yumi finally steps in, noticing how uncomfortable it's making the brunette. "Stop trying to make her pick."

Aelita huffs, crossing her arms and holding her head up high. Odd grunts, looking away.

"Okay, energize."

Jeremy sends them into their stations one by one into the Skid. Aelita takes hold of the levers. One by one, they land in their skids.

"Amy, do you mind asking that dorky loser of a boyfriend of yours if he still remembers how to use the Skid?"

Amy holds the sides of her head, wanting to just tune them out as she squeezes her eyes shut. "Stop it, Aelita, just ask Odd yourself," Ulrich steps in this time.

"Good answer, Ulrich," Odd smiles happily.

"Hey, you're starting to get on my nerves, both of you," Ulrich tells them.

"Yeah, we've had enough. And leave Amy alone, she doesn't need to choose. It's pointless to get her on your side when it makes her uncomfortable: you're almost like her parents!"

"If you guys are all finished, what do you say we take off? Supports away," Jeremy taps a button and the supports holding the ship move away.

"Vertical propulsion operational," Aelita presses the red button, the wings lifting up. The propellers turn upwards and fly the ship out of the hangar. Amy opens her eyes once they're outside of Sector Five. "Ready to dive."

The ship dives into the Digital Sea, the entrance to the network opening up. "We're in the network, Jeremy."

"Holo web system connected. Aelita, set course for bearing 170 and look out for a hub."

"Gotcha," The engines turn on as the ship goes forward. Amy looks around at the network rather than focusing on the tension as her hair turns into her pink color.

"I'll enter the coordinates of the sphere that you guys saw during your last mission," He taps enter.

"Hub in sight." Aelita directs the ship towards a platform.

"_Are you ready?_"

"Roger." The ship stops in front of the hole and moves back to its original position. "Hyper fluid aspiration in three seconds." The ship teleports into the vortex.

* * *

Nicolas and Herb arrive inside the factory, seeing the rope. "This place is weird," Herb comments at their surroundings. "Let's get out of here, it gives me the creeps!"

"Don't worry, I'm here," Nicolas grabs a rope and slides down.

"Thanks, glad to hear it," Herb mutters under his breath as he takes the other one. Nicolas lands safely, looking up at his friend. The nerd is hovering over the ground.

"What are you doing up there? Come down!" Nicolas urges him.

"I'm scared of heiiights! I really get dizzy when I'm high uuup!" Herb has his eyes squeezed shut.

"Don't worry, you're only 15 meters above the ground," He retorts back.

"Nicolas, would you shut up?!"

Nicolas silently rolls his eyes, gripping the rope. "Stay where you are, I'll come up and get you." He climbs up to Herb.

"Oh no, this is horrible! I don't wanna die now! I never even got to tell Sissi that I'm crazy about her..."

* * *

The ship arrives in another area of the network, whoosing inside. "Retro brake." The ship comes to an abrupt stop, with Aelita turning the lights on. "Lights operational." The ship continues forward to the sphere they saw before. "Okay Jeremy, we're coming to the sphere now."

"Okay, Aelita. Check the south pole for an entry portal, like on Lyoko."

"I've got a visual on it," She nods a little as the ship approaches the entrance, but it won't open. "It's shut! What do I do now?"

"Why don't you knock?" Odd suddenly asks. "Maybe they'll open up for you!"

Amy sighs, dragging her hand down her face.

"Rotation." Aelita makes Odd's Skid shake on purpose.

"Hey!"

"Odd?" Yumi asks him.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up, okay?!"

Aelita presses her hand against the key. "Key activated."

A hole in front of the Skid lights up, a beam of light connecting to the symbol on the lock. Jeremy rubs his chin as something pops up.

"There's an access code to crack, it's gonna take a couple of minutes."

* * *

"You can let go now," Nicolas deadpans to Herb, who gets down safely.

"Remember what I said a minute ago about Sissi? Well, I didn't really say it," Herb stammers to him.

"Okay, I'll tell Sissi that you really didn't say you loved her," Nicolas says nonchalantly.

"You know what I mean. I mean, don't tell Sissi what I didn't say!"

"Mm," He turns to the button and Herb blocks his way.

"Hold on...this looks really ancient," He gestures to everything around them. "Think about it: what if the cable snaps or the floorboards give away under our feet or the rusty motor quits with us inside, and we're left here to rot with rats eating away our insides?!"

"Okay, okay, I get the idea," Nicolas steps in before Herb could continue panicking. "We'll look for a staircase. Hmm. You look over there," He points to his left. Herb just sighs at him, walking in that direction.

* * *

"Okay, I cracked the code," Jeremy smiles, pressing a button. The beam of light disappears into speckles.

"Way to go, Jeremy!"

The symbol lowers and the door slowly opens. The Skid flies inside and then the door closes after them. The Skid rises out of the Digital Sea into a replica of the forest sector. Aelita examines the area, everyone else looking up.

"Unbelievable! You guys are on an exact copy of Lyoko, except there's only one sector: the forest!"

"XANA created another Lyoko on the network?" Aelita asks in surprise. "But why?"

"I have no idea," Jeremy leans back in his chair. "But you can bet it's not to save humanity! And knowing our friend XANA, I'm sure he's made lots of other copies exactly like this one."

"_Maybe it has to do with him being in the network_," Amy suggests to him.

"_Right. So what do we do_?" Aelita wonders curiously. "_Check it out_?"

"You bet! I want as much data as possible on this new virtual world!"

"Right. Energize," Aelita sends everyone out into the open. One by one, they appear in the replicated sector. Amy's hair color changes back to light brown.

"All this for another Forest territory? Well, I guess we're not out of the woods yet!"

"If we don't want him freaking out or crying, I guess someone should laugh at his joke!" Aelita retorts back. "Amy, after this, I'll take you to get your favorite ice cream!"

"What, no!" Odd protests at this and Amy shakes her hair with her hands in frustration, walking away a bit.

"Poor Amy..." Yumi sighs at the exchange.

* * *

Herb and Nicolas are in the downstairs area. "Hey, I wonder what Aelita and Odd were doing here?"

"Well, they're not here now, so let's go," Herb turns around, Nicolas holding up a hand.

"Hold on! Check out that light," Nicolas points in the distance...

Right at the computer lab.

* * *

"Okay, what you're gonna do now is work in groups of two, with Amy being an extra. One group goes out exploring while the other watches the Skid," Jeremy suggests to everyone.

"Right!" Odd holds up a finger. "I'll work with Ulrich! Or Yumi! No wait, I prefer my beautiful girlfriend!"

"For once, he's got a good idea. Except for Amy working with you, I choose her!"

"Why me?" Amy holds her head.

"I've had it with you two!" Yumi steps up to them. "Ulrich and I are out of here! Right now! We could use a vacation!"

"Yeah, and you two can fight all you want to as long as we're not around to hear it!" Ulrich declares, the two staring at them in shock.

"Amy? Can you handle watching over them?" Yumi looks over her shoulder and she sighs, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, I'll be fine...go on, I can take it from here," She murmurs, hoping she can keep it together.

"_Here come your vehicles_," The Overbike and Overwing materialize in front of their respective owners.

"Thanks Jeremy. Amy, are you sure about your decision? You don't have to do it if you're uncomfortable."

"I'm sure. Don't worry, it's me," She waves a hand to them as she watches the two leave.

"See ya. Have fun, you two! Amy, you're in charge," Ulrich calls out. As soon as they're gone, Odd and Aelita start a fight _again. _

"I don't understand how she puts up with you!"

"And I'm surprised she didn't dump you yet-"

"ALRIGHT!" Amy screeches, interrupting them. "That is it! I am so sick of you two arguing and me getting no say! You know what I think? I think both of you were in the wrong! Aelita, you shouldn't have lied for him, and Odd, you should've gone to class!"

"But-"

"SHUT UUUUUP!" Her shout is a high-pitched screech out of stress. "All day, I haven't had the chance to think rationally about it!"

"Ames-"

"Don't," She warns Odd, pointing a finger at him, holding her head. "Don't you dare put me in the middle of your silly feud! I love both of you, but you can't make me choose between you two. Aelita, you're my little sister, and if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have my female best friend...and Odd, you've done so much for me, and you gave up a lot just for me...but please. I don't want a time where I have to make a choice between people I care about. The day that happens...I'd rather have the Scyphozoa take control of me than to hear this..."

They frown at her sadly, feeling bad for making her feel that way.

"So here's what you're gonna do: both of you sit away from each other until you solve this yourselves, and leave me out of it!"

* * *

Herb steps forward and kicks his foot against something. "Ouch!"

Nicolas shushes him, but Jeremy hears them anyway. "Sorry," Herb whispers, walking forward.

The blond steps up to the ladder. "False alarm, I guess..."

He fails to notice monsters heading for the Skid.

* * *

Odd and Aelita are facing away from each other. Amy is pacing around them like Jim would, because right now she means business. Odd glances at Aelita and looks back, arms crossed. Aelita gives him a brief glance.

"...Well anyway, you could have thought of a different excuse, you know."

"And you could stop thinking about yourself for once!"

"No talking unless it's nicer," Amy interjects to them, glaring. "First and final warning. Next time, I won't be so forgiving."

"Ames," Odd looks up at her. "I know you're mad, and I don't blame you, but you're kind of acting like Jim and it's a little weird."

"Mad doesn't even begin to describe it!" She defends, hands behind her back as she slowly steps around the two. "I agree that I'm not usually like this, but you two forced my hand!"

"Mm," He looks away in shame, Aelita doing the same. "...But just curious though, if you had to choose, who would you pick?"

Amy grunts as she looks over her shoulder, Odd turning away sheepishly.

Jeremy walks back to his chair and finally sees the danger. "_Odd, mega tank at 3 o'clock_!"

Odd quickly gets onto his feet, dodging it just in time. The laser hits the Skid instead. "Oh no!"

He glances up at the ship, seeing the mega tank up ahead. "Aelita, watch out!" He shouts and she steps away. Amy takes flight and quickly flies above the laser, which hits the Skid twice. She looks to Odd, silently grateful for the warning before they focus back to the monster.

"_Ulrich, Yumi, XANA's attacking the Skid! We need you back there now_!"

"Got it, Jeremy. We're on our way," Yumi nods and they turn back around to go the way they came.

"Odd, Aelita, Amy, listen. The Skid shield can't hold out for much longer. _And without the Skid, I can't guarantee you a return ticket to the scanners! Amy's shield can only work when she's inside the Skid, but It'll drain most of her life points. So it won't be of any use to do it!"_

The mega tank opens up, hitting the ship once more. "Jeremy, can you generate more power to the shields?" Aelita wonders, as he's done it before.

"I think so, but I'll need time. To reinforce the Skid, I have to reroute a chunk of energy from the Supercomputer itself..."

Aelita uses her creativity to buy some time. "Isn't taking energy from the Supercomputer...kind of risky?"

"We have no choice. It's the only solution I can think of right now."

Another mega tank approaches as Odd and Amy get behind the wall that Aelita created.

"See, when you put your mind to it, you can come up with good ideas! Nice one, Aelita," Odd gives her a thumbs up.

She smiles at him and Amy looks on in relief. However, it turns into surprise when they see the two mega tanks teaming up to hit the wall. Jeremy taps enter with his thumb.

"We won't have enough power to launch a return to the past," Despite that, Jeremy is smiling. "But because XANA hasn't attacked anything in the real world, it shouldn't be necessary!"

"What if it's not their voices we're hearing?" Herb whispers to Nicolas as they look at the lab in the distance.

"Well whose voices do you think they are, then? Ghosts, werewolves, blood-thirsty Draculas?"

Herb crosses his arms, unamused. "I wouldn't laugh at things like that, especially not at night time!"

"That's ridiculous. Now let's climb. It's Odd and Aelita, and I wanna catch them red-handed! And I wanna know what Aelita meant," Nicolas whispers to him.

"She probably meant that she thinks of Amy like a sister. They might have the same hair color, but there's no way they're related. They have different last names!" Herb retorts as he climbs up.

"Then why would she call Amy sis if they're not related?" Nicolas mutters before Herb steps on his foot. "OW! What's wrong with you?!"

"Mm..." Jeremy looks to where the voice came from. He turns on the security cameras, panning it over to the side. "Huh?! Uh oh." He zooms in to see the boys.

"I'll bet they came here to do some industrial espionage, and that Amy is in on it!"

"Odd, his girlfriend, and Aelita?" Herb asks skeptically. "Industrial spies? In an abandoned factory? What's wrong with _you_?"

"Well then, maybe they're into witchcraft! Sissi calls Amy a witch all the time!"

Jeremy closes his eyes in annoyance. "I got a huge problem at the factory. Herb and Nicolas are on the verge of discovering the supercomputer, and it's impossible to launch a Return to the Past..."

"Huh?!"

"What?!" Amy's eyes widen, turning to the others. "How'd they know that we were here?"

"You can't let those nerds get near the supercomputer!" Odd adds in furiously.

"Take care of them, Jeremy. We can manage without you," Aelita tells him as the monsters continue hitting the wall.

"Yeah, you can handle those idiots," Amy declares, pumping a fist.

Jeremy emerges from the elevator, running down the hall. He sprints down the stairs and into the corridor. He opens the door and finally finds the two, who are still climbing.

"I'm not going any further than this, I'm stopping..."

"You're stopping halfway up?" Nicolas stares at him in disbelief.

"You better believe it!"

Jeremy tosses a crowbar and it hits the floor. "You hear that? They're behind us now!"

"Then just head back down," Nicolas climbs down the ladder. Jeremy runs off, Nicolas turning around just in time to only see blond hair. "Odd, I saw you!" Nicolas chases after him. Herb just walks after them with an annoyed look on his face.

The mega tanks continue attacking the walls...

And then William arrives not too soon after. He growls at the obstacle.

"Oh great," Amy mutters at this.

"Uh oh! The Skid's done for if handsome gets his hands on it!" Odd gestures to the possessed boy.

"He's not nearly as handsome as you are," Amy winks at him.

"Thank you, my lovely lady!" Odd bows to her.

"Well, we've barely had time to reinforce it," Aelita states as William swings his sword at the wall. The monsters break through it and it bursts into pieces. The mega tanks charge up and hit the ship, knocking it back a bit. However, it stays intact.

"Sorry pal, you came a little too late to wreck everything!" Odd says confidently as he jerks a thumb to the Skid. Aelita holds out her hand to fire one of her energy fields. It goes right past William and hits the mega tank instead. It explodes and William charges up to them. Odd hits him with a laser arrow, which is followed by Amy throwing her spear at his hand. This knocks his sword onto the ground. He tries to fire again, but he's out. "Jeremy, reload me, okay? Oh bummer, I forgot he's not there."

He dodges William's swing as he's gotten his sword back, running towards Odd. The mega tank fires the laser again, Amy flying into the air. Aelita blocks it with two energy fields in her hands. She slides across the grass and falls off the edge, but Amy comes in and catches her, putting her sister back on the ground.

"Thanks, sis."

"No problem," Amy salutes to her, flying over to Odd to help him out.

Jeremy is hiding behind a wall, listening in. "You go that way, and I'll go this way," Nicolas orders and they walk off in opposite directions. Both of them are smug that the two are in the area as they walk by. Nicolas is close to discovering Jeremy as he's about to look around the corner. A splash is heard and he jumps towards it.

"Ah ha! I got you."

Herb lifts his head out of the water. "Help me, will you, you idiot?!"

Nicolas starts to pull him out when he looks over his shoulder to see Jeremy running away. He then looks back to Herb.

Odd ducks a swipe from William's weapon, dodging and jumping. William then knocks him off the platform. William walks up to the edge, where Odd is hanging on.

"ODD!" Amy shouts, flying over. William holds out his hand, using his smoke to knock her onto the ground. He kicks off Odd's hand and he falls off. "NO!"

"Odd!" Aelita hits him with an energy field, devirtualizing him. He sighs in relief once he's in a scanner.

"Thanks Aelita..."

"You're gonna regret that," Amy growls towards William. Aelita fires another energy field, which William dodges. He's about to hit her with the smoke when Amy smirks, grabbing one of his arms with a vine of her own. A fan flies in and hits his hand. He looks to the source to see Yumi and Ulrich arriving. He jumps off his Overbike, which knocks into the mega tank, both of them falling into the Digital Sea. He comes to a stop near the girls.

"Everyone knows that speeding is really dangerous!" Ulrich pulls out his swords.

"Thanks guys, you came just in time," Amy smiles in relief.

Jeremy pushes the elevator button. "Come on, move it!" He gets inside and closes it, the boys seeing it lower.

"Looks as if the elevator works just fine," Nicolas gives Herb a look, crossing his arms.

Jeremy arrives back into the lab to see Odd sitting there. "Jeremy! You're back. I-"

"Hold on, I've gotta shut the elevator down," Jeremy quickly taps away and does so.

Nicolas presses the button repeatedly, but it doesn't work for them. "Well, no big deal. We'll just wait them out. They'll have to come back this way."

"Herb and Nicolas must have seen you come into the factory with Aelita. And now they're looking for you!" Jeremy explains, crossing his arms.

"If it's Aelita and me, I've got an idea that should get rid of them...but I'll need for Aelita to get back here ASAP, and for you to have a...how can I say this...uh, an open mind?"

"I don't understand," Jeremy raises a brow in confusion. "What do you mean an open mind?"

Odd just giggles. "Oh! And tell Ames this," He whispers in Jeremy's ear, who recoils back once he hears it.

"I'm not gonna say that! Especially not in front of Aelita!"

"Jeremy, if she doesn't understand, then she'll be mad at me!"

"She already is," Jeremy quips, crossing his arms.

"Oh, I meant this will make her less mad at me."

"Better face facts, William, you're not gonna win this time," Ulrich declares as they surround him. He suddenly jumps, disappearing towards the Digital Sea.

"_Ulrich, we've got an emergency here. You'll have to devirtualize Aelita_."

"Huh?" Amy turns to her. "Why?"

"What? But if he does that, then who's gonna pilot the Skid?"

"_Yumi, you can do it. Don't worry, I'll guide you in_," He assures her.

"If you say so," She shrugs sheepishly.

"Oh, and Amy? Ahh...please don't kill me for this. Odd has a message for you. He says that he's fine, that he's sorry for all the uncomfortableness, and...that he...loves his little Ames," Jeremy blushes in embarrassment, narrowing his eyes. "And that he hopes what he's gonna do with Herb and Nicolas will make you even."

Yumi and Ulrich snicker as Amy coughs, turning away. "Umm...thanks? But I'm more confused than flattered."

"_He'll explain later_."

"This is awful!" Aelita exclaims at the situation.

"No sweat, I'll devirtualize you on three," Ulrich points his swords at her. Amy covers her eyes so that she won't have to watch. "One...two..." He hits her with the saber and she disappears.

She's greeted by a smiling Odd. "Hello!"

She smiles a little and Odd looks away nervously. "Ahh...don't tell Ames about this. I'll talk to her myself."

"About what?"

"Well, what now?" Herb puts his hands into his pockets.

"Be patient, like when you're fishing," Nicolas has his hands behind his head. Herb sighs in frustration, pacing around.

"...What?! After all this, you want me to do that?!" Aelita asks in disbelief once she's heard the plan. "And what do you think Amy will say?"

"Well, yeah, unless you've got a better idea."

"Hmm," She thinks about it with a smug look on her face. "Alright. I know just how to sell it."

A noise stops Herb from pacing and Nicolas slides in front of the elevator with a big smile. The elevator goes upwards. "You'll see. The early worm catches the bird, I mean, the fish."

The door opens...and they're both shocked to see Odd and Aelita seemingly kissing. However, they don't notice Aelita's hand in front of Odd's mouth, and she's kissing that instead.

"Hey, you guys enjoying the show?" Odd asks casually.

They silently leave the factory, both of them laughing. "So _that's _why they were hiding in the factory..."

"They like each other. Poor Amy..."

* * *

Ulrich, Amy, and Yumi enter the lab, seeing everyone else there. "You look awfully serious," Yumi points out to Jeremy. "Did I scratch the paint on the Skid or something?"

"...I'm just worried about this Lyoko copy. If there's one out there, it...means there's also another supercomputer infected with XANA somewhere else on Earth. To destroy this new supercomputer, I'm gonna have to figure out some sort of way to materialize you into the real world from the copy!"

"Okay, relax Einstein," Ulrich states, "We'll handle that when the times!"

"Are you sure that's your only worry?" Yumi glances at the genius.

"Uh uh. You see, guys, Einstein just found out what it means to have an open mind." Both him and Aelita start laughing, the three confused.

"Oh, we'll tell you soon," Aelita looks to Amy, frowning a little. "But...we're really sorry we tried to put you in the middle of our feud, sis."

"Yeah, we didn't notice how uncomfortable it must've been for you a second time," Odd rubs the back of his neck. "It was almost like you were reliving your parents' divorce. We both swear that we'll never put you in that situation again."

"Aw, you guys..." She smiles softly. "That's okay," She steps forward, pulling them both into a hug. "I'm just glad that it's over!"

* * *

"So, now you've got eyewitness proof that Aelita's going out with Odd?" Sissi asks skeptically. "That's the dumbest story I ever heard since the one about Mr. Chardin's toupee!"

"No I tell you, i saw them! It's not a story, it's true! Odd's dumped Amy and left her for Aelita! In fact, look, Sissi! Here they come!" Herb points to the two right across from them.

"You dumbbell!" Odd doesn't really mean it, though, since they knew that they'd tell someone.

"Look who's talking, you selfish loser!" She shouts at him, huffing and walking off. Odd reaches Amy and grabs her waist, dipping her into a passionate kiss.

Herb cringes towards Sissi, who smacks him right across the face and leaves. Nicolas snickers at him, the three looking on near a tree. Amy adjusts her hair, blushing.

"I guess that should put an end to any ridiculous gossip!" Aelita smiles proudly.

"Thanks for at least telling me what really happened with you two..." Amy sighs in relief, crossing her arms. "I understand the message Jeremy gave to me now, and yes, it does make us even. To them, it really looked believable! That and your fight!"

"Well, I don't know," Odd says slowly. "I don't think your heart was in it when you called me a selfish loser."

"What?!" Aelita turns to him in disbelief, Amy giggling at her boyfriend's face. "Now listen, Odd-"

"Chill out. I'm just kidding! Wow, it doesn't take much to wind you up!"

He takes a hold of Amy's hand as they walk away, Aelita punching his shoulder. They start laughing as they run off.

"I'm gonna get you!"

"After that, Ames is next!"

"As long as I don't have to be in the middle of your fights again!" She giggles at the two, happy that they've made up and that they understand she loves both of them equally, no competition.


	76. I'd Rather Not Talk About It

**Angel: Hey everyone, I have an announcement. If you read my recent chapter of Sisters' Tangled Adventure or the future stories section on my profile, then you don't have to read this again. But I'm gonna be more open on doing more Sonic stuff. Let me know if you wanna see the film or a tv show first. Or if you want, tell me if you want a poll to decide this better, but please no Sonic Underground or the OVA, because those are the only two things I won't change my mind about...they're pretty terrible on their own. No offense to any fans out there who like those two things...^^'**

**Also, I am falling a bit behind with this story. I have to work for the rest of the week, and then after that, I have to spend time on homework. I'm writing episode 81 as we speak, but if I have to, I might have to change uploads to Fridays only. Hopefully I can catch up, I only have 14 episodes left.**

Out in the woods, the Lyoko Warriors are running, guided by the two dogs Kiwi and Kiki. All of them look tired and dirty as they're approaching Jeremy in the distance. "Come on, let's move it a little faster, faster!" He shouts while holding a stopwatch.

"I don't believe this, he's trying to kill us!" Aelita calls out from the front. Odd is trudging along when he trips and falls in front of Kiwi. Amy comes to a stop in front of her boyfriend, bending down to check on him as she's panting.

"Odd, are you okay?"

Kiwi sniffs him while he looks up at Jeremy, who stops the watch. "You guys are ridiculous!" He scolds as they're laying around him, exhausted. "You're way too slow! What a bunch of snails!" They all glare at him. "Cept you, Odd, even a snail runs faster than you!"

Odd stands up, livid. "Since when does the least athletic person in the world think he's better than I am?!"

Amy pulls him back a bit. "You are being a bit pushy, Jeremy," She tells him.

"Hey, that's true. Getting a little carried away, aren't you, Einstein?" Ulrich asks as Jeremy sees the glares from everyone. Kiki and Kiwi even growl at him.

"Don't blame me. The stopwatch doesn't lie, you guys," He gestures to himself, failing to see what's wrong.

"...I'm going back to my room," Amy slowly trudges away.

"What?! You can't go back home now, we're not through yet!" Jeremy calls out, but the others follow after her.

"I'd rather go with her then spend another minute with you!" Odd points to him.

"Agreed."

"Yeah, you're being too harsh, Jeremy," Aelita crosses her arms.

"Maybe we'll come back once you stop trying to put us into the ground!"

* * *

"That was even worse than the last time," Jeremy stares down at all of them in the courtyard. "How do you expect to beat XANA if all of you don't speed it up?!"

"Hm, you're a real comedian, Einstein," Odd shrugs lightly, his arm around Amy. "All you ever do is time us. Anybody can do that."

"One thing is sure: if you guys don't get into shape, you're never gonna get any stronger and XANA's gonna beat you hands down!" Jeremy explains to them, Amy looking annoyed. "But if you think you want another trainer, be my guest."

"Maybe there's a better...a better way of getting in shape," Yumi suggests to him.

"I get it! You're just badly trained. And if you guys can't keep up, it's my fault!"

"Well, yeah!" Both Ulrich and Odd agree in unison.

"Okay, fine!" Jeremy crosses his arms stubbornly. "I may not be the best trainer in the world, but you have to admit you don't exactly listen to me. You know, I always thought Amy was the weakest out of all of you."

"Uhh!" Amy protests in shock, her mouth wide open.

"You have the least amount of powers in Sector 5. You're gone like that," Jeremy snaps his fingers. Amy frowns as Odd hugs her in comfort. Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita give him tiny glares.

"That's true, but not about what you said about Amy. That wasn't cool. Maybe we need to find someone else, a specialist," Yumi says, looking to the others.

"A specialist? You mind telling me where you expect to find one?" Jeremy asks incredibly. The boys turn to each other, wondering how they could do that without anyone knowing about Lyoko. Aelita suddenly smiles as she gets an idea.

* * *

Jim opens the door from his room. "Now just what do you think you're doing here?" He asks the six. Amy still has her head up high with her arms crossed. "Can't a man have a little peace and quiet even on a Saturday?"

"Well, it's simple. Although, well, uh...you might think this is a little crazy," Jeremy starts off.

"Nothing could surprise me ever since I orbited the Earth," Jim remarks, "Spit it out, Belpois."

"Um...well, we heard that you were once a Special Forces trainer."

"That's right," Jim paces around. "Special Forces, the SIF! Secret Intervention Force, heh heh heh. Now those were the good ol' days. But that being said, I'd rather not talk about it."

"Of course not," Amy mutters while rolling her eyes.

"Would you be willing to train students, like us, Jim?" Jeremy finally gets to the point.

"Train students?" Jim turns around in confusion.

"Yeah, for a kind of commando camp like you, uh...like your Special Intervention thingamajig."

"Deal! Meet me at the red cross trail crossroads at 1500 hours sharp, dressed for sports," Jim walks over to them.

"You mean like today, already?!" Yumi asks with wide eyes.

"It touches me that students recognize in what a benefit my experience and skills have, especially you, Belpois! I never imagined that anyone can ever turn you into a man, a real one!" He places a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"No, you don't understand! I was talking about training the others, not for me!"

"This training course is for everybody!" Jim elaborates, "1500 hours and I want you there on time, you hear?!" And with that, he closes the door, to the amusement of the others.

"Ha! This will do wonders for you, Jeremy," Odd states while Yumi and Amy are laughing. "Now you'll be able to put your stopwatch away for a little while! Alright!"

"Thank you, Jim," Amy smiles towards the door.

"You're encouraging this?" Jeremy asks in shock.

"I'd bet every dollar I got just for karma!" She retorts back, walking away.

* * *

"This is stupid!" Jeremy grumbles as they walk underneath the arches. "I can't do a commando camp, I've got a ton of other things on my plate!"

"I think you're just afraid of sweating a little," Yumi comments to him.

"Not so fun when it's you, is it?" Amy smirks, crossing her arms.

"What if XANA attacks while we're training?" Jeremy wonders and they come to a stop.

"Bring your computer with you, that's all," Ulrich tells him as he looks over his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Jeremy, Jim's commando camp can't possibly do us any harm, huh?" Aelita places a hand on his shoulder.

"With Jim...you can never tell..." Jeremy replies slowly. This should be good...

"I'm gonna go get ready," Amy walks off and Jeremy holds out a hand.

"Ah, Amy, wait! I'm...I'm sorry for what I-"

"Save it," She interrupts as she leaves.

"Ouch. You really did it this time," Ulrich remarks as they watch her leave.

"Why'd you have to go and say all that stuff?" Odd gives Jeremy a disapproving look.

"I-I don't know! I guess I'm just frustrated..."

"Frustrated or not, you can't make her feel that way," Aelita frowns at him.

* * *

"I have never seen a weaker pack of legless slugs in my life!" Jim shouts at all of them in the park. "1500 hours sharp does not mean 1502 or 1503!"

"Oh, we're not gonna split hairs over a few seconds, huh? On my watch-"

Jim leans in towards Odd, pointing a threatening finger at the boy. "Your watch doesn't watch with me, Della Robbia! I give the orders around here, so straighten up! Okay, let's go, make our way to the combat clearing where we'll start me with some basic training! Leg push-ups!"

They run after him, Odd sagging his shoulders. "You know, I wonder if it wasn't a mistake to recruit Jim," Aelita states to Jeremy skeptically.

"No Aelita, it wasn't just a mistake: it was a huge, colossal mistake." Jeremy huffs as he walks off, leaving an amused Aelita.

"13, 14, 15!" Jim hollers as he watches them do push-up. "Hold that 15, hold it. Hold it, I said!" Despite that, Jeremy falls onto the grass. "Alright, alright. One, two, three, four, on your feet. On your feet. Breathe in, breathe out, easy does it, easy does it. Two, three, four, five."

They follow his example, hopping up and down on one foot. "Jeremy, are you okay?" Aelita asks as he's still on the grass.

"Not really, I feel awful..."

"Hey, what do you think you're doing, Belpois?" Jim questions with a smile as Jeremy isn't moving. "This is only the beginning. By the time I'm through with you, you're gonna be a man! So get up now!"

Jeremy weakly gets onto his feet. "Jim, don't you think you're overdoing it?" Yumi couldn't help but wonder. "We want training, not torture!"

"Wrong again, young lady. You guys are all participating in Jim's boot camp! And that means two things: you sweat, and you don't complain, unless you want ten extra push-ups! From this moment on, we live and die together as a group, got it?"

"Okay, okay, no need to get carried away," Odd states, a bit weirded out.

"YOU GOT IT, ODD?!" He shouts at the six.

"Sir yes sir!" They recite as they straighten up.

"...Okay, let's move it! 3 mile run!"

They all groan at this. "This is worse than gym class!" Amy whispers to herself. They sprint behind him down the path.

"One two, one two, one two, one two, one two, one two!" He recites as they trudge after him. Odd and Jeremy lag behind.

"Oh, my poor stomach. I should have never taken seconds of the tuna casserole after the beef stroganoff!" Odd complains, Amy appearing behind him.

"I would've brought drinks, but he took them away..."

Jim runs back to them, circling around them. "Get those knees up, you soft-shell crabs! Go on! Hey, Belpois, you couldn't even outrun a one-legged chicken!"

They reluctantly pick up the pace. "Left, right. Left, right. And left, right."

Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita stare at him. "At this rate, we'll need least a week to recover from Jim's camp!" Aelita comments as the three join them. "It's kind of useless."

"Young lady, it's adversity that creates strength and courage! And that's the shortest path to fame and glory!" Jim recites proudly, gesturing to himself. "Hup, hup, hup, hup, hup!"

The six watch Odd attempting a pull-up, which he ultimately fails at. "Cut the clowning, Della Robbia! This is not a circus!"

Amy bends down to her boyfriend to help him up, only to be stopped by Jim. "What are you doing, Smith?!"

"Uh, helping him?" She raises a brow.

"Absolutely not! He's gonna do it himself!"

"Stern, don't be a wimp!" Jim chastises as Ulrich is climbing up a make-shift wall. "You've got nothing to be afraid of except a sore bottom!"

"Come on, Belpois!" Jim calls out as it's Jeremy's attempt now...but he's just standing at the top, shaking like a leaf. "No use hanging there like a wet sock on a clothesline!"

Ulrich, Aelita, and Amy watch the others crawling underneath barbed wire. "Move it! Get the lead out and crawl!" Yumi's clothes are caught in the wire. "Faster, you hear!"

They then walk across a fence, but Aelita falls onto the ground. "Stones, I said on top of it!"

Then he has Amy, Aelita, and Yumi pushing Jim up a hill to test their strength. "Come on, ladies! Move it, move it! I'm not gonna get up this hill on my own!"

"Not bad for the first time," Jim looks at his stopwatch, looking towards the exhausted group. "Right, let's take a little break here and then we'll start a new workout."

They lay around the grass, Amy's head resting on Odd's lap, her hands pressed against her stomach casually.

"Hey, you know what, Jim? We'd love to hear about your past life," Yumi speaks up. "I know you usually don't wanna talk about it, but since it's just between us, members of the same commando group..."

He clears his throat with a small smile. "Right. Well then, listen up. Exceptionally for you, I'll give you a quick rundown. It all began when I completed my training to become a physical education instructor. I was also a licensed scuba diver. And that's why the Marines recruited me for their Special Forces. NASA heard of me and since I was now a Special Forces diver, they had me test out their space suits underwater. So after having received a medal from the president, I was then appointed to the Secret Service!"

On Lyoko, in the forest sector, XANA decides that now is the time to activate a tower...

"And believe me, Rosita Banana didn't just play the accordion, she was also a heck of a pilot!" Jim is still telling stories while Jeremy's backpack is sitting at the tree nearby. "When I arrived in Buenos Aires with my cameras, her biplane bowled me over!"

Jeremy hears his laptop beep, looking over his shoulder. Jim looks at his watch in confusion, the boy looking back towards the teacher. "Right. Break time's over now. A quick trot to shake off the rest! Hup, hup, hup, hup, hup, hup!"

They look at him in annoyance, standing up and trailing after him. "Let's go, people, move it!"

Jeremy opens up his bag, pulling out his laptop. He opens it up to see the activated tower. "Activated tower! We've gotta end this circus right now," Getting onto his feet, he sees that everyone else is gone. "Huh?! They're already way ahead of me! Come on, you can do it, Jeremy."

The others run after Jim, Odd falling behind once again. The teacher comes to a stop in front of them, seeing a boar.

"W-W-What kind of beast is that?!" Ulrich asks in shock.

"How about that! A wild pig!"

"More accurately, a boar," Amy points out.

"And it's huge!" Yumi states as they start to back away. "Let's go another way!"

"Hm? Oh, relax, it's nothing! I handled much worse than this when I was in Burma," Jim jerks a thumb to it.

The boar runs towards them, alarming them all. Jim tries to kick it, but the boar slides right past him. It charges at the teacher again, and he jumps out of the way. The pig opens his eyes...and then has the symbol of XANA in them.

"Did you see that?" Ulrich looks to the others.

"XANA," Yumi murmurs knowingly.

"Hey listen, Jim, be careful, it's not a normal animal!" Ulrich warns Jim, pointing at it.

"It's not a wild boar!" Aelita adds in.

"Right, like I said, it's just an overgrown pig, that's all," Jim dismisses the warnings.

"Listen to us, that thing is dangerous!" Amy calls out.

"Come to Jim, little piglet! Here, little piggy!"

"No, we're telling you, Jim, we'd be much better off getting out of here!" Yumi says in worry just as Jeremy arrives. The boar turns its attention on him instead.

"Look out, Belpois!" Jim runs in and takes the hit for Jeremy, landing in a bush.

"Jim?" The boy rushes up to him. "Jim! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah sure...how's the other guy?" Jim smiles weakly, turning his head away, meaning he's not fine. Jeremy looks over his shoulder as the boar is charging again. Ulrich picks up a rock and hits it in the head.

"Wow, nice shot!" Odd cheers for him.

"Hey Ulrich, you've got a great arm!" Aelita couldn't help but notice. The boar opens up its eyes again.

"I'll create a diversion..." He slowly backs away.

"Good thing you've got fast legs too, go!" Yumi orders him and he runs off. The boar takes the bait and starts chasing him.

"First word of advice for possessing an animal: don't choose one that can be easily angered like a bull," Amy dusts off her pants as she stares after them.

"XANA sent this thing after us, there's no time to lose. Get to the computer lab, Aelita or Amy can manage the virtualization process. Hurry up!" Jeremy urges the four.

"What about you?" Aelita wonders and he looks to their teacher.

"I better stay here with Jim." Thankfully Jim doesn't hear them because he's still smiling widely like an idiot. "And if Ulrich can't join you guys, then all four of are gonna be needed on Lyoko."

"Good luck!" Aelita calls out with a wave as they run off.

"Jim, get up, Jim," Jeremy shakes him a little. "I'll help you."

"Yes, Mr. President...the mission has to go on whatever it takes...even if it costs me my stripes!"

He frowns towards the man.

* * *

The four run as fast as they can, but with all of the running they did today, that was the last thing they wanted to do... "This way, it's a shortcut!" Yumi guides them to the right.

Meanwhile, Ulrich is cringing as he's running. He looks behind him to see the boar right on his trail. He reaches the wall Jim set up and grabs ahold of it. The boar turns sharply, heading right towards him. Ulrich climbs up the wall, the boar bumping into it. Ulrich reaches the top safely.

"Hey, it's not so hard with a little training."

But then again, it might just be the adrenaline since he just ran from a wild boar...

The four crawl on the grass. "Come on, you can do it, Yumi!" Odd encourages her.

"It's just like in our training!" Amy calls out and Yumi slowly crawls along.

The boar backs up a bit...and then leaves. Ulrich pulls out his phone. "Jeremy! I'm okay, but the boar is heading back your way. I'm off to join the others."

Jeremy hangs up as Jim rubs the top of his head. He looks around for the boar as they're hiding in a cave. "We have to find a way to conceal our hiding place. I'll camouflage it with some branches."

"Give me a minute to get my strength back and I can help you...my leg's fine...I'm ready to walk again," Jim tries to stand, but lets out a yelp of pain.

"No, coach. Don't move, I'll take care of it!" Jeremy gets onto his feet.

The four run across a log, Aelita balancing herself and they continue running.

Jeremy stands back proudly at the work he's done with the cave. There's so many branches, that anyone could pass by it. He moves one away and then pulls it back, walking up to Jim.

"Oh, this is horrible. I feel completely useless!" Jim mutters under his breath. "This stupid broken leg I got."

"You knee is really swelled up. You'll need an x-ray to see whether or not it's broken. I'm gonna have to immobilize it or it's gonna hurt even worse," Jeremy looks around and grabs two branches. He then grabs a rag from his bag, tearing it apart.

The four come to a stop at a clearing, panting in exhaustion. "We're almost there..." Yumi says while breathing heavily.

"Okay, just one last bridge. The factory's not much further! Come on, Ames!" Odd pulls her onto his back, surprising her. He runs up ahead, the girls glancing to each other in shock. Amy just giggles, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Pretty good splint there, Belpois. I haven't seen work like that in a long time," Jim states to the boy, impressed. "You never worked with the Magyar Commandos, did you?"

"No, it's just a question of common sense," Jeremy looks to the splinted leg. "An injured joint won't get any worse if it doesn't move."

"Exactly! You would have made a good soldier, Belpois! If only you had a little more muscle."

Jeremy leans back a bit. "Maybe you don't know this, Jim, but the brain is kind of like a muscle and that's the one in particular that I've been exercising the most!"

* * *

They finally reach the factory, Aelita jumping into the chair. "Come on! Every second counts," Yumi urges and Aelita works as quick as she can.

"I'm on it. But I'm not as fast as Jeremy."

Then an alarm sounds, showing the Core of Lyoko...with monsters inside. "Oh! XANA has sent William and some monsters into the Core chamber."

Some Mantas are arriving at the Core, pointing right at it. William directs his sword at the sphere. "Fire!" They fire at once, Aelita looking to all of them.

"You three get down to the scanner room. We have to protect the Core of Lyoko," Aelita states as the door opens behind them.

"What about the tower?" Yumi wonders, the sisters glancing at each other.

"I guess I'll have to manage that alone..."

"No, not alone. Ol' reliable Ulrich is here!" The boy announces as he steps into the lab.

"Ulrich!" Yumi exclaims in relief.

"I shook off the wild boar, but it went back into the forest. I'm afraid it could find Jim and Jeremy," Ulrich explains to all of them.

"That's crazy! No boar can outsmart Jeremy!" Amy pumps her fists.

"Either way, we better not waste any time."

* * *

Jim sniffs a leaf from his pocket, which was from the leaves blocking the little cave. "It's got a funny smell," He gives it to Jeremy, who smells the scent coming from it.

"Peppermint. My parents have some in their garden. Bad news, Jim, our camouflage is useless! The boar's sense of smell is gonna give us away!"

"It sure will. There's a good chance of that...a better than even chance!" Jim looks away, Jeremy leaning back.

"We've gotta find a way to hide our scent! But how...?"

* * *

The boys, Amy, and Yumi run up to the scanners. It was decided that Yumi, Amy, and Odd would go first, and then Aelita with Ulrich would go.

"Are you ready?"

Ulrich smirks a little.

"Transfer Odd. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Amy. Scanner Odd. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Amy. Virtualization," Aelita taps enter and the three virtualize into Sector Five. They land safely onto the ground.

"_I've already called up your vehicles. They'll be standing by for you on the Celestial Dome. No time to lose!"_

"Got it!" Yumi states as they take off into a run. Amy activates her wings and flies above them.

* * *

"If we had a little caribou poop, we could cover ourselves with it," Jim suggests, Jeremy whipping to him in disbelief, and a bit disgusted as well.

"Uhh, did you say caribou poop?"

"Yeah. It's an old Indian trick I used to use in Quebec to surprise arsonists in the forest. Anyway, we're not in Canada, so that means no caribou poop..."

"That's good," Jeremy stands up. "No way am I gonna smear myself with any kind of poop! On the other hand, I'll be right back!"

"Wait!" Jim calls out, but since he can't move, he can only watch Jeremy leave.

* * *

Aelita arrives in the scanner room, having already started the virtualization process for them. Ulrich gets into a scanner, and she gets into the one right across from him. "Okay, I've started the delayed virtualization program."

"Where's the activated tower?" He asks curiously.

"In the forest sector."

The scanners close around them. They close their eyes as they're transferred, scanned, and sent into the forest. They land side-by-side.

"Wow. Valet parking, that's classy," Ulrich comments to his Overbike not too far up ahead. He jumps onto it, followed by Aelita.

"Come on, Ulrich, rev it up!"

He does so and takes off.

* * *

Jim looks up when Jeremy comes back, sitting down. "Okay, listen Jim. Take some mint, rub it on yourself. It should be enough to hide our scent."

He's confused, but he does so anyway. "It's a nauseating odor..."

"I like it much better than caribou poop, don't you?" Jeremy asks while rubbing.

"Oh, I don't know..."

* * *

The three arrive in the Celestial Dome, and just like Aelita said, their vehicles were waiting. Yumi's is on the left, Amy is up in front, and Odd is to the right.

They all jump on and take off. "I feel a lot better on this machine than on Jim's ropes," Odd comments as they head for the south entrance of the Dome.

"Well, you have to admit, they did help us get to the factory," Amy points out.

"Always so considerate, aren't you, my little Ames?"

* * *

"Okay, now all we can do is wait," Jeremy replies once the mint is rubbed all over them, laying in front of their feet. "We better hope that the others manage to deactivate the tower on Lyoko."

"Hey, are you delirious or what, huh, Belpois?" Jim points to his head and Jeremy remembers that he's in earshot.

"Uh...just daydreaming, Jim. Why don't you tell me about when you were in Canada?" Hopefully the change of subject would get the teacher's mind off of what he just said.

"Ah! Well, that is a long story..."

* * *

Ulrich slides to a stop, looking around. He's in the location that Aelita guided him to, but... "Where'd the tower go?"

"I don't get it. I must've made a calibration error. Without Jeremy to guide us, this won't be easy..." And it just got harder because a Krab appears right in front of them. "Ulrich, watch out!" It fires at them, and he drives the Overbike around to avoid the projectiles. Ulrich pulls out his sword to deflect them, and then another Krab arrives in front.

"Energy field!" Ulrich jumps a little while Aelita fires her orb, destroying the Krab. He comes to a stop as they look at the other one. "Well anyway, with all these troops around, the tower can't be that far..."

Amy, Odd, and Yumi reach the entrance, eyeing it closely. They fly inside at the right time and trip the key. The stairs materialize in front of them and they jump up into the room. Odd looks up and narrows his eyes at what's happening.

The Mantas are still firing, and the first shield hasn't gone...yet.

"Attack!" William notices the three, a few Mantas diving towards them.

"Mm," Amy growls, clenching a fist in annoyance.

They jump up the steps to deal with the Mantas. Odd backflips from a laser, landing on his knees as he jumps.

"Whoa! Beware of falling objects!" Odd calls out. Amy just shakes her head, taking flight. She tries to smash a Manta with a platform that she created, but misses them completely. Yumi lands on a platform, Odd leaping up the stairs. Yumi pulls out her fans and absorbs the lasers with them. Odd and Amy join her side, the boy looking up. "Hey, isn't that your boyfriend up there?"

William is riding a Manta. "He's not my boyfriend!" Yumi tosses a fan, missing the Mantas, but luckily one of them comes back and destroys one. "He's a little too clingy for me, anyhow."

"At least Odd's not like him," Amy smiles a little. "But he could stop being overdramatic once in a while."

"That hurts," Odd clenches where his heart is. "But honesty is the best policy!"

* * *

"And that was when I found that as far back as a century, I was a full-blooded Indian! Huh?" He suddenly hears noises, Jeremy shushing him. The boar is sniffing around for them outside, but eventually leaves. Jeremy leans back in relief. "It looks like your little trick worked."

"Yeah, the mint smell's strong enough now to trick him, but how much longer will it last?" He wonders, hoping his friends are on Lyoko already.

"Well, anyway, one thing about caribou poop, it lasts a long time!"

Ulrich is still driving around searching for the tower as he's going straight. "Still nothing."

"Alright, we have to go back to where we started. The tower has to be here."

"Okay, here we go," He turns the bike around and goes in the opposite direction. As soon as they get back to the clearing, Ulrich is knocked off his bike, roughly hitting the ground. Aelita jumps off, rolling to a stop. The Overbike unfortunately does not as it hits a tree and explodes. The Krabs approach her.

"Energy field!" She aims right at the Krab, but it ducks out of the way. Ulrich lifts his head up, shaking his head. He notices the Krab approaching Aelita, pulling out his swords. He's suddenly hit from behind and devirtualized by another Krab.

* * *

The boar sticks his head in through the peppermint. "Oh boy. He found us. What do we do now?"

Jeremy just runs away instead of answering. "Hey, what are you waiting for?! I'm over here! Hey, follow me!"

Jim stares after the boy in confusion. "That kid doesn't have much muscle, but he sure is big on guts."

* * *

The trio fire at the Manta attacking them, Yumi throwing her fan. It simply flies out of the way. "Odd, Amy, the first shield layer is about to give! We have to do something!"

"I know, and I've got an idea!"

The girls glance to each other. "Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"This should be good," Amy places a hand on her hip.

"Skydiving! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Odd jumps off the platform, scratching the Manta. William notices him approaching.

"Attack!"

The Manta he's standing on points towards Odd. "Go get 'em, guys!"

The other Mantas focus on Odd instead of the layer, William chasing after the cat boy. He jumps off a Manta just as a stray laser destroys it. "Yeah!"

He looks towards the girls, Amy flying Yumi over. "Odd, look out!"

A laser barely misses him and he jumps into the air, crossing his arms. "Shield!" The Manta breaks through it, however, and he's devirtualized in seconds. Yumi pulls out her fans as Amy spins her spear into her hand. They toss their weapons, both of them defeating a Manta. William jumps off the one he's on just as it's destroyed. Yumi lands on her feet as she catches her weapons.

"Nice one, Amy!"

"You too, Yumi," The brunette winks at her.

Someone lands nearby and they look to see William standing across from them. "Oh great," Amy deadpans at this.

* * *

Jeremy continues running from the boar until he reaches the wall, climbing up the tree. He looks down at the pig, which circles around the tree. He shimmies over to the top as the boar steps back, ramming into the tree to try and get Jeremy down.

"Oh no. I better get it right this time!"

The boar rams into the tree again.

* * *

The Krab is firing straight for Aelita, who fires her energy field and misses yet again. "Energy field!" She misses, but runs underneath the Krab. "Energy field!"

The third one finally hits the Krab, destroying it. She takes off into a run.

"_Aelita, how are you doing_?" Ulrich asks from the computer lab.

"Ulrich, tell me where the tower is, hurry!"

"You should be next to it according to this!" He looks at the screen.

"That's impossible, I can't see it! How come?" She looks around for it, but there's nothing in sight. The Krab fires and she jumps, landing on her feet. "Energy field!"

The Krab ducks its head...and then her orb hits the tower right behind it. "Got it! XANA's pulled this one on us before."

Jeremy looks nervously as the boar backs up. He moves further to the left as the boar hits the tree, Jeremy's feet slipping. He's now dangling as he hangs onto the rope as hard as he can.

William runs up to the girls, swinging his sword. Yumi takes Amy's hands, and the fairy flies above the weapon. It hits the stair and gets stuck there. She drops Yumi onto the sword, both of them kicking William onto the ground. He holds out his hand, the sword going back to his hand. Yumi pulls out her fans, Amy taking out her spear. Yumi goes first, and he swings it away. He looks around as he sees that the fairy has suddenly disappeared.

"That was a volley shot, it's all over for you!" He runs up to her and she tosses her fan. William jumps over it, but she slides, kicking him off the platform. Down below Amy's waiting for him, where she slams her hands together. Two platforms come from the walls, devirtualizing William for now.

"And I would call that wishful thinking, William dear," Yumi smiles in amusement as she catches her weapons back. Amy flies back up to her friend and lands in front of her.

"Yeah!" They cheer, high-fiving each other.

* * *

The boar looks up at Jeremy, walking up further. "I promise never to eat pork again!" He cries out in fear. His hands start to slip, which the boar notices. Suddenly a rock is thrown at him and he looks to see Jim wobbling over.

"Okay then, you piece of overcooked bacon! You thought I'd let you off that easy?"

Jeremy lets go, landing on his feet and running off to hide behind a tree. "I'm sorry, Jim, but you never should have left the cave!"

"Lemme tell you kid, you got guts, but if you think that I abandon my men under fire, you don't know good ol' Jim!"

The XANA-filled eyes flash from the pig as he glares at Jim.

Aelita finally destroys the Krab, running past it and reaching the tower. She runs up to the pad and starts floating to the top.

The boar charges towards the gym teacher. "Come and get me, if you dare!"

Jeremy cringes as Jim is knocked off his feet, landing in a bush. The pig focuses on Jeremy now.

Aelita lands at the top.

Jeremy hides himself behind the tree, fearing the worst.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code _

He holds his head as he anticipates the hit.

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated," Aelita states, the boar coming to a stop. Jeremy looks up, staring at the pig. He gives Jeremy one look before leaving. He slides to the grass, sighing in relief.

* * *

Jim is walking around injured as he has a cane, but he'll eventually heal. The Lyoko Warriors notice him from the benches. He sees the group and smiles, waving his cane. He hobbles over to them.

"Hey, you didn't do a return to the past," Yumi turns around to Jeremy. "You sure Jim has forgotten everything?"

"Just the opposite, he remembers everything, and that's the best insurance that there is. To him, our wild boar was a crazy and dangerous animal, but a completely normal one."

They all sigh in relief. "Well, in retrospect, you're not wrong," Amy crosses her arms.

"Oh, hello there, Jim. We're glad to see you back on two feet again," Aelita greets politely.

"More like three, huh! But it's not too serious, just a bad sprain and a nasty bruise. I'll be as good as new two weeks time."

"Well, just get a good night's rest and don't overdo it, and you should be fine," Amy suggests to him.

"For us, it's really a shame. Just one day of boot camp for two weeks of recovery!" Yumi points out.

"Oh, don't worry. That one day was very enlightening for me. You may not have been up to the commando level, but you showed great spirit. You really did! As soon as I am back in shape, I'll organize lots of other training sessions! And I hope to see you all there!"

"Um..." Aelita starts off nervously. After that one day, they weren't sure if they wanted to go through that again.

"Uh, not me, Ames and I are booked until the end of the year. We've got a...sleep session," Odd holds up a hand.

"Honestly, Jim, it's too much of a..."

"A horror. I, uh, too much of an honor!" Ulrich smiles sheepishly at his slip-up.

"I'll be there."

Everyone turns to Jeremy in surprise. "I owe you one, Jim."

"Excellent, Belpois!" Jim smiles at him. "I knew I could count on you, kid." He waves to everyone before leaving.

"I must be dreaming," Odd turns around to him. "I'll be there? Wow, you couldn't come up with a better answer than that! "No" for instance or "never" or "nein" or "nyet"!"

"You must really like Jim's torture," Ulrich stares at the boy.

Jeremy just smiles.

_Lemme tell you something, kid, you've got guts!_

"Oh!" Jeremy blinks, looking to Amy. "Amy...I'm really sorry about what I said. Are you-"

"Oh that?" Amy waves it off. "We're good."

"Really?" He stares at her, wondering if she was just lying.

"Yup. I'm over it," She shrugs at him. "Besides, I know you didn't really mean it."

He sighs in relief.


	77. AN

**Angel: Hello everyone. I was just informed that my school is closing for the next two weeks due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Surprisingly, a teacher and not a student was tested positive for it, which means that they could've potentially gotten other people sick throughout campus. They'd rather be safe than sorry. So what that means is that all of my classes are going to have to be held online until they tell us when they plan to open again. At this rate, they're going for the first week of April to reopen, because my Spring Break is on the last week of this March.**

**No, this doesn't mean I'm stopping updates, they're just not going to be early in the morning like they were before. I usually updated right before classes, but now with this new change, I'm just going to be updating later than normal in the day. Still keeping the days I have for uploads. With me having to do everything online for now, I need time to adjust to this and to do all of my schoolwork on time. I had only one class fully online before this new development. So I'm still gonna be updating, still gonna be writing, and I'm still gonna be cautious with my own health at this time so that I don't get sick. That is the last thing I would want for myself or for others. I just thought I'd let you guys know this in case I forget to upload a chapter in the future.**

**But I still gotta work the rest of the week XD I have to earn money somehow...**

**I just started A Lack of Goodwill, so I'm getting kinda close to finishing the show, and then after that I will be releasing a new story.**

**Stay well, everyone, and I will see you on Monday with Hot Shower.**


	78. Hot Shower

In outer space, a meteorite is heading right towards the Earth...

Jeremy is in the lab, typing away as everyone expect one is in the Skid. "Okay then. I'm uploading the program over to you. Now the Skid's sonar should be able to differentiate bio signals from the rest of the computer code in the Digital Sea."

"Okay Jeremy, program received and activated," Aelita reports from her spot.

"And you think that with this, we'll be able to find out where XANA is keeping the spiritual essence of William prisoner?" Odd asks curiously from his Skid.

"Let's hope so. It's the best chance we have to bring him back into the real world."

"Ah, the return of our tall, handsome hero. I'm sure Ulrich's gonna be thrilled to have his old rival back!" Odd jokes to the Skid opposite of him.

"Odd, sometimes you're really a bit too much," Ulrich deadpans at this.

"Only sometimes? Oh no, I guess I must be slipping! Ames, why didn't you warn me?" He puts a hand to his head dramatically.

"Maybe because it's something I got used to. I dunno, guess I have a tolerance for you being a bit too much nowadays," She shrugs a little. Her hair is in her pink color.

"Speaking of Yumi, I wouldn't mind being in her shoes today," Jeremy smiles lightly, hands behind his neck.

"Are you kidding? Helping run the outdoor science lab with 6th graders isn't exactly her idea of fun!" Ulrich retorts back.

"Oh, come on, I bet she's loving it!"

* * *

She's actually not as a glare is on her face. "We marked the exceptional event of the comet VG724 as passage near Earth. We are going to build a giant mock-up of the solar system to planets' path and better understand its periodic extrasolar orbit. Beside me is a scale model of our sun as you can see. What you're going to do now is create 8 planets which orbit around it, so we'll break off into different teams, with each team responsible for one planet and its orbit. 6th graders will make their planets to scale whereas 10th graders will have the responsibility..."

"Uh, Yumi, I'd really like to be on your team," Johnny looks up at the Japanese girl.

"Sorry Johnny, that's not up to me," She waves a finger. "It's up to Ms. Hertz."

"Are there any questions?" Ms. Hertz questions once she's done explaining. Johnny waves his hands.

"Could I be on Yumi's team, huh ma'am?!" He yells, everyone breaking into a laugh. Yumi looks around at them and frowns.

"Alright Johnny, but don't let me catch you clowning around with Hiroki!" The science teacher agrees.

"This is really gonna be a lot of fun, huh?" Johnny smiles happily and she gives a small grunt.

* * *

Jeremy is watching a news report regarding the comet. "The mass and velocity of the comet known as VG724 are so great that striking the Earth would provoke an explosion equivalent to a thousand times the strength of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Subsequence earthquakes and tsunamis would destroy the world's major cities. Atmospheric debris would blot out the sun in a long night-lasting two centuries. Consequently, this would spell mass extinction for flora and fauna, and the entire human race. Now of course, there's no risk of this happening since the comet will pass no closer than, um, well, two million kilometers from our planet. We also have been informed by highly confidential sources that the government operates a secret military satellite armed with laser cannons sufficiently powerful to be able to alter the course of any interstellar threats such as this."

"The detection spectrum is honing in," Aelita reports to everyone, "The sonar is picking up a faint trace of digital DNA in the area. It might be William, or even maybe..."

"Your father?" Ulrich asks solemnly. "What are we waiting for, let's go check it out!"

"I hope it is him," Odd murmurs as he looks downwards towards Amy's pod. He wants her to have a normal family life, even if it did seem impossible at times. Out of all of them, she had it the most rough since none of them have divorced parents...or a false parent at that.

"Okay," Aelita pulls the levers and the Skid moves forward.

* * *

Jim is moving a wheelbarrow filled with supplies. "For you, and you," Ms. Hertz is handing out worksheets to the groups.

"Oh! Too cool, guess what?" Johnny looks up happily. "We get to do planet Earth!"

"Yeah great, this is my lucky day," Yumi deadpans at this.

"Earth and the moon," Hiroki turns to his friend.

"Yippee, and to think Jeremy wanted to take my place," Yumi mutters, but this was for 6th and 10th graders only, which Jeremy is neither...

"Now, don't forget the sun here should be the center of your calculated orbits, right? And 6th graders, make sure you know your planetary scale in relation to the sun. May I remind all of you this exercise will be graded. Now get to work!" Ms. Hertz instructs everyone, Jim joining her side.

"Just a second, Suzanne. I have an important safety announcement to make," He puts the bullhorn to his mouth. "Now, about the poles, I'd like to call your attention to an important technical aspect. They have two ends! One is pointy and sharp, that's the one you put into the ground. We try to do it the other way, you might hurt yourself pushing on the pointy end."

Some of them giggle, a 6th grader taking his pole and running to the group. "Come on, you'd have to be an idiot not to figure that out."

"Eh?" He looks at his bandaged hand, hiding it behind his back with an embarrassed chuckle. Ms. Hertz raises a brow at him skeptically.

* * *

There's an activated tower in the desert sector, which Jeremy gets an alert for to his chargin. "Oh! Why now? Why can't we just go on an exploratory mission in peace for once...? Swell, XANA. What do you have in store for us this time?"

A satellite is heading towards Earth, pointing at the comet itself...A beam hits the comet, sending it in Earth's path!

"Sorry, Aelita, but you're needed back on Lyoko on the double," Jeremy reports to the group. "_Activated tower_."

"Of course it is. I should've known that XANA wouldn't let us explore in peace," Amy shakes her head at the news.

"Got it, Jeremy. I'm turning around," Aelita turns on the propellers and swerves the ship in a 180 turn, going in the opposite direction.

* * *

The 10th graders are separating their groups with string, Yumi taking steps while holding a notebook. "Okay, I'm done," Hiroki spins something on his finger. "What do you think of my planet Earth?" It doesn't even look close to Earth.

"Look, Yumi, the moon is yours for the asking!" Johnny chuckles as he's balancing a make-shift moon on the top of his head that has a smiley face on it.

"Yeah, right," She scoffs, looking away. "Hiroki, doesn't the Earth have another name?"

"The blue planet. Yeah, I know. I was using a little imagination like if there was a Mars attack," He spins around whatever he has on his finger.

"And you, Johnny, do you really think anything can grow on the moon?" She asks next.

"Well, no, but I figured it would be more poetic with plants!"

"Both of you start over and fix it!" She shouts so loud that the models are knocked away from the boys.

"Forget it," Hiroki turns away, patting Johnny's shoulder. "Imagination and poetry are wasted on her."

"Please, send me a miracle to get me out of this," She whispers to herself and as soon as she states this, her phone rings. She picks it up without even looking at the name. "Hello? Yes, Jeremy? An activated tower? Wow, thank you, XANA!"

"Huh?" Jeremy wonders in confusion why she would say that. "What are you talking about?"

"Ah, nothing," She smiles to herself, glad to be away from her annoying little brother. "I'm on my way right now!"

She hangs up and walks right past the boys, running towards the park.

* * *

"Some breaking news," The news report is still going on from Jeremy's screen. He had a bad feeling this attack had to do with the comet. "It appears the comet VG724 has broken apart..."

"What is going on around here?" Jeremy murmurs to himself.

"Following a shot from a satellite...uh...uh..." The reporter doesn't really know what to say as this event is hard to describe. "Uh...for reasons yet unknown. Correction! Uh, international observatories have now confirmed that all is well with the comet and it will simply crash on uh...uh, nowhere! As you know, it will pass very far from Earth. And any way, we can always obliterate it with military satellites. Which of course don't exist! This is just a little April Fool joke from our producer! So that's it, farewell, I mean more news later." She chuckles nervously, waving.

"Uno, it's not April," Jeremy narrows his eyes suspiciously. "Dos, something is going haywire. Let's see, orbital observation program. Comet VG724," He quickly does some research.

The Skid is traveling back to Lyoko when Jeremy speaks up. "Aelita, I just figured out XANA's attack. XANA used a satellite to change the course of a comet. It's gonna create a meteor shower that will pour down on Earth!"

"_What?! Are you sure?_"

"Well actually, according to my calculations, most of the meteor should burn up completely in the atmosphere. On the other hand, there's a huge chunk coming behind it that will crash directly into...oh no! Into the factory! And not just that, but Amy's home as well!"

"Whoa, what?!" Amy asks in alarm, eyes wide. "He's targeting my mom and Jackson too?! No...!"

"Jeremy, you have to get out of the computer lab right now," Aelita urges him.

"I can't do that. If the computer lab gets destroyed, you guys will be stuck in the Digital Sea at XANA's mercy!" He taps his finger against the arm of the chair. "No, we've got to deactivate the tower." It's the only way to stop it.

"Jeremy, please promise me that you'll call my mother and Jackson. Someone has to warn them!" Amy urges her friend in worry.

"_Of course I will. What about your fa—Mr. Smith?"_

"I...I don't know if you'll be able to contact him. His phone bill expired because he couldn't pay it. I haven't heard from him in months," She looks away sadly.

"Relax, Jeremy and Ames. We'll do it in no time!" Odd's face appears on Amy's screen. "I promise!"

She smiles at him weakly for the assurance.

"Yeah, but that's not gonna stop the meteorite from falling!" Ulrich adds in.

"That's true, and that's why I'm staying here at the control center, to launch a return to the past before we're hit by it," Jeremy closes his eyes in determination. "And someone has to make sure that Amy's family is safe, they have no idea what's going on."

"Okay, full speed ahead," Aelita speeds up the engines and the Skid moves faster.

"_You've got a hub barring north west of your position, under the databank shell_."

"Got it!" She pulls a lever forward and dives underneath, seeing that they're in the right direction. "Hub dead ahead."

They can see it up ahead as Jeremy is on the phone with Amy's mother. "Um, hello, Ms. Smith? This is Jeremy, we met when you visited Kadic to see Amy?"

"Oh, yes! Jackson's spoken about you. You're that bright young man...but I go by Ms. Johnson now."

"Oh...I'm sorry," He blushes in embarrassment. Of course she'd change her name back.

"It's alright. Why are you calling? Is this regarding Amelia?" The woman's carrying groceries with one arm, walking up to the limo.

"No, she's perfectly fine, ma'am. She's on Lyoko, actually. Um...this is about you. XANA has launched an attack, and...well, a comet has changed course, and it's going to cause a meteor shower. One of the targets is...is your house."

"You're talking about the VG724 comet that they said we didn't have to worry about...aren't you?" She asks knowingly as she comes to a stop.

"Yes, ma'am...you have to get somewhere else. Amy will be fine as long as they deactivate the tower. And I know you're immune to the returns to the past, but...I never really got to ask how is that possible."

"Franz told me about Lyoko long after Amelia was born. He brought me to the lab without Amelia so that I would never forget the danger of XANA. I'm not sure about Jackson, but...I do know that it was because of a supercomputer. Maybe he found one while he was working with this organization...they were looking into Franz, but they stopped when...well. You'll find out soon enough. I have to go prepare shelter. Tell Amelia to stay safe."

"I will?" Jeremy replies slowly, wondering what she was trying to say. And with that, Ms. Johnson hangs up.

* * *

Yumi's finally reached the secret entrance when her phone rings and she puts it to her ear. "Jeremy? Yeah, I'm almost there. What?!"

"Yeah, a meteorite, and considering its mass, it'll obliterate not only the factory, but also the entire area, including the academy and Amy's house. The others are on their way back, they'll meet up with you on Lyoko. Yumi, are you there?"

She looks back towards the school. Her brother and Johnny are still there...and they didn't even know she left. If something happens to him while she's on Lyoko, it'll be on her. Annoying as he is, he's still family.

"Hiroki..." She murmurs in worry. "Sorry, Jeremy. I'll be right there, but I uh...I've got something important to do first."

"Yumi, this is not the time. We need you immediately. Yumi?"

She hangs up with him and runs in the opposite direction. "Yumi! I don't believe this, she just hung up on me!"

"Jeremy...the school is in danger, and so is her brother. People have to evacuate," Amy points out softly. "Someone has to help them or people could get hurt."

"That's right..." He murmurs to himself. He forgot that Hiroki is a 6th grader.

The sea suddenly turns red and Amy groans at this. "Oh no...that means something's about to happen, isn't it...?"

The Skid suddenly gets trapped in place, jerking them a bit. "I hate it when I'm right."

Aelita looks around in confusion as the ship starts shaking. "Holy cow, what is that?" Odd whispers to himself. Aelita gasps in realization.

"A firewall. That's got to be a trap from XANA. I'll get us out of it," She pulls up her screen, but it's all bugged up. She presses a button to push through, but the wall pushes them back into place. "It's not working!" She sighs at this. "Jeremy, we've got a problem..."

"I see it, Aelita. I'm already on it," He works as quick as he can to help them.

* * *

Yumi reaches the track and approaches the two boys. "Hey, where'd you go? Look, I painted over it with blue. Now look at this awful color," Hiroki holds up a purple and orange model.

"Hiroki," She places a hand on his shoulder. "I want you to go home right now, okay? Take Johnny with you, and I'll...I'll meet you there later."

"What?! But what about Ms. Hertz's class?" He points to the teacher not too far away.

"Hiroki, you heard me!" She tells him firmly.

"Hey, what's the matter with you? You got in a fight with Ulrich again, huh?"

She growls at him and heads for the teachers. "By the way, Suzanne, how's it going with Pedro?" Jim asks her curiously.

"Oh, really Jim, not around the students!" She says in embarrassment. "Oh!"

"Ms. Hertz, we have to evacuate the academy!" Yumi tells the two.

"What are you talking about, Yumi?" The science teacher asks curiously.

"I know this may sound crazy, but a meteorite is going to hit right here where we're standing!" Yumi points to the ground.

"Hold on now, Ishiyama!" Jim starts off as Ms. Hertz raises a brow skeptically. "I told you eating that raw fish was no good for you."

"No, I swear it's true!" Yumi insists to them. "I just found out from the, uh, friend who works at the National Observatory!"

The meteorites are falling towards their locations, the classes looking up. "Hey look, do you see that?" Christophe wonders as the three look in their direction. "Check it out!"

The meteor shower is beginning as Jim looks in awe. "Wow! Great fireworks!"

"Jim...we have to evacuate the academy," Ms. Hertz says in a serious tone. He looks to her in confusion.

* * *

The Skid attempts to move past the firewall, to no avail. "The firewall's energy is set up along a fairly basic algorithm. _All we have to do is crack it, and we'll be able to slip through a breach security_."

"Good idea," Jeremy compliments her. "Hey, I think I finally understand what XANA's really up to."

"_Bravo, Einstein_!" He rolls his eyes at Odd's voice. "_You finally realized that he wants to destroy the supercomputer to keep us from coming in and pulling the virtual carpet out from under him?_"

"And it only took us _more than a year _to figure that out," Amy rolls her eyes.

"Well, obviously," Jeremy taps a key. "But this time he picked the most perfect moment."

"Of course! By destroying the supercomputer, XANA will not only destroy Lyoko, but more importantly, our only way back into the real world," Aelita deduces, but something still wasn't right. "But why would he want to trap us here?"

"To get a hold of you and Amy, Aelita. You're the ones XANA has wanted to capture since we recreated Lyoko. It's called killing two birds with one stone, or in this case, three!"

* * *

"Come now, Suzanne, this is ridiculous!" Mr. Delmas states once he's been told of the news. "Are you absolutely sure it couldn't have been from something else? Fireworks, for example?"

Ms. Hertz firmly shakes her head. "That's what I keep telling her, but I think she overdid it with the mint tea."

"I know what I saw, Jean-Pierre!" Ms. Hertz pushes up her glasses. "It was a meteor shower. We have to get the students to safety now!"

"Hmm," He looks towards all the students. If he dismissed a teacher's concern, someone could get hurt... "Fine. As a precaution, I'm willing to go ahead and evacuate the academy, but I don't want any panic!"

Jim smiles widely, Yumi giving a thumbs up.

* * *

The meteor shower continues as the Skid presses against the firewall. "Got it! I found a weak link in the algorithm. It's as plain as day! The system overcompensates pressure, but it takes three milliseconds to reverse its polarity!"

"Of course, by synchronizing the initial pressure, you can neutralize the sinusoidal distortion, Aelita!" Jeremy smiles happily.

"Translation?" Odd asks, because he didn't know what any of that meant.

"Rubberband system. Hang on!" She presses some buttons and reverses the Skid as far back as she can. "Standby for stopping the turbopop. Ready? And now!" She slams a button, and then the Skid bursts out of the firewall, the entire thing shaking. They close their eyes, bracing themselves.

"Nice one, Aelita! Now hurry and get over to the hub. We need you back in Lyoko ASAP!"

"You guys did it!" Amy cheers, clapping a little. Aelita snaps out of it.

"Roger," The sea turns blue as they head for Lyoko. "Everyone okay?"

"My breakfast wants to come back up to say hello, but otherwise, all is well!" Odd holds his stomach.

"They're never gonna get there in time!" Jeremy rubs his chin in thought. "Unless I...yeah!" He snaps his fingers, "If only I can manage to regain control of that satellite, even for a minute, I just might get the meteorite to change its course again! Let's see...Defense Department...top-secret data...password. Piece of cake."

Johnny is adjusting the moon while Hiroki is trying to paint over the Earth model, to no avail... "Okay, fire drill, everybody!" Jim announces to everyone with the bullhorn. "I want all of you to make your way calmly to the main gate."

They walk away complaining, but are nonetheless unaware of what's going on.

"Hub in sight," Aelita reports to everyone. "30 seconds to dive."

"Bingo!" Jeremy exclaims once a screen pops up. "Well...now I'm just gonna need a transmission relay to link up to the satellite."

The two boys walk past Yumi, who is silently relieved that they're safe. They may annoy her, but she didn't want to put them in real danger. Her phone rings and she answers it.

"Jeremy? Yes, I'm still at school. I'm really sorry, but I had to-"

"Don't worry, Yumi," He says in understanding. "Plan B time. In fact, I'm glad you haven't left school yet."

"Your laptop? Okay, I'll go to your room and get it. Then what? Uh, okay," She hangs up and runs to the dorms, which Johnny happens to notice.

"Hey, where's your sister going?"

"Only one way to find out..." The two boys look at the group, following after Yumi instead.

The Skid lands at the hub. "Do you read me, Aelita?_ I'm entering the coordinates for Lyoko."_

The ship moves to its vertical position. "Stand by for broadband acceleration in 3...2...1, zero!" They disappear through the portal.

Meteors are still falling. "Take cover!" Jim falls onto the ground due to the shake. The students look in confusion and he stands up, chuckling nervously. He looks at his bullhorn, only to see that the stick has broken off, leaving the rest on the grass.

"Slow down, calm down right now!" Jim orders the class.

Yumi runs into Jeremy's room and gets the laptop. "Jeremy, we're good. I just picked up your laptop."

"Head to the roof of the science building and hook it to the antenna," He tells her. She runs down the hall.

"I'm on it!"

"And hurry up!"

She heads down the stairs, unaware that the two boys have opened the doors behind her. They sprint down the steps after the girl.

The Skid arrives back in Lyoko in the desert sector. "Okay Jeremy, we're back on Lyoko. Where's the activated tower?"

"Desert sector. Quandrum 57:42."

"Roger," She nods a bit, moving the ship to the tower. "There it is."

Yumi runs up the stairs of the science building, the boys running after her. She tugs at the locked door to the roof. She tries to kick it open, but it doesn't budge. "Oh no...!" She kicks the door, elbows it, and even hits it with her elbow.

"Security door versus Yumi's ankle," Hiroki speaks up, getting her attention. "I'll bet on the door."

"What do you two think you're doing here?!" She demands to them, her hair a bit messy from all the struggle.

The Skid comes to a stop next to the tower. "Here we go. Teleport," Aelita taps the buttons and they land underneath the ship. Ulrich looks up ahead to see the entrance, which is of course guarded by Kanklerlots.

"The tower is only 50 meters away. How much time do we have, Jeremy?" Ulrich asks as the other three see the monsters.

"Enough. _If you can get rid of your welcoming committee_."

"Oh, we will," Amy creates flames on her hands. The Kankerlot suddenly turns around and runs, confusing her.

"He ran away. So why waste a laser arrow on a coward? Go on, buddy, he's all yours," Odd replies to Ulrich. They take off into a run, then come to a stop.

"I think we know why he ran off now..." Amy sighs a little as Tarantulas appear. Ulrich pulls out his swords. And then William arrives, his sword forming into his hand out of smoke. He slowly shakes his head at them, slamming the platform with his weapon.

"All of a sudden, that tower seems a lot further away!" Odd comments at the army. This wouldn't be easy: Tarantulas are probably the most strongest monsters from XANA...

* * *

"Maybe you should just tell us what you think _you're _doing," Hiroki and Johnny walk up the stairs.

"I haven't got time for you brats, go back outside!" She yells, trying again to get the door open. The two look smug.

"We know how to open it."

"Shut up, Hiroki!" She retorts, expecting a joke. "I'm sick of hearing your lies!"

"But it's true, we can open any door," Hiroki insists, Johnny nodding to Yumi.

"Well, if you think you're so good, then be my guest!" She rolls her eyes, stepping away from the door.

"Okay, but first you gotta tell us what you're up to," Hiroki points up to her. She groans in annoyance at the two boys. She really needed to get that door open, which is why she's giving them the benefit of the doubt. But she can't obviously tell them about Lyoko.

"Oh, what have I got to lose? A meteorite is going to crash on the school, and if I don't connect this computer to the roof antenna now, then Jeremy won't be able to access the satellite that might change its course! Understand?!"

"A meteorite?" Hiroki asks skeptically. "Not bad...now tell us what's_ really_ going on."

A meteor flies right past the science building, sending all three onto the ground. "Okay, okay, let's go, Johnny," Hiroki definitely believes her now as he picks the lock.

"Incredible!" Yumi is slightly impressed and Hiroki smiles as he opens the door.

* * *

The four hiding behind a wall of rocks, the Tarantulas firing at them. Ulrich runs up to them. "Super sprint!" He speeds up and leaps into the air, only to get hit. Odd and Amy both cringe as he lands nearby.

"Ouch. Good luck coming back from that one," She peeks between a small hole to see William smirking with his arms crossed. She grits her teeth at his look, Odd stepping forward to fire at the Tarantulas.

"Laser arrow!" He fires, but misses as Ulrich gets back onto his feet.

"It's hot!"

"Yeah well, this is the desert," Odd tells him.

"It doesn't look good. We'll never get through," Aelita looks at the two.

"Not unless we have a plan," Amy stands up, nodding towards Odd.

"You should never say never!" He points out with a smile.

* * *

Yumi finally gets onto the roof, on the phone with Jeremy. "Okay, Jeremy, I'm on the roof. Now what do I do?"

"Listen, try to find the antenna cable."

She looks up and sees it dangling into the air. She jumps up and grabs onto it. "Got it."

"Great. Now cut as cleanly as you can and stick it into the blue plug that's in the back of my laptop. Push as hard as you can. We can't strip the wire, there's not enough time. It should work," He instructs her, but there's just one problem.

"Great! What am I gonna do without a knife?"

Johnny walks up to her and pulls out a swiss army knife. She stares at him in shock.

* * *

The Tarantulas continue their attack towards the rocks. Aelita fires an energy field, destroying one. "Nice one, princess!" Odd congratulates, failing to see a Kankerlot behind him.

"Guys, watch out!" Amy pushes them out of the way, getting hit in the stomach.

"Hey!" Odd points his arm towards it, but Ulrich destroys the monster with his sword. "A coward and a cheater? Hey!"

"It's gotta change tactics," Ulrich explains to him.

"Yeah, but I had that," Odd helps Amy stand up. "You okay, Ames?"

"I'll live," She breathes in relief, William running up towards them.

"Okay Jeremy, it's in!" Yumi reports to him.

"Great job," He closes his eyes, hovering his fingers over the keyboard. "Now let the duel begin..."

Yumi watches from his laptop, a spark occurring from the antenna. They look towards the cables to another building as the satellite dish connects to a satellite in space. A screen pops up, but all of the text is red.

"How did that rat XANA get onto me? How's it going over there, Ulrich?"

"Not so good," Ulrich states as they're running away from the tower. The Tarantulas circle around, William chasing after the four. They eventually get cornered at a platform that leads to the Digital Sea. "Stay behind us, Aelita! If you get devirtualized, we'll never be able to deactivate the tower!"

The monsters fire, Ulrich dodging them by flinging his swords back and forth. Two orange shields appear on Amy's hands, which she uses to deflect the lasers away from them.

"How can anyone be such a bad shot?" Odd backflips over them, getting hit himself and landing on the floor.

"Odd!" The girls exclaim, bending down to him.

"Are you okay?" Amy asks softly, Aelita looking up at the Tarantula. It changes targets and fires at Ulrich instead. The fairy helps up Odd slowly, Ulrich stepping in front of the three.

"The Tarantulas haven't fired at me even once," Aelita couldn't help but notice.

"That's because...you've got a couple of great bodyguards," Odd tells her, but she feels as if there's something else behind it all...

"No, I don't think that's it," Amy states, shaking her head as she looks at the monsters.

The comet is in sight in the sky, which Jeremy notices. "Too late..."

Yumi cringes as she can see it as well. She gasps at the boys. "Get going you two, hurry up!"

Hiroki turns around to his sister. "What about you?"

"I can't let go of the cable! Beat it!" She shouts to the two.

Ms. Johnson and Jackson see the meteors heading towards the house, both of their mouths opening in shock.

"I'll never make it. XANA is a flawless program, and I'm only human..." Jeremy says without a inch of hope in his voice.

"This time, it's all over!" Ulrich exclaims as they back up.

"No, it can't end this way!" Amy shouts in horror.

"No Ulrich," Aelita shakes her head, swiping her hand over her bracelet. She takes flight and Amy smiles, following after her.

"What are you doing?" Ulrich asks as they land in front of the boys.

"We're forcing XANA to make a choice," She glares at William.

"It's either us...or Earth, William," Amy spits at the possessed boy.

He steps up to the two. "Hurry Odd," Aelita turns around. "Devirtualize me."

"Huh?! What, are you crazy?" He exclaims in shock.

"Do what I say. Amy, you stay here and deactivate the tower."

"But why? What are you gonna do off Lyoko?" Amy wonders, but gets no answer as William gets closer. Odd looks to her and Ulrich, unsure what devirtualizing Aelita was going to do in terms of the meteor shower.

"Odd...Aelita's right. It's our only hope."

He braces himself and hits Aelita, and she devirtualizes in front of William. He comes to a stop right in front of the fairy, jumping towards the Digital Sea. "What was that all about?"

"No idea."

Aelita appears in the scanner room, still feeling the effects of the laser arrow. She walks back to the elevator.

Hiroki and Johnny look up in fear, Yumi hugging them close.

Aelita arrives in the lab. "To win, sometimes you have to know how to lose," She states to Jeremy.

"You think XANA understands that?" Jeremy wonders as she places a hand on his shoulder. She doesn't answer, rubbing her chin. All of this falls on hope...

The sun rises, the comet heading right in their direction. Yumi sheds a tear, but the satellite underneath XANA's control fires a laser at the comet. This simply turns into another meteor shower, which fall into the lake at the factory. Little shards fall from the sky at the school and at Ms. Johnson's home.

"Hey...wow, we're saved!"

Yumi takes a hold of her phone. "Great shot, Jeremy. Real bullseye!"

"It wasn't me. That was XANA. Looks like he gave up on his plan."

The tower is still activated as the monsters disappear into thin air. "Well...here goes nothing," Amy murmurs as she stares at the tower. Before she could rethink about what she's doing, she's running towards the tower.

"It's lot less worry when we have two people who can deactivate towers," Ulrich comments to Odd, who nods in agreement. The two follow after her and once she reaches the tower, she steps inside.

Amy walks up to the middle and stops. She flies towards the top, doing a flip before she lands on the upper platform. The interface appears and she slowly presses her hand to it.

_Amelia_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The tower deactivates, to everyone's relief. "It worked again!" Aelita smiles towards the screen.

Amy steps out of the tower, earning a big hug from Odd. She laughs at the contact, Ulrich smiling in amusement.

"I can't believe I did it again," She looks at her hand, smiling proudly. She's definitely evolved ever since she met her friends...

The meteor shower ends, the three in relief. "Well Yumi, don't the brats get a thank you?" Hiroki asks as she stands behind them. She places her hands on their shoulders, bending down to them.

"Thank you, brats," She kisses Hiroki on the cheek.

"Yuck!" He rubs it off in disgust. She gives Johnny a kiss on the cheek too. He grins widely with two thumbs up.

"You guys really helped me a lot this time."

"Yeah, I'm not gonna let you forget that either," Hiroki smiles in amusement.

"Oh, give me a little break, huh?" She asks and he raises a brow. She claps her hands, signaling to Jeremy to launch a return in time.

"Return to the past now."

Everything is reset, and Yumi meets her friends back in Jeremy's room. "So, how was your day?" Jeremy asks her.

"You won't believe it. We got the highest grade! And so, I promised Johnny I would keep his moon as a present. I owe him at least that, even if he doesn't remember anything," Yumi throws up the moon in the air, catching it.

"See? Your brother's not that bad after all," Aelita points out.

"Yeah, he can be pretty handy when he wants to," Yumi looks away for a second in thought. "That's why I'm worried."

"Yeah, how come?" Ulrich wonders curiously. Yumi closes the door behind her.

"Because now, I know it's useless keeping the door locked to my room."

Amy giggles at this.


	79. The Lake

**Angel: They are now closing my school for the rest of the semester...not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, since I'm supposed to have two presentations due by the end of the semester. I also don't know if this is gonna affect my writing in the future.**

The 9th graders are loading a bus, Jim and Ms. Hertz chaperoning. The class are going on a two-day trip to the lake. "You can take your hand luggage on the bus with you. And the rest of your stuff goes down here."

"What if XANA attacks while we're away?" Jeremy asks Aelita in concern. The Lyoko Warriors are wearing their old outfits.

"After a week of working day and night on the program, I think we deserve this weekend, don't you?" Aelita smiles softly. "It'll be the first time we go camping together too!"

"What program are you talking about, huh?" Ulrich looks over his shoulder.

"Aelita thought we should shore up the protection shields on the Skid. We haven't tested it yet, though," Jeremy explains as Odd and Amy are walking in front of them. He's carrying three bags: one in his arms, and two around each arm. Jim looks over his shoulder while putting away bags.

"You two are incredible, really. I mean as if we didn't have enough homework from-" Odd bumps right into Jim.

"Della Robbia, weren't you listening? You've gotta store the suitcase!"

"You said that carry-on was okay. Look, I'm carrying it, Jim," Odd smiles nervously and Amy gives him a knowing look.

"Odd, you didn't have to carry all my stuff, you know," She states as Jim takes her bag from the boy. "I can carry it."

"Nope. A gentlemen helps a lady," He winks at her.

Jim then looks to Sissi, Herb, and Nicolas. Sissi is on her bike while the boys are carrying a lot of luggage.

"Sissi, what are you doing with all that stuff?" He demands to her.

"It's my baggage, Jim!" She explains to the teacher.

"You were told to only take what was strictly necessary! Now get a move on and take all that junk back to your room!"

"But Jim, my party dresses, my shoes, and all my make-up. I can't possibly go without them, and my hairdryer too," She touches her hair lightly.

"Now listen, Elizabeth," Ms. Hertz walks up to her. "This is a camping trip, and it's only two days. Your bicycle too should be left at home!"

She gives them a snidely look. "Do you want me to tell the principal, my father, that sports activities are being discouraged on school trips?"

"Uh...well, all right, but make it snappy now," Ms. Hertz says nervously.

"Hey Sissi," Amy peeks her head out from a window. "Do you want me to tell the principal, your father, that you're basically blackmailing teachers?"

"Like he'd believe you!" Sissi points up at her.

"Oh yeah?" She holds up a recorder, having captured the whole thing. Sissi's eyes narrow at the girl, knowing that if her father heard that, he won't be lenient. "Wanna bet? Now take all that stuff back like the principal's daughter that you are."

She growls, stomping away as Ms. Hertz smiles in relief. She'd get her revenge...

Jeremy places down his bag as Amy takes her seat next to Odd. "That's my little Ames!" He hugs her, kissing the girl on the cheek. She smiles bashfully, Jeremy putting on his seatbelt. Odd breaks a cookie in half, feeding the other to Kiwi.

"Oh, you're kidding, Odd," Ulrich peeks at him from behind their seats.

"What's wrong? How could I leave Kiwi in his room while we're getting fresh air?" Odd asks defensively.

"You should've just left him with Yumi. I left Kiki with my mother," Amy tells him. "She's been camping with Jackson, his daughter, and me lots of times."

"No way," He whines a bit, hugging her. "I want you and Kiwi to bond more. You're my girlfriend, and he should get to know you better."

"He already knows me!" She rolls her eyes playfully.

"Speaking of being cooped up, Yumi got stuck with a test this weekend," Ulrich puts his phone to his ear.

"Not one, I've got two tests today!" She smiles in amusement. "You lucky dogs! I wish I were on that bus with you."

"I'd have loved to sneak you on, but we got a lucky dog already," Ulrich glances to where the couple is sitting. "You know who I'm talking about."

"Well, the torture session's about to start. Speak to you later. Thanks, Ulrich." She hangs up and heads for class.

Amy looks out to the trees outside as the bus drives down the road. Herb is sleeping next to Sissi, who pulls out a compact mirror to look at herself, smiling. She then moves it a bit to stare at Ulrich. "Elizabeth! Put that strap higher up. Seatbelts weren't meant for puppy dogs."

Kiwi suddenly barks, getting Jim's attention. Amy's eyes widen, looking towards the bag. "Shh! Quiet, Kiwi. Don't let them know you're here!"

"Well, well. Somebody looks very guilty," Jim stares at the two. "What do you got inside there?"

"In there? Um, some things that came with me on the trip like-"

Kiwi suddenly jumps out of the bag and lands in Odd's arms. Amy winces at this. "Oh, imagine that. It must be that stray dog that everybody saw running around near the campus. He sneaked on the bus, I guess."

"You went and bought him a collar marked Della Robbia," Jim grits his teeth, pointing to the collar.

"No, it's us...it's just a coincidence! See, he must belong to a very distant cousin. There are plenty of Della Robbias! It's a common name like Morales or-"

"Knock it off. All animals are forbidden anywhere and everywhere on school grounds!"

"That's great because we're not at school now, are we, Jim?" Odd smiles anxiously as Amy facepalms.

"Don't try to be a wise guy with me, Della Robbia. You've been caught red-handed! As soon as we get back, you have an appointment with the principal!"

He frowns as Amy places a hand on his back. "Jim, come on. He's right, we're not really at school. I mean, it's just a little dog. A cute one," Amy pats Kiwi on the head. "Aren't dogs supposed to get some fresh air?"

"...Do you have anything to do with this, Smith?" He eyes her closely and she sweats a little, glancing at her boyfriend and the dog. She then looks back to the gym teacher. Hopefully she'd be able to pulls this off...

"Yeeesss! Yes! I did. I'm ashamed," She gestures to herself with closed eyes. "But my mother has been looking after him all this time, and since he really missed me, she...wanted me to take him! Go ahead...send me to Mr. Delmas when we get back. But I'm sure that my...father would love to hear about it."

"You father?" Jim asks skeptically and then remembers who he's talking about. "Your father! Oh, no, no need to bother your old man! I'll overlook it just this once! But when we get back, your family is taking that dog back!"

"Of course, Jim," Amy waves as he leaves them alone, her friends shocked.

"Wow...I can't believe you pulled that off!" Jeremy blinks at her.

"Ames, why did you do that?" Odd asks curiously and she turns her head to him, smiling.

"Because I didn't want to see you or Kiwi get in trouble since you decided to bring him," She pets the dog on the head, who licks her cheek gratefully. "Besides, this way, none of us get in trouble."

"But I thought you hated using your dad as a way to get what you want," Ulrich raises a brow at her.

"I don't, but desperate times call for desperate measures," She shrugs lightly.

"Thanks, my little lady!" Odd gives her a big hug and she giggles.

"But that's the only chance you get, Odd," She points a finger at him. "I won't lie like that again."

* * *

"Please, for this exam, all you need is a sharpened pencil and your logic and concentration," Ms. Meyer hands out the tests.

"You're lucky. As a computer program, this math test should be a real piece of cake," Yumi says to William 2.

"What's a math test and a piece of cake?"

She stares at him, wondering if he's really that dense.

* * *

The class has finally reached the lake. "Jim, would you mind walking this little cutie?" Amy coos at Kiwi, holding him up to the teacher.

"No problem," He attaches the leash to the dog.

"No, don't!" The two warn him, but he runs around away.

"Hold it! Slow down!" He sniffs the flowers.

"We told you not to keep him on a leash..." Odd frowns a little.

"Oh yeah? What if he bit one of the other kids? What then? Hm?" His eyes widen as Kiwi has peed on his leg, to his dismay.

"Here we are," Ms. Hertz smiles at the sight of the lake. "This will be our home in our laboratory for the weekend. An unspoiled haven for all lovers of flora! A field trip to a true garden of Eden. In short, an ecosystem unequaled in the region." Aelita looks to Jeremy as she continues speaking. "And you are looking right at it."

"What, that microscopic island is where we're gonna camp?!" Sissi screeches in shock.

"If you think that's small, wait until you see the rubber dinghies," Ms. Hertz smirks at her.

The class are now on rafts, paddling along. "I was afraid of this," Jeremy states while Odd is rowing. "I can't get a signal here. I won't be able to access the supercomputer!"

"Don't worry, for the time being, I can still call out. I'll tell Yumi," Aelita pulls out her phone and puts it to her ear.

"Rats, the factor of minus X was the right answer. Looks like I'm in for another lousy grade," Yumi mutters as she's sitting outside Her phone rings and she answers it. "Inferno here, everything okay in paradise?"

"Not really, Jeremy can't seem to get online. You're gonna have to check regularly to see what's happening on Lyoko," Aelita explains to her.

"You've gotta be kidding. I've got a huge French test in 5 minutes and—hello? Hello?" She frowns at her phone, shaking it.

"That's it, I've been cut off," Aelita looks up to Jeremy. "But I think she got my meaning."

"Are you sure?" Jeremy wonders and Amy sighs a little.

"She has a French test that I helped her study for. I'm sure she'll find a way to get past that..."

They reach their destination.

"Hurry up, Yumi," Someone walks past her.

"Be right there, I've gotta, uh...go to the bathroom!" She runs off towards the factory.

"Remember to pitch your tents very carefully, because if you don't, the smallest gust of wind and poof! Done in a cup. Actually, that reminds me of when I was living in a teepee in the desert near New Mexico..." The teacher tells the class.

"Jim, this might not be the right time," Ms. Hertz warns him.

"You don't know what you're missing, Suzanne," He smirks a little. "Anyway, I want you all to read the instructions for the setting up of your tents before you start. If you don't wanna find yourselves up the creek without a paddle...now get going!"

The five each take a tent, opening it up. Ulrich looks up at the blonde. "Do you know how to set this up?"

"Yeah sure, no problem. Follow the instructions and just holler if you need any help!" Odd calls out as he walks past Ulrich.

"Thanks a lot," He mutters as he looks at the tent inside the bag. Amy follows after her boyfriend.

"I've never been to a campsite like this one before. It's so beautiful around here," She murmurs, looking around. Odd turns around to look at her, smiling.

"Yeah, but it doesn't compare to the beauty of my lady."

"Odd!" She chuckles in embarrassment.

"What? It's true," He winks at her.

"Let's go find a good spot to put our tents together. As much as I love you, I don't wanna be caught by Jim," She walks past her boyfriend with her tent in her hands.

"Ulrich, honey, I thought maybe we could pitch our tents side-by-side so we can talk to each other tonight!" Sissi suggests with a smile.

"Uh, sorry, Sissi, but i didn't come camping to gossip or talk about clothes. I'd rather sleep," He walks away from her.

"Hey Sissi, well I would be glad to set up my tent next to yours for tonight," Herb offers excitedly.

"Sure Herb."

"Really?! Oh, that's fabulous!" He exclaims happily. "Fantastic, I...uh, by the way, where's your tent?"

"Right there," She drops it in front of his feet. "Let me know when you've set it up," She walks away from him.

"There's nothing we can do. Without a connection, it's totally useless!" Jeremy leans against a tree while Aelita is pitching the tent. "I just hope that XANA doesn't take advantage of it..."

"Relax, Jeremy," Aelita sits up. "Yumi is watching the store at home..."

The elevator doors open and Yumi runs inside the lab. "Okay now, let's see..." She turns on the screens.

"The flower called the campanula and Solaris can only survive on small islands such as this one. Since it's protected from ruminants by a barrier of water. So, in your opinion, what would happen if the lake dried up?" Ms. Hertz turns to the class with a smile.

"Uh, we would be able to walk home?" Nicolas raises a finger, Ms. Hertz annoyed by the laughter that follows.

In the ice sector, a tower is activated.

A power line flickers, electricity coming from it. It travels down the pole and to the lake. Something arrives underneath, looking like black goop.

"Well, everything seems okay. An open window, no activated tower. I might even get higher than an F on my French test," Yumi smiles and is about to leave when a beep is heard. She launches a scan and finds the activated tower. "Oh, I guess that's that!" She says in dismay, calling Aelita. "Still no connection. Are they on a desert island or what?"

The water bubbles behind Ms. Hertz. "The presence of so much campanula contributes to the proliferation of a rare species of water fly, as we will soon see here in the woods." They start to leave, Nicolas lingering behind.

"I don't see what was so funny. I mean, what's the use of a boat if there isn't any more water?" Nicolas asks curiously, noticing the black substance arriving. "Hey, there's a lot of pollution in this lake."

Heidi gasps at the water, Nicolas poking it with a stick. He's electrocuted soon after. "Help, hurry up! Come quickly, Jim! Nicolas is hurt!" Heidi screeches as she runs off.

In the Celestial Dome, the Scyphozoa is flying towards the top. It flies right inside.

Ms. Hertz checks over Nicolas, surrounded by Jim, Jeremy, Ulrich, Sissi, Herb, and Heidi. "He's in a state of shock, but he's breathing," The science teacher informs everyone.

"There was this thing in the lake. It was black, it shot a lightning bolt at Nicolas and then it was gone!" Heidi explains to the teachers.

"Must have been an electric eel," Jim closes his eyes. "I've seen them before. When I was a forest ranger in Quebec-"

"Jim," Ms. Hertz interrupts sharply with a deep frown on her face. "Enough chatter. Make yourself useful and go get the first-aid kit."

"Right away, Suzanne!" He runs off in the other direction.

"It wasn't an eel! It was much bigger, it was huge!" Heidi insists to Ms. Hertz.

"Ma'am, I..." Jeremy speaks up, a bit worried. "I really think we're in great danger here."

"Now now, don't worry, Jeremy. These things happen. Nicolas will be just fine."

However, the black entity reappears, lightning coming from the water. Everyone around screams, half of them running off. The other students see the lightning from their camp spots, Kiwi barking at it.

"What's going on, Jim? We're scared!"

"Say where you are," Jim warns the students. "Let me go check it out. Ah, the ambulance." He reaches the lake and sees Heidi, Ms. Hertz, Herb, and Sissi passed out. "Suzanne? Whoa..." He drops the first-aid kit out of shock and confusion. "What is happening here...?"

The Scyphozoa floats into the Skid's hangar, connecting his tentacles to it. Something seems to be happening as red goes towards the head of the Scyphozoa.

"Oh no! XANA's attacking the Skid!" Yumi exclaims in worry. "I don't know what to do. Jeremy, answer please!"

"We absolutely have to find a way to get back to the factory," Jeremy states once they've met up.

"One step off the island means electrocution for sure," Ulrich points out.

"If we create a diversion, maybe one of us could get away!" Odd suggests, Amy frowning a little.

"I don't know...but Yumi's all alone if we don't do something..."

"Okay, you and Ulrich do that while we try to get in touch with Yumi," Jeremy tells the boys and they walk off. "If only we had an antenna..."

"Okay, how big an antenna?" Aelita looks to her left, Amy glancing in her direction and smiling. Jeremy smiles too once he looks.

The students are all frightened as they speak to Jim.

"Calm down now. I don't know what that thing in the lake is, but I can tell you that it better watch it, cuz he's gonna have to deal with me, that sparks will start flying and...that is...well, there already are sparks. Well, you know what I mean," He hugs the students. "Now to begin with, we've got to help Ms. Hertz."

He sits her up, shaking her. "Suzanne. Suzanne! Say something, Suzanne." He slaps her across the face, shocking the students.

William steps up to the edge of the activated tower, surrounded by two Krabs. He looks at the tower a few feet away.

"Oh no, that's all we need! The Lady Killer!" Yumi exclaims at this. First the Skid, and now this. How was she going to do all of it on her own?

To her relief, Jeremy calls her. "Jeremy! About time."

"Hey listen, we're here playing survivor with an aquatic monster that likes to electrocute anyone who comes close to the shore!" Jeremy protests to her. "Anything on your side?"

"I'm totally helpless. The activated tower is really well protected, and the Skid is in the process of losing most of its energy!"

"Does it have many life points left?" He asks curiously.

"At the rate things are going with the ship, it's gonna be over in no time!" She frowns at the computer.

"Listen, there's no other choice. Ready or not, we have to test the program. Yumi, do you have anything to write with? I'll dictate what you have to do."

"I oughta have a pen, since I've got a French test right now," The Japanese girl smiles in amusement. "Go on then, shoot."

"That's the first time I slugged someone without getting a reaction..." Jim looks at the hand that slapped the science teacher.

"You have to give her mouth-to-mouth!" A student calls out next to Theo.

"Yeah...mouth-to-mouth, of course."

The students giggle as he leans down towards her, but she jolts up awake. "Jim. You come even a hair closer and it's the last thing you'll ever do on this Earth! Understand?"

"Hey, I cured her!" He exclaims happily to the students.

"Now, shift the energy of the lateral shields to the side under attack. The left one. Oh no!" She looks up to see an error screen. "Jeremy, what are these commands? You sure it's gonna work?" She's skeptical because she hasn't heard of this new program.

"She'll never make it on her own, Aelita," Jeremy puts a hand to his phone.

"Jeremy, we're all set!" Ulrich reports as the three run up to them. "But we need Aelita."

"Yumi, the others are trying to get to the factory," He tells Yumi, nodding at the others. They nod back and run off. "Until then, you'd better get things prepared for going to Lyoko."

"Okay."

Heidi, Nicolas, and Herb wake up. "Feeling better? Yeah, obviously. Well, you've all been through an awful shock."

"JIM!" Odd shouts at the teacher.

"Alright. What's the matter now?" He turns to the boy in annoyance.

"Help me, Jim! It's my dog!" Odd slides on his knees, coming to a stop. "He's in terrible danger!"

Jim raises a brow.

Odd leads him to the lake, where Amy is waiting for them. "Only you can help us save this poor, defenseless animal, Jim!" Odd insists to the man.

"Okay, I heard you. Don't overdo it now, Della Robbia."

"Look, over there!" Odd points to his right, where Kiwi is barking from a raft that is in the middle of the lake.

"Oh, holy moly. How did that hound ever get into a mess like that?"

"He was playing in the canoe, and...well, a wind came up and carried him away!" Odd looks up at him pleadingly. "Oh Jim, save my Kiwi!"

"Please?" Amy clasps her hands.

"Well, okay, but you stay right here, understand?" He gets onto a raft and paddles, Ulrich paddling behind some grass. He starts to go in the other direction as fast as he can.

Yumi steps into a scanner, having done a delayed virtualization process on her own. She closes her eyes and virtualizes into the ice sector, right in the area of the activated tower. She lands and stands up, running towards the tower.

Kiwi barks as Jim reaches the dog. "Alright doggie, come to Uncle Jim." He tries to grab the dog, but he jumps into the water. "Come here, I said! You hairy hound! Get over here!"

Kiwi swims over to Ulrich. "That's...that's that sneaky Ulrich Stern!" Jim blinks in shock. "Come back immediately, will ya?!"

His legs are in two rafts each, and they separate. "Stern, I'm responsible for-" He falls into the lake.

Yumi stops as two Krabs are blocking the tower. She smirks lightly. "Two on one..." She pulls out her fans. The two fire at her and she flips, tossing both and missing. She catches them in her hands. "Tough guys." She runs up to one, jumping onto the leg and landing on the other Krab. She pulls out a fan, deflecting a laser with it. She throws the other one and destroys it. She jumps off the other Krab, landing in front of it. She flips away from a laser, with the Krab going after her.

Jim crawls back into a raft, Ulrich glancing behind him. "Stern! Come back here!"

The black entity in the water appears, going after the boy. He yelps as he looks at it approaching, trying to paddle as fast as he can.

The black smog eventually reaches his raft, shocking him. He reaches the other side unconscious. It goes towards Jim next.

"Come here, you slimeball! You don't scare me! I've got rubber-soled NASA-issue astronaut space shoes!" Jim threatens while holding his paddle. He gets shocked from the water, falling into the raft. "Smarter just a little..."

In the Skid hangar, the Scyphozoa continues to take shield energy.

Ulrich groans as Aelita sits up, having hid in the raft. She sees his state and smiles, looking towards Sissi's bike, which she sneaked onto the bus. "Let's see how fast I can pedal!"

Yumi flips behind the tower, looking up at the Krab. It fires once and she flips, throwing her fan. The Krab dodges and hits her, knocking the girl into the tower. Her fan goes flying and it destroys the Krab, the weapon flying into the tower. She catches it in her hand.

"There we go. Place needed a cleanup."

William steps up right behind her.

The black monster from the lake approaches the surface, crawling onto the land...

Jeremy is on his laptop, Odd and Amy walking up to him. "We've got good news and bad news." Kiwi trots next to Amy. "The good news is that Aelita got through."

"My good news is that I finally managed to get connected to the supercomputer!" He explains to the two in relief.

"The bad news is that our black muddy sludge monster is on the prowl," Odd states to him.

"Man, I hope Yumi is holding down the fort..." Amy crosses her arms.

* * *

Yumi is kicked out of the tower, holding her sparking side. She looks up as William steps out of the tower. She stands up and tosses a fan, but he deflects it with his sword. He flings his weapon at her, and she flips backwards. She spins around and points another fan at his forehead.

"You can never beat us, XANA! Here," She waves the fan in front of his face, but he kicks her and she stumbles back. Luckily, she's not distracted for long and she jumps up into the air to block the sword from devirtualizing her. She throws another fan, but he once again dodges it and the fan goes flying. She attempts to catch it, but it goes right through her hand. She shakes it lightly, looking up to see William jumping towards her.

She flips to the side, jumping past him and kicking him. He whips around, seeing his fallen sword on the ground. She tosses a fan, and he uses Supersmoke to move underneath her legs. He reforms behind Yumi and kicks her onto the ground. He takes his sword back, standing over her. She gasps up at him.

"No, William!" She pleads with the boy, "You're a Lyoko Warrior! You swore to it!"

He freezes at that.

"_You swear to keep our secret?" Yumi stared at him, the others standing behind her._

"_I swear."_

"_Good answer, William," Jeremy stated from the lab._

He drops his sword, holding his head. She stares up at him in concern as he tries to regain control. She slowly stands up, backing away.

Aelita pedals hard as she arrives back into the city.

Electricity strikes into the campsite, Odd and Amy guiding Ms. Hertz away from the chaos. Lightning strikes a tree, and it falls over them.

"Watch out!" Odd pushes the girls out of the way, looking towards the tree in shock. Some students start crying out of fear, Kiwi barking.

"Now if Aelita can just get there in time, we can launch the program..." Jeremy murmurs in worry.

Kiwi sees an electricity bolt heading for Amy, pushing her leg. She gasps as she trips, landing safely as Kiwi whimpers, slightly hurt.

"Kiwi...!" She takes him into her hands, patting his head gently. "Oh, Kiwi."

Aelita finally arrives at the factory, riding across the bridge. She grips the rope once she reaches it, soaring across the edge. The bike falls onto the main floor.

William's forehead flashes with the XANA symbol.

"_You can still change your mind, William," Yumi told him._

"_Are you kidding?" He asked incredibly, stepping into the scanner. William slowly turned around to be scanned._

William shakes a little as they still persist.

_The scanner opened, William slightly leaning toward it. "Well, how do you feel, William?" Odd asked him._

_He opened his eyes with a small smirk. "Ready to take on XANA on his monsters!"_

"Yumi...?" He murmurs, clenching his fists and holding his head. She gasps in surprise that he said her name in his normal voice.

* * *

The electricity sparks near Jeremy, touching his laptop. He looks up at the antenna. "Why of course!" He hums with a small smile.

Aelita arrives in the computer lab, running up to the chair. "The program is almost complete...is the Skid beyond hope? No, not yet." She gets to work.

William lets out a strangled yell, staring up at Yumi. She could only stare as she steps up to him. "William...William, listen it's me, Yumi," She kneels to him, frowning in sympathy. He doesn't look up at her and she glances away. She wished that he wasn't possessed...true, it was his fault that he was overconfident, but none of them were able to do anything about it.

He finally looks up at her, gasping. "Oh, William!"

They stare at each other as she helps him up, having a sense that he's finally back...She reaches out a hand to him, but he grabs her wrist, kicking her onto the ground. He picks up his sword, the XANA symbol flashing on his forehead as he has a wicked grin.

"Okay, it's launched," Aelita looks up at the screen, 4 towers appearing on it. From each sector, a single way tower is activated by Jeremy. The Scyphozoa continues taking energy until the shielding knocks it back. The red from his tentacles disappear, and the monster goes along with it. The Skid is now safe and sound.

"Well," Aelita leans back, arms behind her head. "We should feel proud of ourselves," She smiles happily. "Our program is operational! Yumi, how are you doing?"

"Aelita!" She exclaims, backflipping away from William. "At last!"

William supersmokes in front of her, and she moves away so that his sword hits the rock behind her. She slides to a stop.

"I can't hold on much longer!"

William swings his sword at her, and she lands at the edge, dangerously close to slipping off. William walks up to her.

"_Give me time to set up a delayed self-virtualization, and I'm there_."

She really hoped so, as she's this close to falling in the Digital Sea.

The electricity strikes again, and it hits Amy in the back. She falls in front of the tree with Kiwi in her arms.

"Ames!" Odd shouts, bending down to her. Students run away, trying not to be affected as Jeremy waves them forward.

"Okay everybody, hurry it up! Run to the antenna over there, and it'll be our lively run!"

They come out of hiding, staring at him.

Aelita is now in the scanner room, quickly heading over to the ice sector. William is about to devirtualize Yumi when an energy field hits him. This sends him falling into the Digital Sea.

"Just in time," Aelita murmurs in relief. She notices Yumi's melancholy look. "Is something wrong, Yumi?"

She closes her eyes, staying silent for a second. "...For a second there, the real William came back, Aelita," She looks towards the Digital Sea again.

"That means we'll bring him home someday..."

"The electrical discharges are getting more intense," Jeremy looks at all of the electric bolts. "Given the enormous rate of ionization, against the dispersion factor on the ground, they're going to reach a highly critical mass in, let's see, just about 7 minutes."

"Meaning?" Odd asks, hugging Amy close.

"In seven minutes, everything on this island is gonna turn into one big barbecue."

He opens his mouth in shock.

Aelita devirtualizes Yumi and runs towards the activated tower. Yumi runs for the computer lab.

The students recoil back in fear as the sky gets darker. The lightning starts to get stronger.

Aelita reaches the tower and steps inside. She lets herself fly to the top, eyes closed. She does one flip before she reaches the platform.

They start screaming, Odd looking down at Amy. Her eyes are closed and her hair is slightly disheveled.

Aelita puts her hand against the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated..."

The sky gets clearer, and the clouds move away, birds chirping. The students open up their eyes, including Amy.

"Ames..." Odd smiles down at her, kissing her forehead. "Hey, Benjamin Franklin, you think Aelita will remember to program a return to the past?"

"_Go on, Yumi_," Aelita encourages her, meaning she devirtualized the Japanese girl so that she could launch it.

"Return to the past now," Yumi starts it up, everything being engulfed in white, so that no one would remember and that others could recover.

It's the bus trip to the lake again. "So, I regenerated the shield by activating several towers for a few seconds at a time, that's what saved the Skid," Aelita explains to everyone.

"So that's what you've been doing while we were gone?" Ulrich raises a brow at them. "What a fun weekend..."

"Either way, it saved us. Nice job, you two," Amy winks at them.

"Anyway, it's effective, isn't it? Obviously it requires too much energy to be able to use it all of the time," Jeremy comments to the three.

"Hey, how come you're so cool all of a sudden, Einstein?" Odd asks in amusement. "XANA attacks don't scare you anymore?"

"They're still scary, but since he never makes the same mistake a second time, and since Aelita and I have been working non-stop for all of this week...we'd like a little, um..."

"Okay, we get the picture," Ulrich smiles, waving a hand. Jeremy blushes in embarrassment.

"Hey, what'd you do with Kiwi this time?" Ulrich looks over the back to the two.

"Let's say that I found him somebody who learned what a dog's life really means. At least now I can spend time with my little Ames," Odd eats a snack.

Amy blushes, looking away. "At least she agreed to look after Kiki too...Kiwi really saved my life. I guess after all that, he deserves a break too!"

The two dogs are sniffing a tree, being held by Yumi. "Come on, you guys, hurry. I have to get to my exam!"


	80. Lost at Sea

At the halls, Ulrich, Odd, and Amy are walking together, the couple holding hands. Just in front of them, Aelita closes the door.

"Hi sis," Amy smiles at her.

"Hey there, Aelita! Einstein isn't with you?" Odd notices that he's not anywhere near her. She shakes her head no.

"I haven't seen him yet today."

Ulrich glances away. "Speak of the devil, look who's here!"

Jeremy runs up to them, panting as he stops to catch his breath. "Hello, everybody!" There's a glaring mark on his forehead near his bangs.

"Let me guess," Odd rubs his chin. "You fell asleep in front of your computer again."

"Uh, yeah. How'd you know?" Jeremy stares at him curiously.

"The imprint of your keyboard."

The others laugh as Jeremy rubs at his forehead. "I was up all night working on a program. I came up with an idea for bringing William back!"

"Hey Ulrich? Amy?" Hiroki speaks up behind them. "Could I talk to you two for a sec?"

The two glance at each other, looking back to him. "Uh, well, if you really have to, yeah. Go ahead, we'll meet you inside."

Odd pecks Amy's lips and they turn to the boy. "What seems to be the problem?" She raises a brow at him.

"Well, uh...everybody says that girls really like you a lot, Ulrich. And that boys really like you a lot, Amy."

They step back a bit in shock. "That depends on the girl," He rubs the back of his neck, Amy elbowing him slightly.

"And I really don't notice it..." Amy scratches her nose, looking away.

"Well, like my sister, for example."

"Uh," Ulrich's eyes go wide before he shuts them. "Beep, wrong. Try again. Yumi and I are good friends, that's all."

"Uh huh," Amy replies, glancing at him briefly.

"Yeah, well maybe that's just what she told you," Hiroki moves Ulrich's hand away. Ulrich looks to Amy, who just shrugs. "Anyway, I didn't want to talk about Yumi, but about...uh...Milly."

"Milly who?" Ulrich asks him.

"How many Millys do we know?" Amy crosses her arms.

"Milly Solovieff! You know, that tall red-headed girl in 7th grade."

They look away to see Milly talking to Tamiya in front of the cafeteria. "Oh, little Milly. Oh yeah, of course we know her. So?"

"Well, actually, I...kind of like her, but when I try to talk to her, I can't think of anything to say!"

"Aw, how sweet," Amy smiles at him.

"Just talk to her about the things she likes, her interests. You know, she's got a passion for journalism," Ulrich gives him a small smile.

"It's a 100 percent guarantee. Odd and I would talk about dogs for hours before we got together," Amy nods in agreement.

"Great idea! Wouldn't it be great I could find her a scoop? She'd be crazy about me if I did!" Hiroki smiles happily.

"Uh, yeah, a scoop for the paper, but, uh, just what kind of scoop?"

"It'd have to be really big to get Milly's attention," Amy looks back to the girl.

"Oh, you can leave that to me, Ulrich!" Hiroki looks away with a smirk, which concerns the brunette a little.

* * *

In the cafeteria, Ulrich sits down in front of Odd. He looks up as Amy comes in with her breakfast, holding out her chair for her.

"What did Hiroki want to talk to you two about?" Jeremy looks at the both of them.

"Oh, he wanted our advice. He's crazy about Milly," Ulrich replies in amusement, playing with his soup.

"He is?" Odd stops slurping his soup, with the content all over his mouth. "Now, isn't that cute?"

"That's what I said!" Amy smiles, taking a spoonful and eating it.

"But isn't the guy a little young for her?"

"No he's not. He's just a little small for his age, and...what's more, he skipped a grade in school," Aelita points out.

"But he acts even younger than his age," Odd slurps his soup, Ulrich staring at him.

"Odd, that's basically you, and yet Amy still managed to like you first," He deadpans to the boy.

"Hey!" He pouts at him, Amy chuckling.

"Hey Jeremy, tell us about this new idea of yours," Ulrich turns to the blond, who puts down his soup.

"Well, okay. Whenever a human being is virtualized, he or she emits a binary residue, which we can say manifests itself as an emanation of his physical person. Resequenced in a sort of digital format."

The others are silent for a second. "Yeah, in English?"

"When you go to Lyoko, you'd need a kind of digital trace. Something like a scent," Aelita starts off.

"Without it, you'd basically be a chicken with no head," Amy adds in, Jeremy staring at the sisters blankly.

"Couldn't you have said that in the first place?" Ulrich deadpans, sipping his drink.

"Mm, no," He rubs his chin. "Anyway, I came up with a program based on William's DNA sequence that I recorded when he went to Lyoko for the first time. If I can upload this onto the Skid's sonar, we can hunt for him on the network every time we go there! And finally find out where William really is."

"So what you're saying is the Skid will become a sniffer sub!" Odd deduces, holding some bread with butter to his mouth.

"That's right, Odd, and since we don't have classes this afternoon, I was going to suggest we try it out!" He smiles at everyone.

* * *

Yumi is sitting near the vending machines as she stands up, walking over to get a drink. Hiroki peeks around the corner, running over to where she was sitting. She puts in the coin as he goes through her bag. He grins at a little book, and she comes back to see him.

"Hioki, what do you think you're doing?"

He attempts to hide the book, but she sees it, and drops everything. "Hey, give that back right now!" She chases after him.

"You sure look far away, Ulrich," Odd glances at him as they're walking out of the cafeteria.

"It's nothing, just thinking about something Hiroki said."

"Oh yeah? What was that?" Odd asks curiously.

"Uh, nothing. Forget it."

Hiroki slides in front of them, running up to the duo. He pushes right past Amy, and she spins around, yelping in alarm. Odd catches her, and they look to the boy in confusion.

"Oh! Sorry," He runs off past them towards the park.

"What's wrong? Does Sissi wanna go out with him or something?" He jokes, to the amusement of the two. Yumi suddenly runs past them.

"Hey! Yumi, hold on!" He calls out, but she ignores it and keeps running.

"Whoa..." They look towards each other, wondering just what is going on. Ulrich picks up a little book with flowers on the front.

"Is this yours, Odd?"

"Huh? You kidding me?" He asks while adjusting his hair. "A notebook with a dark cover and a flower is not my style."

They look to Amy, who holds up her hands.

"Nope. Mine's in my room."

Hiroki pants as he hides behind a tree, sweating in fear. He looks behind him and smiles, pumping a fist. Yumi suddenly grabs his collar, lifting him up angrily.

"Give it back right this second, you brat!"

"Aw come on, sis, I was just kidding," He smiles nervously. "It-look, here it is," He lifts up his shirt where he hid it, but it's no longer there. "Well, it was here."

"WHAT?!" She exclaims, dropping him.

"Um...well, you're gonna laugh, but uh, I dropped it, I think..."

"You'd better be kidding!" She glares at her brother.

Ulrich flips through the book...to see a picture of him inside. He freezes and Odd looks over his shoulder. "Hey, that's a pretty good shot of you. Who's your secret admirer, let me see."

He stands up, closing it. "It's Yumi's right?"

"It's her diary," He stares at the book. "That's why she was running after Hiroki."

"He must've stolen it from her to give Milly that scoop..." Amy sighs, pinching her nose.

"If you ask me, this is a great chance to see what she thinks of you," Odd suggests, to the two's immediate disapproval.

"Oh no. What's written inside here is not my business! And don't forget that Yumi and I are just good friends, that's all!" Ulrich states to him.

"Not to mention, you're gonna suggest that we read Yumi's diary right in front of her best female friend?" Amy puts her hands on her hips, staring at Odd in disbelief.

"Are you sure about that, Ulrich?" Odd asks him with a small amused smile.

"Well...actually, I'm not sure at all."

"But it's reading her personal diary. As in, wrong? When you lost your diary, she said so herself that she didn't read it when she gave it back to you. What good is it gonna do if you didn't do the same courtesy?" Amy gestures to the book.

"But he could find out if she really likes him."

"Oh, okay. So invading privacy is all well and dandy if it's about her feelings for him!" She retorts back.

* * *

The bell rings, letting everyone out for class. The boys step out, Amy following close behind. They look up ahead to see a stressed out Yumi.

"Hi Yumi!" They step in front of her.

"Hey Yumi, what is it? You look angry," Ulrich casually asks.

"Oh, my stupid brother. He stole..." She turns away. "Something important to me and he lost it."

"...Look, Yumi, I, uh-" Ulrich is about to give it to her when Jeremy and Aelita walk up to him.

"Okay, I got it. I upgraded the Skid's sonar, we're all set!"

"All set for what?" Yumi raises a brow at him.

"Oh, right, you don't know yet. I'll tell you all about it. I might have found a way to bring back William!"

"Oh, cool," She'd be happy if Hiroki didn't steal her diary.

"Uh, Yumi-"

"Yumi?" Hiroki walks up to the group next. "I've been looking for you. I...I wanted to apologize for this morning, I had no right to take your diary."

"Did you find it?" She doesn't even look at him.

"No...but I...I looked everywhere, I swear."

"Well, until you find it, you can consider yourself an only child!" She declares, walking away. Amy gasps at her. Hiroki frowns and Amy places her hands on his shoulders.

"Give her some time to calm down, Hiroki." She knew that the two aren't usually close, but if Aelita had taken her diary (which, in hindsight, she'd never do), she'd forgive her...having Aelita a year younger than her isn't exactly the same, though.

They watch her walk away, Hiroki leaving dejectedly.

"What happened?" Aelita asks, turning to the others.

"Oh, nothing. Some diary straights. We'll tell you about it. Ulrich, Ames, can I see you for a minute?"

"Mm," Amy walks after them, wondering just what he had to say this time...

"Well, so what do we do now?" Aelita raises a brow at Jeremy.

"We go to lunch."

"So what's the deal?" Odd raises a smug brow once they're a few feet away. "I thought you were gonna return the diary."

"Well, you saw how crushed Hiroki was. If I'm the one who gives the diary back, Yumi will still be angry with him."

"Yeah, so?" Odd turns to him. His sisters were just as bad.

"Amy, you give it to her."

"No way!" She shakes her head rapidly. "And say what, that you gave it to me? No. We make it so that Hiroki is the one who did it. He stole it, after all."

"Hey, yeah! What if we fix it up so that Hiroki finds the diary and gives it to Yumi himself?" He smiles at the plan. "That's two birds with one stone. She gets her diary back, and he gets his sister back. Pretty good idea!"

"Yeah, great. But how do you plan to do it?"

"Easy. You two can handle it. Odd can go hide it, while Ulrich gets Hiroki," Amy gestures to the two. Ulrich takes the book out of his bag, looking to make sure that nobody's watching.

"Hide the diary under a pile of leaves in the park, near the garden shed." Odd takes the book and puts it into his bag. "I'll go take care of Hiroki."

Odd looks around. "Okay, but give me a few minutes. I've gotta go get Kiwi first, I forgot to walk him this morning."

"Oh! I have to go get Kiki too. We can walk them together," Amy runs through the door.

"Deal," Ulrich nods at Odd, who follows after Amy. Ulrich walks away and approaches the saddened boy. He kicks his legs for a little.

"I totally messed that up, Ulrich..."

"Relax, Hiroki. Yumi will calm down and forgive you. Especially when she gets her diary back," He rubs his chin.

"I know, but I've looked everywhere for it. I even retraced my steps back to here, nothing! I don't know what to do!" He holds his head.

"Oh, by the way, this morning I thought I saw Mr. Riley raking up some dead leaves on the park grounds," Ulrich looks at him smugly.

"So what? He's a groundskeeper, that's his job."

"What if he raked up the diary at the same time?" He smiles in amusement.

"Well, that's dumb," Hiroki looks at him in confusion. "Why would he do that?"

"Hm, he might have raked it up by accident."

Hiroki suddenly smiles. "Hey, the diary could be under a bunch of leaves! Let's go check!" He runs off, Ulrich grinning to himself.

Yumi walks up the steps of the cafeteria, Hiroki running past. "Wait up, Hiroki!"

She happens to hear Ulrich's voice, seeing the two run. She narrows her eyes, wondering just what they're doing together.

Hiroki searches the pile of leaves near the garden shed. "Well? Find anything?"

"No, nothing," Hiroki frowns sadly.

"Keep looking."

Odd should've hidden it by now, so he knows it's here. He watches Hiroki run to another pile, Odd and Amy appearing behind him.

"Which one did you put it in?"

"Hiroki will find it soon enough, you'll see," Odd smirks in amusement. The two dogs start barking up at their owners. "Kiwi, there you are! How are you, my little diggity dog? Get in?"

Kiwi jumps inside in the bag, Odd closing it. Amy opens up her purse and places Kiki inside, petting her on the head.

"You all done with your break?"

She gets a bark in response.

"I found it!" Hiroki waves the book in his hand...but when he opens it, all the pages are gone. "Huh?!"

"You mind telling me what you're doing?" Yumi walks up to them from behind, the three turning to her in alarm. Then she gasps sharply at the empty book. "I'll never forgive you for this, Hiroki!" And with that, she storms off.

"I don't understand. What could've happened?" Amy turns to the book. Ulrich looks at Odd for answers.

"Don't look at me like that, it was all there when I hid it!" He protests at the accusing look.

* * *

The elevator descends down to the lab, Jeremy stepping in. "Get to the scanner room. I'll start up the virtualization process."

Odd silently elbows the button and the doors close. He puts on the microphone. "All set? I'll launch the procedure. _For one, it won't be ladies first_."

Ulrich and Odd look to each other in concern over Yumi's heated silence. It was so present that Amy could feel it from the opposite wall!

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Virtualization," He taps the key and they virtualize in Sector Five. They land in the center.

"Yumi's in a foul mood," Odd stands up. "You'd better tell her the truth about her diary."

"And how do you think she'll react when she finds out that _you _were the one who hid it?" He points a finger at him.

"Hey, this was your idea, Casanova!"

They look up to see the girls arriving, and they land in front of the open door. "Let's go," Yumi tells them and they run off.

They all run into the wall, minus Amy who uses her wings, and arrive at the Skid hangar. The five go across the path, Amy landing in front of them as her wings disappear.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your elevator's waiting," Jeremy taps the key, the elevator stopping in front of them. They step on slowly and go upwards to the Skid. Amy glances at Yumi's look in concern, hoping that she'll be able to forgive Hiroki. They can see the Skid as they arrive in the room, stopping in front of their stations. They run forward.

"_Everyone get on a teleport spot_." They do so and wait. Jeremy looks at the right screen. "Energize!"

One by one, they teleport in their respective spots. Aelita takes hold of the levers once she's in the pilot's chair. The others appear in their Nav Skids, falling into their seats.

"Everyone ready? Standby for liftoff, releasing support now!"

The supports holding the ship move away from the Skid, leaving it open for launch. Aelita presses a button, grabbing a lever.

"Vertical propulsion operational." The wings turn vertical. "Liftoff!" The Skid flies forward, going out into the open.

"Get ready to dive into the Digital Sea," Jeremy rubs his chin. They go out to the desert sector, hovering above the Digital Sea. The ship dives straight in.

"Holo web system connected," Jeremy looks up at the map that appears. The entrance to the network opens and the ship goes inside.

"We've left Lyoko, Jeremy. Rotation," Aelita tilts a lever, and the ship turns horizontal. "Turbo propellers launched." The Skid goes forward, Jeremy smiling a little.

"I'm running the program. Stand by to receive initial coordinates."

"_Roger_," Aelita replies back. However, an error screen appears.

"Oh no!" He holds his head.

Aelita's screen appears in front of her to show images flickering. "What's going on?"

"A problem, princess?" Odd asks while looking outside.

"We've got a system error. I think the Skid has malfunctioned a part of its sensory capacity," Aelita states, tapping a button.

"Yes, I see it, Aelita," Jeremy looks at his screen, seeing the problem. "It's my program that bugged up the Skid's sonar. The mission's too dangerous without sonar. Gotta end it now."

"_Roger, returning to dry dock._" Aelita turns the ship around and it goes in the opposite direction.

"Okay," Odd cracks his fingers together. "Next mission: diving into my pillow with Ames and burying myself under the covers," He rubs an eye. "Objective: a good night's sleep to clear my head..."

"I can't believe you're thinking about sleep at a time like this," Amy's face appears in front of him on a screen.

"If it involves you, then you can!" Odd winks at her and she smiles bashfully. Over a year and he can still make her blush, even if it's not possible.

Everything turns red. "Sorry, but you're gonna have to postpone your nap, Odd. I've got three Kongres heading straight for the Skid."

"Nav Skids away," Aelita pulls down all the tiny levers, releasing them. Yumi gasps as one approaches her straight forward.

"Taste this, fishface!" She releases the torpedoes, hitting it dead on.

"Not bad. Yumi's pretty effective when she's mad!" Odd looks over his shoulder, and something hits his Skid from behind. "I've got one on my tail! They stick to you like glue!"

A Kongre is right behind him, Ulrich and Amy firing at it. He hits it dead on.

"Yeah! Bullseye!"

"Nice one, good buddy!" Odd compliments him, the three flying side by side.

"Wanna team up for the last one?"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Odd agrees, flying upward.

"Time to see if this Skid can really use all my powers," Amy smirks, flying towards the monster.

"Fire!" They all exclaim at the same time, the fairy firing an ice flame from her Skid. They all end up missing the monster, who turns around and aims for them instead. Suddenly, all Skids are gone and it looks around for them. The three Skids appear from three different directions, firing at the same time again and this time destroying it.

"Yahoo!" Odd cheers as they fly away.

"Mmhm," Jeremy nods in approval. "Nice job, guys. Time to come home now."

"Nav Skids in," Aelita pulls four of the levers. All of them return except for one up in front. "Hey...where's Yumi?"

Jeremy attempts to locate her, but doesn't find anything. "I don't get it. I don't have any trace of her," He takes off his glasses, looking upwards. "I've lost her!"

"What?!" Amy exclaims in alarm.

"She must have gotten hit by a Kongre..." Aelita deduces, the fairy frowning sadly.

"But...that's impossible!" Ulrich replies in disbelief.

"I can't even get into contact with her," Amy shakes her head.

"...Einstein...you think she might've been virtualized for good?" Odd asks slowly.

"...No, I...I don't think so. The data recording from the fight doesn't show any sign of her having been eliminated..."

"_That means she's still somewhere onboard her Nav Skid, somewhere in the middle of the Digital Sea!_" Aelita realizes, but there is one thing...

"Right, but the Skid is in no condition to find her. You guys have to come back in for me to run a repair program," Jeremy pushes up his glasses.

"What?!" Ulrich punches the window of his Skid, but it doesn't break. "No way! We can't just leave her behind!"

"What do we say to her brother? To her family?" Amy frowns in disapproval of the choice.

Odd frowns deeply. Now he feels bad for having left the girl when she fell in the Digital Sea. He didn't have a choice...they had to go to Sector Five to be able to bring her back...but he left her all alone there...If they hadn't been able to, they would've had to tell her mother, Jackson about what had happened.

"Ulrich, no one's leaving anyone, but all of us run the risk of being virtualized forever with the Skid's systems down!" Aelita tells him. She doesn't like it either, but they didn't have a choice, just like back then with Amy. She could understand his reluctance to leave. After she found out that Amy was her half-sister, she had the same feeling when she got Amy to come with her to Lyoko...

"...Yeah, you're right. We'd better go," Ulrich says dejectedly. He just hoped that it wasn't too late to save her.

* * *

They sadly come back into the lab, Ulrich rushing over. "How long will it take you to fix it?"

"Reprogramming the sonar is linked to balancing the by polarity of flux on the one hand. On the other-"

"Just tell us when we can go back, okay?!" Ulrich asks urgently.

"Soon, as long as you let me concentrate!" Jeremy replies quickly, the brunet smiling happily.

"Don't worry, Ulrich," Aelita places a hand on his shoulder. "I'll help him. I'll call you as soon as we know."

He stares at the screen and nods.

"Can anybody hear me...?" Yumi asks weakly, her Nav Skid floating astray. "This is Yumi. I don't know where I am...oh, I'm in trouble! Almost out of power. Can you hear me? Answer me! Somebody please answer me!"

* * *

Kiwi and Kiki are walking around their owners, who are leaning against a tree. Ulrich is on the opposite.

"What a nightmare..." He says in dismay.

"Relax. You heard Einstein. She isn't gone from the network. He'll bring Yumi back, don't worry," Odd assures the both of them, placing a hand on Amy's. She smiles weakly, Kiki placing her paws on Amy's feet. The brunette picks up her dog, who licks her face.

"At least I have you two to make me feel better. Thank you," She places her cheek on Odd's shoulder, and he leans his head against her hair.

Kiwi seems to be digging for something, and he barks, coming back to the two dog lovers with something in his mouth.

"Hey, what do you got there, Kiwi?" He holds the packet, Amy gasping. "Ulrich! This is Yumi's diary!"

"What?" He turns to them in shock, Odd nodding.

"I can confirm that. It's her handwriting on the first page," Amy points to the page.

"Oh, I get it. Kiwi saw me bury it, but he thought it was a game, so I guess he dug it up and buried it here, right where we're sitting now!"

"That's great," Ulrich deadpans, holding the papers underneath his arm. "We found her diary, but now we lost Yumi."

"How's that for irony..." Amy pinches her nose. All of this was just a mess...

"Let's not forget you suggested we do this," Ulrich turns to her and she opens her mouth in disbelief. "If it wasn't for your stupid idea, Yumi might not be lost!"

"Hey," She stands up, clenching her fists. "What happened to Yumi isn't my fault! And neither was hiding the diary! Would you rather have her be mad at Hiroki forever? And besides, _you're _the one who said Milly has a passion for journalism! If you hadn't suggested that he get a scoop, he wouldn't have stolen the diary in the first place!"

"He's a kid, he doesn't know any better! But you just had to have the idea the he give it back! You should've just given it to Yumi herself!"

"You know what?" She takes her bag, putting it over her shoulder. "If you wanna sit there and blame me for all of your feelings with Yumi, go right ahead. But don't blame me for Yumi being lost at sea just because you can't handle the fact that she's not gone permanently!"

The brunette storms off with Kiki, Odd staring at his best friend. He notices the look. "What?"

"Ulrich, that wasn't cool, you know," He narrows his eyes. "She's right, you can't blame other people for what happened to Yumi."

"..." He lets out a small sigh. "I know...I just...I just want her back."

"I get it. I felt the same way when I had to leave Ames behind when she fell into the Digital Sea," Odd closes his eyes. "I've never even told her...that I didn't stay for her. Do you know how awful that is? And it's been a long time since then."

"...Why didn't you tell her?" Ulrich sits down next to him. Odd pets Kiwi's tummy.

"I just...I didn't want her to be disappointed. So I stopped thinking about it. But now with Yumi...I feel like I did the worst thing possible to Ames. And that doesn't even top being lied to about her real father, or her parents getting a divorce."

"It's not too late, good buddy," Ulrich pats his back. "Amy loves you no matter what. I'm sure she'll understand."

* * *

Yumi's Nav Skid is still spinning around, the power very low. "Jeremy? Aelita? Can you hear me? This is Yumi. "I'm almost out of power..." The last bit is hanging on, but not for long... "If I could feel temperature in here, it'd be cold...and...I feel all alone..."

A Kongre heads straight for her and she gasps. "Okay Yumi, you've got only one torpedo left, so don't waste it..." She pulls the lever and presses the button. The torpedo doesn't launch on account of the low power.

"Oh no...not enough power! I'm not done yet!"

She moves the Skid to miss the laser. "If I reduce power in my shield, I should have enough." She does so, seeing the power bar go up. "Yes!"

The monster fires, but she dodges it. "Okay, you and me. Fire!" She fires it with enough power, destroying the monster.

Jeremy types away and gasps, smiling happily. "What was that?" Aelita asks next to him.

"An explosion. By a Nav Skid torpedo!"

"Yumi," She smiles in relief, pulling out her phone to call the others.

* * *

Kiwi sleeps on the grass as Ulrich's phone rings. Odd is sleeping just like his dog...like pet, like owner. "Yes, Aelita? Huh? Okay, we're on our way, but Amy stormed off...I got mad at her for what happened with...something. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'll go apologize."

He hangs up, turning to Odd. "They found Yumi!" He then notices that the boy is no longer in his spot. "Odd?"

"I have to go get Ames first!" Odd runs towards the school. "Don't wait up for me!"

"I wanna go home..." Yumi murmurs slowly. Despite her brother being a pain at times...she can still remember happy memories with him.

_Her mother and her brother were nearby as she was laying down nearby. "Yumi...who am I gonna play with if you go away?"_

_Some tears fell down her face._

"_No, Hiroki," She instructed him as she was helping him with his homework. "Foot becomes feet in the plural.'_

"_How do you know all that, sis?" Hiroki looked up at her, and she just smiled in amusement._

_Hiroki tapped his fingers against the table. "Oh, what are you children up to this time?" Mrs. Ishiyama looked at the two._

_They just laughed together._

_Yumi finished timing the boy at the pool, and he lifted his head out of the water. "Well? How long? Oh, at least ten minutes!"_

"_Wow!" He exclaimed in awe, and she gave him two thumbs up in return._

_Amy opened the door, Odd looking over her shoulder. Yumi was holding Hiroki's hand._

"_Guys, can you do me a favor and watch my brother for me? I have to take an exam, and he doesn't have any classes right now. I'll come pick him up afterwords."_

"_Are you sure, Yumi?" Hiroki looked up at her._

"_Trust me," She winked at him. "They're my best friends. You can trust them too."_

"_Sure we can, Yumi," Amy smiled at the boy. "Come on, Hiroki, we can draw together."_

"Hiroki..."

"_I had no right to take your diary..." Hiroki murmured sadly to Yumi in his apology._

"_Until you find it, you can consider yourself an only child!"_

_He gasped as he looked up at her, holding the empty diary._

"_I'll never forgive you, Hiroki!"_

Now she wishes that she could see him again...A thud is heard and she gasps, looking around.

"Come on, come on..." Jeremy whispers to himself, the elevator opening behind him. The two turn around to see the trio, though they can definitely sense the tension between Ulrich and Amy particularly. "Yumi sent us a message, guys."

"Great, we'll go and get her!"

"I have to finish the calculations first. I've isolated the area, but it'll be impossible to find her exact location before I fix the Skid's sonar," Jeremy explains to him.

"But if she fired a torpedo, that means she's in a jam," Ulrich frowns in worry.

"I've transposed the data from the explosion into the hollow web to get her position by a triangulation," Aelita states and they manage to find her.

"There she is! She must have gotten sucked into a hub. That's why we lost all trace of her. But the sonar is still down, guys. So going under right now is gonna be a big risk."

"Of course it is," Amy rubs a temple.

"Hm...I'll go!" Odd states first.

"Count me in. And Amy...I'm sorry for what I said. It wasn't cool of me to blame you for what happened to Yumi."

"You wanna make it up to me? ...Let me help," She smiles in amusement.

"Well, what are we all waiting for?" Aelita smiles towards the others.

Once they're back in the Skid, they move towards Yumi's location. "There's a hub dead ahead!" Aelita reports and they move towards it.

"_I read you, Aelita_. I'm entering the coordinates from where Yumi fired her torpedo."

The Skid moves from horizontal to vertical. "Aspiration into hyper fluid in 3 seconds. Hang on tight." The ship teleports inside.

Yumi is flying away from a Kongre, which appears right next to her window. She moves her Skid forward as best as she can, but bumps into a pillar and starts spinning. The monster reappears in front of her.

"It's all over..." She notices that he hasn't attacked. "What's he waiting for?" The monster moves away...as William in his own Skid is approaching. He fires two torpedoes and she gasps. The Skid appears right next to Yumi, Amy pressing her hands to her levers.

"Aqua Shield!"

A large bubble appears around the Skid and Yumi, protecting both from the torpedoes.

"So, Yumi." She gasps at Aelita's voice. "Thought you'd wander off without telling us where you were?"

"It took you long enough to get here! And Amy, was that a new power?"

"Mmhm~" Amy hums with a nod. "Figured I'd surprise you. Trust me, I've got more up my sleeve."

The Kongre reappears, the other Nav Skids already deployed. It fires at the three, but Amy uses another Aqua Shield to deflect them. William fires straight at them, and they separate.

"I wouldn't mind a little fish soup!" Odd fires at the monster, but misses. He locks on his target. "Guess I better cook it, though, first!"

He fires his weapons, a flicker of ice appearing from the other side. "Frostbite!" Both of them hit the Kongre dead on.

"I kinda like your new powers," Odd comments to Amy, his face appearing in front of her. "Just don't become an ice queen, though."

"Ha ha," She rolls her eyes in amusement.

"Ulrich, behind you!" Odd warns, and he looks over his shoulder. He fires and misses towards William. Odd and Amy appear from both sides of his Skid. "We can't leave you for a minute, huh, Ulrich?"

"I don't blame him. Since when did William get a ship?" Amy asks in disbelief. The boy looks up ahead, seeing a Skid speed past. He growls, the XANA symbol flashing on his forehead. He suddenly turns to the left.

"Huh? Okay, he's behind Odd. Hey Amy, come try out another power for our friend here."

He flies after him, Amy appearing above William. "Big mistake, William! Fire!"

"Bubble bomb~!" She sings, dropping a bunch of bubbles onto William's ship from the bottom of her Skid. Ulrich hits him from behind with his torpedo, and once William's hit, he disappears. "Ha! I could do this all day!"

Everything turns back to normal as the three Skids fly back. "Mission accomplished, Jeremy."

"Hey, great job. Now anchor yourself to the Skid and head back in. Ah, they're all coming home..."

"Not everybody..." Aelita looks towards the ground. "But one day, we'll bring you back, William..."

* * *

It's now nighttime as Yumi has returned home. She steps into her room, where she notices the open window. She looks at the pages of her diary sitting on her bed. Hiroki shuffles into the room, head down. "Yumi...I wanted you to know just how sorry I am for what I did."

She smiles, turning to him. "Thanks for bringing it back..."

When she turns around, he gasps in surprise to see the pages of the diary. She bends down, placing a hand on his shoulder. They don't notice Ulrich smiling behind one of the bushes. "You know, I understand now that what we have is more important than some old diary. I forgive you."

"...Are you in love or what?" He looks at her in confusion.

"Ah!" She gets up. "Get out of here," And with that, she closes the door, some cherry blossom petals falling. Ulrich hums as he walks away, smiling.

* * *

Amy knocks on the door, opening it. She sees Odd sitting on the bed with a serious look on his face. Ulrich has yet to return.

"Odd, I got your message. Did something happen to Kiwi?" She closes the door behind her, having been careful in case Jim was checking in.

"No...he's okay," He looks to Kiwi sleeping in his drawer.

"...Did you need a snack?" She rolls her eyes in amusement.

"Not tonight, no."

The girl raises a brow, sitting next to him. "Then I don't understand, why did you text me saying that it was an emergency and that I had to come over right away?"

"That was just to get you here," He closes his eyes. "We need to talk."

She recoils back in slight horror, not wanting to experience this. People kept telling her this was going to happen, and she's fought back so hard to disprove that. "A-Are you...?"

"No, no!" He shakes his head rapidly, looking up at her in slight alarm. "I'm not breaking up with you! And I definitely didn't find a better girl, either! The day I do that is when all food is gone!"

She sighs in relief, placing a hand on her heart. "Thank goodness...with the way you worded it, it sounded _that _level of seriousness. So, ignoring the fact that you almost gave me a heart attack, what is it?"

"...Remember when you fell in the Digital Sea?" He asks slowly.

"Yeah...I remember. But not much," She kicks her legs a little. "It felt like I was stuck between two places for most of the time. I couldn't really move or do anything else."

"Yeah, well...I never told you what I did that day..." He takes a deep breath. "Ames...the only way to get you back was to go to Sector Five and get the data. And so...I had to leave you there in the desert sector...all alone..."

She blinks, staring at him as he doesn't look at her, eyes towards the ground. "I wanted to tell you, but...I wasn't sure whether or not you would...hate me for doing it. So I pushed it aside, and then we finally became more than friends...but now with what happened with Yumi...I should have told you. And I'm really sorry I didn't. I was just so happy that you were back that...I hid my feelings...and I understand if you wanna...never speak to me again."

She pauses, staring at him sympathetically. It took a lot of courage for him to come clean after all that time...was she mad? Not really. After all, she was still standing and no permanent harm was done to her...

"...Odd..." She takes a hold of his hand and he looks up at her. "I get why you never told me. But you never left me...you just went to go help me."

"But-"

"I'm not mad for you keeping this for so long, or for you having left me alone. If anything...I wouldn't want for you to go through the pain and sorrow of staying. And besides...I appreciate you coming clean to me about it. I'm truly happy with you, Odd Della Robbia..."

He smiles at her and she returns it. "I love you, Ames."

"I love you too..." She leans in and captures his lips with hers. He squeezes her hand lightly as he returns the kiss.


	81. Lab Rat

**Angel: Sorry for the late update, but the carpet is getting ripped out in my house...all of it -_- I had to clean my room before they started moving stuff. Man, I HATE wooden floors, and because my parents decided not to tell me, I don't have a choice but to deal with the floors since they bought the materials...**

**I've had a really bad upbringing because of this outbreak: I can't see my friends from school, I'm out of a job because the restaurant where I work had to close indefinitely, and NOW I have to deal with wooden floors...**

It's breakfast time in the cafeteria as the students are either eating or talking to each other. Jeremy and Aelita are in line, and once they step out, they walk over to their friends. Odd puts down his croissant, Ulrich putting down his bowl of soup. Amy looks up at them, sipping her hot chocolate.

"What's the big news? We can't wait to hear it," Odd speaks up, Aelita sitting to his right. Jeremy sits across from Amy.

"I found it, at last!" He declares to the three.

"What, how to build up your muscles without any exercising?"

Amy stifles a laugh, some of her cocoa going back into her cup from her mouth.

"Funny," Jeremy replies in annoyance towards them both. "No, I figured out how to materialize you onto Earth from the network!" He takes a hold of his croissant. "Actually, it was much easier than I thought it would be. I applied the synchronicity principle to the supercomputer's apparatus, and then I used it to develop a kind of energizing projection." He takes a bite out of his treat. "In other words-"

"In English, then, that means you now know how to send us somewhere directly on Earth from inside the network, right?" Odd asks casually.

"Exactly."

"You understood Einstein's babble?" Ulrich wonders in surprise.

"Well, yeah. After all this time, I'm finally starting to get the hang of quantum physics!" He brags boastfully.

Jeremy blinks at him. "Okay, what is going on here? How did you understand that?"

"He memorized the words I've been giving him, and I helped him study just to freak you out," Amy laughs, pointing at their faces. Aelita is slightly impressed while the boys are baffled.

Ulrich turns to Jeremy. "Hold it, that means that now you can bring us up anywhere from the Skid?"

"Not anywhere at all, but I can do it in the vicinity of a supercomputer generating a copy. It's what I call teleportation," Jeremy takes a sip of his soup. "Hey, maybe we'll run into one of the supercomputers that Jackson supervised."

"Ha. Doubtful. He's not allowed to talk about it to me. Classified information," Amy states as she wipes her mouth with a napkin.

"Could he have known about our father?" Aelita turns to her.

"It's possible. With his excellent fact-finding skills, he might already know by now. It's why he was hired in the first place, so that he could get inside information about former competitors," She rolls her eyes. "After all, he knew about Lyoko before he even met Odd or Yumi...but he probably couldn't tell me if he knew about Franz being my biological father," She shakes her head. "Which I'm not mad at him for, at all. He probably wanted me to figure it out for myself."

"Why'd he quit a job like that?" Ulrich raises a brow.

"I don't really know. I heard it was because of his family," She shrugs at him. "But I was too young by the time he quit to understand the reason, in his opinion."

"Or...it could have been that the supercomputer he was helping supervise was dangerous," Aelita speaks up.

* * *

Jeremy opens the door to the cafeteria as he and Aelita leave. Yumi walks up to them, having just arrived. "Hi guys, what's up?"

"Are you ready to go and blow up a supercomputer?" Aelita wonders casually.

"You can get us to the real world from the network?" Yumi asks with a smile towards Jeremy.

"Yeah. We're all meeting at the factory tonight to try it out, okay?"

"You got it," She waves to them as she watches them leave.

"Bye," Aelita calls out to her as Ulrich approaches.

"Uh, Yumi, I wanted to ask you something."

She simply ignores him and walks away.

"Wow!" Odd comments while he and Amy are sitting on the stairs behind him. "Now that was about as cold as the North Pole! What did you do to deserve that?"

"I have no idea," He looks over his shoulder. "The cold shoulder started day before yesterday."

"You did a bad thing, that's why!" Amy crosses her arms at him.

"That's weird, her birthday was the day before yesterday," Odd reveals to him.

"IT WAS?!" He screeches in shock. "I don't believe it, you're kidding!"

"Uh uh. I hope you wished her a happy birthday. You know how important things like that are to her."

"Oh no, I totally forgot! Man, I bet now she's gonna hate me for weeks!" He holds his hair, turning to Amy. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because that day, you were late for lunch. Kiwi had chewed your shoes, and you ended up skipping to go find Odd. Aelita and I took her for a girls' day out afterwards. And after all that insistence of you two being 'good friends and that's all', she really is gonna hate you."

"Probably, unless you go and buy her a nice present to make up for it," Odd suggests.

"I'll go now! Oh well, I would if I could..."

"_Stern!" Jim held up a fish in the cafeteria, having stopped Ulrich before he left. "How many times do I have to tell you, that a flounder is not a flying fish! So there's no reason to throw it out the window! Especially when the window is open, and when I happen to be there! So I've got one word for you, and that's 2 hours of study hall!"_

"_You're making a mistake, I swear to you, Jim!"_

"_Well, Stern, you're right," He leaned in with a smirk. "This time, I did make a mistake. It's not 2 hours, but 4 hours of study hall! And if you keep baiting me, I'll make sure that you don't get off the hook for 8 hours!"_

"Thanks to Jim, I've got 4 hours of detention!" Odd is just smiling with a raised brow. "And then we have Chardin's class, and-"

"No sweat! We've gotta go get a few things for our dogs, and while we're out, we'll pick up a little present for Yumi!"

"Really?" Ulrich asks gratefully. "You'd do that for me? I thought you were mad at me, Amy."

"Of course I am! Guys aren't supposed to forget that, it shows that they don't care. But I happen to know what Yumi would like anyway," Amy gestures to herself. "And I'll do you one better, I'll pay for it myself. Yumi was already mad at her brother, I don't need a repeat of that. And our dogs won't touch it this time."

"Sure we will. Besides, I owe you one. In case you didn't know, the flying fish thing was me," Odd rubs his neck.

"IT WAS?!" Ulrich grips the front of his sweater. "And you let _me_ take the blame?!"

"I-I was laughing too hard to tell Jim!" Odd stammers nervously.

"Oh Odd, you know I oughta-" Thankfully, the bell rings and Ulrich releases him reluctantly.

"Odd, you jerk," Amy looks at him in slight anger.

"I'm getting him the present as an apology, aren't I?" He smiles anxiously at his girlfriend.

"Yeah, but I'm no longer paying for it. You are!"

He cringes as she walks away. He waves to Ulrich as he takes his leave as well. Ulrich just sighs slowly.

* * *

Later that night, they run across the bridge. The girls and Jeremy slide down the ropes, the boys walking up to them. Odd digs into his bag.

"Hey, would you stop hating me for a minute, Ulrich? Here," He holds out a nicely wrapped box. "This should get you on the good side of your platonic friend."

"Hey, thanks Odd. But what is it?"

"A surprise," Odd gives him an okay sign. "Yumi's really gonna go for it, don't worry."

"Hey you guys, hello! You don't mind keeping up with the rest of us, I hope," Jeremy calls out from the main floor. "Do I have to remind you that we have a really important mission?"

"Okay, okay, we're not factory workers!" Odd retorts back.

"Well, technically we are."

The two jump and land in front of the elevator. Ulrich stands next to Yumi, who ignores him and turns towards the girls.

"How did your classes go today?"

"Not bad, how about you?" Aelita asks back nicely.

"Fine."

Amy sighs at this.

"You guys ready?" Jeremy asks, typing away. "Energize."

The five teleport into their places one by one. "Standing by for liftoff?"

"Standing by," Aelita reports to him.

"Supports away!"

They move away from the ship. "Ignition. Powering vertical."

The Skid lifts up. "Liftoff!"

They exit their hangar and into the Celestial Dome. The ship flies away and Aelita goes through the open tunnel. She moves the levers forward out into the Digital Sea. "Okay, shields, activated. Sonar, activated. Stabilizers, online and checked. Primary axis, clear. Laser generators, online. Ready to dive!"

The ship swoops down towards the water.

"_I'm entering the coordinates of the replica," _Jeremy tells them as they all go into the Digital Sea. "Holo web system online," He taps a button. "Okay, you're looking for a hub at zero four five."

"_Gotcha, Jeremy. Course heading set. I'm powering up the turboprops and auxiliary engines_." The Skid goes forward, having already turned horizontal.

"Replica, here we go again!" Odd states to Ulrich's ire.

"Can't somebody shut him up?"

"Why? He's nice at least," Yumi retorts back.

"And besides, I like his jokes," Amy defends, crossing her arms, her hair already pink.

"Incredible. They're talking to each other," Odd comments at this.

"Shut up, Odd!" The two exclaim in unison.

"Some people just can't handle it," Amy shakes her head.

Aelita swerves a little to the left in the network as they approach the hub. "Get ready. Broadband acceleration. In 3, 2, 1, zero!"

The Skid disappears into the portal, and then they arrive at the new area. "Reverse thrust. We're clear, Jeremy."

"Yeah, I know," He eyes the hub they just exited. "You guys oughta be able to see the replica now."

"Yes, it's right in front of us!" Aelita gasps a little as they can see the orb. "We're heading for the entry portal."

Aelita presses her palm to the scanner. "Digital cube activated." The front of the Skid connects to the entrance. "I'm sending you the signal, Jeremy."

She does so and he types, seeing the entrance on his screen. "Roger. I'm about to open it up."

The connection disappears, and the door slowly opens. The ship goes inside, and they end up in the forest sector replica. The ship spins around as it lifts up, stopping above all the land. "Uh oh. There's an activated tower on the replica."

"That means that XANA is up to no good somewhere on Earth, not far from the supercomputer we're looking for," Aelita states knowingly. "But what?"

"If you wanna know, we gotta-"

"Hey Einstein, what if we gave your teleportation thing a try," Ulrich interrupts to Jeremy's annoyance, "Just to be sure once and for all."

"That's what I was thinking. But first, you're gonna have to moor the Skid to a tower. _There's one nearby, at 3 o'clock_," Jeremy tells them.

"I see it, Jeremy. It looks good. I should be able to secure the Skid to it," Aelita says while moving the ship.

"Gently, though. A little to the left. Be careful!" He guides her.

"Backseat driving again. Better cut it out!" Odd jokes with a teasing smile.

"Oh, sorry, Aelita. I know you can do it without me."

"It's less distracting too," Amy murmurs to herself. Aelita moves the ship behind the tower.

"Ready to moor," She taps the button where she usually puts her hand, connecting the ship to the way tower. "Skid secured."

"_Nice one, princess_!"

"Good job!" Jeremy compliments her. "Now just give me a minute to activate the tower four our own use."

A few seconds later, the tower turns green. "_Well, we're all set._ Okay guys, it's time. Ready for teleportation?"

"Ready to go, Einstein!" Ulrich reports and Jeremy starts up the process.

"Teleportation."

Aelita, Odd, and Amy only disappear, but Ulrich does not. "It didn't work, Jeremy. I'm still here," Ulrich looks around.

"_That's normal._ I forgot to tell you, that this time I decided to energize only Aelita, Amy, and Odd. I'd rather you stay with Yumi to protect the Skid. If it's anything like our last experiment, XANA will be sending you a welcoming committee in no time flat."

"If you'd have told us before, we could have chosen sides ourselves!" Ulrich says furiously.

"Great, you really sound happy to be with me," Yumi hisses, looking away.

"That wasn't what I meant!" He shrugs towards her.

"Okay, you guys know the procedure. I'll put you ashore while I get a little work done. Aelita, Odd, Amy, do you read me? Uh, Aelita? Amy? Odd?" He taps a button, putting his microphone to his mouth. "...Aelita! Amy! Odd! I wish I knew what was happening!"

"_COOL EINSTEIN_!" Odd shouts a few seconds later. "_IT WORKS_!"

"Ah! Glad to hear it, but that's no reason to blow out my eardrum! Okay, where are you?"

"_You're not gonna believe this, but we're in the jungle_!"

"_An actual one_!" Amy exclaims in excitement.

"_And it's daytime here_!" Aelita adds in.

"I get it, you're in a different time zone," He quickly locates them. "You're in the Amazon region, it seems."

"Wow, that's exciting!" Aelita says, and all of them have their Lyoko avatars still on them. Amy has her wings and spear on her back.

"But we're dressed like on Lyoko, how come?" Odd wonders as Aelita examines herself.

"And why do I still have my pink hair like in the Digital Sea? I thought it was supposed to be brown in replicas," Amy brings her long hair over her shoulder to look at it.

"_Because the teleportation isn't a real devirtualization_," He explains as Aelita gracefully jumps onto a rock, spinning around like a ballerina. Amy bends down to the water, looking at her reflection. "_Those aren't your real human forms that I materialized onto Earth, but-_"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Frankenstein," Odd interrupts, staring at Amy. "You trying to tell us that we're not really us?"

"_Yes, you're you, but those aren't your real bodies. More like some kind of specters in the image of your virtual manifestation. Which, in Amy's case, was with the pink hair in the network._" Aelita slides down to Odd.

"Aelita, Ames, and I have become specters?!" Odd asks in surprise.

"In fact, you're more like polymorphic specters that-"

"_Wow, pretty impressive_!"

"It feels weird," Amy pats herself. "But pretty cool." She raises a hand towards her wings, lightly touching it. It felt like she actually had wings instead of being retractable like on Lyoko.

"I dunno, I like your pink hair. It makes you look even cuter," Odd pokes her nose and she giggles.

"If you say so, guys. It doesn't matter. For now, hurry up and find the supercomputer. The teleportation won't last forever," Jeremy explains to the trio.

"How long have we got?" Aelita asks curiously.

"Uhh, 52...no, 26...no, uh, 13. 13 minutes!" He looks at the timer above the three's pictures.

"The guy's a comedian! And just where does he expect us to find a supercomputer, behind a tree?!"

Aelita sees something in the distance and smiles. "Good guess, Odd," She places a hand on her hip as she sees a building up ahead.

* * *

"Yumi," Ulrich pleads with her back at the Skid. "Wait!" They've since gotten off the Skid, and now he's chasing after her. "Can't we make up, huh? You know, if someone forgot my birthday, I wouldn't make a big thing out of it!"

"That's because I never ever forget it," She retorts back, storming off once again. He sighs wearily, rubbing his chin.

"You know, ah!" He groans in frustration. "Okay, I...not you, but I mean somebody...you know-"

"Look," She grits her teeth at him. "Quit while you're ahead. You're just making things worse!"

"_Yumi, Ulrich_," Jeremy thankfully cut in before it got worse. "_Odd, Amy, and Aelita have found a laboratory. My theory was right. They're trying to locate the supercomputer. Everything okay on your side_?"

"A little chilly, but..." A laser suddenly flies past his face, and they flip out of the way. He pulls out a sword as she pulls out her fans. A Tarantula is walking towards them, firing from its arms. It goes back to crawling...but on another path is William riding a Tarantula.

"Faster!"

And on a third path is another Tarantula. "Jeremy, XANA's on the move again!" Yumi looks at all three directions.

"Okay Yumi," He looks at a map of the replica. "Two vehicles coming right up."

The Overbike and Overwing materialize side-by-side. Ulrich and Yumi jump onto their respective rides. "I'll take care of handsome!" He looks over to her.

"Yeah, right," She mutters, flying forward.

"_Be careful, if the Skid gets disconnected from the tower, it's mission over for Amy, Aelita, and Odd_," Jeremy explains to the duo.

"We'll try to make life miserable for the enemy, don't worry," Yumi replies while flying straight for a Tarantula.

Meanwhile, Ulrich drives straight for William. "Fighting William should put me in a better mood," He murmurs to himself, pulling out a sword. He increases speed as William leaps off the Tarantula. He heads straight for Ulrich, who cringes up at his opponent. He thankfully dodges out of the way as William stabs the ground, spinning to a stop. The Tarantula fires at Ulrich, who jumps off his vehicle and throws the sword at the target. The Tarantula explodes and his sword falls as he slides to a stop. He sighs in relief to himself, looking towards William.

* * *

Odd scooches next to the wall, Aelita on the opposite side. Amy flies downwards, looking at the door below. Odd looks to the girls, who both nod at him. He opens the door.

"It's open."

They step inside, walking down the hallway. Amy looks to Odd's tail, looking away with a blush. He peeks around the corner, Amy flying to the ceiling. Aelita looks to her right.

"Right or left?"

"Through there," Odd jerks a thumb behind him.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Cuz my sense of direction is infallible," He tells her and she shrugs.

"No offense, but men don't do so well with sense of direction," Amy whispers, but goes along with it anyway. Aelita takes a look around as they continue walking, stopping the two. In front of them is a glass wall with someone doing something inside. He turns around to reveal himself having XANA symbols in his eyes. However, they're no longer there. He looks out for a few seconds before leaving back to his desk. The trio are hiding in the space underneath the pane, Odd pointing to his right. They crawl on the floor to get past.

* * *

William approaches Ulrich, who spins his bike around and charges towards him. William runs towards him, and he swerves, grabbing his weapon back. He drags it across the grass for a few seconds before pointing it towards William. Once they meet, he goes for the possessed boy's head, who ducks. He hits the Overbike, Ulrich going back a few feet. He jumps into the air, sacrificing his bike in the process. He lands on the edge, barely managing to catch himself.

He looks at the unforgiving Digital Sea down below, glaring at William.

Yumi dodges a laser with her fan as she's speeding towards the Tarantula. It continues to fire at her, and she spins around the monster. She tosses a fan, and ends up destroying it. She maneuvers around the trees, going in the opposite direction.

* * *

Odd slowly stops, the girls behind him. They're now at an intersection, Aelita peeking around the corner. Odd steps up first, pressing his back against the wall. He wraps his tail around Amy as they look the end of the hall. Someone is walking around and Aelita grabs their arms.

"Hurry up! This way!" She ushers them into a room, a scientist walking past. Odd presses his ear against the door, both of them turning to a room with computers, whiteboards, and something big in the center.

"What's this, huh? A supermarket display for office plants? Uh oh, guess not."

Aelita steps up to whatever is in the glass compartment to see giant spiders crawling around inside. Amy shudders at the sight.

"I am really creeped out right about now," She turns around and Odd hugs her in comfort, patting the back of her hair.

"_Amy, Aelita, Odd, hurry up and find the supercomputer. Yumi and Ulrich are busy fighting off a bunch of Tarantulas!_" Jeremy's voice speaks up.

"Funny, their cousins are right here," Odd looks to the big spiders.

"_What are you talking about?_"

"Uh, nothing, Jeremy. Aelita, Ames, what do you make of these souped-up spiders?" He turns to the two.

"I'd say that XANA wants to transform these tropical tarantulas," Aelita stares at them.

"Try saying that five times fast," Amy snorts, letting go of Odd.

"But for what? Spiders don't attack unless you sit on them." A spider touches the glass, causing Odd and Amy to scream, recoiling back. Aelita shushes them both.

"Okay, okay, don't look at me in that tone of voice! Anyway, I'm sure nobody heard anything."

The door suddenly opens to reveal the scientist from outside the hall they were just in. The three gasp and he growls, holding out a hand.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires three times, but misses. "Anyone teach you how to play fair?"

Amy flings her spear, but the man simply ducks his head as it spins back to the brunette. He fires the arrows back at Odd, hitting him in the shoulder.

"Odd! No," Amy bends down to him in concern as he holds his shoulder.

"Hey, that thing really stings!" His shoulder is glitching in purple.

"Are you okay?" His girlfriend asks him and he simply looks towards a crowbar, looking up at her.

"Energy field!" Aelita fires her orb, which ends up orange instead of the usual pink. The possessed scientist ducks again and retaliates with an energy beam. Amy whips around and her hands glow yellow, a shield forming around her sister. Aelita tries to hold the beam back as much as she can, but the shield drops and it hits her, knocking in her in front of the spider cage.

"Aelita!" Amy glares up at the scientist, slowly lifting up her hands and clenching her fists. A field of darts appear behind her, pointed right at the possessed man. They fire rapidly, but he ducks from each and every one. Then he fires a beam at her, hitting her side and knocking her onto the ground.

* * *

Ulrich and William clash weapons, William smirking behind the sparks of light. Ulrich twists the sword around and it lands on the ground.

"You've lost, William!" He declares, getting an intense look from the possessed boy. He stands with his swords ready. William holds out his hand, his sword disappearing into smoke. Ulrich rushes over just as William gets his sword back.

"Oh no..." He murmurs as the sword touches him and he's devirtualized, William chuckling.

"What an idiot!" Ulrich mutters about himself.

Meanwhile, the Tarantula is firing at the Skid, turning around to fire at Yumi who's flying right towards the monster. He hits the Overwing and Yumi lands safely, pulling out her fans. She throws them swiftly, and destroys the monster. Her fans fly back into her hands, and she smiles.

Suddenly, she can hear a sword being dragged against the ground, and she turns around to see her new opponent. She looks on in disgust towards William, who rushes towards her.

"Not so fast, pretty boy!" Yumi throws her fans again, but he simply ducks his head. She takes a breath, closes her eyes, and presses her fingers to her head. Her fans fly back around, William stabbing the ground with his weapon. He catches both of her fans...and completely destroys them in his hands. She's now completely weaponless as he takes his sword back.

"It's over, Yumi."

"Jeremy! Mayday, SOS, I need two more fans, like right now!" She informs urgently.

"Uh oh. Right now is a pretty tall order, Yumi. But okay, let me see what I can come up with!"

* * *

Aelita stops flickering, looking up to see the XANA-possessed scientist holding out a hand towards her. He's preparing to fire another attack right at her. Suddenly, Odd swings the crowbar, having gotten up. He catches it like it was nothing, throwing the cat-boy away. Amy sprints in front of him, brightening him with Heat Wave. Aelita hits him from behind while he's distracted, knocking him out of the room and into a wall. Odd looks at him flickering, and steps through another door.

He looks behind his shoulder, dragging the man away. "Here we go, back in your cage now."

However, the scientist wakes up and kicks him across the room.

"Hey you!"

"Get away from him!"

Both sisters attack at the same time, knocking him into the room. Odd presses a button to lock him in, rubbing his chin.

"You're great specters!"

"You really think so?" Aelita asks curiously.

"Well, no medals just yet, princess and Ames. We still have to find the supercomputer."

"Mm..." Amy looks down the hall, wondering just where they'll find it.

* * *

William leaps into the air, swinging towards Yumi. She flips away from him as he swings towards her, but she dodges each attempt. She jumps above his sword, barely avoiding another attack. He swings again, but she backs up.

"Jeremy!" She cries out.

"It's okay, I'm nearly there."

The doors to the elevator open and Ulrich steps into the lab, slightly winded by the hit. He touches the back of the chair once he reaches Jeremy.

"Well?"

"You wouldn't have a rabbit's foot, a four-leaf clover, or a horseshoe on you, would ya?" Jeremy suddenly asks while typing.

"Is it as bad as all that?" Ulrich turns to the screen.

He doesn't answer...

* * *

The girls and Odd run down the hall. "Infallible sense of direction, huh Odd?" Aelita asks sarcastically, hands on her hips. "I was positive that we should have gone in the other direction!"

She's about to do just that when Odd grabs her arm, stopping her. "Hold on a minute!" He eyes the glass pane on the door in front of them, and inside is a supercomputer. "Bingo!"

"See, he was right after all," Amy smirks in amusement. Aelita smiles as she approaches the door.

"_Jeremy, we found the supercomputer._"

He gasps towards Ulrich. "Great! You'd better destroy it right away, because Yumi can't hold on much longer."

Odd taps some buttons, and the interface beeps, glowing red. "Oh no, an entry code! Why not a couple of guard dogs too?"

"We've already seen those spiders, I don't wanna think about what they have for guard dogs," Amy rubs her temples.

"Let me handle it," Aelita steps forward, holding out a hand. She closes her eyes and manages to get access inside, smiling. However, this also opens up the door that the scientist was trapped in...he steps out into the hall, the symbol in his eyes flashing.

The trio have already stepped inside the room, taking in their surroundings.

"Now we've gotta get rid of this thing for good," Aelita stares up ahead at the supercomputer.

"Let me handle this one. Laser arrow!" He fires one, and it hits the center, but nothing significant happens. "I don't believe this!" He looks towards the girls.

"That's just what we needed..." Amy frowns at this.

"Jeremy, we've got a problem. _The supercomputer has an energy field around it!_"

"You've gotta find out where the shield is getting its energy from. I can't do anything from here. Do whatever you have to, but hurry up!"

Yumi ducks her head again as William continues to attack her. She jumps until she lands at the tower.

"Jeremy, it's now or never!"

He finally taps a button and makes the fans appear in her hands. She smiles in relief, but it's too late as William devirtualizes her with one swing. He steps inside the tower.

"Oh..." Yumi gasps as she steps out of the scanner. "Jeremy, I'm really sorry!"

His mouth is open in slight horror as he had seen the dot disappear...

Aelita finds the energy source for the forcefield. "There! That must be the lens that's projecting the energy field! If we destroy it, there's a good chance we'll deactivate the shield!"

"You could have found me a little bigger target," Odd laments at the tiny hole. "No one could possibly hit from this distance. That is...except me."

"Beggars can't be choosers," Amy rolls her eyes. Suddenly, the door opens to reveal more possessed scientists, including the one they had fought earlier.

"Go ahead, you two. I'll take care of them," Aelita tells the couple. They fire straight for her, and she shields herself from being hit.

Unbeknownst to the trio, William has gotten to the top of the tower that the Skid is mounted to.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd fires as Amy fires a slash with her spear. Both of them hit the target, and this deactivates the shield. "Yeah! Adios, amigos!"

William steps up to the interface and presses his hand against it.

_William_

_Code_

_XANA_

The tower turns red, disrupting everything, including the teleportation. The trio disappear into thin air.

"_Odd, Amy, Aelita, come in, please._"

The three reappear in their respective spots, Odd awaking in alarm. "What is this? What's going on now?"

"What happened?" Amy rubs her head.

"XANA has taken over control of the tower, you guys." Yumi hugs herself in self-blame for letting it happen. "Your teleportation has stopped. We've gotta abort the mission. You might as well come back home..._wake up, Aelita_!"

"I know that we're working on bringing William home and all, but sometimes he can be really annoying," Amy grits her teeth.

"_Aelita, let's get out of here. Spiderman and company have just arrived!_"

"Okay," She taps a button after looking outside the window. "Let's go!" She drives the Skid away, the Tarantula firing at the ship. Because of the shields, it has no significant effect on the Skid, which flies back into the Digital Sea.

* * *

"There's no sense dissing ourselves," Ulrich states once the three have returned back. "After all, we did our best."

"Maybe, but we've still gotta find out what XANA's planning to do with those cybernetic spiders," Aelita speaks up.

"Those things were so huge, blegh," Amy shudders at the memory.

"Right, we'll have to go back onto the replica, teleport you back in, and destroy that supercomputer," Jeremy declares, and Odd lets out a yawn.

"That's fine, but until then, anyone mind if I sleep for a few years?"

"Okay, we get the message," Yumi replies playfully. "We could all use a little sleep."

They walk across the bridge to head back to Kadic. "Uh, Yumi," Ulrich calls out as he lags behind, the other four up ahead.

"What now?" She asks in annoyance, looking over her shoulder.

"Here, a little birthday gift," He holds out the present to her and she smiles, taking it.

"Oh, thanks Ulrich, that's very sweet." She leans in and kisses his cheek, causing him to blush.

"Aren't you gonna open it?"

"In Japan, you never open a present in front of the person who gave it to you," She explains to the boy.

"Well that's fine with me."

Jeremy and Aelita stare at them. "I bet you're thinking about your own birthday..."

"Well yeah," She turns to him. "But it's one of those things I still don't remember...I wish Amy was around longer at the Hermitage to be able to tell me. I haven't any idea when I was born..."

"No problem! All you have to do is make up a date, Aelita."

"Why don't you choose one for me, then?" She asks as he approaches her.

"Okay!"

"Well?" She steps up closer. "Go on."

"Uh uh," He crosses his arms. "I'm not telling, it'll be a surprise!"

"Hey, you guys coming or not? Hurry up before I fall asleep on Ames," Odd calls out.

"Ahh, no, not that. Anything but that again," She sweats nervously. The last time he did that, he cuddled her so hard, that the others had to carry them back to his room.

"Yeah, we're coming, no need to wake the whole town up!" Ulrich retorts back, walking past Yumi. She smiles and follows after him.

* * *

Kiwi barks at Odd, who waves something in his hand. "Who's the pretty present for, huh? Who's it for, my little diggity dog!"

"Hey Odd, thanks again for Yumi, and Amy too. You really saved me this time," Ulrich says gratefully as he just watches.

"Mm," Odd opens up the present, seeing the dog bone for Kiwi.

"Pretty classic to stick to," Ulrich snorts at it.

Yumi opens up her present that the couple bought, which is a necklace. Odd had switched them on accident, and thankfully Amy noticed and switched them back before they gave it to Ulrich.

"Aww, you like your new toys?" Amy coos at her dog, who has a bunch of plushies and tennis balls from Odd. He decided to buy her some while the two were out getting things for their dogs. "Well, you can give Odd a big lick as a thank you when you see him."

"I can't believe he forgot Yumi's birthday," Aelita frowns a little, sitting on her bed.

"Yeah, but we saved him from further injury...emotionally and physically," Amy cringes at the thought of what could've happened had she and Odd not stepped in to help. "Odd would never do that to me. Not that I'm thinking about it..."

"It is only a few weeks away," Aelita reveals with a smile. "Anything special?"

"Knowing my friends, most likely," She smirks in amusement. "I'm not sure about Odd...I mean, he's always throwing surprises at me, and I haven't been disappointed yet," She reaches her hand to her dog, patting her on the head. Kiki wags her tail happily while biting a chew toy plush.

"Amy...do you remember the last time I spoke with your mother?"

"My mom?" Amy blinks, rubbing her chin. "The last time was when...I think that was when she came for a visit with her ex. But that was over a year ago. She's been really busy ever since she got everything in the finalized divorce."

"I was wondering...if it's okay with the both of you, that we could go out for lunch sometime. I wanna get to know her better...I know that she's your mother, and I'm not really related to her, but..."

"But you want the experience of having a mother," Amy hums, nodding in understanding. As far as they knew, there hasn't been any sign of Aelita's mother anywhere. Not in Franz's diary, and definitely not from Amy's mother herself...since they don't know what happened to her, all Aelita really has for a family right now is Amy and Ms. Smith. "I'm sure she'd love that."

"Really?" Aelita asks hopefully. "She won't think it's too weird?"

"While knowing about a virtual world, a supercomputer, and a computer virus that's bent on destroying us?" Amy snorts, closing her eyes. "I think she won't mind someone who just wants a parental figure. If anything, she's happy that I have a sibling. She wanted to give me one, but she decided to avoid the drama and headaches that come with it."

"Is Mr. Smith really that deep in?" Aelita tilts her head.

"I don't know, and I personally wouldn't look into it. I know where I stand with him, and I don't regret my decision," The brunette opens her eyes. "I'm happy where I am right now."

Aelita smiles at her.


	82. Bragging Rights

The spiders from the Amazon lab crawl after Yumi, who's running down the hall as an alarm is going off. Ulrich and Amy run in front of her, sliding to the hall. They stop upon seeing the spiders.

"Uh oh..." Ulrich looks to his right. They suddenly get surrounded by spiders. "To think this was supposed to be a piece of cake!"

_Several hours earlier..._

"I'll say it once more, for those of you who were daydreaming," Jim announces to the class inside the gym. "One, run up. Two, jump onto the springboard. Three, push off the horse. Four, pike vault and 5, land feet together on the mat. You got that?"

"No, I didn't get it all, coach," Herb calls out, holding up a finger. "So would you mind giving us a demonstration, Jim?"

"What's the matter with you, Pichon? There's nothing to it. Only a half-wit couldn't manage it!" He faces the pommel horse, glancing to the class behind him. He clears his throat and runs up.

"One, two, three-" Odd counts, his eyes widening as Jim lets out a scream.

"Oh!"

"He got five without doing four!" Odd puts a hand over his mouth, the class laughing as Jim landed head-first.

"Pichon!" Jim says in annoyance at their laughing, "Funny, huh!" He turns around so that he's not getting blood rushing to his head. "Let's see what you can do." Herb reluctantly moves away from the students. "And don't forget those 5 golden rules!"

Herb starts running, but trips. He does land on the springboard, but goes flying onto the mat. The class laughs at him next as Jim looks over the boy.

"Ha ha! That horse oughta be in the rodeo!" Odd points at the boy.

"Smith! Front and center, it's your turn to fall flat on your face!"

"Oh great," She mutters to herself as she approaches. She almost never gets picked to demonstrate, but she knows that she hates it. Amy cracks her knuckles and sprints. She jumps onto the springboard, backflipping into the air. Her hands touch the pommel horse as she hears the class clapping. Then she backflips onto the mat, dusting herself off.

"See! You all could learn a lot from Smith! I could make a star out of her if I wanted to!"

"Mm," She grunts as she goes back to her spot.

"That's my girlfriend, everybody!" Odd wraps an arm around her. She gives him a slight look of annoyance that he's using this to brag.

"Della Robbia! Your turn to fall!"

Odd clears his throat. "Okay!" He runs forward and jumps, doing a flip. He lands on the pommel horse, impressing the class as he goes a split, bringing his legs together. Jim stares and then he lands safely, smirking.

"How was that? You're right, Jim, only a half-wit couldn't manage it!"

Jim growls lowly, narrowing his eyes.

* * *

"Come on! I don't believe it," Odd complains to the two after class is over. "I do a vault worthy of the Olympics and bam, 4 hours of detention! Is that the kind of payoff I deserve?"

"Well...yeah!" The two say in unison, confusing him.

"Huh?"

"Come on, Odd, the way you spoke to Jim was-"

"Was what?"

"Obnoxious?" Ulrich asks first.

"Pretentious? Do I need to go on?" Amy rolls her eyes.

"Pretentious?!" He stops them in their tracks. "No one's more humble than I am! Ames can tell you all about it!"

"Odd, I love you, but sometimes you can be a real jerk," Amy tells the boy, walking off with a slightly annoyed look on her face. "I gotta go feed Kiki. Meet you guys later."

"What's up with her?" Odd looks to Ulrich, jerking a thumb.

"Do you really not get it?" He deadpans at his friend.

"Who are you trying to kid?" Jeremy walks up to them. "Your middle name oughta be Braggart, Odd! I don't think Amy really likes it when you brag about your relationship."

"That's for sure, I can't remember even one day that you didn't sing your own praises! Or that you don't tell people you're dating the most popular girl in school," Aelita adds in, slightly smiling.

"Hey, that is so wrong on both accounts! And I can prove it to you too!"

"Okay, I'll bet you a week of desserts that you can't go 24 hours without bragging!" Ulrich suggests, looking over to Jeremy.

"And, he also has to find out more about Amy's life in New York," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "Up until she moved here. Don't leave anything out."

"What makes you think she hasn't told me?" Odd raises a brow, startled that he assumed correctly that he doesn't know.

"Because she doesn't talk about it to anyone," Aelita smirks in amusement. "Not even me."

"You're on!" Odd holds out his hands to Ulrich and Jeremy. "I know someone who just bought himself some yummy seconds."

They high-five him to seal the deal. "Yeah, me," Ulrich smirks at him.

"Uh-uh, me!"

"No, me!"

"Hey, are you guys all through?" Jeremy asks impatiently before they could escalate. "Maybe I oughta remind you that we're supposed to be blowing up XANA's supercomputer tonight after class!" After failing to do so last time, they would hopefully destroy it for good.

"In the jungle? You mean we're going back already?" Ulrich asks in surprise.

"That's right, and we don't think it'll be a problem. Odd and Amy knocked out the energy field protecting it last time," Aelita looks over to the boy.

"And once again, where mere mortals would have failed, Odd demonstrates his great...um...uh...modesty and humility," He says it in a way that's not bragging.

"So thanks to our non-bragging hero, it's gonna be a piece of cake," Jeremy states with a smile.

* * *

Odd watches Amy play with her dog, leaning against the door. She doesn't seem to be angry towards him, but he does have to apologize...

"Ames, I'm sorry for what happened during gym class," He closes his eyes.

"That's okay," She looks up at him. "I've been dealing with that part of your personality for as long as I've been here, but with Jim doing it too, I guess I just lost it."

He leans in and kisses her cheek, causing her to blush. "What was that for?"

"For being you," Odd winks at her. "Umm...so I've always wondered...why don't you talk about New York?"

"Oh, it's nothing interesting," She waves it off. "You already know I visited the Hermitage when I was little. There's really not much more to it than that."

"If it's nothing interesting, then why won't you talk about it?" He raises a brow and she grunts, glaring up at him.

"Because I just don't want to, okay?"

"But I really wanna know."

"I said no!" She looks away while continuing to pet her dog.

"...Please?"

"Odd, if it was really important, I would have told you," She sighs lightly. "Can we not have this conversation please?"

He sags his shoulders in defeat. No wonder why they added in this part of the bet, because it'll be next to impossible to get it out of her. What was it that's making her refuse so furiously?

* * *

Later on, Yumi moves away the manhole cover, climbing down the ladder first. Jeremy and Aelita follow after. She grabs a skateboard, Jeremy and Aelita grabbing their scooters. Together, they skate down the path, with Yumi taking the lead. Odd jumps and slides down the railing, Ulrich doing the same. They reach the ladder that leads to the bridge, climbing up to it. Jeremy runs first, the others following after. Jeremy and Odd jump down to the main floor first, Yumi and Ulrich going afterwards. He lands just as the two sisters arrive. Jeremy presses the button and they all go down to the lab.

A few minutes later, the elevator to the Skid arrives, the five stepping on. It takes them to their ship. They float above the water.

"_I'm entering the coordinates of the replica_."

The ship goes into the Digital Sea. "Holo web system connected. You should be able to see it now, I've got it on radar."

"_Affirmative. Skid in position in front of the entrance. Digital key engaged." _The key activates in front of the replica and Jeremy does the rest. The door slowly opens to allow the Skid inside. They end up inside the Forest replica and Aelita moves the ship to a tower. "Tower in sight, Jeremy. Docking." She mounts the ship to the tower.

"_Gotcha. I'm activating the tower for us_."

The tower's halo turns green a few seconds later. "Are you ready?"

"Ready," Yumi reports to him.

"Teleportation Ulrich. Teleportation Yumi. Teleportation Amy."

The three materialize inside the laboratory, landing safely on their feet. "You're the greatest, Jeremy, it worked!" Ulrich smiles a little.

"_Your teleportation is pretty accurate. We're in the middle of the lab_," Yumi smirks slightly.

"Cut the flattery, guys, before it goes to my head, like Odd!"

"I do not have a swelled head!" Odd protests at this. "That being said, considering my extraordinary exploits last time, I don't see why I wasn't teleported over!" But really, he just wants to see Amy again as a specter.

"_Gotta give everyone a chance to have fun, Odd! I only sent Amy with them so she didn't have to hear you! And because she knows the way_."

"And if the only dessert you wanna eat for a week is humble pie, just keep it up!" Aelita teases him. Odd looks away with a pout.

* * *

"Okay Amy, which way is it?" Ulrich asks the fairy.

"We go east, and go through a door, then we go straight and a little further on at the left, the door to the supercomputer should be there," She recites, Jeremy watching them move.

"She's right," He puts his hands behind his back.

"Got it, we're on it, guys," Ulrich states as they walk down the path. Amy is leading them down the hall as Ulrich peeks through a door. Amy flies above them and smiles. "Bingo."

"Oh no..." Amy murmurs as the shield has been brought back. "They put the shield back up! At least I know where to hit it."

"Great, all you gotta do now is open the door and trash the supercomputer. We told you this would be no problem."

"You done bragging? You sound like Odd," Amy rolls her eyes. Yumi walks up to the interface, tapping a few buttons, but it starts beeping.

"Jeremy, why can't I get the door open?" She wonders, glancing at the fairy.

"_Oh right! Last time Aelita used her digital power to open it...hang on, I-I'll figure out something._"

"Let me handle this," Ulrich smirks, reaching towards his swords.

"I wouldn't," Amy warns him, stepping forward. "Let me see if I can-"

"Ulrich, wait-!" He smashes the interface with his sword.

"Uh, too late."

"Great, now the panel's dead and the door is still locked!" Yumi frowns at him in disapproval.

"I was about to see if I could open the door like Aelita did!" Amy gestures to the destroyed interface, looking annoyed at Ulrich.

"What an idiot! I said to wait, Ulrich!" Jeremy frowns towards the screen.

"_Well one of you should've said something sooner! What do we do now?_"

Jeremy sighs at him. "_Well, for one, you can keep your hands to yourself_..."

"Hold on," He begins typing to find an alternate opening. "Ah! I've got an idea! You guys have to cut the power to the door's electromagnetic locking mechanism."

"You know where the generator _is_?" Ulrich questions expectantly.

"_Yeah, I'll guide you there_!"

"Amy and I will stay here. As soon as it opens, we'll go in to get rid of the supercomputer," Yumi tells him.

"_Ulrich, turn around and go back to the first intersection._ Then take the corridor on the right."

"_I'm on my way, Einstein!_" He starts running down the hall.

* * *

"Jeremy, can you hear us?" Aelita speaks up as the two are still in the Skid. "Everything okay?"

"_Uh, just a little problem. No sweat! Everything's cool_."

"Are you sure?" They'd be stupid not to notice the worry in Jeremy's voice. "Because I'd love to go and help Ulrich, Yumi, and my little Ames. Modestly, of course."

"Sorry Odd, but you've got your work cut out for you already. I just spotted an activated tower," Jeremy frowns deeply at the superscan.

"We're on it, Jeremy. Get ready to disembark, Odd. Disembark!" She taps a few buttons and they disappear from the Skid, teleporting in front of the way tower.

"Einstein, could you send us-" The Overboard materializes in front of him before he could even finish his sentence.

"_What were you saying, Odd_?"

"Uh, nothing, thanks..." He murmurs as Aelita looks to her right.

"Uh oh...it looks like we've got a little problem here too."

Jeremy types and hits a button to see what's going on. "I see William! And three Hornets."

William is running straight for the duo, the monsters flying over him. "Jeremy, should Odd stay here and fight them off while I deactivate the tower?" She asks curiously.

"_No, the tower's too far away and Odd could never handle them alone_."

"So then teleport Ames back maybe?" Odd suggests as he steps forward.

"_I can't, Yumi and Ulrich need the extra help to destroy the supercomputer. She's already gotten them this far. And besides, I know what you're getting at, and it doesn't count if you ask about her past in Lyoko._"

"Three Hornets and Sir William the Lowlife?" He shrugs lightly. "Four laser arrows and it's game over."

"Odd, don't forget your bet," Aelita places her hands on her hips.

"Ha ha. That isn't bragging, it's the simple truth~" He crosses his arms.

The Hornets start firing and Odd crosses his arms. "Shield! You see? Lucky for us, I was here."

Aelita silently rolls her eyes.

"Listen, it's easy. Just hold off William long enough for Ulrich to neutralize the generator. It'll only take a few minutes," Jeremy shrugs a little, though he's mostly hoping that it can be done this time. Last trip, William stopped everything and will try to do so again this time.

"No problem!" Odd hops onto his vehicle, flying straight towards them. Aelita stands guard near the tower while Jeremy gets into contact with Ulrich again.

"Ulrich, do you read me? Where are you?"

"_In front of the generator,_" He reports to Jeremy's relief.

"That's great. Tell me how it looks."

"Well..." Ulrich stares at it. "It's this huge machine with a bunch of flashing thingamajigs all over it."

"_Okay_," Jeremy chuckles a little. "_Now just neutralize the commutator that powers the lab doors._"

"The commu-what?"

"_The button!_" He almost forgot that Ulrich doesn't speak his language. "_Do you see the little red button?_"

"There's not just one, there are millions of them! This thing's lit up like a pinball machine!"

"_Just proceed by elimination_," Jeremy suggests, as he doesn't want the supercomputer to be functioning or for his friends to be left with William for long.

"No, I'm gonna do this_ my_ way."

"Your way, huh, Ulrich? Like smashing up the generator with your saber and short-circuiting the supercomputer?"

"_You guessed it_!"

"Uhh, give me a minute to think it over," Jeremy rubs his chin. Odd is flying straight towards the monsters, taking a deep breath. William continues running as Odd flies into the air.

"This way, kitties~!" He flies in the other direction, only the Hornets following him.

* * *

The girls lean against the door, Yumi opening up her fan. "Odd asked you about your past before you moved here? Why?"

"I have no clue," She shakes her head. "There's really not much to tell. It's not like I'm hiding anything major."

"So then why won't you tell him just the basics?"

Amy sighs a bit, looking away. "My parents were always unhappy after I was born—which I'm chalking it up to me not really being his daughter and him pushing me to inherit the family business. I stayed at my neighbor's apartment all the time, I got Kiki when I was about 10, and a few years later, here I am in France for my dad's job. All I was ever surrounded by was their arguing, and Odd knows what it's like for me to have to stomach it. I just...wanna protect him from that this time, you know? Like the opposite of how I wasn't helped...and it's kind of embarrassing to have to explain to his face _why _I can't tell him."

"I get it, Amy, but this is Odd we're talking about. He'll understand," She places a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Well, maybe if he wasn't trying to get it out of me earlier, I could've told him!" The fairy crosses her arms.

Suddenly they hear a noise and Yumi closes her fan. "You hear that?"

"Yeah...I heard it," Amy narrows her eyes suspiciously. Yumi raises a brow as she steps into the middle of the hall. Amy joins her side as they prepare their weapons. The two girls step forward carefully, wondering what awaits them.

* * *

Odd gets the Hornets far away from the tower, looking over his shoulder. He suddenly comes to a stop, the Hornets flying past him.

"Laser Arrow!" He fires twice and only manages to destroy one of them. The two Hornets turn around and fly straight towards him. He avoids the lasers and jumps into the air, backflipping. "Laser Arrow!" From behind, he destroys the second Hornet. He lands on his Overboard.

"If I tell them, they'll still say I'm bragging again!" He pouts a bit, flying away.

* * *

The girls look around the corner, stepping into the hall. Then they hear the noise again, Yumi pressing her ear to the door.

"Yumi, wait, that room has-"

The door opens and Yumi steps inside slowly. "Jeremy, remind me of what there is in the vivarium?"

"_Cybernetic spiders_," He states, Yumi giving Amy a look.

"What? I did try to warn you! But they must've broken through the cage; that means they're out!"

She hums a bit as a spider is right over their heads. It falls behind them and they gasp sharply, backing away. A spider crawls up to them from behind.

"You guys are ugly!" Yumi yelps as a spider jumps towards them. Amy holds up her hands, creating a vine shield to protect them. "Thanks, Amy."

The spiders start to slice through the vines and they look up in shock. Once they have enough space, Yumi kicks a spider away from them. She backflips onto her feet, throwing her fan. The spider dodges it and she catches her weapon. Amy tries the same with her spear, but earns the same result.

"I've had enough of your cyber spiderweb!"

They run out of the room. "Jeremy, those cyber spiders are being controlled by XANA, and they're just behind us!"

"Not for long, the supercomputer should be offline in just a couple of seconds. Ulrich, your idea isn't big on finesse, but it should work. Do it."

"Okay," Ulrich raises his swords into the air and stabs where he needs to. He backs up a little as electricity sparks, and then the supercomputer completely shuts down.

The girls are now cornered by the spiders. "Hey, Jeremy, whatever you want for that short circuit?" Yumi pulls out her fans.

"Right now."

The spiders shut down, and the two sigh in relief. "You know, until today, I didn't really mind spiders," Amy places her hands on her hips, smiling.

"You still got a job to do, missy," Yumi replies to her and she sighs slowly.

"Okay...you're right. I should tell Odd."

* * *

Odd is still being chased by the Hornet, which suddenly disappears. "Huh? Where'd it go? Wow, even my looks blow them away! Jeremy, what's happening?"

"_We did it!"_

"Already?" He asks in surprise, but William is still on the replica, approaching Aelita.

"Energy field!" Of course, he deflects it back, but it doesn't stop her one bit. She fires again and he slices it into pieces. Aelita steps back as she fires again.

"_Aelita, the replica is disappearing! Better get airborne!_"

She swipes her bracelet and takes flight. The land underneath William disappears, causing him to fall. Odd joins her side.

"That was what you call a real swan song dive!"

"I told you this would be a piece of cake!" Jeremy smiles proudly. "You can head for the Skid now, your mission's over, guys! _Are you ready, Ulrich? I'm teleporting you back_."

However, lights start blinking. "Hold on, I think something's up."

"_What?"_

"The power's back on."

The halls are given light, and with that, so is the supercomputer...

The disappearing on the replica is reversed as the two land on their feet. "Uh, Jeremy, is the replica supposed to be regenerating?"

"No, it's not supposed to," Jeremy explains, narrowing his eyes as he tries to figure out what's going on. "Ulrich, there's gotta be a backup generator somewhere."

"_No kidding! Even I could've figured that out_!" Ulrich replies sarcastically. "_Only where is it_?"

"How do I know?" Jeremy retorts back. "I'm looking for it!"

"Better hurry up! I'm going back to Yumi and Amy," Ulrich reports to him while running down the hall.

"Jeremy, how come you haven't teleported us back yet?" Yumi asks while walking. Amy is flying above her. "And what's that alarm?"

"_Oh, someone'll hang up, nothing important_!"

"...There's a back-up generator, isn't there?" Amy closes her eyes at the dodging answer.

"..._Yeah_."

"I should've known," She pinches her nose. "I'm not dumb. That's a security alarm. You really thought you could get that excuse past me?"

"I see!" Yumi says nervously, the cyber spider attacking them.

"Not so fast!" Ulrich stabs the spider with his sword. "Come on!"

The three take off away from the spiders. "Amy, don't you know where the back-up generator is?"

"No! We didn't think there would be one to find!" She exclaims from up front.

"Well Jeremy, where is this back-up generator?" Ulrich decides to ask.

"I still can't find it!" Jeremy states while searching the blueprints.

"_Better take care of these spiders before they take care of us!_"

"_Aelita, you have to deactivate the tower. Odd, you stay and protect the Skid_," He tells the two, who were waiting for instructions.

"Oh no, why do I have to stay while everyone else is having fun?" Odd complains at this.

"Odd?" Aelita asks him.

"What? I wasn't bragging," He defends himself. What they forgot about was since the replica isn't destroyed, William wasn't defeated...

He materializes right in front of them. "Great! Somebody just showed up and he wants to play with me! I'd prefer it to be Ames, but oh well! Go on, Aelita."

She rolls her eyes and jumps onto his Overboard, taking off. He prepares his arrow as William runs straight for him.

"Feel like playing tag?" Odd waves him forward. William strikes the ground with his sword, Odd jumping backwards. He backflips away from William. It's his first time facing the possessed boy, but he couldn't let him do any nasty tricks should he get devirtualized.

The three turn the corner, Yumi looking over her shoulder. The cybernetic spiders are still on their trail. Amy turns another corner and abruptly comes to a stop.

"Whoa! Oh no..." They look to their right and get surrounded. "To think this was supposed to be a piece of cake!"

"Aelita, better hurry. Ulrich, Amy, and Yumi are in a huge jam!"

Aelita flies down a path. "I'm doing what I can! I still got a ways to go!" She looks up ahead to a way tower.

The trio stand defensively in front of the approaching spiders.

Odd backs up from William, who rushes forward. "For XANA!" He slams the ground, sending a powerful boom. Odd looks at his legs and crawls underneath them.

"For me! Gotcha!" He punches William onto the ground. "Stings, doesn't it?"

"Super smoke!" William turns into smoke.

"Laser arrow!" Odd misses, since he can't hurt smoke, and ducks when William swings behind him. He jumps a few feet back, continuing to duck and jump. He gasps as his opponent runs up towards him and knocks him off the platform. William smirks, thinking he's gone when Odd whistles. This gets his attention as he looks over the edge to see Odd hanging on. "Laser arrow!"

This time, he devirtualizes William, a smile on his face. "Odd, did you just blow William away by yourself?" Jeremy asks in surprise as he watches William's icon disappear from the screen.

"_Yep!_"

"No boasting?" He needs to be sure that this is the real Odd he's talking to.

"What do you think I am, a braggart?"

"Hm," Jeremy raises a brow, deciding to turn his attention to the lab. "Amy, Yumi, and Ulrich! I just located the auxiliary generator!"

The three have defeated a few spiders, but they're still facing a few. "It's about time," Amy mutters under her breath.

"Thanks, but it's a little too late!"

A spider leaps towards them, and they all scream. "Yumi! Ulrich! Amy!" Jeremy shouts in a panic.

"Jeremy, you there?" Odd calls out as he's gotten back on the ground. "What happened to the two lovebirds and my little Ames?"

Yumi and Ulrich are inside the Skid, but Amy is not. "Hmm, interesting. I get it, they knock each other out! _Well Jeremy, we kind of blew our mission, didn't we_?"

"Not at all, I found the auxiliary generator, but the problem is that Amy doesn't have the time to take it out. According to my screens, she's still in the lab in trouble!"

"I don't want to say pretentious, but there's me!" Odd offers to go.

"Okay, get back into the Skid. I'll teleport you," Jeremy reports while typing.

"_Roger! But once I succeed, don't say I did it just to show off!_"

Odd gets back into the ship. "I'm ready to go, Jeremy."

"_I read you._ Teleportation Odd." He taps enter and Odd disappears from his Skid.

He lands in the hallway, standing up. "What now? Where's Ames?"

"Get her first, get out of the lab, and watch out for the spiders!"

"_I can't see any hairy legs yet!_" Odd states as Jeremy brings up Amy's location.

"Well I can, Odd. You should find her if you go right and then straight down." He groans to himself as he sees two monsters approaching the Skid. Even when William's devirtualized, XANA doesn't give up...

The Tarantulas arrive at the tower and Skid, standing up to fire.

"Ulrich, Yumi, you gotta get up and fast too. If the Skid goes, so do you. Get up!" Jeremy urges them. The two monsters start firing towards the ship's shields. Yumi and Ulrich are still unconscious, however...they relentlessly continue.

Amy is holding up shields to block the spiders, her spear on the ground away from her. The spiders fire right at her and she gasps sharply at the laser approaching her face. She's suddenly pushed out of the way and the laser hits the ceiling. It ricochets around until it hits one of the spiders, defeating it.

"Laser arrow!" Odd destroys the last two, looking towards his girlfriend right in front of him. "Ames? Are you okay?"

"Mm..." She looks to be fine, but a bit weak from the power she's used up defending herself. Odd narrows his eyes in determination as he picks her up in his arms. He grabs her spear from the ground and runs out of there.

"Jeremy, we're out of the lab. Which way now?"

"_Go left. You should run right into the auxiliary generator._"

Odd looks to his girlfriend as her eyes are closed, coming to a stop and pressing his back against the wall. "Uh oh. That generator's a really popular spot, isn't it?"

"Why?"

"Because it looks like there's a full house," He looks around the corner to see a bunch of spiders guarding it. Odd turns around and gently places Amy down on the grass. "Ames, wake up." He shakes her gently, and she slowly opens her eyes.

"Odd...?"

"Phew," He sighs in relief, wiping off his forehead. "Are you feeling up for a little...bug-stomping?"

She smirks in amusement for an answer.

Aelita finally reaches the tower. "Aelita, you have to deactivate that tower right away!"

"Almost there! Just a few seconds more!" However, she takes that back, because she has a few Hornets on her tail. "Oh no!" She dodges the lasers, but one of them hits the Overboard, knocking her onto the ground. She looks up at the monsters over her head...and then they devirtualize her.

"Odd, Amy!"

"I don't believe it. Let me guess, we're on our own from now on, right?" He guesses knowingly.

"_Sorry about that. _Better make it fast too, or else we can say goodbye to the Skid, Ulrich, and Yumi for good!"

"You have to swear to us no more bad news, then," Amy frowns, hands on her hips. "What's next?"

The Skid's shields can't last much longer as the monsters are still hitting the ship.

"_Okay, guys. Now or never. Amy has to deactivate that stupid tower!_"

Odd prepares his arm, running out of hiding. "Geronimo!" He runs towards the spiders, Amy flying towards them. "Laser Arrow!"

Amy raises her hands, vines grabbing a spider and squeezing it to destroy it. Odd runs against the wall and jumps, flipping and firing at a spider.

"Wow...!" Amy stares at him, impressed. He lands in front of the spider, leaning in close.

"Hi there!" He then fires in close range, landing on his feet. "Jeremy, I need ammunition!" Odd looks at his arm.

"Hang on a second. I'm reloading you now..._Okay, you're all set_."

Odd smirks, pumping his arm. He runs past all the spiders, jumping on one's head and flipping. He lands on another and then jumps again. "Laser arrow!" He lands in front of the defeated spider, just like he did in gym glass. "Yes!"

Amy turns around as she hears a spider jumping towards Odd. She spins around and kicks it into the wall.

"How's that for a pike vault?"

"Odd...you've got just one shot, so take good aim," Jeremy tells him as the two arrive at the generator.

"One shot is all I need..." He fires and hits the generator. It explodes, knocking them backwards. "Can't say I didn't aim well."

"Are you okay?" Amy examines him.

"Ah, it's just a scratch," He looks at himself. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" She giggles, hugging him in triumph. "We did it, Odd!"

He hugs her back with a relieved smile on his face.

The power turns off and the supercomputer is finally destroyed. "De-teleportation Odd. De-teleportation Amy."

They teleport back to the Skid, where Odd is in the pilot's seat and Amy is in his Skid. "Hey, nice place you got here, Aelita," He looks around as he's never piloted the ship.

Ulrich finally wakes up. "What-What's going on?"

"Nothing, things are cool," Odd shakes his head.

"Well, not right now, anyway," Amy looks outside to the Tarantulas.

"Go back to sleep."

The supercomputer is shut down. "You can come back, guys. It's over," Jeremy smiles as the replica disappears, and this time, for good.

"We're off!" Odd moves the ship away from the tower, flying towards the sky. Amy watches as all the land is erased, and then the Skid exits into the network. The large orb lights up before exploding into little pieces.

Jeremy places the microphone onto the keyboard, sighing in relief. "You were right, you know. You couldn't have asked for an easier mission."

* * *

Night turns into day as Ulrich hears the news in the morning. "He took out both William and the supercomputer on his own? That's crazy!" He exclaims to Jeremy in the boys' bathroom.

"What's crazier is that he hasn't bragged about it even once!"

"That's weird," Ulrich comments at this.

"Who knows? Maybe he's changed."

"You mean he's suddenly become humble?" Ulrich asks as the blond grabs a towel to wipe off his face.

"Miracles happen. He might have become a sensible, responsible kid!"

"Yeehaw!" Odd slides into the room. "40 point one seconds flat! You are now looking at the new record holder for the fastest shower! How cool is that? Give me an O! Give me a D! Give me another D! Who's the man of the century? It's Odd! And you're handsome too! I love it when you break records like that!"

"Odd," Ulrich starts off.

"Yeah, right. No problem, you can have my desserts!" Odd flexes his muscles.

"Hm. And you don't even care?"

"I guess I've gotta face facts. Yes I'm a braggart, and I love it that way! Svelte, but muscular, don't you think?" He asks them and they give a deadpan look.

Yeah, he'll never become humble.

"Did you at least get Amy to tell you about New York?"

"Oh, about her staying at her neighbor's place? Absolutely! But I can understand why she didn't tell me. Ah, she's great…" Odd sighs in bliss.


	83. Dog Day Afternoon

Odd opens the door to his locker in the locker room. "Odd, hurry up," Ulrich leans against the door. Odd has a picture of Kiwi on the back door, as well as a picture of himself and Amy.

"Okay, I'm coming," He states, putting on his sneakers.

"You're not wearing socks to get a better feel for the track?" Jeremy asks curiously.

"No, I forgot to put 'em on. Man am I gonna have blisters," He lifts up a foot.

"The way you sweat, you'll probably have to chuck your sneakers," Ulrich comments in amusement. Kiwi suddenly walks into the room holding socks in Odd's mouth.

"Hm? Nice one, Kiwi! Did you see that? Kiwi opened the door to our room and then he managed to find me all the way on the other side of the campus!" Odd exclaims, Jeremy cringing a bit.

"He followed the smell of your feet easy," Ulrich shrugs towards this.

"Ha ha, very funny! Your jokes stink worse than my feet!"

"On your marks, get set, go!" Jim starts the stopwatch, students running off. The boys walk into the field, Sissi turning around to them.

"Yoohoo, Ulrich!" She waves to him. "Hey, how do I look?" She flips her hair behind her.

"I'm not sure you really wanna know," He remarks as they walk past her. She raises a brow, annoyed. The three reach Yumi and William 2 as most of them are stretching. "Hey Yumi!" He gives her a thumbs up and she smiles.

"Go!"

They all take off except William 2. Yumi picks up speed and takes the lead. Jim looks at his stopwatch as Yumi finishes first, cheering. "Very good time," The gym teacher congratulates them, then seeing William 2 just standing there. "Dunbar! When I say go, it means go! Two letter words aren't that hard, are they? Either his ears need washing or he's totally out of it."

Sissi eyes him closely. "You look completely lost, William. How come?"

"...I'm not lost, we're at the track, right?" He asks after a few seconds. She raises a brow in confusion.

"Uh oh, trouble at 12 o'clock!" Odd comments as they look on.

"You're off your rocker. You wanna go talk to the nurse at the infirmary!"

"It's nothing serious," Yumi places a hand on William 2's shoulder. "He's a little out of sync because he's, uh, he's in love!" She hugs him.

"Wait a second, are you trying to say that you and William are-?!"

"They say that love is like uh...getting drunk! William doesn't drink of course, he's just-"

"Just a complete half-wit, right?!" Sissi points to her head. Jim blows the whistle.

"10th graders, that's it for today! 9th graders, get on your mark, move it!" Jim spins the whistle around.

"I think something weird is going on!" Sissi narrows her eyes suspiciously. Amy finally arrives from the locker room, looking a little down.

"Ames?" Odd stares at her. "What's wrong?"

"Not now; I'll explain at lunchtime."

* * *

"That was a close call with Sissi today," Yumi points out at lunch.

"I don't think she bought the love story between you and William," Aelita tells her.

"Can't we upgrade the quality of William's clone?" Ulrich raises a brow at Jeremy, and by the look of the genius' face, it doesn't seem likely.

"Sorry, like I said, his stupidity is an unforeseen emerging factor beyond our control. To fix it, I'd have to reprogram everything! We're just gonna have to keep improvising," Jeremy explains to them.

"If we can! Sissi's getting very suspicious. Think of what'll happen if she tells her father about William!" Yumi speaks up.

"Well in that case, the only solution I can see is to keep pretending you're in love."

"What?!" Yumi exclaims in shock.

"Yeah!" Aelita agrees with her, Ulrich choking on his food. "Perfect! If you're always hanging out together, then no one can get near him!"

"You've got a very vital mission, you've gotta keep our secret!" Odd tells her, to her dismay. She doesn't like it, but she doesn't have much of a choice. When Sissi gets suspicious, she gets snoopy, and then she makes trouble with what she knows.

"Anyway, I did improve the security program for the tower that runs William's clone," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "Aelita, how would you like to go to Lyoko to install it after class? And just in case something happens, Amy has to go too for back-up."

"Mm," She plays with her salad.

"No problem," Aelita smiles a little. "Who's going with us?"

"Do all of us have to go?" Ulrich looks to Jeremy.

"Just one of you will be enough to keep an eye on things with the girls," Jeremy states, Odd raising a finger.

"I volunteer! And I also happen to have a fantastic idea!"

"Uh oh..." Ulrich murmurs, noticing the smile from Odd's face.

"Why don't we take Kiwi to Lyoko this time?"

"Your brainless dog? But what for?" Jeremy asks him.

"Uh, first of all, my dog is not brainless. Secondly, our natural talents are multiplied on Lyoko. Imagine Kiwi and his sense of smell. He could sniff out monsters from miles away, and he might even be able to sniff out William on the network!" Odd defends, Jeremy smiling in amusement.

"No way, Odd! Besides, Kiwi's such a coward, he'd take off the second he saw a Kankerlot!"

"Oh yeah? As fast as you did the time you went to Lyoko?" Odd smirks, earning laughter and an annoyed Jeremy.

"Amy, what's on your mind?" Aelita turns to her sister. "You've been pretty quiet all morning."

"It's not Mr. Smith again, is it?" Yumi rolls her eyes.

"No, not him...Guys, Kiki's been weird. She lost her appetite for about 2 weeks, she's been agitated, she's been lazy..." Amy frowns in worry. "She's also been more affectionate lately too..."

"And she's been a bit on the bigger side, if you know what I mean," Ulrich crosses his arms, earning a glare from Amy.

"Have you been to the vet?" Odd stares at her.

"She refuses to go, so I didn't take her," Amy sighs a little. "Believe me, I tried everything, but it was like she could sense that we were going. She'd bark like crazy, and I couldn't have Jim find her!"

"Should we check on her?" Yumi turns to the others.

"It might be that she's sick," Aelita stands up, the others following after her.

* * *

Amy peeks into the door, seeing nothing. She steps in, the five stepping into the room. She bends down to the drawer.

"Kiki? You feeling okay? Our friends wanna check up on you."

She slowly opens it, her mouth dropping open at the sight. She couldn't believe what she's seeing. The girl clears her throat, scratching the side of her head nervously.

"Umm...guys, I think you need to see this."

They gather around, gasping to see three puppies at Kiki's waist!

"So...the whole time..." Jeremy speaks slowly.

"We were becoming grandparents!" Odd hugs Amy, who's still in shock.

"They're adorable!" Aelita smiles, picking up a grey one that almost looks like Kiwi. Just by quick glance, the two dog owners can tell that it's two girls and one boy.

"How are we gonna hide three puppies when two dogs were already enough?" Amy looks up at Odd.

"We just have to puppy-proof our rooms so that they don't get out! But we need to give them names too!"

Kiwi and Kiki bark in agreement, wagging their tails.

"We'll name them Lichi, Pepper, and...Ames, you pick a name. Name this one," He picks up the female grey one with a black spot mark over its left eye.

"Umm...BonBon, I guess. After my favorite chocolate," She rubs her chin.

"They may be cute, but they also peed all over your drawer," Ulrich looks at them with his hands in his pockets. Amy lifts up the blanket slightly and gags.

"She gave birth all over it...ugh!" She covers her mouth and drops it into the trash in disgust. Amy gags into her palm as she stands up and walks away. "I need to unsee that..."

"We can keep 'em in my room until...this is clean," Odd sticks out a tongue at the drawer.

* * *

The four run across the bridge, Jeremy grabbing the rope. Aelita and Amy jump just as the dog family bark from Odd's bag.

"Shh, quiet!"

He slides down last. "What happened in here?" Jeremy wonders as there's skid marks all over the floor.

"Looks like some bikers used our factory for training."

"Anyway, they don't seem to be here anymore..." Aelita points out.

"I wonder what could've happened, though..." Amy looks around the room.

* * *

Sissi looks down the hall in the dorms. "Coast is clear." She runs to her left and opens the door to see William 2 inside. He opens up his eyes. "Hey William, we've gotta talk! This thing with you and Yumi is baloney, right? Everyone knows she's mad about Ulrich, who's mad about me!"

"Who, Ulrich Stern?" He sits up, confusing her. "He's a nice guy, I like him a lot."

"You think that Ulrich Stern is a nice guy?" She rubs her chin. "Then you are not well at all. There are some weirdo things that have been going on that I think my father oughta know about."

"Hey Sissi, what are you doing in my boyfriend's room?" Yumi demands as she's just arrived.

"Don't think you can snow me, Yumi!" Sissi accuses her. "What has your gang done to William?!"

"Nothing at all. You're imagining things," She bends down to hug his arm. "And now if you don't mind, we're gonna take a little walk down Lovers Lane."

"Great guy, Ulrich!" William 2 smiles as she leads him away. Sissi looks at them, knowing that she's not crazy.

* * *

"Are you ready?"

"_Ready to go_," Aelita reports from the scanner room.

"Odd, are you ready?"

"Hang on, don't rush me, huh?" Odd exclaims, looking at his bag.

"What's that in your bag?" Amy raises a brow suspiciously, hands on her hips.

"Um, nothing, sweetheart!" He pecks her lips and guides her into the scanner. "I love you!"

"Odd, wait-!" She exclaims as the doors close in front of her.

"_Okay, ready to go, Einstein_."

"Odd, is that you making that racket?" Jeremy wonders as he can hear rustling.

"Uh, yeah. My tummy's rumbling!" Odd has all five dogs underneath his shirt, which is getting a bit difficult to contain. "_Would you believe it, Einstein? I'm still hungry_!"

"Don't worry, this won't take very long."

"Once you're all on Lyoko, you're gonna be a big star!" Odd whispers to the five dogs.

"Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. Transfer Odd. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Scanner Odd. Virtualization!"

Odd cringes, unsure if this was the best idea...

They land in the desert sector, though only the girls appear first. Odd lands a few seconds later with no dogs nearby. "_The tower you want is just behind you._"

Odd gets onto his feet, looking towards the sky. "Expecting someone?" Aelita teases him.

"Get ready for a big surprise, princess and Ames!" He points to the sky, but nothing happens.

"What exactly are we waiting for?" Amy whispers to Aelita, who stares at him.

"Well, what is it?"

"Hm?" He's confused as no dogs arrive, rubbing the back of his neck. "Nothing, I was just kidding." He starts to walk off, the two just shrugging it off.

"_Head for the tower, Aelita_."

"I'm on my way," She runs into the tower.

"We'll stand guard here, kay?" Odd points to the ground even though she's already inside. She runs up to the interface and starts interacting with it.

"I'm starting the installation process, Jeremy."

Odd starts hitting his ear with his hand, Amy staring at him. "I hope I didn't mess up!"

"What are you talking about?" She looks at her boyfriend in confusion.

Yumi and William 2 are running across campus. "Where are we going?"

"Never mind, just keep running!" She exclaims, Sissi peeking at them behind a pillar. She chases after them, determined to find out what they're up to.

Odd sits on a rock, looking a little disturbed. Something seems to be bothering him. "Jeremy, I hear some kind of noise."

"Hang on. You're right. Two Tarantulas just appeared. For now, they're at the other end of the sector. I'm sending you the Overboard and the OverRunner just in case."

Amy blinks at her boyfriend. "You could hear that all the way from here? Wow!"

He jumps onto his board as she backflips into the air, landing in her racecar. Odd wobbles a bit for some reason, the fairy staring up at him. She's more baffled than ever; since when does Odd do that? He's usually in control of his vehicle.

"_Knock it off, Odd! The Tarantulas are far away, but still!"_

"I-I can't seem to keep my balance! What's wrong with me?" He flies out of control and then falls off his vehicle. Amy gasps and revs up the car. He lands safely behind the girl.

"Odd, what is going on with you?" She turns to look at him.

"I-I don't know!" He looks at himself.

Aelita steps out of the tower. "Okay Jeremy, the program's operational. Where'd Odd and Amy go?" She looks around for the couple.

"_He's busy clowning around somewhere_." Odd stands up and immediately falls, unable to get up.

"Odd!" Amy shouts in alarm, getting out of the OverRunner and bending down to him.

"Now that you're done, I'll bring you all in. Materialization."

The scanners open and the girls jump out, Odd lifting up his shirt. "What's going on around here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me!" Amy exclaims in front of him. "What was that back on Lyoko?"

He falls out of the scanner and on top of Amy. She blushes and narrows her eyes. "What are you hiding?"

"Having trouble standing up?" Aelita wonders as he gets off the brunette.

"There's no way I could've been...oh no!"

"Is something wrong?" Jeremy asks curiously.

"No biggie, Jeremy," Aelita steps up to the boy, the girls helping him up. "Odd just missed his snack time, and it doesn't seem to agree with him!"

"Is that why you fainted on Lyoko? Because you were being dramatic?" Amy smacks him on the arm lightly. "You scared the heck out of me, you know that? God," She walks towards the elevator in disbelief.

Yumi and William 2 run down the steps, Sissi looking over the edge. "What a pest that Sissi is!" She mutters under her breath.

Jeremy opens up the manhole cover to get a phone call. He stands up and answers his phone. "Yes Yumi?"

"I'm with William, and I can't get rid of Sissi! And I've got to go home right now!" The Japanese girl tells him.

"Just bring him back to school and we'll take over," Jeremy explains to his friend.

"Okay. Come on, Romeo, we're going home," She hangs up with the genius.

"Is Romeo a nice guy too? I don't think I know him."

"Let's go, I'll explain on the way," She chuckles a bit as they walk away. But in reality, she really wasn't.

* * *

The four walk up to Jim, who's pacing around. "Is something the matter, Jim?" Jeremy asks in slight concern.

"Uh, yeah. Something serious! I spent the last hour looking for my watch. It must have fallen off after Phys Ed!"

Odd sniffs around, confusing them. "Della Robbia? Have you gone mad?"

He sniffs behind a tree, crawling on all fours. Amy blinks slowly at the sight, Aelita raising a brow towards Jeremy. Odd holds up the watch in his hand.

"Uhh, is this it, Jim?"

Jeremy opens the door to Odd and Ulrich's room. The brunet boy is reading a magazine from his bed. "Everything go alright?"

"Yeah, no sweat," Jeremy replies as they walk in. Odd sniffs his bed.

"Except that Odd's acting really weird," Aelita looks over her shoulder to Ulrich.

"You mean you only just noticed?" Ulrich replies sarcastically. Odd jumps off his bed, throwing Kiwi's dog bowl onto the floor and licking it, disgusting them.

"Odd, I know you'll eat anything when you're hungry, but that's ridiculous!" Ulrich comments to them.

"Wait...where are BonBon, Lichi, and Pepper?" Amy peeks into Odd's drawer. "They were supposed to be right here!"

"Ugh, come on, Odd. Get real! What's wrong with you?" Jeremy snatches away the bowl.

"Huh? Oh no, this is getting worse and worse! I don't believe this." He starts to unzip his pants.

"Oh my god, you're not!" Amy immediately covers her eyes, looking away. Aelita shouts in alarm, covering her eyes as well.

"Argh, Odd, stop!" Ulrich calls out.

"Cut that out!" Jeremy hides his face behind his laptop.

"It's, well, I-I got this thing in my backside, I think...I-I think...I think I'm growing a tail..."

They all cringe at his statement. "I don't need to see it, nope," Amy covers an eye, looking away. "We'll take your word for it, just zip up your pants! Just keep. Your pants. On!"

* * *

Yumi and William 2 run back into the school when her phone rings. "Yumi, you've gotta hang out with William's clone a little longer. We've got...a slight problem," She glances to Odd, who's sniffing and licking Amy's cheek. "Here's Jeremy."

"Odd, gross, stop," Amy tries to push him away.

"Talk to Yumi," Aelita holds out her phone to the blond genius.

"Yumi, according to my diagnosis, Odd absorbed the whole Kiwi family during virtualization!"

"Is it serious, doctor?" She asks in concern.

"Pretty much. Right now, his human metabolism is still dominant. But if we don't do something fast, it'll be too late!"

Amy tends to Odd on all fours. She'll have time to be angry later with him, but right now, his mental state takes priority.

"Think we can use the scanners to separate them again?" Aelita looks up at him.

"I think we can. We have to send him—uh, them, back to Lyoko."

"Better count me out, I've still got that leech on my tail," Yumi glares towards Sissi. Doesn't she have better things to do than to follow them all day?

"No, I know what to do. As soon as I get to the factory, I'll call you back."

"Yeah, okay," She hangs up, Odd sniffing Amy.

"Even as a dog, he still loves you. That's cute," Aelita smiles a bit. "Or rather, five dogs in one body."

"Come on, we've wasted enough time. Let's go," Jeremy stands up, running towards the door.

"What? But can't we eat before we go?" Odd calls out.

"Wanna eat dog food all your life?" Ulrich chuckles lightly, earning a bark from Odd. Amy covers her mouth in shock at the sound.

"We can eat later, let's go."

"No! I want food!" He protests, barking again and she rolls her eyes. A smirk appears on her lips as she gets an idea. She holds up a chocolate bar, waving it in front of him.

"Does the good boy want a treat?"

He nods rapidly, sticking his tongue out while kneeling. "Come on, boy. Follow me. That's a good boy," Amy backs away, coaxing him with the chocolate bar. "God, this is weird. Let's hope that we can get this done sooner than later."

* * *

They skate down the sewers, Odd running on all fours. Judging by his performance with the Overboard, he wouldn't be able to balance himself on a skateboard.

"Don't look back, there's a stray dog following us," Ulrich teases as Amy is still in front of Odd with the candy bar in hand.

"If you don't wanna get bitten in the leg, Ulrich, shut up!" Odd calls out.

"You threatened to do the same thing when you were Kiwi, after all," Amy looks up at the boy.

"Yeah, but I didn't absorb two dogs and three puppies in my body!"

She rolls her eyes, but there's a problem when they reach the bridge. "Rats! Just what we needed right now."

In front of the entrance is a trio of bikers. Odd glares at them as Ulrich stands next to him.

"You know those guys?"

"Uninvited visitors who used the factory for a practice track," Jeremy gets onto their feet. The five walk up to the bikers.

"What are you kids doing here? Beat it right now!"

"Let me handle 'em," Jeremy whispers to the others. "Hello gentlemen, we just wanted to go in, that's all."

"We didn't see your names on the door, so get going," One of them crosses his arms.

"Don't waste your energy, they've got motor oil for brains. I'll take care of this," Ulrich pushes past Jeremy, Aelita looking on in fear. Amy stands in front of her protectively.

"Is that a kung-fu flip, you shrimp? Buzz off. But we'll take your friend. We need an alibi if cops show up," He grips Amy's arm, causing her to gasp in alarm. Odd growls at this and jumps onto the man, tackling him onto the ground.

"He's mean, you better be careful. He'll bite you," Jeremy warns them.

"Hey Rocky, what's wrong with them?"

Odd jumps past them and they run away screaming. They run through the entrance and slide down the ropes, reaching the elevator.

"What do we do about those guys?" Ulrich asks once they're inside. Jeremy pushes the button.

"We'll worry about them later. Right now, we gotta take care of Odd."

"Thank you for saving me, Odd," Amy murmurs gratefully, rubbing her wrist.

"Of course! I couldn't let my favorite girl become biker bait!"

She giggles, kissing his cheek. The bikers watch the elevator descend down, gritting their teeth.

"_We're all set, Jeremy,_" Aelita reports once they're in the scanner room.

"Odd, I'm gonna virtualize you as you are onto Lyoko. Then I'll restore each of your two DNA sequences which should then return to their original molecular state."

"What was that?" Odd asks in confusion.

"You, dog man, go to Lyoko. He unscrambles you and dogs' DNA. You and dogs come back separated in the scanner," Ulrich explains to him.

"You're very clever," Aelita gives him a thumbs up.

"Oh, speaking about the DNA scrambling..." Amy steps forward and slaps Odd across the face.

"Ouch!"

"Don't you ever lie to me and try to sneak my dog onto Lyoko again, Odd Della Robbia!" She warns him, pointing an angry finger. Odd actually whimpers like a dog, looking at her pleadingly for forgiveness. She just steps away from him as he gives her puppy eyes.

"I'm sorry, Ames, you know I love you and your little dog!"

She sighs a bit as she looks away. "Well...you did save my life, so I guess I can forgive you quickly," Amy crosses her arms with a small pout. "But promise me you won't do it again."

"I won't, I promise!" He smiles at his girlfriend.

"_Virtualization_," Odd lands in the mountain sector in front of a way tower, barking.

"It's like I've got the hiccups. This—ruff—gonna take long, Einstein?"

"_Uh, I can't tell you in dog years. It's pretty complicated, so don't stress me, okay? And don't go anywhere. If you get devirtualized before I'm finished, it'll be a dog's life for you forever!_"

"Thanks, I feel a lot better now." He lets out another bark.

"Are you sure that we can't help?" Ulrich asks as the others are back in the lab.

"Shh, he's gotta concentrate," Aelita whispers...and then an activated tower appears.

"Oh no, an activated tower in the ice sector."

"At least we didn't miss dinner for nothing. Cool!" Ulrich runs off.

"So much for concentration..." Amy murmurs as she runs after the two.

"_Odd, XANA just activated a tower in the ice sector. Ulrich and Aelita are handling it. You stay put, and just to be sure, Amy's gonna be with you for help. Understand?_"

"Yeah, I get it. Sit, heel, roll over...at least my lovely Ames will be with me to help me cope..." He places a hand on his cheek.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. _Virtualization_."

The duo appear not too far away from the activated tower...but there are three Tarantulas, one of them having William on top. The two land and see him.

"For XANA!" William declares and the monsters walk forward.

"Nice. The locals came to welcome us. How about a little Overbike action?"

"_You got it_."

His bike appears and the two jump on. "_Be careful_." As soon as Aelita is on, he takes off.

"Hey!"

"Relax, I won't run any red lights or anything!"

"_Einstein, do you see what I hear_?" Odd speaks up.

"Ouch!" Three dots are approaching Odd and Amy. "Three Bloks just showed up. Better hide!"

"Why would they be after you?" Amy can't help but wonder. She wraps her arms around Odd's back and arms, flying him up into the air.

"I'll call Yumi for back-up," Jeremy reports to them.

* * *

She's still stuck with William 2 as her phone rings. "Well, it's about time you called! My day's been just thrilling!"

"Major trouble on Lyoko. Better get over here!"

"Mm..." She looks up at Sissi's feet behind a sign. "I get the feeling you forgot about Sissi!"

"No problem. Give me a minute, then double time it over here!" He activates something and Sissi's phone rings.

"That you, Dad?"

"Elizabeth," Jeremy is using the voice synthesizer. "Why aren't you home yet? You should be in your room doing your homework! Do you understand? Now then, hurry on home!"

"But...but...be right there," She hangs up and reluctantly leaves. Yumi raises a surprised brow to see her walking away. She stands up and pumps her fists.

"She's finally out of my hair! Well, you know the way back!" She waves to William 2 and runs off. "Ciao!"

He doesn't respond and just hums.

* * *

Ulrich rides up to William, who is riding the Tarantula. He smirks at the duo. "Attack!"

The two Tarantulas stand up, firing at Aelita and Ulrich. He swerves out of the way from the lasers, pulling out his sword. William kneels on top of the Tarantula he's sitting on. Ulrich revs up the Overbike, speeding up...but Aelita gets hit, landing roughly on the ground.

"Aelita!" Ulrich looks over his shoulder.

Aelita slowly looks up at William, who focuses his attention on her instead. Ulrich dodges lasers with his sword, swinging his arm back and forth. He stands on his bike and jumps into the air, throwing his weapon at a Tarantula's head. He destroys it and lands back on his bike, skidding to a stop. He looks around for Aelita and William, only to duck his head from the second Tarantula.

The three Bloks walk towards Odd and Amy, who are hiding behind a rock. He suddenly lets out a bark.

"Oops," He says to Amy's open-mouthed look of disbelief. He covers his own mouth, the Bloks approaching to their spot. He peeks over the rock. "Laser Arrow!" He fires at them and misses. "Oh Kiwi, guys, come on, my front paws aren't just for running and ouch!"

"Go!" Amy pushes him for him to run, flying into the air. She creates a shield around Odd to protect him just in case.

* * *

Yumi steps into the elevator, only to find that it doesn't work. She pulls out her phone and calls Jeremy. "Jeremy, why isn't the elevator working?"

"I shut it off because of those three goons. Are they gone?"

"What three goons?" She steps out of the elevator. "There's nobody up here!"

"I'll explain later. No sign of XANA trouble in town?"

"No," She replies as she hadn't seen anything on her way over.

"Good. I'll switch on the elevator right now. See you in a sec!"

She hangs up, only to hear revving. Yumi turns around and sees the three bikers...who have been possessed by XANA. They start up their bikes as Yumi grits her teeth at them. The three ride up towards her.

* * *

Ulrich swerves left and right to avoid the lasers. He jumps, the Overbike hitting the Tarantula. He jumps into the air and stabs it in the neck, destroying it. He lands safely as the monster disappears.

"Jeremy, I think I just hit a pedestrian!"

"_No time for jokes, Aelita's in a big jam!_"

He looks to Aelita being chased by William and the Tarantula. "Attack!" He declares to the monster.

Amy flies away from the Bloks, who fire at them. Odd turns his arm around. "Laser Arrow!" One of them hits Amy's wings, devirtualizing them, but an arrow hits several rocks to destroy a Blok. The shield drops and Odd gets hit in the stomach. Amy lands roughly on the ground.

"Odd, if you get hit just one more time, you're gonna be in the doghouse for good!"

Odd helps Amy onto her feet and they run off in the other direction. "I'd like to see you down here!" Odd calls out while running on all fours.

"_Hang in there. The program's almost finished!_"

"And where's the back-up, huh?" Amy wonders in annoyance as they land behind a rock.

"Yeah, where is Yumi?"

* * *

Yumi runs away from the bikers as fast as she can, seeing a beam up ahead with rope dangling from it. She jumps up and grabs it, climbing onto the second floor. She peeks over the edge as the bikers run by. She starts to crawl, but her phone rings. She cringes as a biker looks up.

"Up there!"

They drive in the opposite direction.

"Thanks Jeremy!" She mutters as she runs off.

* * *

The two Bloks approach the rock, Odd sitting next to Amy again. The Blok finally arrives to them, Odd barking as he kneels protectively in front of the fairy. He growls and lands on the Blok, Amy blinking in shock. He fires some arrows and the Blok spins around.

"Quit spinning, will ya?!"

He jumps and lands on the other Blok, jumping again and landing in front of them. They fire for Odd again and Amy backflips onto the path, running after the Bloks.

Aelita is still running from William, coming to a stop. She turns around and clenches her fists.

"No!" Ulrich cries out as he's driving over there with his Overbike. Aelita creates two pink orbs in her hands.

"Energy field!" She fires at it, which is of course blocked. Ulrich looks up as William turns around to see him. He jumps, the Overbike crashing into the Tarantula. It explodes right in front of Aelita as Ulrich lands on the ground.

"Ulrich!" Aelita points behind him and he turns around, only to get devirtualized by William.

"No!"

William smirks at Aelita evilly.

Ulrich lands on the ground of the scanner room. "_Ulrich, Yumi's not answering._ Something's not right," Jeremy explains in worry.

"Okay, I'm on it."

Yumi is still running from the bikers, ending up in the machine room. She jumps over a conveyor belt, a biker sliding to a stop near her. She crawls underneath the conveyor belt, looking to her left to see the other two approaching. The Japanese girl picks up some rope and holds it up in front of them. The two crash onto the floor, the leader firing electricity at a machine from above.

Yumi moves out of the way, jumping off his shoulders and landing at the stairs. She takes off, but he fires at her back, knocking her down.

"Odd, Amy, we've got it. I've reconstructed your separate DNA sequences. Now I just have to load it into the scanner's memory. It's done. Three seconds and you're back to normal. _All you have to do is devirtualize yourself_."

Odd looks at the two Bloks approaching as he sighs in relief. "Whew! It's about time. My paws are really killing me. And these guys won't let sleeping dogs lie!" He slowly gets onto his feet. "Don't miss me, guys. I can't wait to be my old self again."

But then...

"Oh no! Odd, get out of there!"

"Huh?" He looks up in confusion.

"But why?" Amy wonders and Odd stops the lasers with his shield.

"Shield!" He destroys the Bloks with their own lasers. "Hey, any more surprises on the way?" He scratches his ear with his foot.

"_Sorry, I didn't delete the old DNA data from the memory. If I did, it would've bugged._ Relax, we'll be back online in two wags of a dog's tail!"

"_Ugh, don't ever say that again_," Amy groans at this.

"_I should hope so, Einstein! How are the others doing_?"

"Things could be better. No news of Yumi and Aelita's alone fighting William and his pals."

"What?!" Amy's eyes widen in concern for her little sister.

"Everything's falling apart and you want us to hang out here scratching fleas?" He takes off in the direction of a way tower.

"Odd, I'm not done yet! It's too dangerous! Do you hear me, Odd?" Jeremy sighs as they don't listen. "You're about as obedient as Kiwi!"

"Hey, my sister is in trouble!" Amy protests to him. "I need all the help I can get!"

* * *

Yumi pants as she reaches the filing room, leaning against the door in exhaustion.

The bikers are running in her direction as she steps inside. She opens up the door and closes it behind her. She pulls a large cabinet over to the door, blocking them from coming in. She walks off as the leader tries to ram through the door. Yumi pants a little while hiding, the leader blasting through the door.

Ulrich arrives on the main floor, sliding into the room. He runs off to go find Yumi.

* * *

Odd and Amy appear in the ice sector, sliding to a stop. "Alright, where are William and Aelita?" Amy murmurs as she looks around. Odd uses his enhanced hearing. Aelita opens up her hand for an energy field and Odd follows the noise.

"Huh? You can hear her?" Amy calls out as she runs after him.

"I sure can, my lady!"

"Good dog boyfriend," She pets the top of his head and he barks.

Yumi runs off as the three bikers fire at her. She dives out of the way, hiding behind a beam.

William swings at Aelita, who ends up at the edge. She looks at the Digital Sea below, looking up at William. He fires an energy field, but he absorbs it with the sword and then it turns pink. She looks at him in shock as he deflects it back to her. He knocks her towards the Digital Sea.

"Aelita!" Jeremy cries out.

The three bikers lift up some cabinets to throw at Yumi, who ducks her head.

William walks towards the edge, but Aelita flies over him. He chases after her as she flies towards the tower. Since he can't catch up, he has another way.

"Super smoke!" He turns into smoke and lands in front of her just as she's about to enter the tower. A bark is heard and he turns to see Odd tackling William onto the ground. Odd growls at him just like a dog.

"_Odd, no! The DNA data is not even finished yet! Odd_!" Jeremy protests to him.

"Jeremy..." Amy closes her eyes. "We can't just sit by and let Aelita get hurt. That's the thing about us: we don't quit! So just hurry up and finish the program. And besides, he's not alone," The fairy steps up to Odd's side, gripping her spear.

"...Okay," He nods, getting to work as fast as he can.

William lifts his hand, bringing his sword back into his hand. Odd leaps towards William. "Odd!"

Aelita runs into the tower, William glaring at her. "No...!"

A whistle is heard and he turns around to get devirtualized by Amy's spear. "That's for pushing my sister!"

Odd arrives in the scanner room, walking up to the one next to him. "Kiwi?" He sees the whole family there in the scanner. "Oh, it is Odd's little diggity dog! Who's a good boy? Yeah!"

Kiwi and his family run up to him, licking his cheeks. "Ohh, I'm sorry, little guys," He pets Lichi, Pepper, and Bonbon on the head. "And you too, Kiki. I'm never doing that again!"

They bark up at him, the puppies tackling him onto the ground, surrounding his face. He laughs, hugging them all.

Yumi comes out of hiding, only to be lifted up in the air by the three bikers.

Aelita lands on the top pad, slowly stepping up to the interface. She presses her hand to sign in.

Yumi groans in pain, the leader gritting his teeth.

"Tower deactivated."

The bikers are turned back to normal, falling unconscious. Ulrich rushes over to Yumi. "Yumi, no!" He kneels to her, pulling her up. "Yumi, you okay?"

"A bit shaken, but not stirred..." She murmurs to him and he calls Jeremy.

"Jeremy, all's well with Yumi. Odd and the Kiwi family good too? That's great!"

"No time to celebrate, I'm afraid. Gotta move those bikers out before they wake up."

* * *

They put the bikers back on the bridge, where they wake up from consciousness to hear barking. "What's wrong with those dogs? Do they have rabies or what?" A biker notices the dog family foaming at the mouth.

"I dunno, but it's not worth taking any chances. Let's roll!"

The bikers take off, everyone smiling in amusement to see them leave. The two dog owners bend down to the family, petting all of them on the heads.

* * *

Next morning rolls around as Yumi walks up to her friends, waving. "Hi everyone! Sleep well?"

"No, I didn't sleep a wink! Odd was so glad to see Kiwi they played all night long! Not to mention he had the puppies with him!" Ulrich complains, hands on his hips.

"With Kiwi's talent and my idea of having him foam at the mouth with toothpaste, you've gotta admit that we're a great team! With the two of us, Ames, Kiki, and their babies, XANA won't stand a chance!"

"I wouldn't try that again," Jeremy warns him. "I still can't believe that they had puppies. Betcha they'll be as brainless as their dad."

Odd glares at him.

"By the way, Odd, do you always carry toothpaste with you?" Aelita asks him curiously.

"Yeah, you never know when you're gonna run into a pretty girl!"

Amy huffs, crossing her arms. "I-I mean, ever since Ames became my girlfriend, I used to. But now it's just a habit!"

"Idiot," Ulrich shakes his head at him. "His feet smell awful enough. Just imagine him with bad breath as well!"

The others laugh as Odd pouts at his friends and girlfriend. Sissi storms up to the group. "Yumi! I know it's because of you that William's all messed up, and I'm gonna prove it!"

"Ugh. Forgot about her," Amy mutters under her breath.

"Don't bother, I know."

"Aha!" Sissi pumps her fist.

"I just broke up with him this morning. Don't be surprised if he stays messed up for a long time, he took it pretty hard," She shrugs as they walk off.

"You kidding me?!" Sissi blushes in embarrassment over the whole thing, gritting her teeth.

"You know, I think there's still a little bit of Kiwi in me!" Odd comments to them.

"What, you still got a tail?"

"Oh, do not unzip your pants again," Amy steps back a bit, holding a hand in front of her face.

"No! His sense of smell. We're having beef stew and brussel sprouts for lunch today. I can smell it from here!"

They laugh as they're approaching the cafeteria right now!

**Angel: Before anyone asks, Kiwi is not neutered according to the wiki, so he still has his reproductive organs xD**


	84. A Lack of Goodwill

"It's a question of reflexes: you've gotta trust your instincts," Odd states to Aelita and Amy.

"Anything you can do, I can do better, Odd," She brags to him, Amy rolling her eyes in amusement.

"You wanna bet?" He challenges her.

"You're on," She smirks at him. Odd puts down a single fork and a meatball. "Okay, watch and weep!" He hits the fork and catches the meatball into his hand.

"Like I told you, my Odd-like sixth sense defies all limitations!"

The others laugh at him. "Okay, show-off, now admire my Aelita-like sixth sense," She places down a fork and a mandarin. She sends it flying behind Yumi and it lands right into Sissi's food, splattering it all over her. She lets out a scream as she stands up.

"Who did that?!" She demands to everyone, Nicolas giggling. Everyone except Aelita laughs.

"You win hands down! Even at the top of my form, I can never match that!"

"I've taught you well, young one," Amy winks at her sister proudly.

"Dunbar!" Jim walks right past their table. "Haven't you heard that forks aren't meant to play with, but to eat with? You hear me, Dunbar?"

William 2 has his back turned, the group gasping. They see a glass planted on his fork, which he sends flying into the air. Jim catches it into his hand before anything could happen.

"The glass is empty," He places it onto the table. "But that is the very last straw. You wanna play being an idiot? Well two can play at that game! Follow me!" He escorts the clone away.

"William's clone is not supposed to act like that!" Jeremy whispers to them.

"Oh, it doesn't matter if he gets punished. He's not even human!" Odd states and gets his leg kicked from underneath the table from his girlfriend. "Ow!"

"Just because of that fact doesn't mean he _should _be getting punished," She elaborates to him.

"That's just it. He's a polymorphic specter, driven by a basic, non-evolutionary behavior program," Jeremy explains to his friends.

"Could you say that in words?" Ulrich asks him, the blond rubbing his chin.

"Hmm, William's clone shouldn't be capable of taking any personal initiatives, like trying to imitate Odd's stupid stunts for example!"

"Then how do you explain it?" Yumi questions as she's sitting next to him.

"I can't explain it. That's why I'm worried...unless the..."

"The what?" Aelita raises a brow at him.

"Well, yesterday, I installed an upgrade for his software, something to improve his artificial intelligence. You know, something that would make him appear less stupid," Jeremy tells them.

"Hm, you think that imitating Odd makes him look less stupid?" Ulrich quips, the girls laughing at him.

"Well, we're gonna have to play it by ear," Jeremy chuckles a little. "I may have to delete the upgrade. All we need is for William Jr to start making waves..."

"Too late for that," Amy murmurs as she places a hand on her cheek.

* * *

"Anyway, I did improve the super scan," Jeremy states to everyone once lunch is over. "Thanks to the data you collected during your last Joan of the network, I was able to set things up so that it can now find other replicas."

"You mean you think there are more of them out there?" Ulrich questions curiously.

"For sure. In fact, I've already managed to localize a second one."

"A second one? How many replicas do you think there are?" Yumi asks in surprise.

"I have no idea, but I suppose if we destroy them all, we'll finally be rid of XANA for good."

"Fantastic!" Odd smiles at this. "I love it when you talk like that! When do we start?"

"Tonight," Jeremy smirks a little. Meanwhile, William 2 is getting chewed out nearby by both Jim and Mr. Delmas.

"I feel bad for William's clone," Aelita stares at the three. "It's my fault that he's in trouble with GI Jim."

"No reason to feel bad, Aelita," Jeremy turns to her. "It's like Odd said, he's totally artificial."

"Like I was not all that long ago," She opens her eyes.

"But that's not the same. An artificial clone has no feelings, Aelita."

The bell rings for class and they walk off. Jeremy turns to William 2 again. "At least...not for now."

"Hey Ames, can Kiwi see the puppies later?" Odd asks the brunette, holding her hand.

"Sure, I don't mind. At least I can finally make use of all the extra dog food Mom gave me just to feed the puppies..."

Milly and Tamiya had listened to the whole conversation nearby. "An artificial clone? Amy's dog and Odd's dog had puppies?"

"So William isn't really William, and there are three new dogs on campus. I don't understand."

Milly leans in towards her with a smile. "It means we've got scoops!"

* * *

Later that night, William 2 is in the library, writing down a bunch of sentences as his punishment. He puts the last paper in the stack.

"I don't have any more paper."

Jim puts down his magazine to stare at him. "Alright, that's enough for now, I guess..." He puts down his feet. "I sure hope you've learned a lesson today. Next time, you'll use your fork for eating! And not for catapulting your glass into your neighbor's mashed potatoes!" He scratches the side of his head. "What's more, using a glass is not only dumb, it's dangerous! A ball of bread is much more discreet. Take it from someone who knows."

"A ball of bread? Good idea!"

"Uh, no," Jim suddenly realizes what he just said. "Forget that. Definitely not with a ball of bread. If you do, I'll make you write 'I must never play with food! I have to catapult it into my mouth with my glass!' Uh...'I mean in my mouth with my mashed potatoes!' Anyway, you get the picture."

"Get the picture?" William looks around in confusion. "Where is it?"

"Huh?" Jim blinks at him, astounded.

* * *

Jeremy types away as his friends are already in Sector 5. "Ready to go? Okay, energize!" He taps enter and one by one, they land in their stations. Aelita takes hold of the controls.

"Replica here I come!" Odd declares once he's in his Skid. "Odd the best, the greatest, the mean, lean, XANA-breaking machine! And a stud of a boyfriend, I must add!"

"Oh lord," Amy rolls her eyes.

"Lean sounds right. I don't know about the rest. Don't forget who saved you from the Digital Sea last week," Ulrich points out.

"And who took out those Megatanks with talent and style? It was Odd, Odd the Magnificent! _Hey, I like that. Odd the Magnificent. Ames, can you start calling me that from now on?_"

"No thanks, sounds like a mouthful," She crosses her arms. Jeremy just smiles in amusement.

"I got devirtualized thanks to Odd the Lame-o, and if it hadn't been for me, you would-"

"Well, well, aren't we being sensitive today?" Odd wonders as the Skid takes off. "Listen, if you wanna be a hero, I can give you lessons, but not everyone has the right stuff. The main thing is staying humble!"

"That's about all boys can talk about. I'm the greatest at this, you can't beat me at that," Yumi states in annoyance.

"Try hearing that on a daily basis," Amy jerks a thumb to herself as her holographic face appears in front of Yumi. "You're not dating Odd Della Robbia."

"That's because Ulrich isn't humble enough to admit that he can't even hold a candle to me! Even though he does it better. Nobody can snag Odd the Magnificent from his beautiful little Ames."

Amy sighs, shaking her head. If she could blush, she would.

"Ha ha, very funny. Okay Odd the Magnificent, let's check out the results at the end of the day," Ulrich brags back to him.

"Hey, cut the hot air and let me concentrate, okay guys?" Aelita asks in exasperation.

"Hey, Odd's the one who started it," Amy defends herself.

Aelita drives the Skid into an open tunnel and to the Digital Sea. "Stabilizers, online and check. Primary access, clear. Laser generators, online. Here we go," She moves the ship into the Digital Sea, and they dive into the network.

"Holo web system online," Jeremy looks to the map on his right. "Aelita, I'm sending you the replica's coordinate."

"_Gotcha, Jeremy._"

They reach the hub in no time. "High speed acceleration in 3 seconds. 3...2...1."

They disappear inside the hub.

* * *

Milly and Tamiya lean against the wall, ready to confront William 2. Milly hears the door and nudges her friend, who holds up the camera to the approaching clone.

"William," The red-haired girl approaches him with a notepad in hand. "We're doing a story on school punishment for the Kadic News. Do you think Jim throws his weight around too much?"

"At least 240 pounds, which is too heavy for his height," William 2 comments, to Tamiya's confusion.

"That's not what I meant. I meant that he can be...a real windbag sometimes. You get my drift now, William?" She elaborates, but he still doesn't seem to get it.

"No, sorry, but I can't even feel a breeze."

Tamiya grunts, lowering the camera. "Are you an idiot or something?"

"That's a little hard to explain..."

* * *

The ship approaches the replica's entrance. "Replica straight ahead. Jeremy, you found it within a micro bit!" Aelita compliments him.

"_Great. The improvements on the super scan seem to be effective!"_

The Skid stops in front of the door and Aelita presses her hand to the palm reader. "Digital key operational."

The ship's light goes to the entrance.

"Your localization program works like a charm!" Yumi states with a smile. "At this rate, we'll be able to wipe XANA out in no time!"

"_Oh, no big deal_," Jeremy replies as the door is opened. "All I had to do was reconfigure the course of the alternate algorithm based on the data that you recovered from the first replica."

"Sounds simple to you, but it's Greek to me!" Odd comments, earning a laugh from Amy.

"There's only one sector, the desert."

The Skid spins around as it arrives in the replica, going up to the platform. "_Tower at 11 o'clock_."

The ship moves over some rocks. "I see it!" Aelita states as it's at the edge of the sector.

"_Good. Dock the Skid while I activate the tower for our own use so we can carry out the teleportation_."

"It's as good as done!" Aelita informs as the ship is flying towards the tower. The reach the tower a few seconds later. "Docking," She quickly taps the palm reader to secure the ship to the tower.

* * *

"We're not gonna get anything out of him, he's been like a vegetable for months now!" Tamiya tells her friend in the hall.

"Leave this to me, I'm gonna bluff him out!" Milly smirks, walking up to the boy. "Wait a second, William. I wanted to tell you how much you hurt me by not answering my letter." He stares at her in confusion, wondering just what she was talking about. "Well, I know that usually, guys make the first move, and since I decided to tell you how I felt."

"What?!" Tamiya exclaims at her. "You wrote him a love letter without telling me you did?"

"Tamiya, I told you I was gonna bluff him!" Milly glances at her friend.

"I'm really sorry, Milly. It wasn't me who got your letter. It must have been William."

Milly smiles widely at the indirect outcome.

* * *

Odd throws some rocks as Yumi is standing nearby. Amy is sitting next to Odd. "Too bad Ulrich's been teleported already, he won't be able to admire the exploits of Odd the Magnificent and weep with jealousy!" He brags to them.

"Mm, yes, even though last time, he did save your neck, didn't he?" Yumi points out.

"Hey, come on! Don't you start now!"

"We should be calling you Odd the Lazy!" Amy quips and the girls laugh at her joke.

"Et tu, Amelia?" He pouts towards his girlfriend.

"Calm down, you guys. Save your strength for XANA and his pals. I just spotted Aelita and Ulrich, they're in New Mexico right now!"

Amy whips around to the clouds upon hearing it. "Wait...New Mexico?"

"What's wrong?" Yumi asks her as she places her hands on her hips.

"Nothing really wrong, per say...it's just that it's where Jackson was when he was in the CIA overlooking security for their supercomputer there. I, uh...hacked into his files one night out of curiosity and found his discharge file."

"So that must've been where he was immune to the Return to the Past!" Jeremy snaps his fingers. "He must've done it to himself right before he quit."

Ulrich and Aelita peek over rocks to see the laboratory up ahead. Ulrich gets onto his feet, pressing his back against something. He smiles once he sees something up ahead.

"Looks something like a military base. With no one here, it shouldn't be too hard."

"You're right, Ulrich. It is a military base, and it's obviously been abandoned. I've located a plan of it on the internet, so I can guide you. Amy, do you remember when this place was deserted?"

"I just know it was before Jackson's daughter was born," She shrugs a little.

* * *

"XANA?" Milly asks slowly as William 2 stupidly told them everything. "Who is this XANA?"

"I really don't know, do you know him?" He asks cluelessly as they're all in his room.

"But...it was you who just told us that XANA captured William, so who are you, then?" Milly points to him with her pen.

"Me? William."

"Then I guess there must be two Williams?" She asks in confusion.

"No. There's just one, and that's me. The other one is a prisoner of XANA."

"If the other William's a prisoner, we should call the police, huh?" At the back of her mind, she was wondering why no one reported this.

"Certainly not. Jeremy and the Lyoko Warriors are doing all they can to set him free."

"Lyoko Warriors? Who are they?" Tamiya's more confused than ever.

"Listen, uh, if I'm gonna forgive the other William about the letter, I'm gonna need some proof that you're not making all of this up," Milly states to the clone.

"Some proof? I don't have any...but I can ask Jeremy to show you some in the computer lab at the factory."

Milly smirks a little towards Tamiya.

* * *

"_I think I found it_," Ulrich and Aelita stop walking to listen. "_In front of you, on your left. At the foot of a hanger, there's an elevator that'll take you to the underground part of the base_."

"Place is really weird. I bet we're in Area 51," Ulrich replies to the pink-haired girl.

"The base at Roswell?" Aelita asks with an amused smile. "The one with all those aliens? No, it wasn't the same at all."

Ulrich scoffs as she takes the lead. He follows after her. "Wait a second, how do you know what Area 51 looks like?"

"I don't, I was just kidding!" She tells him.

Odd, Amy, and Yumi are standing guard in front of the tower. Yumi is suddenly on alert, Odd standing up. Up ahead are Hornets, lots of them.

"Here comes the welcoming committee," Odd points his arm at them. "On your mark, ready..." Yumi pulls out her fans as Amy's hands glow. The Hornets open fire on them and they separate, flipping out of the way. Yumi dodges the lasers with her fans, lowering her hands. She looks behind her as they fly right past.

"Hey, he didn't say go yet!" She calls out after them.

"Wow! Utterly polite, little beasts," Odd fires his laser arrow. "Didn't even introduce themselves! Einstein, we could use a couple of taxis!"

"And fast!" Amy backflips from a Hornet.

"Okay, right away."

The scanners show up on his screen. "What's going on? How come I got an activated scanner? Did anyone just get devirtualized?"

"_No, why?" _Amy asks as he taps a button. The three vehicles appear.

"Wasn't me!" Odd denies while running over. "Why leave when it's just getting interesting?"

He fires again and a Hornet explodes in mid-air. He jumps and lands on his Overboard.

"It wasn't me either!" Yumi calls out as she jumps using the tower, tossing her fans. They hit the top of the Hornets and they land on the ground, sliding to a stop. Amy leaps into her OverRunner, revving it up and taking off at a fast speed. She looks up at a Hornet and tosses her spear, defeating it easily.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd defeats one of them on the floor. Yumi jumps over the other one that slid past her, tossing a fan. It explodes while still sliding. The girl lands in front of her Overboard, catching her fan.

"If it wasn't us, who was it?" She couldn't help but wonder.

"I have no idea, but it sure isn't someone we wanna meet!"

William was actually the one in the scanner. He opens his XANA-filled eyes as Jeremy uses his camera to zoom in on his face.

"William?!" He slides back in shock upon seeing him.

"William?!" Yumi exclaims as she's to the left of Amy, Odd on her right. "William's in the factory?!"

"_It sure looks like it. I'll handle him_."

Yumi tosses a fan, destroying only one Hornet. "Were you expecting company? Did you stock up on potato chips, soda, magazines for him to read?"

"He's not coming up here. He's going down, to the supercomputer!" Jeremy notices where the elevator is going. Odd fires up ahead to a Hornet, watching it explode. "_He must have come to destroy it!_"

"What?!" Amy screeches as she follows after Odd. "If he does that, then all of us will be wiped out! That's even worse than being pushed into the Digital Sea!"

"Oh no, here comes trouble!" Odd flies away.

Ulrich opens a door, and they enter an operating room. Despite the place being abandoned, this room is working to create dozens of hips. The duo walk up to the conveyor belt.

"What is this place?"

"Jeremy...Jeremy?" Aelita asks, but gets no answer.

The three regroup in front of the tower. "We have to get back to the factory!" Odd insists to them. "Einstein, are you there? Can you hear us?"

"There's no need to yell. He's probably trying to figure out a way to keep William busy. Besides, all of us are stuck here."

"I tell you, we've gotta go!" Odd tells her again.

"I know you wanna help Jeremy because he can't face William on his own," Amy places a hand on his shoulder. "But no matter how much we want to, we can't go back."

"Odd...she's right. Jeremy hasn't teleported Ulrich and Aelita yet. We can't do it for him from here, we can't join them out there, we have to protect the Skid at all costs! So we wait." She doesn't like it anymore than they do.

"I hate waiting!" Odd clenches a fist. "There must be something we can do!"

"For Jeremy, no," Amy shakes her head. "Even if their teleportation runs out before it's too late, it'll take forever to get back to Lyoko and to devirtualize ourselves."

"...There is one thing: defend our position. Look," Yumi looks up ahead as Tarantulas approach the tower.

"Good. Thanks to our friends, at least we won't be bored," Odd clenches a fist.

William arrives in the supercomputer room as the battery activates. He smirks evilly until the door opens behind him.

"I had no idea you were into computers, William!"

Jeremy holds a crowbar and swings it towards him. William catches with an evil grin. He just laughs at the blonde, swinging him around. Jeremy eventually loses his grip and hits the wall roughly. He falls onto the floor.

"Whoa, check it out. It's like a scene from Executioner 2," Ulrich comments to Aelita. "And it smells like Odd's feet in here."

"What worries me the most is that we've lost contact with Jeremy..." Aelita murmurs in concern. "We have to find a way to get back to the Skid and then return to the factory."

"Abort the mission?" He asks in surprise. "Look around you, Aelita. XANA's putting something really serious together."

"I don't like this anymore than you do, but Jeremy must need our help. Something's wrong."

"Well anyway, if we do decide to abort, there's only one way for us to get back to the Skid..." Ulrich looks towards the ground.

William grabs Jeremy by the collar. "And now, you're going to witness the total destruction of the supercomputer, and the end of your little gang of friends!" He threatens the boy just as William 2, Milly, and Tamiya arrive.

"Hello Jeremy," William 2 speaks up. "Uh, do you have any proof that you could lend me?" The two boys stay silent and then he notices the situation. "Get your hands off of Jeremy!"

William throws Jeremy away and the clone tackles him to the opposite side of the wall. The two girls look towards the blond.

"Hi girls, what are you doing here?" He asks in pain.

The two Williams wrestle. "Milly, I wanna go home!" Tamiya says in fear.

"Which one of them is the real William?"

"It's very simple. The real one..." Jeremy gets onto his feet. "Is a bad guy." He tries to stand, but is too weak at the moment. "Listen, you two girls have to go back to the computer lab and tell the others that they've gotta get back here and fast."

"Did you say the others?" Milly questions in confusion.

"Alright, I'm outta here," Tamiya backs up towards the elevator.

* * *

One of the three Tarantulas stands up, firing at the trio. Yumi uses her telekinesis, throwing Odd's board over to them.

"Oh no, my Overboard!"

She knocks it into a Tarantula, sending it into the Digital Sea. "Another one bites the dust!" She moves it back to Odd.

"Don't ever do that without telling me!" He inspects his vehicle. "I hope you didn't mess up the paint job...

The other two Tarantulas continue attacking them. They jump back into their vehicles, Odd and Yumi flying over their heads. They look towards Amy, who spins her car around to the side and drifts right past them, her hair flying. She winks at them as she continues going forward, following the duo into a wall of rocks.

The two Williams jump onto the ground, William trying to punch his clone. William 2 tries the same, and they tackle each other to the wall.

Tamiya arrives in the lab, shocked at the sight. Nevertheless, she runs up to the computer and lands in the chair. She sees the headphone and puts it on.

"Um, hello? Anyone out there? _Hello_?"

"Huh? Einstein?" Odd looks up, confused at the voice all of a sudden. "What's with that voice of yours, you catch a cold?"

A laser hits his Overboard and he falls off it. Amy narrows her eyes, speeding up to him and catching him into the back seat.

"No, uh, it's...it's Tamiya," She says slowly.

"Tamiya?! Oh," Odd rubs his head.

"Wait, Tamiya is in the factory?! How?" Amy asks, a laser hitting her OverRunner. They crash onto the ground as the Tarantulas approach.

Yumi flies over, her Overwing getting hit. She bumps into the wall before landing on the ground. Her vehicle is destroyed once it touches the ground. Yumi takes off into a run.

"Tamiya, what are you doing at the factory?" She asks as a Tarantula chases after her. "Well, that's one heck of a surprise! Where's Jeremy?"

"_Jeremy told me to tell you to come back right away, uh, whoever you are_..."

"We're on our way!"

"Tamiya, is everything okay?" Amy questions as the duo get onto their feet. "You don't sound like yourself."

"_The, uh, Williams are fighting, and it's scary_..."

"Fun's over, we're going home," Yumi joins their side as Odd fires at the Tarantula up ahead.

"It's your lucky day, Tarantula! Hasta la vista!"

They run in the opposite direction, running right past the Tarantula that was behind them. It turns around and follows after them.

"Did you hear that? If Tamiya's in the factory, we've got a big problem. Let's go," Aelita tells Ulrich.

"Okay."

"On three," She points her hands at him as he reaches for his sword. "One, two-"

A few seconds later, they arrive in the Skid on the replica. The trio reach the ship. "Ulrich and Aelita might have been teleported!"

"Yoo hoo, anybody home?" Odd calls out as a laser hits Yumi's leg. "Those Tarantulas stick to you like glue!"

"Annoying little bugs," Amy grunts as they dodge the projectiles.

The real William is thrown into the elevator as William 2 presses the button. "That oughta hold you, William bad guy!"

"Good riddance!" Milly glares to where he left.

"No, not at all! He's going up to the lab. He can still mess with the programming and get rid of the others," Jeremy explains to them. "The trap door. Go on, William. You have to stop him before he starts doing some real harm!"

"Yeah!" The clone winks with a thumbs up before jumping onto the battery and going through the ceiling.

Aelita slowly starts to wake up in the skid.

The doors open as Tamiya turns to the real William. "Oh, which one are you? The good guy or the bad guy?" She has no way of knowing since they both look exactly the same.

"The good guy!" XANA William smirks evilly, stepping towards her.

"Odd, we're on board the Skid. Ready to take off," Aelita says as Odd jumps over a Tarantula. He jumps over it and fires a Laser Arrow at him, destroying the monster.

"Yumi, make it fast!" Odd calls out.

"Coming," However, when she looks to them, that gives the Tarantula the chance to devirtualize her.

"Embarking Odd. Embarking Amy."

The duo back up from the Tarantula, Odd standing in front of her. Just before they disappear, Amy creates a hole underneath the monster, and he falls into the Digital Sea.

"Okay, everyone's on board. Next stop Lyoko!" Aelita pulls the lever.

Tamiya is standing next to XANA William, having fell for his act. She looks at him, still a bit skeptical as he then disables the scanners.

Yumi stands in her scanner, which opens only just a little. "Thanks for the welcome," She mutters, trying pull the doors apart, but they won't budge. Tamiya eyes XANA William, backing away.

"I think you're the bad guy and if you think you're gonna wreck everything, you'll have to deal with me." She kicks and punches the air. He turns around with a smirk, hitting her with a blast that knocks her into the wall.

"I don't have to deal with you, but I do have to wreck everything!"

"There's the hub," The Skid finally arrives back to Lyoko's hub. "Ready for high-speed acceleration." The Skid turns vertical.

"Ready."

"Whenever you want, princess!" Odd replies back.

"Ready," Amy reports to her. "I just hope it isn't too late."

They teleport and disappear through the hub.

The trap door opens as William 2 crawls inside. XANA William immediately notices him and continues his work. William 2 jumps towards him and he taps enter. The clone completely disappears into pixels right in front of him.

"You're nothing, just an insignificant bunch of digital dust!"

Tamiya hugs herself in fear. The battery starts to emit smoke.

"Tell me that's normal, and everything is okay!" Milly turns to Jeremy.

"No, not normal. The cooling chamber. It's overheating, and...the supercomputer is gonna reach a combustible, critical mass! Double fail. You have to stop William."

Her mouth opens in fear.

The Skid has reached the Digital Sea. "Do you see what I see?" Odd wonders as everything turns red.

"Yeah, it's too quiet."

"Retro brakes," Aelita stops the Skid as a Shark swims in front of them. "I really didn't feel like fishing...bombs away!" She releases the three Nav Skids and they fly off. The two Sharks fire at them. Ulrich quickly spins out of the way. The projectile just nearly misses Odd and Amy's Nav Skids.

"Hey! Keep to your right, Sunday driver!" Odd calls out.

"Nothing like a good workout!" Amy shrugs as the three separate. Another Shark arrives as they split up. One of them fires at Odd as he moves out of the way.

"I've got one stuck to me! That's worse than forgetting your candy bar in your jeans during a heat wave!"

Amy rolls her eyes.

"Just another groupie, crazy about Odd the Magnificent," Ulrich jokes back with a chuckle.

"Guys, enough with the jokes. We have to hurry back," Amy shakes her head. Ulrich turns his Nav Skid around.

"Torpedo!" Ulrich fires one and it explodes in front of him. "Odd, higher up! I can get him..."

"Only because it's you!" Odd states, dodging the attacks from the Shark. He turns around and goes upwards. Ulrich zips past him.

"Over here, cutie pie. Now!" He fires his torpedoes and hits the Shark dead on. "How's it going, Amy?"

"Just give me a second..." She murmurs, focusing on the Shark still trailing her. She spins the Nav Skid right over the Shark's head. "Frostbite!" A spark of ice hits the Shark, freezing it in place. Then it explodes and she flies back to the Skid.

"Well, that takes care of that! Aren't you tired of me saving you all the time?"

"Everyone into the Skid, ASAP! We've already lost a lot of time," Aelita warns them as the two return back.

Yumi has gotten the doors to move a few inches, and she finally gets them to the point where she can step out. She falls onto the floor, the scanner closing behind her.

The Skid arrives in the desert sector. "_Jeremy, we're on Lyoko_."

XANA William stares at the screen with a smirk as the Skid enters the hangar. "We're starting the docking procedure."

The Skid slowly comes to a stop, being reattached. The four disembark from the Skid onto their platforms.

"Jeremy's still not answering," Aelita shrugs cluelessly at the three.

"Well, there aren't a whole lot of ways to devirtualize ourselves," Odd points his arm at Aelita.

"Amy, you'll have to devirtualize yourself just a few seconds later," Aelita tells her.

"Let's just get this over with," Amy sighs a bit, pointing her hand at Ulrich.

XANA William chuckles a little. "The cavalry's finally here! Only too late as usual."

"Oh yeah?" Milly asks from behind as she arrives. "We'll see about that!"

"Be careful, Milly!" Tamiya calls out to her. "He disintegrated the other William just by pushing a button!"

XANA William narrows his eyes at the girl.

Yumi looks up to see her friends arriving, but Odd's is more slower. Aelita quickly steps out so that Amy can devirtualize herself.

"What'd you do to my scanner?" Odd accuses Yumi, who narrows her eyes at him.

"No time for small talk," Ulrich states as Amy arrives.

"Jeremy, are you okay? We're all in the scanner room now," Aelita speaks up, but he's still not in the lab.

"It's six against one, so just give up!" Milly jerks a thumb behind her. William starts a delayed virtualization, standing up. He chuckles at Milly, who steps back a bit in alarm. He simply leaves her alone, jumping into the hatch. Tamiya looks to her left as the others arrive, ready to deal with XANA William.

"The Lyoko Warriors!" Tamiya points to them.

"Go on, run away, go back to where you came from!" Milly points at him.

"William's set up a delayed virtualization. He's going back to the network. What's more, he managed to cut the cooling system," Aelita gets to work as Amy bends down to the girls.

"Are you two okay?"

"We're fine," Tamiya groans a bit. Aelita taps a key.

"But I managed to stop the process in time."

* * *

"How long have you been fighting against XANA?" Milly has a little interview with Jeremy. They found him in the supercomputer room, and he was fine.

"We began almost two years ago," Jeremy answers her.

"And does this happen a lot?" Tamiya asks next.

"Are you kidding?" She turns her camera to Odd. "It happens all the time! We fight XANA almost every day!"

"Well, not Jeremy, anyway. He refuses to step foot in Lyoko ever again," Amy smirks towards the genius, who glares at her slightly.

"Wow! This has gotta be the best scoop we've ever had!" Milly writes this down. "Odd, Amy, how do you feel about being grandparents to Kiwi's puppies?"

"You know about that?!" They ask in unison with shocked looks on their faces.

"Hold on a sec," Jeremy has a smug look. "Let me tell you one last secret," He glances to the others as they smile in amusement.

"Oh great, let's hear it!"

"The reason you're not gonna remember any of this is...return to the past now!" He taps the button and everything is engulfed in white.

"I know what you're thinking," Odd says once the day has been reset. "But even if it's really tempting, i won't do it again." He eats his peeled tangerine.

"A wise decision, Odd. Especially if William's clone is into imitating your stunts! We sure don't wanna draw any attention to him. And in the meantime, I'll try to create a new upgrading program."

"Are you sure you wanna erase the old one?" Aelita asks skeptically as Amy looks around, making sure that no one is listening in this time. "The replica did fight for you against the real William."

"Yes, I know, but um...actually, when I created it, I used some pre-existing programs that were already in the supercomputer. They'd been created by Franz Hopper. I did it to speed things up, but...I think they might have been some of the same ones that developed the personality of, uh...XANA."

"Oh, nice one, Frank-Einstein! Better find William ASAP or we'll have a XANA-stein Jr on our hands!" Odd comments, only to get elbowed in the arm by Amy. "Ouch!"

"Or much worse," Yumi frowns a little. "A human being."

"That could never happen! Without that upgrade, William's clone will never be more than a program!"

William 2 raises a fist over his fork, Jeremy blinking in shock. But he simply turns around and gives them a thumbs up.


	85. Distant Memory

**Angel: Happy April Fools...but I wish the next thing I'm saying was a joke, and it's really not (I already pulled an April Fools prank on another story anyway). I have the next episode finished, but besides that, I haven't even started episode 84 yet. So...next week I will be uploading on Fridays, and Fridays only for the time being. I'm falling a bit behind because of schoolwork and remote learning -_- I think it's because teachers are changing a lot of things in my classes around to the point where I've just been doing mostly hw and not writing. There is no way I'll get Guided Missile done by next Monday, because right now I'm working on a research paper that is due Sunday, and I need to focus on finishing that this week.**

**I promise I'll work as quick as I can to get episodes done, because I only have 12 more left to write and then the story will be over...**

_On a snowy day in the mountains, a little girl was heard laughing, rolling a snowball. "Look at my giant snowball, Mommy!"_

"_Stay near the house, darling," Her mother called out. A car pulled up to the house, Ms. Smith stepping out with a brown-haired girl with pink streaks in her bangs dressed in a burgundy coat, pink pants, and little burgundy snow boots._

"_Amy!"_

"_Aelita!" _

_The two little girls ran up to each other and hugged. "Come help me with my snowman!"_

_Ms. Smith looked up ahead to the two adults, smiling weakly._

"_Well done, my angels."_

_Aelita giggled as Amy helped her. They suddenly heard a wolf howl, growing scared. "Mommy! Daddy!"_

"_Mommy!"_

_They turned around to see two men in black suits staring at them. "Help!"_

"_Aelita!" Aelita's mother was taken away. "Aelita!"_

_Aelita and Amy ran towards her. "Mommy! Mommy!"_

"_Aelita..." Her mother got taken away in a van._

"_Mommy!"_

_The van drove away, and Aelita tripped. Amy bent down to her as she cried. Ms. Smith appeared out of nowhere, scooping up Amy._

"_Amelia, are you okay?"_

"_Yes, but..." She pointed up ahead to where the van left. _

"_You could have been kidnapped! Come, let's get away from this place," Ms. Smith ran off with her daughter._

"_Aelita!"_

"_Amy!" The little girl cried out, now all alone with the wolf..._

Aelita is crying in her sleep while holding Mr. Puck, wiping away her eyes with the blanket. She turns to look up at the ceiling, Amy opening her eyes.

"You saw that too, huh...?"

"...Yeah," Amy lets out a sigh. They hear barks and Amy stands up to let the four dogs out.

* * *

"What? You're still having nightmares?" Yumi asks in surprise as they're walking in the park. She thought that after they went to Sector Five, that those would be long gone.

"Well yeah, they keep coming every now and then. And what's more, they're always the same for us," Aelita explains as Odd, Amy, and Jeremy have bigger bags. "But don't worry, Jeremy, I'm used to them!"

"No, Aelita, it's not your nightmares I'm worried about," He tells her, glancing away.

"Is this about the break again?" Amy asks him knowingly and he doesn't answer.

"I told you that it's no big deal! Yumi won't be far for the holidays, and I'm staying here to keep an eye on XANA, so there's no need to worry!"

"I don't care about XANA!" He exclaims at her. "I just don't like leaving you here all alone. I'm gonna tell my dad I'm staying here."

"No you're not!" She argues back, crossing her arms. "You should spend the holidays with your families. For me, it's...it's not the same thing..."

Yumi glances at her. Her father is...well, MIA, and they don't know what really happened to her mother...

"At holiday time, my dad gets more stressed out than ever, which makes my mom hysterical. I think I'd rather stay here," Ulrich comments as they reach the entrance of the school. "Or better yet, go live with Mr. Smith for a weekend!"

"Yeah, me too. My sisters drive me nuts. Last year they locked me in the bathroom all night just because they thought it was funny!" Odd pouts a little, Amy patting his back.

"They did? But...that's even worse than my kid brother," Yumi couldn't help but feel sympathetic for him. "I thought they were older than you, Odd."

"They are," Odd shrugs a little, "And they're a lot bigger than me too, that's my problem."

They laugh at the statement.

"Speaking of families, where are you going for the holidays, Amy?" Yumi asks curiously as she looks at the brunette. "With your family, things aren't exactly going to be...festive."

"Yeah..." Amy rubs her neck sheepishly, clearing her throat. "Mom wanted me to make a mature decision about this, and I decided that I'm going to Odd's place for the holidays."

"Whoa, meeting the family? That's a big deal," Ulrich comments, raising an eyebrow. Odd has met hers, but now she's meeting his entire family.

"Really?" Amy stares at him. She didn't think of it as a serious thing...

"Uh, yes. They could change your relationship in a significant way," Jeremy gestures to Odd and Amy.

"Ah, don't sweat it," Odd places an arm around Amy. "They'll love you, and my sisters will probably go nuts over you."

"Are you sure?" She asks skeptically. "You've told me about them before...I'm not sure if I'll get along with them."

"Sure I'm sure! You're the most popular girl in school. You're friendly, helpful, and sweet, just my type," Odd winks at her playfully.

"She'll give Sissi a run for her money," Ulrich jokes, causing all of them to laugh this time. "If you don't mind me asking, Amy, what were your past holidays like?"

"Same as they used to be with Mr. Smith: work, work, work. Well, at least that's how it was in the past. He…he hasn't been adjusting to his life well," She glances away.

"How so? Doesn't he still have his job?" Yumi asks her.

"Yeah, it's the one thing he's got going for him, but he's practically out on the streets half the time looking for scraps. I heard from my mom that if this keeps up, he might get suspended. He can't be fired because he got tenure," She rolls her eyes. "He has to still pay for child support and all, but that's not cheap."

"Just goes to show how downhill it's gone for him…" Aelita murmurs, getting looks from the others. "I'm not saying it's okay what he's done: the guy's kind of a jerk and has high expectations. But think about it, he's got no family, he lives alone, his only child that he raised has moved on, his staff and his house are gone. He's got no one for the holidays. I know he's not really your father, but…maybe next year you should talk to him."

"… I have nothing to say to him now…" Amy closes her eyes. "He'll never change, sis. He was trying to get me to stop living my life in my own terms… I can't live the way he wants me to." She tugs at the strap from her bag, biting her lip.

"Hey Ulrich, isn't that your dad's car over there?" Aelita points up ahead. He looks to the car, his mother waving from inside. Mr. Stern is standing outside the car.

"Well, the show must go on...see you soon, everybody," He waves to them.

"May the force be with you!" Odd gives him a high-five.

"Good luck. Your dad is just as bad as mine," Amy gestures to where the man is.

"See ya," Jeremy tells him.

"It's not all that long," Yumi adds in.

"Try and have some fun."

He walks across the street to the car as a yellow car pulls up. "There's my father," Jeremy picks up his bag. "Aelita, are you sure that you-"

"Come on now, hurry up. I won't be all alone, I've got the Kiwi family for company!" Aelita smirks a little towards the couple.

"Okay, goodbye for now," He waves to them as he walks off, Odd standing in front of Aelita.

"Alright, speaking of Kiwi, don't feed him any cheese at all. It gives him gas, and that's more powerful than your energy fields," Odd tells her.

"As for Kiki and the puppies, don't give them anything fattening all the time. Trust me, Odd regretted it immediately," Amy glances at her boyfriend.

Aelita laughs as she gets a big hug from her sister. "I'll call you when we arrive, okay?"

The pink-haired girl nods with a smile and watches them walk off together towards the airport. "Thanks for the tip!"

"Hi Dad!" Jeremy waves to the man.

"So long!" Odd waves to them as he walks down the street with Amy. The two cars take off.

Ulrich sits in the back quietly, looking out the window.

"I see you're still hanging around with that gang of good-for-nothings," Mr. Stern briefly glances at him.

"And I see you forgot your happy pill again," Ulrich retorts back.

"Ulrich!" Mrs. Stern warns him. He stays quiet, looking back outside.

"Your friends seem very nice, Jeremy," Mr. Belpois states in the car with his son.

"Uh, yeah, I really like them a lot. They're my good buddies. I'm just glad Amy's not with her parents, she could use a break from them."

"That poor girl," The man frowns a little. "I can only hope her father doesn't try to contact her. But that girl with the pink hair, is that Aelita? The one you're always talking about? She's very pretty! And I get the impression she likes you!"

Jeremy blushes with a small smile.

"I better go," Yumi turns to Aelita. "I promised my mom I'd help her clean up."

"Okay, yeah, see you, Yumi!" The pink-haired girl waves to her.

"Aelita, are you sure you don't wanna spend the holidays with us? I'll call my parents and tell them-"

"No, I'd just be in the way. And besides, I could use a little time alone..." Aelita looks away, Yumi nodding in understanding.

The girl smiles weakly. "Well...if you need anything, you know my number," Yumi holds up her phone.

"Okay! Have a nice holiday!" Aelita wishes her friend, watching her leave.

* * *

Aelita walks around campus as most people have gone home at this point. She walks back into her dorm room, smiling at the Kiwi family reunited, but sleeping. She pets all of them as she sits on her bed, taking her Mister Puck doll into her hands.

"_Oh, he's so cute, I love him! What should I call him?"_

"_Wow, a violin!" Amy clapped at the instrument in front of her._

"_How about Mister Puck? It's the name of an elf!"_

"_Do you like them?" The mother asked softly, the two parents getting hugs from the girls._

"_Oh yes, thank you, Mommy!"_

"_Thank you, Daddy!" Amy smiled at her father._

Aelita strokes the cheek of her doll, taking a deep breath.

* * *

Michael is whistling as he continues driving. Jeremy looks out the window. "You've been very quiet, son. Is there anything wrong?"

"Uh, no," Jeremy speaks up, wondering how long it was before he noticed. "I-It's nothing, I was just thinking of something else."

"Oh," He smiles in amusement.

"You disappoint me again as usual, Ulrich!" Mr. Stern scolds as they're stuck in traffic. "I thought after the talk we had last month that you would try at least to make some kind of effort! Instead there's been no improvement at all!"

Ulrich looks to a little girl making faces at him from the car to his right. "Plus, all those unexcused absences!"

Ulrich laughs and Mr. Stern thinks it's towards him. "And you find that amusing?"

He squeezes his eyes shut.

* * *

Aelita is leaning against the wall reading a book. The three puppies are playing with the new toys that the Lyoko Warriors bought them just before they left. Aelita's computer turns on and she looks away from her book as she hears familiar music.

_Franz played the piano at the Hermitage, turning towards her._

It's the same melody from the computer...she gasps as a chat box comes up. It's Franz Hopper himself...

_Aelita?_

"Daddy?" She sits in front of her computer. "Where are you?" She starts messaging him, and the next thing she reads has her in shock. "Expecting you here on Lyoko? You're not on the network?"

Before she can find out more, her computer starts bugging up. "Oh, rats! It bugged up!" She snaps her fingers, turning towards Kiwi.

"Take care of them, Kiwi," She closes the door behind her as she leaves the room.

* * *

Mr. Ishiyama is reading a newspaper. "Yumi, could you please give me a hand in here?" Mrs. Ishiyama calls out.

"As soon as I'm finished calling my friend," She replies back, deciding to check on Aelita. Mrs. Ishiyama appears in the doorway regardless.

"Your phone call can wait! I need you to help me right now! If not, I'll never finish all the housework in time!"

"But Mom, you've got a whole week to do it," Yumi protests to her.

"Yes, and as usual, your father's not going to lift a finger, so a week may not be enough!"

"Huh?" He looks up from his paper. "What'd I do this time?"

Yumi groans at this and stands up, walking away.

* * *

Amy and Odd are almost to the airport. "You know, you didn't need to carry my bag all the way there," She looks to him. "You don't have to do that just because it's your family."

"Oh, that's not why. It's because I don't want my favorite girl to stress herself before meeting them."

Amy chuckles at him and suddenly grows silent. She wished that she could have known Franz better...but she knew better than to hope. It's been months and nothing from him...she started to remember that she used to play the violin, and that her mother stopped her from going after a few years. Too bad she couldn't remember why...

"Something wrong?"

"Hm?" She looks up at Odd again. "Oh, uhh...well, it's about my dad."

He says nothing as he lets her continue speaking. "I don't know if it's because of the holidays, but...I remember little things about him and myself. Like that I played violin and he would watch Aelita and I play in the snow..."

"Wow. I didn't know you played violin," He tilts his head at her.

"Neither did I. I guess that my mind decided to block out those memories up until they came back," She shakes her head, closing her eyes.

"...Hey, I'm dating a natural Gitlis!"

She smiles softly towards him, kissing his cheek. "Of course you would make a joke..."

"Do you think you'll ever play again?"

"…Maybe someday," She smiles wistfully. "But to be honest, I'd much rather focus on my art."

* * *

Aelita enters the computer lab through the elevator. She walks up to the chair and sits down. There's a message waiting for her from her father.

"There isn't much time...not much time for what? Here are the coordinates. See you in a minute, my dear!"

"_See you in a minute, my dear."_

That was the last thing he said to her before they were virtualized together...She opens her eyes and starts a delayed virtualization. She crawls down into the scanner room, running up to one and getting inside. She's scanned, transferred, and sent to Lyoko.

Aelita ends up in the ice sector, landing safely. She gets up and looks around, only to see a giant yellow bubble.

"What's that thing? A simulation bubble?" She runs towards it and comes to a stop. She puts her arm through it before slowly stepping inside. She falls onto snow as she's suddenly in her school clothes again. She looks up to see the house from her memories, gasping.

"How can this be?!"

She walks across the snow, hearing the same piano tune again...

Franz turns around to see the girl standing right there. "Daddy?"

"Aelita," He holds out his arms and she runs into them. "We've so much catching up to do, and there's so little time!"

Tears stream down her face as she feels the warmth of the embrace. Finally, finally she could be with him again.

"I thought you were lost on the network!" She sobs slightly.

"Lost? No, dear. When XANA destroyed Lyoko, I managed to escape. I have information to give you, but first, I wanted so much to hold you in my arms."

"But how did you-"

"I had to create this simulation bubble so that I could finally-"

"This is fantastic!" She smiles happily. "Everything is just the same!"

"Yes, this bubble will allow us to do many things, my dear. Like spending an evening together at last. Where is your sister?"

Aelita frowns a bit sadly. "She left for the holidays...but when she comes back, maybe I can bring her here!"

* * *

"Aelita, come on, pick up, will you?" Yumi asks as she enters her room. Hiroki suddenly comes out of nowhere, scaring her. "What are you doing in here?! Get out!"

"Calling Ulrich?" He teases her.

"Mind your own business! Do I ask you about Milly Solovieff?"

He blushes in embarrassment, growling as he runs out of the room. Yumi picks up the phone again. "Hello, Jeremy?"

"For how long of a time? Her phone battery might be dead, that's all. Think you can go over there and check it out. Keep me posted, okay? And try calling Amy, she might know something," He hangs up the phone. "Uhh, Dad? Um, I forgot my laptop back at the dorm, and I, um..."

Michael turns around without even listening to the rest. "I get the idea, Jeremy. Your laptop wouldn't have pink hair, by any chance, would it?"

"Huh?" He looks at his father in confusion.

"You know, I can understand that. I was in love once too."

"You were? With who?" Jeremy raises a brow in amusement.

"Who else? With your mother."

The Sterns are still stuck in traffic. "Oh, this traffic's horrible!" Mr. Stern taps the horn repeatedly.

"Getting all tense won't get us there any faster, dear," Mrs. Stern flips through her magazine. Ulrich answers a call.

"That you, Jeremy? You sure? You're right, something must be up. Okay, I'll let 'em know and we'll meet you-know-where. Anything is more fun than this." He hangs up and opens the car door.

"Ulrich! Where are you going?" Mr. Stern demands him.

"To get a little air, to stretch my legs. Besides, I'll get there faster if I walk. See ya!" He shuts the door, to their shock. He moves past the traffic and runs down the sidewalk. "Odd, Aelita's not answering her phone, both of you meet us at the factory!"

"Okay, be right there. Soon as I tell my parents," Odd hangs up.

"Well, are you two flying today or not?" The clerk asks them.

"Just a second. Hello, Adele? It's Odd. Uh huh. Oh, sorry, Pauline. Hey listen. You think you could ask Elizabeth to tell Marie to say to Louise that she should let Mom and Dad know I missed my flight? Uh huh. What do you mean, tell them myself? Hello? Oh, you wanna talk to Ames?"

Amy shakes her head no, but he puts her on the phone anyway. "Oh, hi!" She laughs nervously. "Yes, I exist. No, I'm not making it up, I'm really dating your brother...No, he's not paying me. No, I'm not being blackmailed...uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah, that's me. Oh, thank you! And I heard you have a good taste in music too! Well, I'm sorry we missed our flight, but it was nice talking to you. You too, bye."

She hangs up the phone. "Okay, change of plans. Nothing like sibling loyalty." He walks off with Amy. "By the way, what did they say to you?"

"Well, Adele thought I was imaginary, Pauline thought I was lying, Elizabeth asked if you were paying me monthly to pretend to be your girlfriend, Marie thought you had something on me, and Louise looked me up and found out that I'm part of the opening act for the SubDigitals," She counts off from her fingers. "She congratulated me and said I was pretty, that I dance to good music. And then I apologized to her and hung up."

"See? They like you already!"

She sighs in relief.

Yumi knocks on the door to the sisters' room, opening it to only see the dog family. "Aelita?"

She notices the pink-haired girl's buggy computer. "Expecting you here on Lyoko...?" He eyes wide at the rest.

* * *

"No, as long as XANA hasn't been defeated, I can't rematerialize myself," Franz is answering Aelita's questions. "But you, however, should be able to free your young friend. What was his name again?"

"William."

"Yes, of course. I'm gonna send a program to Jeremy via the supercomputer. By the way, how's your fight against XANA progressing?"

"We're hunting him down in the network thanks to our virtual ship the Skidbladnir," She smiles, circling a finger.

"Hmm, the Skidbladnir? Heh heh, what a strange name."

"But you know that name," She points out. "It's in the book of Viking Legends that you used to read to me before I went to sleep."

He turns to her with wide eyes. "Yes, of course, the Skidbladnir. How could I forget?"

She smiles, and then her eyes narrow at him. Something about that statement wasn't sitting right.

* * *

Michael arrives at the school and Jeremy rushes onto campus. "Thanks Dad!" He sees Yumi running across from him. "Yumi!"

She stops at his voice, turning around. "Hurry, Jeremy! Aelita virtualized herself onto Lyoko!"

"What?! But why did she do that?"

"Her father asked her to," She explains plainly, and he raises a brow.

* * *

Aelita looks away, glaring towards the man again. "Is something wrong, my precious?"

"Why'd you ask me to come to Lyoko, Daddy?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Because I wanted to see you. It's been such a long time."

"It's dangerous, XANA could attack at any time," She rubs her chin.

"not as long as I'm with you."

She stares at him, looking away. "You know...when I said that everything here was the same as I remembered it, I meant it."

"I'm glad you liked it. I wanted you to feel as if it was your home, our home."

"It's true, everything's here, nothing's missing...except for one little thing," She decides to test him and see what he would say.

"Oh really? What's that?"

"My mother and my sister," She smirks slightly, and he slowly turns to her.

"But...you remember, dear. Your mother disappeared, and your sister is on vacation."

"Yes, and I wanna see them again more than anything else in the world, and you know that," She closes her eyes. "You've always known. And since you're a perfectionist, you'd have recreated them here in the simulation bubble. That is, unless you aren't really my father!" She backs away slowly.

"Aelita," He narrows his eyes at her.

"Stay away from me, XANA!" She holds up a hand. 'Franz' flickers as she opens up the door, eyes widening. She backs away as William is gripping her arm.

"Hello, Aelita," He looks extremely sinister this time with the symbol in his eyes.

* * *

Yumi and Jeremy arrive in the computer lab. "Something's fishy," Jeremy tells her as they enter.

"What if it was Hopper who contacted Aelita?"

"XANA's pulled this on us before, I don't think Hopper would risk this with his own daughters, let alone just one," He explains while checking Lyoko. "Aelita is somewhere in the ice sector. Huh? In a simulation bubble?"

"She's in a what?"

"A copy of a real world. A sort of ghost channel. Aelita's fallen into a trap," He turns his chair around to look at her. "Get ready, you're going in right now."

She smirks as she presses the button.

* * *

Aelita is trapped between Franz and William as the boy is still gripping her arm. "Better give up, Aelita! You can't beat me."

"That's what you think!" She releases him from his hold on her and runs off. William turns to XANA Franz.

"What are you waiting for? Go after her!"

"_Transfer Yumi. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization._"

Yumi arrives in the ice sector, landing on the platform. "Jeremy, I didn't land inside the bubble," She points up ahead.

"_I know, I can't virtualize you directly inside of it. You'll have to find your own way in._"

"Any idea how?" She asks as she starts running.

"_Not really, but if you ask me, XANA's probably greeting his guest._"

A laser flies right past her and she turns around to face the monster. "For sure. He even left a couple of bouncers at the door!"

Two Tarantulas are firing at her from behind. She spins around, fan in hand and then she flips to the side. She hides behind a rock.

Aelita looks over her shoulder as XANA Franz turns into a wolf, sprinting after her. William laughs as he runs after her.

Yumi hears the lasers as they hit the rock and she runs into view of the monsters. She slides to a stop, pulling out her fans and throwing them. The Tarantulas hit the weapons and knock them out of range. Yumi spins around and catches them, getting hit.

"Be careful, Yumi, that's 20 life points you just lost!" Jeremy warns her. The door opens and he glances to see the others standing there. "Perfect timing, you three. Head straight for the scanner room. Yumi and Aelita are in big trouble."

"Sure, but how about a little rundown?" Ulrich crosses his arms.

"Does that matter?! My sister is in trouble," Amy gestures to the computer.

"I'll fill you in later, now get going, huh?"

Amy quickly presses the button and the doors close in front of them.

Yumi runs up to the rock, hiding again. She peeks between the tiny space to see the Tarantulas aimed right at her...

Aelita continues running as fast as she can, the wolf leaping over her. He lands in front of the girl, her eyes wide in fear. William grins as he approaches her.

"Impossible to escape. This bubble is your prison!"

"Virtualization," The others land in front of the Tarantula, and immediately defend themselves from the Tarantulas. Ulrich swings his arms back and forth as he blocks the lasers with his swords. Odd fires his laser arrows and takes off into a run. Amy creates a shield in front of her, sliding back a bit from the lasers hitting the protection around her arm. Odd hides behind some rocks, Ulrich looking over his shoulder.

"Super Sprint!" He runs up to the rock as Amy flies over it. She drops her wings, landing in front of Yumi.

"Good to see you again. How's your vacation?"

"Short," He puts his swords back into place. "Good to be back though! Where's Aelita?"

"Yeah, where's my sister?" Amy asks Yumi in concern.

"Somewhere inside that bubble thing," Yumi points up ahead to the bubble.

"A simulation bubble...?"

"She's always gotta be different, doesn't she?" Odd asks as he gets on all fours. "Laser Arrow!" He comes out of hiding to hit the Tarantula and destroys it.

"And so far, we don't have any way to get her out of the bubble?" Amy turns to Yumi again.

"No," She shakes her head sadly. The fairy narrows her eyes and runs in the direction of the bubble.

"Luckily for me, I can sense where she is, you deal with the Tarantulas. I'll find her and see what I can do."

"Right," Yumi nods at her.

William laughs as he and the wolf corner Aelita. "Give up, Aelita!"

She just smirks at the two. "You win, William." She kneels onto the ground, touching the bubble. Aelita starts using her creativity. The bubble starts to shake.

"NO!" William shouts before the bubble breaks into pieces. Aelita looks around to see that she's back in the ice sector again, thankfully. Amy slides to a stop in front of her, beaming.

"Aelita!" Then it turns into a glare behind the pink-haired girl. She turns around to see William and a Blok standing there.

"It doesn't matter. You lose no matter what, girls!" His sword appears in his hands.

"Not yet," Aelita prepares an energy field. Ulrich continues running, jumping onto the Tarantula and stabbing it with his sword.

"Impact!"

He leaps off the monster as it explodes. Jeremy's computer suddenly beeps, and what he sees confuses him.

"Huh? _The simulation bubble's disappeared, go and help Aelita_! _Step on it_!"

"Okay Einstein," Odd punches his fists together. "Can you call some taxis?"

"Coming up," Jeremy taps enter and the three vehicles appear. Odd and Ulrich jump on, but before Yumi can, she gets devirtualized.

"A Blok," Ulrich looks over his shoulder.

"What was it, Jeremy?" Yumi wonders as she didn't see what hit her.

"_A Blok_."

She groans at this.

"Guess we better unblock the situation!" Odd jokes to Ulrich.

"The first priority is getting Aelita back," Ulrich speeds up ahead.

"Here we go!" Odd flies after him.

Amy stands in front of Aelita protectively, spear in hand. Both of them are nearing the Digital Sea. Aelita peeks over her sister's shoulder to see the boys arriving.

"Manta!"

A Flying Manta appears behind the two. "Attack!" William points to the duo, turning around to block Amy's spear with his sword.

"Flying Manta, watch out!" Ulrich warns his friend. He skids back and forth from the lasers as they end moving away from William. Aelita swipes her bracelet, trying to fly away, but the Blok hits her wings, knocking her onto the ground. Amy scoops her up and flies into the air. William retaliates by throwing his sword at Amy, hitting her wing and cutting part of it clean open. Amy shouts in agony, dropping Aelita and landing on the ground.

"Amy, no!" Aelita cries out, checking over her sister. She's weak from the rough fall, but she still has some life points. She's literally shaking from the pain as half of her wing is cut, the other part almost about to break.

"Oh!" Jeremy gasps at this. Because Amy's wings are retractable like Aelita's, they can hurt...and unfortunately, she can't retract them back because she doesn't know what that would do.

"You wanna leave? Be my guest."

He lifts them both up with smoke, hovering them over the Digital Sea. Meanwhile, the boys can't help them because they're still distracted by the Manta.

"Aelita, no! Amy!" Jeremy squeezes his eyes shut.

"They're too far away, Jeremy. Better bring them in," Ulrich glances behind them.

"_Not with Amy's damaged wing, I can't. I don't know what it'll do to her if I materialize her like that_. I don't believe it!"

William tosses them both towards the water, and they fall in. Ulrich comes to a stop to see them disappear. "NO!"

"AMES!" Odd shouts at the top of his lungs.

"No, this can't be happening, not Aelita and Amy!" Jeremy exclaims just as Yumi arrives. "Yumi, the girls are gone."

Her eyes widen at the explanation.

Ulrich drives towards William and the Blok in anger. "Okay Romeo, this is really gonna cost you!" Odd narrows his eyes in anger, flying up to their former friend. Ulrich jumps off his Overbike, throwing it at William. He dodges it with his sword, the Overbike still heading towards him.

"Super smoke!" He dodges it and walks away from Ulrich.

"What's he doing now? Looks like he's waiting for something."

"_I don't know...without the girls, it's all over._"

Odd squeezes his eyes shut, sobbing.

Jeremy rubs a temple and something beeps. He looks up and notices it.

"...Huh?! Einstein, something weird is happening!" Odd stops crying as he looks at the water.

"_Yeah, hang on_. _I think I get the picture_."

A blue sphere with a purple aura rises out of the water. Ulrich looks over the edge and sees it. William pumps his fists.

"VICTORRRRRY!" This was his plan all along, throw the two into the Digital Sea to draw out this sphere...and destroy it.

The sphere rises out of the water.

"Hey, what is that thing?" Yumi looks at the screen.

"It's what I thought. I was right."

The sphere reaches William and the two Bloks, which prepare to fire. "Fire!" William orders and they do, knocking the sphere all the way to the other side. They continue firing at it.

"Jeremy, XANA's trying to destroy a kind of brightly lit bubble!" Ulrich reports to him. "What do we do?"

"_Protect it! That bubble is...Franz Hopper_!"

Franz Hopper floats over the platform. "I'll handle William," Ulrich pulls out his swords.

"Okay, then I'll go and do a number on that Blok! And Ulrich..." Odd gives him a look and Ulrich understands, nodding. He'll do his best to avenge Amy for Odd. The cat boy fires and destroys a Blok. William turns around to see Ulrich running towards him.

"Super smoke!" He reappears in front of the samurai, swinging his sword at him. They clash swords as the other Blok continues attacking Hopper. Hopper floats backwards, dropping something on the ground.

"It looks like he dropped something off," Yumi stares at the screen.

"You're right, he did. It was the girls!" Jeremy smiles in relief.

The Blok fires at Hopper again. The two girls sit up, Amy's wing repaired thanks to Hopper. "Daddy..." Aelita murmurs as they see him.

"Dad..." Amy whispers slowly. The Manta comes around to attack him. The two sisters stand up, looking on in concern.

"Laser arrow!" Odd destroys the Manta, the two smiling up at him.

"It's great to see you again, princess and my favorite girl!"

He flies towards the Blok.

"Hopper's losing energy! Take out that Blok, and make it snappy too!" Jeremy urges the blond.

"We're doing all we can, Einstein!" Odd flies past the Blok as Ulrich and William are still fighting, until William devirtualizes him. He looks around for Odd, seeing him fighting the Blok. He fires a sword slash that devirtualizes Odd from behind.

"You. Jerk," Amy growls at him, clenching a fist.

"Energy field!" Aelita opens up her hand, firing at the Blok and missing. Amy continues the attack by opening up her hands, firing a single ice arrow. The Blok freezes it in mid-air, while also freezing the girls' lehs.

"Super smoke!" William travels over to Hopper. "It's all over," Jeremy closes his eyes.

Hopper floats towards the edge. William appears nearby.

"You get away from him!" Amy screams at William.

"Daddy, you have to get away. Hurry!" Aelita and Amy distract William by hitting his sword. Hopper flies into the Digital Sea, and the girls get devirtualized by William. He stabs his sword into the platform, having failed.

"NO!"

The two sisters return to see Ulrich and Odd standing nearby. "Saving you gave us a scare is an understatement, princess."

"I know someone who's gonna be really happy to see you. Let's go," Ulrich nods at her.

"I hope this time he gives us the rundown he promised us because I don't know what's going on," Odd comments as Ulrich helps her up. Odd rushes over to Amy and hugs her tightly. Amy returns it, closing her eyes as he sniffles.

"Ames, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," She whispers into his ear.

* * *

"It's pretty obvious," Jeremy states in the girls' room.

"There he goes again," Odd slightly rolls his eyes, laying on Amy's lap.

"You see, when Lyoko was destroyed, Hopper wasn't spread out over the network. He managed to escape."

"He disappeared on purpose, is that it?" Yumi asks him.

"That's right," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "To get away from XANA, which is why he's constantly trying to throw the girls into the Digital Sea all the time. He knows that's the only thing that could get Hopper to come out of hiding."

"That must be why this didn't happen when Amy fell into the Digital Sea," Ulrich speaks up. "In order to destroy him since she knows the truth about being Aelita's half-sister now."

"As long as our father's alive, he'll always be a big threat to XANA," Aelita opens her eyes.

"And our friend XANA knows it," Jeremy adds in.

"Well, before we blow XANA away for good, why don't we give each other our presents, huh?" Odd sits up.

"We said we'd wait till after vacation," Ulrich tells the boy as he holds up several boxes.

"Yeah, I know. Here, Einstein, this one's for you. Since XANA made us come back earlier than expected, why wait, right?" He hands out his presents to everyone. Jeremy squeezes his rubber ducky.

"That's cool, Odd. Thanks a lot, but, um...what am I supposed to do with it?"

"Nothing at all, that's what makes it fun, don't you think?" Odd asks as Aelita holds her fork/spoon taped together. "You're not opening your presents?"

"No, in Japan, you never open a present in front of the person who gave it to you," Ulrich explains to him, blushing towards Yumi. She smiles, winking at him.

"Thank you, Jeremy," Aelita smiles at the large pink scarf around her.

"And that isn't all, Aelita!" Jeremy holds a book that was given to him. "Tonight, you're coming home with me! My parents want you to stay for the holidays."

"But I don't wanna bother them..."

"It's no bother at all, they're the one who insisted!" Jeremy tells her. "I'll give you my room, and I'll sleep in the living room. We've got a really comfortable couch!"

"What about XANA?" She couldn't help but ask.

"You know, I'm sure that XANA could use a vacation too!" He chuckles and notices Aelita's look as the others are opening their presents from Amy. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"About my father. When he saved us, even in his virtual form...I could feel his presence. Like he was holding us in his arms..."

"Same," Amy smiles softly and gasps sharply at the silver ring in front of her. "Oh...Odd, you got me a ring?"

"It's a promise ring," Odd holds up his hand to show a silver band similar to Amy's. "So that we'll always be together."

She blushes bashfully as she puts it on. "Show that to his sisters, and they'll be begging for you to stay!" Yumi states, to which the brunette laughs.

"Thank you, Odd. It's beautiful," She kisses his cheek, suddenly groaning as she pinches her nose. "Forgot that my mom arranged for us to leave later on a private jet since she had a feeling XANA would interfere."

"Whoa, we're leaving on a private jet?!" Odd pumps his fists. "If XANA cuts our next trip short, I'll take it!"

* * *

"Thanks again, Mom," Amy waves to her mother from the door of the plane. She and Odd are preparing to leave for his house…inside, she's sort of relaxed since she's talked to his sisters, but she has yet to meet his parents. That right now was the major milestone.

"It was really cool of you to have us leave on a private jet!" Odd gives her a thumbs up. "You're the best, Ms. Johnson!"

"Call me Lydia," She smiles softly, waving back to them. "Take good care of them, Frank!"

Frank, the pilot, tips his hat to her, walking off to start the jet.

"Say hello to your family for me, Odd!" Lydia calls out and Amy smiles at her mother one last time before closing the door. They sit in massage chairs side-to-side, looking out the window to Lydia. They wave as the jet slowly takes off into the sky.

"Now this is flying in style!" Odd puts his hands behind his back.

"Hello again, Amelia," Carmen, one of the stewardesses, stands nearby. "I have something for you. I was told to give it to you when we took off."

She hands the girl a case and leaves. Odd sits up as she opens…

Seeing the violin she had as a child.

"What…?" She murmurs slowly in shock. A note is nearby and she reads it.

_I know this won't make up for things, but…it is the holidays. No tricks, no catch, just…something for you to remember him by._

_Stan_

Amy pauses at the name, looking back at the violin. All she really had to remember Hopper was the picture of her being a newborn from the Hermitage and Aelita…

"…Are you okay?" Odd asks softly.

"I'm not going to forgive him, but…for once he did something for me that didn't involve his company or trying to make me his heir…it's actually…different." She lightly touches the wood. She can tell that this was genuine.

"Would you ever thank him for it?"

"…In a different world, maybe…" She looks out the window, knowing fully well that this is reality… and there isn't a world where she's not Hopper's daughter.


	86. Hard Luck

**Angel: Sorry for the delay, I was trying to upload this chapter, but I kept getting error messages. I finally managed to upload the chapter by using my phone to do it instead of my laptop, and hopefully it won't be like that forever...see you guys next Friday.**

Ulrich opens up the door that leads to the hall, walking all the way down to his room. He opens up the door, only to find Odd rummaging through the wardrobe. "Uh...hey Odd, if you're trying to clean up the room, you better find another system."

"There! That's what I was looking for. Hmm, no it's not," Odd walks up to his bed and sits down. "I don't wanna be late for breakfast!"

"So you can steal an extra croissant?" Ulrich quips as he sits down.

"Well yeah," Odd puts on his pants. "But also to surprise Ames! I asked Rosa to make her favorite, and she'll let me have it so I can give it to my favorite girl! Where are my shoes?"

Ulrich smirks in amusement. He never thought he'd see the day where Odd would make an effort to get up early and arrange that kind of surprise for Amy. But then again, it is young love...

"Uh, you just have to follow the stink," Ulrich looks to the shoes underneath a desk. "You're pretty wound up today. You sure this morning is the best time?"

"Oh yeah, she had to take care of the puppies this week."

"And?" Ulrich raises a brow.

"Well, that's a sure sign that she's totally exhausted and needs a pick-me-up! So today's the day!" Odd smiles, placing his backpack over his shoulder, but he knocks over a mirror and it breaks onto the floor. "Oh...oh, sorry about that."

"I'm sorry for you: that means seven years bad luck!" Ulrich explains to him.

"Ulrich...are you superstitious?" Odd asks in amusement.

"Well yeah. Aren't you?"

"Are you kidding? No, not a chance. Get real, good buddy. Four-leaf clovers, rabbit's feet, horseshoes are for old ladies! Ah...! In fact, I can feel it. Today's gonna be my lucky day!" He smiles, opening up the door to see Jim standing there.

"Della Robbia! I'll bet you think it's really funny filling my shoes with cottage cheese, huh? You just earned yourself and your girlfriend 8 hours of detention!"

"But it wasn't me or her, Jim!" Odd insists to the teacher.

"Well, if it wasn't you two, then who was it?"

"Well, I'm not a snitch, Jim, but you might wanna check out Nicolas and Herb," Odd holds his head up high.

"Thanks for the tip. That's gonna cost you two four hours of detention for selling your classmates!" Jim tells the boy and leaves.

"Can you believe that?" Odd pouts towards Ulrich.

"I told you Odd, seven years bad luck!"

"Forget it! There's no such thing as bad luck!" And with that, he slams the door.

* * *

Rosa smiles apologetically at him when he makes it into the line for breakfast. "Sorry Odd, but I guess you're out of luck."

"Not even one croissant left, Rosa? And Ames' special breakfast got burned? What am I supposed to eat?"

"How 'bout some dry toast?" She smiles, holding it up.

"No way. Okay, give me some hot chocolate to drown my sorrows in."

"I can't do that, Odd. The machine is on the blink. Never happened before in all the years I've been working here," She replies and he sighs lowly. He walks up to the others with the dry toast...Odd sits next to Amy and frowns, crossing his arms.

"Tea and dry toast, Odd?" Yumi asks incredibly. "What are you, sick?"

"No, not yet, but after I choke this down, I will be!" He grumbles, causing them to laugh.

"Rosa told me what you tried to do," Amy smiles softly at him, kissing his cheek. "You're very sweet, Odd. Here, have my breakfast."

"Really?" He blinks at her in shock. "...No, you need it more than me!"

"Take it or else," She crosses her arms and he does so, smiling.

"My little good luck charm."

"I thought you didn't believe in it," Ulrich teases him, earning a glare in return.

"And besides...what you did makes up for _getting me four hours of detention_," Amy deadpans towards her boyfriend, narrowing her eyes.

"Ohh...so you know about that," Odd rubs his neck. "I tried to tell Jim you didn't do anything, I-"

"Oh, I'm not mad," She puts on a small smile. "It was worth imagining the look on Mr. Smith's face when he called me this morning to chew me out. I just put the phone down and let him rant. He's still ranting from it in my room," She looks at her watch. "Anything is worth that reaction."

"Okay everyone, here's the plan," Jeremy speaks up. "You've got to return to the military base and destroy XANA's supercomputer once and for all. I don't think it should be too complicated. That is, as long as XANA doesn't have anything new up his sleeve."

Azra Urgup walks past their table with a smile. "Azra!"

"Mm?" She turns around to him.

"Let's have breakfast together," He whispers to her so that Amy doesn't hear.

"So you can start drinking hot chocolate to your nose again?" She retorts back.

"Uh, no. And besides, the machine is busted. What I meant is, uh, I wanna learn to speak Turkish. Maybe you could give me lessons so I can say something sweet to my girlfriend," He gestures to Amy as he's now standing up.

"Do you mean it?" She blinks at him.

"Sure I do."

"Well, um...we can discuss it," Azra raises a brow.

"What a great idea, Azra! I can't wait to start!"

"Hey, why did you tell Jim on me?" Herb storms up to him. "You're a snitch!"

"Not only that, but it was your idea to put cottage cheese in his sneakers! Which was incredibly funny," Nicolas giggles at the memory.

"Yeah, just you wait. We're gonna get even with you for that someday. You'll see, you traitor!"

Odd turns around to see them leave, Azra glaring at him. "I don't blame Herb," She walks off. "Budala."

He takes a seat next to Amy again, sulking. "Burhaha?"

"Dork, that's the word for a numbskull!" Jeremy laughs, winking at him. "Well Odd, I guess you just had your first Turkish lesson!"

"Why do you wanna learn Turkish, anyway?" Amy raises a suspicious brow at him.

"No reason!" He frowns towards his plate. This wasn't bad luck. The day just might turn around for him...

* * *

A little while later, the team is on the Desert Replika, the Skid already docked at a tower. "Walking under a ladder is like asking for bad luck."

"In Japan, people avoid anything to do with the number 4 because it sounds just like the word for death?" Yumi asks them.

"Did you know that the word rabbit is bad luck for sailors? So is spilling salt when you're on a ship," Aelita says next.

"And black cats are associated with witches because of the bad mojo they bring," Amy holds up a finger.

"And I tell you the only thing that'll bring you bad luck is talking to an Odd about dumb superstition, because all you'll get is being laughed at!" Odd quips with a tiny smirk.

"You think you're smart, but I'll bet by the end of the day you'll be crossing streets to avoid black cats! Better bring a rabbit's foot with you, Amy!"

"Ew, no," Amy scrunches up her nose in disgust.

"Okay, Odd and Yumi, you guys ready for teleportation?"

"_Ready_," Odd tells him.

"_Ready_," Yumi adds in.

"Then here we go. Energize Yumi." He taps the key and Yumi disappears. "Energize Odd."

He waits, closing his eyes, but nothing happens. "Well? Go on."

Yumi teleports into New Mexico. She lands, looking around in confusion. She hides behind a rock. "Hey Jeremy, we've got a slight problem. Where's Odd?"

"He's still in his Nav Skid."

"_I don't get it. What did I do wrong_?" Odd asks as Jeremy looks into it.

"I don't get it either. The teleportation failed for the first time..."

"I guess it's bad luck," Ulrich smirks towards Odd's Nav Skid.

"Ulrich, save your dumb jokes or you'll have the bad luck of being forced to eat ten pounds of dry toast!" Odd punches his fists.

"_What do we do now, Jeremy? You want me to go_?" Aelita asks him.

"No," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "You got plenty to do dealing with the Replika. The super scan has just picked up an activated tower. I'll send Ulrich and Amy can stay to help out."

"_Just say when_."

"_Energize Ulrich_." Ulrich closes his eyes and is teleported into New Mexico.

"Hey Ulrich!" Yumi greets him with a wave. He runs up to her. "Where's Odd?"

"Stuck on Lyoko. Disappointed?" He lightly smirks.

"No, I'm glad, in fact. He's really bad luck today. Ready?"

"Ready," He glances away and the two take off into a run.

"Watch your step," Jeremy warns the trio on the Replika. "If a tower's been activated, you can be sure that XANA's planning to counterattack."

"How about giving us the coordinates so that we can go and deactivate it?" Aelita suggests to him.

"Due west from your current position."

"Let's go!" Odd pumps a fist.

"Amy, do you believe in bad luck?" Aelita asks her sister.

"I believe anything's possible after the two years we've been fighting XANA," Amy crosses her arms. "Trust me, I've seen more than enough to believe in superstitions. But...people can make their own luck in life."

Yumi and Ulrich are taking a look around the area. "As deserted as ever, huh?"

"That's good news," She smiles a bit. She'd rather not face anymore guards like those spiders...

"Here we go..." Aelita teleports first, followed by Odd and then Amy.

"_Here are your vehicles_," The Overboard and the OverRunner appear side-by-side.

"Hm?" Odd looks around, standing up and seeing the Overwing materialize. "Jeremy, isn't Aelita getting on the Overboard with me?"

"Uh, you know, Odd...um...seeing how your day's been going up to now, I'd rather you guys travel separately," Jeremy rubs the back of his neck.

"You all are such lame-os! I tell you, everything's cool!" Odd insists to them, but then he starts to bug, shocking the two.

"Did you see that, Jeremy?" Aelita points to him. "What's going on?"

Odd huffs, crossing his arms.

"I have no idea. I'll check it out. You guys get going," Jeremy states and Odd jumps onto his vehicle. The three take off, flying west.

* * *

Yumi and Ulrich walk up to the lab. "Free elevator over there," Ulrich points up ahead. "It'll take us downstairs."

However, a camera captures them running around...

They reach the elevator and Yumi presses the button. "By the way, Yumi," Ulrich turns to her. "I never asked you this. Which monsters do you like fighting the least of all?"

"The Kankerlots. I really hate fighting against big bugs, blegh!" She looks away in slight disgust.

"Yeah, right. What I hate most are Megatanks. How about-"

"The Kankerlots!" Her eyes widen towards something.

"Yeah, I know. You said that already."

"No, I mean over there!" She holds up her fan. "Kankerlots!"

They are actually two Kankerlots running towards them. Ulrich opens his mouth in shock as another one appears. One of them stops and fires, Yumi deflecting it with her fan. She tosses it at the Kankerlot, and he disappears into nothing.

She catches the fan just as the elevator opens. The two fire and they rush inside the elevator. "Hurry up!"

Ulrich hits the button with his elbow before the Kankerlots could come in. Yumi rubs the back of her head slightly.

"I wish XANA sent us a few crabs."

"I prefer Hornets," Ulrich narrows his eyes, pressing a finger to his ear. "Jeremy, do you read us?"

"Loud and clear. Anything wrong?"

"Yeah, we just found out why XANA activated a tower. He's teleporting Kankerlots our way," He informs the blond.

"I'm on it. Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich have some visitors at the base. _You have to deactivate the tower fast_!"

"We're on our way. I can see a canyon in the distance!" She points up ahead, Amy driving between her and Odd.

"_Got you. I'll check the area and see if the tower is there_." He checks it out to confirm it. "The tower is in the center of the canyon. Hurry up!"

"Okay," Odd nods, turning to the girls. "You see that? Everything's cool. Superstition is for lame-os. Why to-"

He gets hit in the shoulder, and they turn around to see Hornets following after them. "Uh, you were saying?" Aelita asks him.

"I'm okay! Watch this," He swerves to the left, hovering over Amy. He flies into the air and then ends up behind the Hornets. "Laser arrow!" He destroys one from behind, flying back to the girls. "Piece of cake!" He brags to them, Amy rolling her eyes in amusement.

* * *

The elevator opens as Yumi and Ulrich look down a hall. "The coast is clear in front of us."

However, a Kankerlot teleports behind them, startling them. "But not in back of us, look!"

Another one appears as the first one walks forward. Yumi leaps back and throws her fan, but the Kankerlot deflects it. Ulrich catches her fan and throws it, destroying a monster in the process.

"Nice one, Ulrich," She smiles at him. Two more Kankerlots materialize. "Let's try to buy some time."

"Good idea..." They back away before running off, turning right.

"Jeremy," Ulrich contacts him.

"What is it?" Jeremy asks from his intercom.

"Any news? It's getting rough here!"

"Hang in there. Aelita, Amy, and Odd are almost at the tower!" Jeremy looks back to the trio.

"Let's do our thing," Aelita orders the two.

"Here we go!" Odd turns right as Aelita goes left, Amy staying straight forward. The two Hornets separate as another appears to follow after the fairy. Aelita turns around to the Hornet on her tail and holds out a hand.

"Energy field!" She fires, but misses it.

Odd flies around the lasers as the Hornet relentless attacks him. He turns around to face the monster. He jumps into the air, the Hornet flying past. Odd grips the end of his Overboard. "Laser arrow!" He hits the Hornet dead on, spinning back onto his Overboard.

Amy looks over her shoulder, seeing the Hornet. It tries to fire at her wheels, but she swerves back and forth to avoid them. Amy then notices some pillars up ahead and stomps on the brake. She turns her car around so that she drifts right past the pillars. Then she lifts her hand, a rock forming in it. While still drifting, she throws the rock at the Hornet, destroying the monster.

"Who said I was jinxed?" Odd quips to Amy as she continues driving, and then he starts to bug up again. "But...but..."

The Overboard tilts upwards and he falls, landing on the ground. "Odd!" The two sisters shout.

"Odd, are you okay?" Aelita questions in concern. The Hornet turns around and sees Odd flickering.

Something seems to be wrong with him as he's not moving, and Jeremy notices the torso from Odd's avatar blinking red, even though he wasn't hit by a laser. "Odd, what's happening? You lost half your life points just now!"

"_It's that stupid bug again, Jeremy_!"

A Hornet flies over to Odd, the girls turning around. They go straight over as Odd slowly lifts up his head. "What's going on...?"

The Hornet hits him one last time before he's devirtualized. "No!"

"Odd..." Amy frowns at this. Aelita creates an energy field in her left hand.

"Energy field!" She hits it dead on. "That'll teach you to sat our friend down." They turn around and go in the other direction. "Jeremy, we're heading for the activated tower."

"_Okay, girls, make it fast_. Yumi and Ulrich have got a huge, huge bug problem," Jeremy looks to the left screen.

"_And what about the program bug? You know what's causing it_?" Aelita asks him.

"_I'm not sure how much longer we'll last if it's not fixed_!"

"No, not yet. It might be a virus of some maiden XANA made. Whatever it is, we're not having any luck with it," Jeremy answers as Odd is out of the scanner.

"There's no such thing as luck, you got that!" Odd shouts up at him.

* * *

The Kankerlots split up to go find Ulrich and Yumi. One of the looks through a door and walks right past it, not knowing that the room is where the two are hiding. Ulrich gives her a thumbs up once the coast is clear, and she closes the door.

"What kind of place is this?" She looks up ahead.

"That's exactly what I said the first time we came here," He whispers as they step further inside.

"It looks like some sort of factory assembly line..."

"Yeah, but what did they assemble here?" Ulrich wonders as chips are on the conveyor belt.

"We might find that out in here...it looks like a control terminal."

"_Check it out, Yumi," _Jeremy speaks up_. "Any info on XANA's tactics can come in handy_."

She starts operating the computer as Ulrich presses a finger to his ear. "What's going on with the tower, Jeremy?"

"_Aelita and Amy should be deactivating any minute now._"

The two finally reach the area of the tower...which is past a very long path. They enter, Amy swerving around the pillars carefully so that she doesn't bump into them. Aelita does the same in the sky, two Hornets following after the sisters. Aelita glances behind her as Amy groans at the buzzing sound.

"They just keep on coming, huh?" She shakes her head, Aelita picking up speed. Amy does the same as lasers are fired at them. One of the Hornets bumps into a rock and destroys itself. Aelita keeps swerving as the other one fires at them both. Amy drives after Aelita, quickly drifting to the left.

"You're not gonna get out that easily, my friend," She tries to fire an energy field at him, only for her to start flickering like Odd did.

"Aelita, look out!" Amy shouts, but it's too late as Aelita bumps into a pillar and crashes onto the ground. The fairy comes to a stop, running out of the OverRunner and bending down to her sister. "Aelita, are you okay?"

She lifts up her head and sees the tower not too far away. "Yes, I'm fine...guess we've gotta go the rest of the way on foot."

"What makes you say that?"

The OverRunner flickers and then completely disappears. "Oh..."

The Hornet continues firing at them and they run off. Amy tries to open up her wings, but nothing happens as they start flickering. "Oh, this bug is gonna be the end of us!"

"Jeremy!" Aelita cries out.

"Yes, Aelita. I saw it," Jeremy replies, Odd now at his side. "The bug seems to be having an effect on you too. Better deactivate the tower fast before either of you disappear!"

"_We're going as fast as we can_!"

"Ulrich!"

"Yeah, I read you," Ulrich activates his communication device again.

"Aelita or Amy can't deactivate the tower just yet. They've been affected by Odd's bug too."

"Hey, it's not _my _bug, okay?" Odd defends next to him.

"Just my name for it until we figure out exactly what's going on," Jeremy chuckles a little.

"It better be, because I've got nothing to do with this mess, you hear? It's just a question of chance," Odd looks away, crossing his arms.

"Did you say chance? Well, you know, you're not becoming superstitious, are you?" Ulrich teases, as he heard all of what Odd said.

"I figured it out," Yumi calls out, getting his attention.

"Well?" He walks over to her.

"I think it's an assembly line for motherboards and electronic implants," She gestures to the computer.

"Electronic implants? But for what?"

"To control those spiders, for example," She blinks at the terminal.

"You mean those cybernetic creatures in the jungle lab?"

"Exactly what I mean," She answers and he hums, crossing his arms.

"Makes sense...but the big question is what XANA is planning to do with all of them."

"I wish I knew the answer..."

The terminal nearby glows with the XANA symbol on it, starting up the assembly line. The Kankerlot that went past them earlier comes in from behind a machine. Another one materializes near the steps. The two pull out their weapons. One of them appears in front of Yumi, firing at them. A third Kankerlot materializes near Ulrich, but he stabs it through the eye.

"Impact! Guess you're just like Odd, not your lucky day."

Thankfully, his friend didn't hear him say that... A Kankerlot jumps towards him, but Ulrich rolls out of the way. He watches as the monster lands on the conveyor belt. Yumi flips away from the lasers, landing on her feet. She tosses a fan at the Kankerlot nearby, defeating it. However, she gets hit in the shoulder from behind. Yumi looks up at the Kankerlot, holding her sparking right shoulder.

Ulrich stabs it and it disappears. She stands up and grabs his sword, tossing it to him. "Thank you."

He lands in front of her, seeing her smile. "Anytime."

"_Ulrich, Yumi, I just located the super calculator. Head for the southernmost end of the room," _Jeremy informs them. They look up ahead to see an open hallway.

"Okay, we're on our way."

They make a run for it. "_What about your end? What's the latest_?"

"Pretty bad news," Jeremy looks up at the computer screen. "William just showed up on the Replika..."

William stomps on the ground, looking up towards the tower...and the Skid that's docked to it. "And if you ask me, it's not just a friendly visit."

* * *

"Jeremy," Ulrich whispers to him, "We're coming to the super calculator room." He looks to his left. "Down there." They run down the hallway.

"_The super calculator will have to wait. First, we've gotta solve the William problem_."

"I'd love to. Got any suggestions?" Ulrich asks as they come to a stop.

"We haven't any choice. One of you has to be teleported back to keep him from deactivating the Skid tower."

"Okay," Ulrich turns to the girl. "What do we do, Yumi? You want me to go or you?"

"...We can always play for it," She smiles a bit and he smirks in amusement.

"Paper, scissors, rock!" Yumi has paper while he has scissors.

"Scissors cut paper, don't they?" He questions and she gives a deadpan look.

"Get ready, William," She declares, putting a finger to her ear. "We're good, Jeremy. I'm the one who's going."

"De-energize Yumi."

"Good luck," She tells Ulrich before she disappears.

"You too," He smiles softly.

Yumi reappears in the Skid. "_Yumi, wake up_! _William's coming_!"

She opens her eyes and looks around. William is walking up to the Skid, sword in hand. Yumi teleports in front of the tower, ready to face him. He comes to a stop upon seeing her.

"Yeah, I know, William, and I'm glad to see you too." She pulls out her fans above her head, opening them. He growls at her as she throws her weapons. He, of course, blocks it with his sword, ducking from the other.

Ulrich enters the super calculator room. "Oh, wow!" But it's not so great because a few Kankerlots appear nearby, firing at them. He ducks out of the way, pressing his back against the wall next to the door. He shuts the door closed with an annoyed look on his face and contacts the blond genius again. "Jeremy, the super calculator's infested with Kankerlots over here! What's holding the girls up?"

"They're just about ready to enter the tower," Jeremy reports as he looks back to the sisters' location.

The Hornet is still chasing after them, the two girls hiding behind a rock. Aelita creates a pink orb and throws it at the Hornet from behind, defeating it.

"Yes!" The two sisters cheer, sharing a high-five.

"Jeremy, we finally got here!" Aelita pants a bit as they make a run for it.

"Great. Don't waste any time."

However, the bug acts up again, and Aelita completely disappears before she can even reach the tower. Amy gasps and sees her hand starting to disappear.

"No!" She shouts, picking up speed. Half of her body starts to disappear, but she manages to make it to the tower just in time, falling onto the platform in exhaustion. Her legs rematerialize back onto her body.

"I don't believe this!" Jeremy holds his head, adjusting his glasses. "Ulrich, Aelita just got devirtualized, and Amy's in no shape inside the tower to deactivate it. It looks like you're on your own with the Kankerlots."

"Look, I know I'm good, but there are 70 of these creeps," Ulrich states slowly. "I could go down on this, and that'll blow the whole mission!"

"Try to hold out until Yumi's finished her combat," Jeremy tells him. "If she beats William, she can come back and give you some help."

"_Roger. What about Amy_?" Ulrich wonders just as Aelita comes back from the scanner room.

"She's still too weak to move. Hopefully she wakes up in time to deal with the tower."

Odd frowns in worry for his girlfriend. He still doesn't believe in bad luck, but...everything that could go wrong has, and now it's affecting Amy.

William looks around for the disappeared Yumi, walking forward. He scopes the area for her, as she's hiding behind a rock. He growls, shaking a fist in frustration when he doesn't find her. William leaps into the air, landing on a pillar to search for her that way. He still doesn't see her and she jumps onto a pillar not too far behind him. She takes out a fan and throws it at him from behind. She hits him in the side, but doesn't devirtualize him.

She smiles a bit and gasps to see him jumping on pillars to get to her. She brings out her other fan and throws it, knocking him onto the ground. He slowly sits up, looking up to a pillar that's about to fall on him. Before he can move out of the way, he gets crushed by the pillar and is devirtualized. And it was all thanks to Yumi's telekinesis.

"That was great, Yumi!" Jeremy compliments, Odd and Aelita smiling next to him. "Get ready for another teleportation. Ulrich needs your help."

"Okay. Is Amy alright?" She asks, looking towards the ground. "Uh, no, hold on. I'm all bugged up." her body starts flickering before she completely disappears. "Oh, too late."

"Can't believe how jinxed we are today!" Jeremy narrows his eyes in annoyance. "Amy, you there?"

Amy slowly sits up in the tower, holding her head. "Still here...seems as if this stupid bug only happens on the replica and not inside the tower. But because I was almost devirtualized, I'm not exactly all there."

"What is this dumb bug, anyhow?" Yumi asks bitterly once the scanner opens.

"That's exactly where I'm about to find out..." Jeremy starts typing. "It's a mandelbug!"

"A what?" Odd asks in confusion.

"A bug in the virtualization software, and the causes are so complex that its behavior seems totally chaotic! And with no way to tell if the behavior is really chaotic or just seems to be, it's impossible to differentiate it from a bore bug or a heisenbug!"

"Huh?" Aelita raises a brow. She's not very well-versed in bugs.

"Couldn't be any more clear," Odd says smugly.

"...You mean it?" Jeremy stares at him.

"No!"

"It's an extremely unusual problem, and Jeremy doesn't know how to fix it yet," Aelita explains to the boy.

"Oh, well, why didn't you say so?"

Amy sighs at this. "_A mandelbug combined with a supercomputer can have dastardly effects_..."

"Does that mean you might not be able to deactivate the tower?" Odd turns to the screen.

"I have no clue if there is really any effect with my signature with this bug, and there's only one way to tell..."

"...Amy, if this doesn't work, then Ulrich is on his own with those Kankerlots in the super calculator," Jeremy reminds her slowly.

"I _know _that! But it's his only chance," She looks up towards the top.

"She's right," Aelita agrees with a nod.

Jeremy sees something approaching the docked Skid and the tower. "Oh great. That's all we needed now."

Two Tarantulas arrive, and with both Lyoko warriors away, there's no way to defend the ship...They start firing at the Skid.

"Ulrich," Jeremy contacts him. "I bet you want some good news."

"Yeah," Ulrich answers eagerly.

"_Sorry, don't have any yet. To make a long story short, you're still on your own, the tower's still activated, we don't know if Amy can deactivate it, and you're probably gonna get the bug I can't fix."_

"Is that all?" Ulrich deadpans at this.

"_No. You've gotta work fast because XANA also sent in some Tarantulas to blow up the Skid_. Speaking of fast, Amy, you need to get the job done now."

"You try getting all the way up there when you were close to devirtualization!" She retorts back, finally getting up. She's still a bit weak from earlier as she kneels onto the platform with a groan. "I wish the tower was faster on boosting me up...I feel like Odd about to go into a food coma..."

"Great," Ulrich mutters to himself, getting up. He enters the room. "Ready to rumble, guys? Here we go!"

The Kankerlots turn around to the door as he runs inside.

Yumi has joined the others at this point, and they all gasp at the shock. "Hey, did you see that? Ulrich just knocked out three of them!"

"But how did he do that?" Jeremy asks in wonder. "He's only got two sabers!"

"Incredible! There goes another one!" Aelita smiles in relief.

"He's on a lucky streak today," Yumi comments, to the slight ire of Odd. They look towards the other screen as Amy hasn't done anything in the tower yet.

"You can do it too, Amy! You can get up!" Jeremy encourages her as she slowly sits up again.

"Come on, sis," Aelita crosses her fingers.

"Show that tower who's boss!" Yumi pumps a fist.

"Let's go, Ames!" Odd punches the air. "Beat that stupid bug at its own game!"

Amy finally stands up thanks to their words, sighing in relief.

Ulrich spins around in the air, defeating one. He jumps behind the others and defeats them too. "That's that!"

"_Nice going, now get rid of the supercomputer! Better hurry, you're fading fast! _Amy, deactivate that tower before more Kankerlots show up!"

Ulrich's legs start to be affected by the bug as Amy starts floating up to the top. Ulrich raises his sabers as Amy reaches the top platform, walking up to the interface. Both of them do their jobs at the same time.

_Amelia_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

Ulrich completely disappears and Amy falls onto the platform, disappearing as well. Deactivating the tower had exposed her to the bug. However, both missions are a success.

"The replica's disappearing too!"

"What about the Skid?" Aelita asks in concern.

"Hey, no sweat. I made a little remote control piloting program for emergencies just like this one," Jeremy smiles as the land starts disappearing. The Skid moves away from the tower just as everything disappears, including the two Tarantulas and the tower.

The Skid appears in the Digital Sea to go back to Lyoko, leaving behind the explosion of the replica. "Another replica bites the dust!" Jeremy takes off his headphone. "Fantastic!"

The elevator opens to reveal the smiling Ulrich and Amy. "Who's the man today, guys, huh?"

"Hey, don't forget I did my part too," Amy rolls her eyes at his bragging.

"You're right. Nice one out there," He holds out his fist and she bumps it.

"You too, Ulrich."

"Well, what do you think?" Ulrich places a hand on Odd's shoulder.

"Luck, buddy! That's what I think," He pouts a little, looking away.

"I knew you'd say that," Ulrich replies with a chuckle. The girls and Jeremy smiling at each other knowingly.

* * *

Odd lets out a cry at dinner. "What'd you do now?" Ulrich deadpans as they look towards the boy on the floor.

"What does it look like? I slipped. I guess I can't deny it. Ever since I broke that mirror, I've been jinxed!" He frowns, placing his dinner on the table. Amy bends down to him and helps him up.

"Relax, Odd. Jinxes don't exist. Luck does, but it changes!" Aelita replies in amusement.

"Yeah, the only question is when?" Ulrich asks and Odd looks towards Azra. Sissi is sitting with her as they stand up, walking away. He sees a pink phone laying on the chair where Azra was sitting.

"Ha ha! Lady Luck might be smiling at me already. Thanks to my good luck charm," He nudges Amy, confusing her. He runs up to the phone and takes it. "Tada! Azra's mobile, look. She left it behind on purpose just so I would find it. N-Not that we're involved," He gives a nervous look at Amy's glare.

"Are you sure?" Ulrich questions skeptically.

"Sure I am. Now I've just gotta wait for her to call me to get it back!"

"I'm going to check on the puppies..." Amy stands up, walking away.

"Really, Odd? Why can't you just tell her you want to learn another language for her?" Aelita crosses her arms in disapproval.

"I can't, that'll spoil the surprise!"

He walks away with Ulrich and Jeremy down the hall once dinner is over, and the phone rings. He sees a text. "I'd like to get my cell phone back. Meet me under the arches right away! See you guys later! Ames is gonna love her surprise!"

"Great, tell Cupid we said hi," Ulrich calls out teasingly.

"Good luck!" Jeremy yells after him.

"It's already good! So long!" He opens up the doors.

* * *

Odd goes to the arches like instructed, and looks around for Azra. He whistles a bit and gets one in return. "Azra?"

"No, it's Jim Morales," Jim comes out of hiding, shocking Odd.

"Oh, sorry, Jim, but you see, I'm waiting to meet somebody, so if you don't mind..."

"So it was you who found my cell phone," Jim eyes the phone in Odd's hand. He looks to the pink phone.

"Uh, you mean it's yours?" He would've never pegged the gym teacher the type to have a pink phone.

"Yeah, that's right. Why?"

"Because, uh...I mean, uh...I mean it's not your style," Odd looks up at him.

"I like pink, got a problem with that? Look at the color that you wear all the time," He points to the purple splotch on his hair.

"Yeah, but pink with sparkles and a heart charm on it? Isn't that a bit too much?"

"Probably," Jim snatches it away. "Mm...I'd rather not talk about it."

"Hmm..." Odd could only stare at him.

* * *

A knock is heard from the door and Amy opens it to see Odd. Her hair is a mess as the puppies bark, running around. Aelita looks up from her spot.

"Odd!" Her eyes widen at him.

"Can we talk?" He rubs the back of his neck and she turns to Aelita, who nods.

"I'll watch them," She sits up from her bed. Amy closes the door behind her, trying to adjust her hair.

"Is this going to take long? People, and I mean Sissi, could hear."

"No, uh...I just wanted to say sorry for wanting to hang out with Azra. I just wanted to do something nice for you since you watched the puppies this week..." He glances away from her and she blinks at her boyfriend, touched.

"Aw...that's really sweet, Odd. Even though it didn't work out the way you wanted it to. But do me a favor, if you're going to learn a language from another person, especially a girl, just ask my mother next time."

"Your mom?" Odd looks at her in shock. "She knows Turkish?"

"And French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese," Amy smiles a bit, giggling at his face. "She loves to travel on her vacations. She's even taught Aelita and I some Japanese, and talks to Yumi in that language too sometimes."

"I guess you inherited her overachiever personality," Odd grins and she laughs, slightly pushing him away.

"Odd! Either way, I love you no matter what, so just...think about how you'd surprise me in the future."

"Love you too," He whispers and they share a kiss.


	87. Guided Missile

In the cafeteria, Jim is handing out things from their parents. "Jeremy Belpois?" He calls out.

"Here, Jim!" Jeremy waves his hand. The teacher walks up to the table and hands him the letter.

"Jenny Bernie?"

"Here I am," She calls out and he goes over to her next.

"That's the second letter for you today, it's not fair. I haven't gotten any!" Odd complains to him.

"Be patient, Odd. Mail call's not over, there's still hope. And I haven't gotten anything either," Aelita gestures to herself.

"Yeah, but you don't know anyone else besides us," Odd points out and she frowns. Amy elbows her boyfriend. "Oh, sorry, Aelita, I didn't mean it that way."

"Odd, I love you, but sometimes you can be a real idiot," Amy whispers to him.

"Aelita Stones, there's a postcard for you," Jim hands her one. "And for Amelia Smith, a gift basket from your mother for you and Aelita. Oh, and your boyfriend's parents decided to give you something as well."

"Oh!" Amy blinks in surprise at all the art supplies in her basket, and at the candy Aelita got. "Well thank you, Jim!"

"That's weird," Aelita eyes the postcard.

"Tell us who it's from!"

"I have no idea," She replies, smiling at the basket. "But I have to thank Lydia for the basket, it's lovely!"

"I bet the postcard's from XANA. He must be on vacation. We've had no sign of him," Jeremy points to it.

"That's just weird," Amy raises a brow, reading the card from her mother. Usually XANA always has something up his sleeve at least once a week. Sometimes, he attacks about 5 times a week. Maybe he wanted a vacation too.

"Hi Aelita. Thinking of you in Montreal, warmest regards. There's no signature."

"I wouldn't mind getting something, signed or not," Odd replies, pouting at the gift baskets. "I can't believe you got something from my parents and I don't have squat! That's not fair, you have just as much as Jeremy now!"

"Odd, come on, don't tell me you're jealous," Amy sighs at him. "I wasn't even expecting something from your parents in the first place."

"Did my sisters sign it?"

"Let's see," She reads the card. "We enjoyed having you in our home. Please accept this gift, and tell...um..." She bites her lip nervously.

"What does it say?" Odd sighs slowly.

"Well, tell booger brain that we miss him."

He places his face into the table, embarrassed. "At least it was nice at the end?" Aelita offers to cheer him up, which doesn't work.

"And finally, this is for Odd Della Robbia, last, of course like he is in everything!" Jim gives him a box.

"Well it's about time!" Odd lifts up his head quickly. "I was wondering how long my parents would forget their favorite son, and I bet it's packed with lots of goodies! But don't worry, as you know, I'm very generous by nature." He opens up the box. "Huh? I wonder what's inside." He reads the paper. "Is that there is?! Dog food and nothing else at all?"

"Makes you wonder who their real son is. You or Kiwi!" Ulrich states, causing the others to laugh.

"All of it isn't even for Kiwi, some of this is for the puppies too..." Odd places his hands on his cheeks in dismay.

"Aww," Amy rubs his shoulder.

"I'll let you have some of my candy, Odd. I'm not going to eat all of it anyway," Aelita pushes her gift basket towards him.

"Yahoo!" He starts taking some. "So what did my ungrateful family give you anyway, Ames?"

She rolls her eyes playfully and opens up the box to see a photo that was framed. It has the couple up in front, then the sisters, and then the parents behind them. "Oh, this was the Christmas family photo we took together! Look!" She smiles, showing it to Aelita.

"Check this out, I won first prize in a contest from Cosmos, Future, and Formula magazine!" Jeremy stands up in surprise.

"Congratulations," Amy claps for him.

"Yeah? What's your prize?" Ulrich asks in excitement.

"An aerial invitation in a jet fighter with a live fixed-target air-to-ground strike missile exercise. And it's for today too!"

"That's cool!" Ulrich exclaims, Amy beaming at all of her new art supplies from her mother. She takes some into her hands, examining them.

"Yeah, but the problem is, I don't remember entering the contest. You think this could be XANA's doing?"

"XANA's got nothing to do with it. It was yours truly. Actually, to increase my chances of winning, I sent in entry forms in all your forms, and it looked like it worked, because Jeremy's name was drawn!" Odd explains to their shock.

"That's fine, except that the prize can't be transferred. I'm the only one who has the right to go on that flight," Jeremy tells him.

"Oh, you're kidding!" Odd takes the paper from him. "Well, what do you know? I've never even thought of that."

Amy smiles in amusement, shaking her head.

"Anyway, I can't possibly go. I have to stay near the factory," Jeremy denies, taking his cup.

"Hey, no, listen, you've gotta go. This is like a chance of a lifetime!" Odd protests to him.

"And like you said, XANA's been pretty quiet lately. There isn't much risk. I can keep an eye on the super scan for you," Aelita suggests, gesturing to herself.

"Admit it, you're freaking out!" Odd points at the boy. "You're totally scared!"

"No, you're wrong!" Jeremy snatches the certificate. "For your information, I'd love to go!"

And with that, the bell rings. "Anyway, we've gotta go to class now. I really envy you, Einstein. You're gonna get the ride of your life!"

It's only when they leave that Jeremy realizes it was a trick. "Yeah...I'm gonna have one heck of a time..."

* * *

"Alright now, let's concentrate on this exercise," Ms. Meyer says to the class. "In an orthogonal figure OIJ, on given points ABC, we first set up the points on a diagram. Then we calculate the lengths AB, AC, and BC."

Aelita glances to Jeremy, who's writing notes. "Then on the diagram, we place point D." He sees Aelita looking over his shoulder and she moves away. "So the vector AB equals vector..."

"I missed the beginning. Okay if I look at your paper?" Aelita whispers to Amy, as she's sitting next to Odd.

"But why? It's on the blackboard," Odd whispers back.

"I know, but it makes my eyes tired."

"Um, okay...?" Amy answers in confusion, giving her sister the paper. She glances to Odd, who turns his head to Ulrich, who had seen the whole thing. The brunet boy just shrugs at them, and they look to each other again.

"Hey, what are you up to, huh Aelita?" Jeremy asks quietly.

"Nothing! I wanna know who wrote the card!"

"You think it was us who sent it?" Jeremy questions, trying not to laugh. "Come on, Aelita, wake up. Look at the postmark, it's Canada, not Kadic Academy! And besides, I think you'd recognize your sister's handwriting at this point since she helps you with Italian!"

"You're right, it's a real mystery!"

"I don't see anything mysterious about it, Miss Stones," Ms. Meyer turns her head to them, as she heard that part. "You simply have to concentrate!"

"Uh, yes ma'am," Aelita sinks a bit in embarrassment.

* * *

"After your flight, we'll have a quick photo session of you in the plane for our next issue of Cosmos, Future, and Formula." Jeremy has arrived to the site, escorted by the guide, the photographer, and Jackson as he was Jeremy's ride. The boy is wearing a passenger outfit. "Jeremy, I'd like you to meet Greg, your pilot."

"Uh, hey there, kid," Greg stares down at him. "Ready to get your thrills?"

"Um, I think so," A flash occurs from the photographer. He looks up at the suited man, whispering. "You know, you didn't have to come with me."

"Someone has to make sure you're safe," He places a hand on the boy's shoulder, and Jeremy smiles a bit.

"Well now, our flight will begin with a low altitude takeoff after which we'll gain altitude with some vertical and oblique climbs. Then I'll do some barrel rolls, banking diving, and loops before the live fire-striker exercise on a fixed ground target. In brief, we're gonna really rock and roll," He smiles, his teeth glinting.

"How's that for a flight plan?" The man smiles down at Jeremy.

"Not bad. There's just one little thing I'd rather you left out."

"Hmm...oh yeah, what's that?" Greg asks curiously.

"The flight!"

"Huh?" Everyone stares at him in confusion.

"Listen to me, I'm really scared of planes, but I didn't wanna chicken out in front of my friends, especially since he used to be Mr. Smith's chauffeur, and I know his...daughter," He jerks a thumb to Jackson, feeling a bit awkward saying that, but he can't have people know that he's not actually her father. "So all you have to do is shoot a few pictures of me in the cockpit. That way, your readers will be happy, your magazine will save some money, and my friends will be convinced that I actually flew in the jet," He zips up his jacket.

"Hmm. Yeah, why not?" The guide rubs his chin. "And wait...as in Mr. Smith from SafeTech Inc?! Wow, what an honor! We'll take real good care of you, Jeremy!"

He smiles in relief.

* * *

Kiwi barks as he's running around in a circle. The puppies are playing with each other, Kiki sitting on Ulrich's bed. Kiwi wags his tail as Odd opens up the dog food, disgusted.

"Oh, that stinks! No normal dog would ever eat this stuff."

"Whoever said that your dog was normal, Odd?" Ulrich smiles a bit, patting Kiki on the head. She barks quietly.

Jim is walking down the hall when he hears the barking and knocks on the door. "Stern, Della Robbia! What's going on in there?"

Odd opens up the door and he steps inside. "Did I hear a dog barking in this room?"

"Well, kind of. It was me," Odd replies, the Kiwi family suddenly gone.

"I said I heard a dog," He growls slightly, hands on his hips.

"It was me, Jim, I swear," Odd insists to the teacher.

"Hey, you trying to make fun of me, Della Robbia?" Jim stares at him in the eye.

"No, it really was me. Whenever I eat this...homemade pate my mother makes, that's what happens," Odd holds up the jar of dog food and barks twice. Jim sniffs it.

"Hmm...well, one thing's for sure, it smells good."

"Well, here, take it as a present, Jim," Odd holds out the jar to him.

"Oh, I couldn't do that, Della Robbia. Your mom made it for you."

"That's okay, my mom always taught me to share things. Besides, there's plenty where that-"

"Thanks, Della Robbia!" Jim takes the dog food from him. "Pate's my pet's...uh my favorite food! Heh. Guess I lucked out on that one..." He leaves the room and Odd closes the door, sighing in relief and giggling towards Ulrich. He returns it and Kiki gets out of the drawer, whinnying that her food is gone.

"Aw, I'm sorry about that," Odd pets her on the head. "I'll ask my mom to send some more..."

* * *

"That's perfect!" The photographer is taking a picture of Greg and Jeremy giving a thumbs up towards the camera. "Don't move...give me a smile, now. That's it." He snaps some photos of them.

Meanwhile, on the virtual world in the ice sector, a tower decides to activate.

The guide looks to his watch, Jackson looking on with his hands behind his back. The lights nearby start to turn on.

* * *

Aelita and Amy are in the library to study together, which is why Kiki is in Odd's room. Her laptop beeps from her bag and the brunette looks up as Aelita looks around. Amy keeps an eye out in case anyone was watching. The pinkette opens her laptop to see the super scan.

"Oh no. Amy, activated tower," Aelita whispers to her sister.

"Okay, we don't have any classes today," Amy whispers back. "So let's go inform the boys, and call the others so we can go to the factory."

"What about Jeremy?"

"Shoot!" Amy grunts underneath her breath. "He's still at the exercise with Jackson. One of us will have to do the virtualization process. Come on, let's hurry."

* * *

The photographer looks up from his camera. "Thanks a lot. It's a wrap."

"Fantastic," Jeremy murmurs to himself. "Thank heavens I'm not going into the heavens."

The door suddenly moves on its own. "Hey!"

The plane starts up, to everyone else's shock. "What's gotten into him?" Greg asks, looking around.

"What are you trying to do?!" Jeremy shouts at him. "I told you, we're not supposed to take off!"

Greg turns around to him. "I know that, but I'm not the one in control."

The plane starts to move on its own, Jackson looking to the landing lights and realizing what must've happened.

"XANA..."

The plane takes off into the air and Jeremy screams in fear, covering his eyes. Jackson pulls out his phone, looking up to the sky.

Aelita and Amy are in the infirmary as the younger sister calls Odd. "Hello, Odd? We've got a problem."

"Where? Did you say the ice sector? Okay, we'll go tell Yumi. See you at the factory," He stands up. Ulrich runs after him.

Jeremy could only stare out anxiously as they take to the clouds. "Control, this is Charlie Foxtrot 41, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear, Charlie Foxtrot. What's going on?" A female voice answers to the radio.

"My onboard computer is no longer responding. It's gone to automatic," He looks at the controls. "The plane's controlling itself as if some of kind virus taking over."

"XANA!" Jeremy whispers to himself.

"I'm trying to activate the software, but nothing's working! It must be a bug. I'm gonna try relaunching the procedure or rebooting the system."

"No!" The blond boy protests to Greg. "No, no, don't do that!"

"Nothing to worry about, son, we'll be landing soon, and everything will be back to normal," Greg glances over his shoulder.

"You don't understand!" Jeremy insists to the pilot. "XANA will never let you manipulate the onboard computer!"

"XANA? What's that, a name? Listen, kid, this isn't some kind of science fiction show, it's the real thing! Which is going-" He tries touching the onboard computer, only to get an electric shock that renders him unconscious...

"Lieutenant? Are you alright, sir?" Jeremy calls out, and gets no answer in response.

"Charlie Foxtrot 41, this is Control. Come in, please," The voice tries to speak to him, not knowing what has happened.

"Uh, yeah, here I am," Jeremy speaks up.

"Charlie Foxtrot 41, this is Control. Come in, please," They can't hear Jeremy since he's not anywhere near the radio. "I repeat, Control to Charlie Foxtrot 41, over."

"Uh, Control! This is, uh, Charlie...whatever! The pilot's unconscious, but don't worry about a thing. I think I can handle the situation!"

The two operatives glance to each other, as they didn't recognize his voice. "Charlie Foxtrot 41, would you kindly identify yourself?"

"Jeremy Belpois, 9th grader at Kadic Academy. Sorry, but I've gotta sign off now, but I repeat, don't worry!"

"Charlie Foxtrot 41, wait!" But Jeremy hangs up.

* * *

The doors to the lab open as Yumi runs inside. "I got here as soon as I could!"

"Great, you're right on time," Ulrich raises a brow at her. "Now Aelita can send the three of us to Lyoko."

"You should've brought a sweater along," Odd turns to the girl. "Cuz we're headed straight for the ice sector."

Amy's phone rings and she answers it. "Hello?"

"Amelia! Finally I found a signal. I'm at the location of where Jeremy had that flight exercise, his plane took off with him and the pilot inside."

"What?!" Amy exclaims at this and before anyone can ask what was the problem, they get a phone call.

"Hello?! Hello? Can anybody hear me?" He shouts to them.

"Jeremy?" Aelita looks up in surprise.

"It can't be, if he's in that plane, then so is his voice."

"I wouldn't be too sure," Amy waves her phone, "Jackson just told me that his plane got hijacked!"

They all gasp at her explanation, a bit concerned now on why that would happen.

"Huh?! Jeremy, I read you loud and clear, we're at the factory," Aelita tells him.

"If you guys have all made it over there, that means there's an activated tower!"

"Relax, Jeremy, we're on it," Aelita assures the boy.

"Just one little detail. XANA's taken control of the fighter jet that I'm in!"

"He's right," Jackson speaks up from the phone as Amy hadn't hanged up yet. "I saw the lights myself. I'd know them anywhere."

"Huh?! What are you gonna do?" Ulrich looks to the others.

"Unfortunately, the plane is armed. XANA must have a target in mind."

"Give us your bearing in your position, okay? I'll check out your trajectory," Aelita looks to the keyboard.

"Good idea, Aelita. Here are my GPS coordinates: N 47, 43, 13, E 01, 34, 45, and we're heading north north-east barring the 0-42."

She gets to work to finding anything. "Nothing in sight." She localizes the location, and... "Oh no!"

"What is it?"

"The fighter jet is headed for the factory!" She reveals in horror.

"Then that means that XANA's target is the super computer!"

"According to my calculations, the factory will be in firing range in 15 minutes!" She tells the boy, who looks at his watch.

"That's all the time you've got left to deactivate the tower."

The two sisters look to each other and then at their friends. "Hurry down to the scanner room while I start up the virtualization process. Amy, I'll meet you down there once they're on Lyoko."

"Okay," She nods, following after the others. Using the elevator, they reach the scanner room and rush inside.

"_Amy will go with me after you three. Are you guys ready? Here we go._" She waits until all three are in the scanners. "_Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Scanner Yumi. _Virtualization."

The three land safely in the ice sector. Odd punches the air. "No one here to greet us? Bummer. I was hoping for a little warm-up."

"Jeremy, I should have listened to you," Aelita closes her eyes. "You were right about XANA attacking this afternoon."

"No, don't worry, Aelita," He smiles a bit. "I didn't really think XANA would attack either. It was just an excuse. The truth is, you wouldn't believe just how afraid I am of flying."

"The delayed self-transfer process is running. I'm meeting Amy in the scanner room now."

"Good luck, everybody," Jeremy looks up at the sky, hoping that there's no problems...

The two sisters virtualize side-by-side, landing in front of the others. "Hurry, the tower should be that way," Aelita points up ahead.

"We gotta walk there?!" Odd complains and she shrugs.

"Sorry, but I didn't have time to call up the vehicles."

"And there's no way I can carry four people at a time," Amy crosses her arms.

"Well, you wanted a warm-up, Odd, now you've got one!" Ulrich runs past him, followed by Yumi. Odd reluctantly follows as Amy takes flight above them.

* * *

Greg finally opens his eyes, feeling his head pounding. "Oh...what-what's happening?"

"You were out cold for a while," Jeremy informs him.

"Charlie Foxtrot 41, come in, please!" The woman urges from the station. "Do you copy? I repeat, do you copy?"

"This is Charlie Foxtrot 41. I...I blacked out, but—but I'm okay now."

"Listen...we have now gone into Red Alert phase," The woman informs the two. "We've no choice but to execute tango contingency. Do you copy?"

"Control, are you...are you aware that we have a civilian on board?" He briefly looks to Jeremy.

"Charlie Foxtrot 41, do you copy?" She repeats again.

"Affirmative. Ready for tango contingency."

"What's the tango contingency?" Jeremy asks curiously.

"In order to avoid a total disaster...they're gonna shoot us out of the air."

"WHAT?!" Jeremy screams at this. Another fighter jet takes flight to go find them.

* * *

"There's the tower!" Aelita exclaims as they see it up ahead. "It looks pretty quiet to me. A bit too quiet, even."

"You're right, Aelita! Without Einstein and his radar, it's not gonna be as easy as usual!"

"Yeah, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that bad guys are lurking around here!" Odd agrees with Ulrich. "Somewhere..."

Two Krabs appear in front of the tower, blocking them from it. Odd comes to a stop in front. "See? What'd I tell you? What's up, crab cakes?"

They run off in the other direction. "Super sprint!" Ulrich runs around a rock, sliding underneath a Krab. He slices the bottom with his sword, defeating one. He nods to Yumi, who races to the side. She tosses her fan and hits the target on top. It explodes into pieces.

"You get rid of one, and three take his place!" Odd comments to three more Krabs approaching. The group split up, girls on one side, and boys on the other. They hide behind a few rocks, glancing behind them.

"XANA's trying to delay us, guys," Aelita speaks up.

"She's right, he knows we're at a disadvantage without Jeremy," Amy shakes her head.

"Ulrich, Odd, Amy, all four of us at once," Yumi orders them. "We have to force our way through."

"Good idea, Yumi," Odd winks at her. "You sure know how to talk to men."

All three girls stare at him and he holds up his hands, stammering. "N-Not that I need it! I have a beautiful, wonderful girlfriend!"

Amy smiles bashfully at that, clearing her throat so she could focus on the task at hand. The four come out of hiding, running towards the Krabs. All of them fire at once, and the four separate, Amy flying into the air. Aelita peeks from her hiding spot, failing to notice smoke approaching. Someone taps her shoulder and she turns around to see William.

"I've been expecting you!"

* * *

"Tell me, it's not true, sir," Jeremy protests to Greg in the plane. "They-they can't just shoot us down!"

"That's the safety procedure, kid, but don't worry about it. We'll eject first," Greg informs him, Jeremy looking at the city below.

"W-What makes you think I was worried, Lieutenant?" He's probably a little more afraid of falling out of a plane than flying in it at this point.

"No reason to be. Everything will go just fine as long as you do exactly what I tell you to do. First of all, put your oxygen mask on."

He puts it over his mouth. "In front of you, there's a dark red handle. Do you see it?"

Jeremy looks around and sees it in front of him. "Yeah, I got it." He takes hold of it.

"I'll start counting and on three, we'll hit it together. Our seats will be expelled and we'll eject. Once we're clear, the parachutes will open automatically. Are you ready?"

"Let's go!" Jeremy squeezes his eyes shut.

"One, two, three!"

They pull, but unfortunately, nothing happens. Jeremy opens his eyes in alarm. "Charlie Foxtrot 41 to Control. Unable to eject!"

The two operatives look to each other in concern. "XANA is holding us prisoner!" Jeremy murmurs, looking to his watch. His friends don't have that much time left...

* * *

Aelita falls over the edge thanks to William, but Amy comes in and catches her, activating her wings. She smiles at her sister and together, they fly up to the edge. William dives towards them, pulling Aelita down by her leg, but not enough to get her into the Digital Sea. Aelita tries to fly upwards, but he's too heavy. So she tries to kick him off.

"Amy!"

She turns around and sees the situation. "Alright, I've had enough fooling around! Together!"

"Get OFF!" Amy screams as she kicks William the same time that Aelita fires an energy field at him. They watch him fall, looking up and flying back to the others.

"Super smoke," William propels himself into the air. Aelita looks over her shoulder and gasps. They reach the platform as he chases after the duo. He manages to catch up to them and they look at the traveling smoke, picking up speed. They fly past rocks and to another platform. William goes up ahead as Odd fires a Laser Arrow. He sees the chase behind him as William stops in front of the tower. He aims his hands at them, stopping them just before either one of them could reach the tower.

Their wings fall off as they hit the floor. Odd runs over to them. "I don't think the ladies want to dance with you!" Odd flips, firing a laser arrow at William. He blocks it with his arm and it reflects back to Odd, devirtualizing him.

He holds his head once the scanner's doors open. "I got a bang out of that...but at least Ames prefers me as her dance partner!"

William is holding the two by smoke, heading towards the Digital Sea. Ulrich and Yumi are too distracted by the Krabs to do anything for them. Yumi looks over her shoulder, ducking from a laser and throwing her fan. She catches the fan as the Krab is destroyed, looking towards William and the girls. She tosses her fan again and it hits William's arm. He growls as he sees the source landing in front of him. The XANA symbol on his forehead glows, his sword appearing in his hand. She throws her fan again, which he blows with his sword. He runs forward, swinging his weapon as she flips out of the way. He tries again, and when she jumps, this time she kicks him away.

She tries again with her sword, but he knocks it back, to her dismay. He leaps into the air, swinging and hitting the ground. She finds herself cornered in front of a glacier, and then he devirtualizes her. He looks up ahead at Ulrich, who's ducking from lasers and saw the whole thing.

"No! Super sprint!" He runs around the Krab, jumping into the air and stabbing it in the eye. He jumps off as the monster is defeated, running towards William.

Odd walks up to Yumi to greet her. "Welcome to the club..."

Ulrich clashes swords with William. He swings his sword at his opponent, who dodges it. William swings again and Ulrich jumps over it, blocking swords with him again. William keeps on swinging, but doesn't get a single hit. Ulrich sweeps his leg, tripping him onto the floor. He leaps and swings forward, but William leaps backwards. He jumps into the air, hitting Ulrich's sword again. He pushes Ulrich backwards, and when he holds his sword into the air, Ulrich backflips away. His sword hits the ground and Ulrich lands on his feet a few inches away from William.

Nearby, the two girls are still trapped in smoke, unable to move.

Yumi and Odd reach the computer lab. "Oh no!" They notice that another jet is approaching Jeremy's.

* * *

The other fighter jet has just caught up with Jeremy's. He looks outside to see the jet arriving. "Please, Lieutenant, tell them to wait just a little bit longer," He pleads with Greg. "Before they shoot us down?"

"Sorry, kid, but five minutes is not gonna make a big difference," Greg tells him.

"It will! I can't tell you how or why, but please believe me. I've got friends who can turn this whole situation around!"

"Control?" Greg contacts the base.

"We read you, Charlie Foxtrot 41."

"Don't forget that we've got a civilian on board, a child. Only, I repeat, only execute procedure as a last resort! Over and out!" He explains to them, Jeremy beaming to see the other jet flying away.

"It's okay, he's leaving!"

"No, he's just pulling behind us to get a better line of fire to shoot us down..." Greg looks up ahead, the other plane chasing them. Jeremy frowns a bit and looks at his watch.

"Huh?!"

"What's going on now, another problem?" Greg looks at the control panel. "Oh no! The missile's just armed itself. It's also to be launched." The missile at the left wing prepares itself so that it can hit the factory!

"Delta Bravo 89, this is Control. Target will be entering a populated zone in less than 30 seconds. Your orders are to shoot it down immediately!"

"Roger," The pilot pulls the lever as Jeremy looks at his watch again. He hears beeping and looks around.

"What's going on?"

"Our missile is going to fire..." It does so a few seconds later, turning around and heading the other direction.

"Oh no...the factory!" Jeremy murmurs in worry.

"Delta Bravo 89, forget the aircraft and direct your fire at the missile!" The man operative sees that it has fired.

"Roger," The plane moves forward, flying over the other plane. It flies into the clouds.

* * *

Ulrich speeds towards William and they clash weapons again. William swings and he ducks, going in for the kick. William turns into smoke, Ulrich throwing his sword just as William turns back into his human self, devirtualizing him.

"That's my remedy for a swell head," Ulrich smirks, turning to the girls. They're released from the smoke and Ulrich runs up to them. "Girls, the tower, hurry!"

They run towards the tower together.

"Control tower, this is Delta Bravo 89," The pilot from the second plane contacts them. "The missile's going too fast. I can't lock it in!"

Together, the sisters enter the tower, stopping at the center. They start to float towards the top.

"No response at all," Greg looks at the sparking control panel.

"XANA wants to get rid of me too..." Jeremy whispers to himself. The whole plane starts to be affected and the engines suddenly die out. Then the plane starts to spin around, falling towards the ground. Jeremy lets out a scream as it gets closer and closer...

Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd could only watch in horror at the screen.

The two finally reach the top of the tower, landing at the top platform. They step forward, the missile head straight for the factory!

Jeremy braces himself for the crash.

They press their hands to the interface.

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated," They say in unison as the data falls around them.

Yumi looks at the keyboard. "Return to the past now," She hits enter as the plane was about to crash on land!

Everything gets engulfed in white, both Greg and Jeremy screaming.

* * *

Time is reset as Aelita opens the door, peeking in. "Jeremy?" She steps inside his room, hoping to check on him. She notices something on the desk...

The same postcard she got...

She smiles in amusement and he steps into the room to see her holding it. "Well, well, so you're the mysterious postcard writer, huh?"

"Uh, yeah," He admits sheepishly. "The hardest part was changing my handwriting, but it was worth it, wasn't it?"

"It sure was. It reminded me that I'm not alone in the world, that someone cares about me."

Jim steps into the room, not even fazed that Aelita is in her room. "Belpois! I've been looking for Della Robbia for hours now, have you seen him?"

"Uhh, no. What has he done?" Jeremy asks curiously.

"Nothing at all. I was just wondering if he had anymore of that homemade pate left!" He holds up an empty jar. They just stare at him. "It was really delicious!"

Aelita laughs at this, wondering if he knows that was supposed to be for the Kiwi family.

"Sorry about that, Jim, but Odd took off. He had to catch a plane!"

* * *

"This is your lucky day, you know?" Greg asks from up front. Odd is posing as Jeremy since there's no way the genius would get onto that plane again. "Uhh..."

"Jeremy," He says nervously, seeing Amy wave from outside. "Jeremy Belpois."

"You're really gonna love this, Jeremy. It's an incredible experience. Here we go!" He pulls the lever forward.

"You'll go nice and easy, right? I'm not scared or anything, only..." He lets out a scream as they take off. "LET ME OUT OF HEEEEERE!"

"He's gonna regret signing us all up tomorrow," Amy giggles as they watch him take off.

"I wouldn't. I flew a plane when I was 20 years old." She turns to Jackson in surprise. "Course, I wasn't a chicken to do it."

The brunette giggles at him. "He may be a chicken, but he's my chicken of a boyfriend," She says as they watch the plane fly around.

"IF I DON'T SURVIVE THIS, TELL AMES THAT I LOVE HER AND TO TAKE CARE OF KIWIIIII!" Odd shouts at the top of his lungs. And yet ironically, Jeremy was the scared one...

"That Odd...is he treating you well?" Jackson crosses his arms, gaining a somewhat fatherly look. Since Amy doesn't really have a father in her life at the moment, he's stepped up a bit to make sure she's taken care of. And to ensure that her school expenses are handled since she's too young to handle that kind of stuff on her own. He's taken care of her since she was a little girl, someone has to look out for her...after all, he has a daughter of his own that he takes care of at home with his wife.

"Yes," Amy rolls her eyes in amusement. "I can handle Odd. Even his tendency to be overdramatic at times. Besides...he's worth it," She smiles softly towards the plane and he smiles, putting a comforting hand on her back. He can tell by her expression that she really loves and cares for him. XANA could throw whatever he could at them, and she wouldn't even bat an eye.

But if he ever finds out that Odd does something stupid out of his own volition, he'll be the first to knock some sense into him.


	88. Kadic Bombshell

**Angel: If you remember the Valentine's Day episode, Amy's birthstone is sapphire for a September birthday. Although this episode was released in November, it **_**was **_**released in September in France, so it still counts and that's my answer if you ask why they're celebrating her birthday in November.**

**...Oh wait spoilers XD But this show's been out for years now, so not really spoiling. **

**This is the longest chapter so far because of all the drama and another thing I can't really say unless you guys read it XD And I'm sorry it took so long to upload today. My internet has just been wonky all day and I had to finish my assignments, because that was a priority after I got the wifi back to normal ^^'**

"And at the end of the play, Juliet drinks a potion, which makes her appear to be dead," Ms. Kenningston is summarizing Romeo and Juliet to the class. "Romeo, thinking he's lost his young bride, poisons himself. And when Juliet wakes up and sees the lifeless Romeo...she drives a dagger through her heart."

Sissi actually starts crying. "That is so beautiful!"

"That is so idiotic!"

Amy clears her throat to Odd, crossing her arms. "W-What I meant was-"

The bell rings before he could explain. "Don't forget to read through the balcony scene for next week! See you on Monday!" The teacher calls out as they leave.

"What didn't you like about it, Odd? It's a wonderful love story, isn't it?" Aelita asks curiously.

"That's just it, Aelita. It's a story!" He tells her. "Giving yourself for love, that's dumb."

Amy raises a brow at him. "That's because Amy doesn't love you enough to die for you," Jeremy quips in amusement.

"I love him," She defends herself. "But he thinks it's idiotic, so why would I do it?"

"W-What?" Odd stammers, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Listen, if you ask me, nobody would die for love. Would you be ready to die for Yumi, Ulrich?"

"Better believe it!" Ulrich nods his head, realizing what he said. "Well...I'm, that is..."

"Hi, what are you guys talking about?" Yumi just happens to arrive as he blushes in embarrassment. The others smile knowingly.

"Oh, about tragedy and true love and Ulrich was just saying-"

"That it's totally idiotic!" Ulrich looks away.

"Hey Aelita, I think I figured out a way for improving source logarithms and I could use your help," Jeremy suggests to her.

"That sounds great, but first, let's have lunch!" Aelita runs off first and he chases after her.

"Do you think Aelita and Jeremy would be ready to die for each other?" Ulrich asks as he stares after them.

"I don't know. They might die of boredom, though! Anyway, forget that! Someone's birthday is today!" Odd smiles at Amy, who rubs her neck.

"Don't remind me, people have been wishing me birthday all day today..."

"Has your mom called you?" Yumi smiles softly.

"Yes, and she sent me some gifts earlier this morning. Odd and I have reservations at our favorite place tonight," She turns to Odd.

"Anything for my favorite girl!" Odd holds her hand.

"But you won't die for her," Ulrich mutters under his breath, earning a glare.

"Hey, what's that all about?" Yumi looks up ahead and they turn around to see a group of students, including Sissi, surrounding someone.

"Hey, come on, what's your name?" Nicolas asks excitedly.

"How long you here for?"

"Do you speak English?"

"Ha ha, I'd love to show you around!"

They're surrounding a blonde girl standing next to Sissi. The four walk up to the group. "Wow, give me a break," Yumi comments at her, turning to Milly and Tamiya. "Who is she?"

"Sissi's overseas pen pal. She's visiting for four days. Her name is Bringa Herad-uh...Herodel...uh, whatever!" Milly looks annoyed for some reason.

"Bringa Heringsdotir. And she's from Iceland," Tamiya corrects her friend.

"And Sissi's just eating it up! Thanks to Bringa, she's getting lots of attention...but not as much as Amy is, to her chargin! Happy birthday, Amy!"

"Thanks, Milly," Amy smiles a bit.

"Yeah, only this time, the boys aren't interested in her," Yumi looks at Sissi as she shoos the boys away.

"Okay, the show's over. I'll take Bringa to her room," She walks towards the dorms, and the two leave. The crowd separates as the two boys are smiling widely.

"Time to wake up, you two," Yumi crosses her arms in annoyance.

"I'm alright."

"What'd you say?"

Amy rolls her eyes at them. "That's the last time you get to give that look, you know," She warns Odd.

"Huh?" He asks in confusion and she pinches her nose. She hopes those four days go by quick before Odd loses it...

* * *

"Are you saying that your program that you modified gamma waves?" Aelita asks Jeremy, who eats a Brussel sprout.

"Yeah, that's right. Which means we could have a much faster virtualization and more...wow..." He stops talking as soon as he sees Bringa in the lunch line.

"What?" Ulrich and Odd both look at her. She smiles, taking her tray, Sissi looking smug. People even let the blonde cut in line! But not for Sissi, apparently.

"Hey, let me through, huh? Huh?!" She glares at Bringa and Amy as people are giving the birthday girl cards and presents.

Bringa gets her seat opened and pushed in, her food being carried for her. The three girls look in annoyance, the boys just smiling at her. She gets water poured for her.

"Thank you."

"Oh, she said thank you to me!" Matthias leaves her table, Amy getting flocked by other girls.

"Happy birthday, Amy!"

"Um, thank you..."

"I wonder what the boys see in that string bean," Yumi mutters to the sisters.

"Look at the girls," Aelita gestures to the ones around Amy and Bringa. "They're all chasing after her to find out her beauty secrets. At least other girls aren't that bad around my sister."

"That's only because of my birthday," Amy shrugs lightly, waving to the girls that leave her.

"I'd like to sit down if you don't mind!" Sissi tries to push past the trio. "Let me through, will you?!" She grunts in defeat and leaves. Herb pushes in her chair.

"Sorry, Sissi, this seat is taken. I'm holding onto it because Bringa promised that she would sit with me during dessert. And Amy promised she'd sit here to let me say happy birthday to her."

"Huh?!" He's always letting her sit next to him.

* * *

Odd opens the door once he's finished, sighing. "Well, this weekend is all about Ames for me! Rest and recuperation, yes sir. And going to the movies!"

"You're not going to the pool tomorrow with Miss Iceland? Seems everyone's going," Yumi asks him.

"No, I've got better things to do like playing with the puppies and sleep," He bumps into someone. "Oh, sorry."

"Watch where you're going, huh creepo?!" Sissi yells at him.

"Oh, Sissi, one of these days, someone is gonna..." He stops talking once he sees Bringa's eyes, smiling widely.

"Oh, it's alright," Bringa tells him. Ulrich and Jeremy glance to each other, Amy looking unhappy.

"I tell you, she's something else!" Odd states as he's playing foosball with Ulrich in the rec room. "She's gorgeous and slim and her hair's like gold! And did you see those dee, clear green eyes? Absolutely incredible! Wow! And did you get a look at that beautiful, soft skin she has? Bringa's not just beautiful, beautiful's not the word...she's I don't know she's...well, she's..."

"You mean ugly?" Aelita asks, everyone except Odd laughing.

"You talk about her as if she's the 8th wonder in the world, but here's the thing: You HAVE a girlfriend," Yumi points out. "You're just lucky she had to go check on the puppies." Odd gets a point against Ulrich without even looking.

"That's right, those are the words I was looking! Bringa is the 8th wonder of the world! I mean Ames!" He covers his mouth, realizing that he's not talking about his own girlfriend.

"Odd, are you sure you don't have a problem with..."

"A slightly overheated brain?" Jeremy finishes for him.

"That's what I meant," Ulrich chuckles at him. "You don't even talk about Amy that way!"

"It's not my fault I caught Bringa's eye and you didn't!" He brags to them.

"She really has fried your brain. Can't you see that she comes on strong to everyone?" Ulrich asks him.

"You know something? You're just jealous, good buddy!" Odd defends himself.

The door opens. "Oh, there you are, Odd," Bringa is standing in the doorway. "Are those your friends? I'd like to meet them."

"Why sure Bringa!" He steps forward. "Aelita, Yumi."

"Hello," Yumi greets as politely as she can.

"Bringa."

"Ulrich, and Jeremy. Ames, my girlfriend, she isn't here, but I'll introduce you to her soon!"

"Oh, the brunette? I heard it's her birthday today, maybe you could help me find her a present? And are you the one whose name is Einstein?" Bringa smiles at Jeremy. "You look very intelligent!"

"Yeah..." He smiles widely.

"Ulrich, you're the one who likes to do martial arts! Perhaps you could give me a demonstration."

"I'd be-I'd be...uh, okay," He stammers, winking at her.

"It was nice to get to know all of you. Shall we go for a walk, Elksan?" She pulls Odd to her.

"That means sweetheart!" Odd tells them, running off with her with a chuckle.

"I really wonder what she sees in that shrimp!"

"Yeah, you're right," Jeremy agrees with Ulrich. "Bringa needs somebody a little more intellectually developed!"

"Did you guys realize you're talking about your friend? And what about Amy, shouldn't we tell her this is happening? Jealous, both of you. I don't believe it! How about fried brains, Jeremy, you take the cake?" Aelita scolds them.

"You're wrong, Aelita. I was just working out the statistical probability of a girl as pretty and charming as Bringa falling in love with a guy like Odd!" He looks away.

"Look at you, Ulrich. Ever since that blonde ice cube showed up here, you've turned into a doormat!" Yumi glares at him.

"Me?! I have not! Anyway, I don't know why anyway you should care. After all, we're just good friends, that's all."

She says nothing and the two leave.

"What is it with girls this year?" Ulrich huffs to Jeremy as they walk down the hall.

"They're right, you know," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "That Bringa has really started messing with our heads," Jeremy points to his brain.

* * *

Later that night, Odd steps into his room...and gets confronted with his friends, and the Kiwi family. "Huh?" He shuts the door behind him. "Did I miss an episode?"

"Odd, we have to talk, seriously," Yumi starts off.

"It's true, ever since you started hanging out with Bringa, there's been a lot of friction in our group, and..."

"And that's not very good for our mission, or for your current relationship," Jeremy states to him. "Bringa is coming between us, and..."

"And we think the best thing for you to do is to stop hanging out with her now, Romeo," Aelita crosses her arms. "Haven't you gotten any calls from your girlfriend? She's getting ready for her date with you!"

"...You actually want me to stop hanging out with Bringa just because you guys and Ames can't get along? It's not her fault or mine either! The problem is you and your jealously," He opens up the door. "I turned off my phone so Bringa and I wouldn't be interrupted."

"Odd, wait, it's a big problem! You promised Amy you wouldn't do this to her!"

"Maybe for you, but not for me! In fact, I have a movie to go to with your problem, so ciao!" He shuts the door behind him, texting Amy to wait for him at the restaurant. Hanging out with Bringa as a friend wasn't a bad thing, and he wasn't neglecting his own girlfriend.

"You look a little upset," He sees Bringa in front of him. "If you don't want to go out-"

"Sure I do, it's just that my friends are acting so lame. Come on, I'll pick you up later. I'm meeting my girlfriend for her birthday," He walks down the steps, only to be stopped by Bringa.

"You can meet her later, I want to go now," She pouts at him.

"But I promised-"

"Please?" She gives him a pleading look. "After our movie, then you can go to her."

"Ahh," He bites his lip, wondering if he should really do this. Those eyes are irresistible, and...Amy would understand...

"Okay," He nods at her.

* * *

Aelita and Jeremy are in the computer lab. "The program will run all night. We'll have to wait till tomorrow," Jeremy explains to Aelita.

"Still thinking about Odd?" She asks knowingly.

"I was wondering if our little gang will survive this 8th wonder of the world..."

"Honestly, I wouldn't worry. This will last two days, just like his other-" She doesn't finish her sentence, feeling bad for Amy.

"I don't know. I think that girl has turned our Casanova into a Romeo! I hope he doesn't forget about Amy's birthday tonight."

Amy is in a nice black dress, looking at her watch as she sits at a booth. She taps her finger against the table in boredom as Odd is now over an hour late.

* * *

Odd and Bringa are walking back into Kadic around midnight. "You have such a sad face all night," Bringa points out. "You're not happy to be hanging out with me?"

"Sure I am. But I was just thinking about the fight I had with my buddies," He replies softly.

"Don't worry. Sometimes you make friends, sometimes you lose them. You make new ones."

"Oh, they're not just any old pals," He stops and she looks at him. "They're real friends, and real friends count a lot more for me, Bringa."

"That is true, but your real friends have made you very sad. Even that girlfriend of yours," She points out. "Now that we are together, you don't need them."

"No, no, it's really different with them and Ames. And we're just friends, Bringa. You wouldn't understand," He looks away sadly.

"Well then, explain it to me. What is the matter? Don't you trust me, Odd?"

"Uhh...well, you see, we're...we're kind of like an army," He punches the air. "Of warriors."

"Warriors?" She asks in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing," He closes his eyes. "Forget I ever said anything." He couldn't say anything more than that, he'd be giving away the secret.

"I thought that you trusted me, but you don't," She frowns, walking away.

"W-Wait!" He stammers, holding out a hand to her. She huffs, glancing at him.

"Okay, let me show you something. Maybe you'll see why my friends are so special. But you've gotta swear to keep it a secret," Odd crosses his arms. She smiles at this.

* * *

He leads her to the factory, blindfolded, and he removes the cloth. "Here we are. Tada!"

She gasps at the computer lab. "Oh, this is incredible! What is this place?"

"Uh, it's kind of complicated. I'm not sure I understand it all," While he's talking, Bringa walks up to the computer. "They're pretty top secret scientific experiments." She taps a key and turns on the super computer. "Ultra secret. Phenomena, digital kind of stuff."

Bringa starts tapping some keys. "Wow...!"

He finally notices her at the computer, standing in front of her. "No, Bringa, don't touch anything!"

"Alright, Odd, I'm not an idiot."

"But the supercomputer was doing something!" He looks at the screen as there was an brief error message from it. "What did you do?"

"Me? Nothing at all. I hardly touched the keyboard."

"Okay, we better go now," He walks towards the elevator.

"But I haven't seen anything yet," She frowns a bit.

"Let's go. Please, Bringa."

The blonde stares at him and he smiles sheepishly. She finally decides to follow him.

Amy is still at the restaurant, one of the waiters approaching the table. She has her head on the table sadly, arms crossed. The staff felt so bad for her, they've been watching that table for hours and nothing...

The waiter stands near the table, causing her to look up. He's holding a small box in his hands. "We're closing now, young lady. I don't think he's coming."

She looks across the empty seat across from er forlornly, slowly sitting up. The waiter is kind enough to help her onto her feet and hand the girl her coat. She didn't know what to feel right now. She says nothing as she wraps her coat around herself.

"We've taken the liberty of calling a cab for you. Here's a free cake on us," He puts it into her hands. "If you ask me, he doesn't deserve a nice girl like you."

She waves slightly as she slowly walks out of the restaurant and sees the cab he mentioned. She slowly enters inside and closes the door, hugging herself.

"Where to, miss?"

"K-Kadic...Kadic Academy, please."

She looks towards the restaurant as the car slowly peels away from the curb...

The driver stops in front of the entrance as it's started to rain. By this time, she's already feeling numb. She couldn't believe this...he left her waiting there for almost 5 hours. He wouldn't die for her...he wouldn't call or text her back...and now this. She had no idea who he is anymore.

"Here," She hands him a 20 dollar bill from her purse and the driver takes it into his hand. "Keep the change."

"Thank you, miss. And I've seen this happen too many times. If you ask me, the guy's a jerk to leave a sweet girl like you behind."

He leaves the school and she turns around, her heels clicking as she slowly heads for the dorms.

She unlocks the door to her room, Aelita sitting up. "How was the-"

Her mouth opens as she sees her older sister soaking wet, her mascara running down her cheeks. "Aelita..." Amy sobs as the pink-haired girl realizes what happened. She helps her sister inside and they sit down on her bed as the brunette starts crying, probably the most emotion she's shown since she left.

* * *

The next morning, Jeremy's computer beeps. He sits up from his bed. "Huh? What's going...?" He rushes over to his computer.

Ulrich's phone rings and he answers it with his eyes closed. "What?"

"You gotta get up. Activated tower in sector..." However, the super scan stops. "That's weird. There isn't any activated tower. Okay, Ulrich, you can go back to sleep. False alarm," He hangs up, confused by what's happened. "I don't get it..."

Ulrich puts his phone down, looking towards the snoring Odd. Kiwi is laying on his back. He shakes his head, sighing as he lays back down.

"I don't know how he's managed to keep a girlfriend for so long..."

Jeremy and Aelita enter the computer lab later on that day. "You sure you heard the alarm?" She asks as they rush inside.

"Sure I'm sure. And I don't think my computer's gone paranoid. So that's why we've gotta hurry and find out what's going on. Still no activated tower. Now let me check the log. Bingo! There's a system alert, alright, but not from this morning. It was at 12:36 last night. Interesting..."

The super scan comes up again. "Huh?"

In the desert sector, all that sits is a deactivated tower. "This is getting weirder every second. Look, the supercomputer says that there's an activated tower in the desert sector. But in terms of digital activity, nothing's going on."

"What's the cause of these false alarms? You think it's a virus?" Aelita turns to him curiously.

"It could have been a problem with the program that we launched last night...but I don't get it. I checked everything out. Here are my calculations. Oh no!"

"What's wrong?" She turns to the screen.

"The program has been modified! Some sort of parasitic foreign data was entered into the supercomputer. Someone came here last night, for sure." He checks out the security camera footage, and finds Odd bringing Bringa inside.

"Uh oh. Looks like Odd made a big fat mistake."

"No, I think his mistake is more like skinny and blond," Jeremy starts fast forwarding a little.

"That's where he was when he stood up my sister!" Aelita glares at the screen, surprising Jeremy.

"Huh?! He never made it to their date? Odd is a lot of things, but he would never do that to Amy!"

"Bringa's changed him," Aelita crosses her arms. "I had to leave her alone in our room, she's been crying into her pillow since this morning..."

"Oh wow," Jeremy frowns in disapproval. They watch Bringa sit in the chair and she taps a key, Odd stopping her.

"No, Bringa, don't touch anything!"

"Only you're too late, Odd," He sees Odd's big grin.

"Well, no need to look any further, Jeremy. Odd gave away our secret," Aelita sighs a bit.

"It was Bringa. By touching the keyboard, she modified my program and that's what messed up the supercomputer."

"Can you fix it, Jeremy?" She looks back at the screen.

"Yeah, but the problem is that it might take a little while. And of course, during that time, XANA could-" The super scan interrupts him. "Activated tower! Though it could be another false alarm..."

"Yes, but we can't be sure. Send me to Lyoko," Aelita tells him.

"Uh uh, too risky," He shakes his head.

"But not knowing what XANA could be up to is even riskier. You need someone there, like before we had the super scan."

"...Yeah, you're probably right," He relents in defeat. "Get in. _The activated tower should be in the northwest part of the forest sector._"

"Gotcha!" She exclaims from inside a scanner.

"Transfer Aelita. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization."

She doesn't arrive in the forest sector, but in the ice sector. She lands and notices her surroundings. "Jeremy, you made a mistake. You sent me to the ice sector."

He pushes up his glasses. "No, I didn't make a mistake. I virtualized you in the forest sector. Oh, we really have a huge problem." He contacts Ulrich, who's at the vending machine with Yumi.

"Jeremy, what's up? He must be with his Icelandic icicle. Huh?! Be right there," He hangs up to look at Yumi. "Odd took the 8th wonder of the world to the factory, and guess what? She tweaked the supercomputer! Sissi, you haven't seen Odd around, have you?"

"I sure have! He's in the park with my pen pal!" She frowns and Ulrich's about to go there when Yumi stops him.

"Wait. Let's bring Amy with us. Maybe then, he'll feel even worse!"

"I don't know if she's up for it," Ulrich raises a brow. "Jeremy told me that he stood her up last night."

Yumi clenches a fist, storming towards the dorms.

* * *

A knock is heard as Amy's face is into her pillow. Ulrich and Yumi open it as they can hear her crying, feeling awful for her.

"I'm really sorry, Amy," Yumi places a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't believe Odd would do that," Ulrich looks a bit angry.

"He was gushing about her, you know," Yumi closes her eyes. "Like she was Cleopatra. He couldn't find a word to describe how 'beautiful' she was."

"Why would he do this to me?" Amy sniffles into her pillow, the two friends glancing at each other. Amy was probably the sweetest and nicest person in the group, and it killed them that she's like this and that there's nothing to fix it right now...

"Odd took her to the factory last night."

She slowly lifts her head up. "...That's where he was...? He was taking her to the factory while I waited for 5 HOURS for him?!"

"And she messed up the supercomputer..."

She sits up, gritting her teeth and standing up. "Where is he?"

"In...in the park with Bringa," Ulrich rubs the back of his neck nervously.

"Let's go," She narrows her eyes angrily.

* * *

Aelita is meditating in the ice sector alone. "Where are you, Aelita?" Jeremy asks her.

She opens up her eyes, looking up. "I don't feel any pulsations. I don't think there's a problem," She gets onto her feet.

"_Okay then. I'm gonna bring you back in right now. I don't like you being all alone in Lyoko. Materialization Aelita."_

Instead of bringing her back to Earth, she ends up in the mountain sector... "Oh no, Jeremy. Another major problem. Believe it or not, I'm in the mountain sector!"

She looks up ahead, narrowing her eyes. "And I'm not alone either..."

Approaching her direction are two Bloks and two Kankerlots.

"_Okay Aelita, I'll warn the others_," Jeremy says as she runs off.

* * *

Bringa is stroking Odd's hair as he's laying down on her lap.

"Odd!"

Odd is approached by Yumi, Ulrich, and Amy, and she doesn't look happy. He raises a brow before his eyes widen in horror.

_Oh no, I forgot about her birthday!_

"Oh, hi, guys," He says nervously, feeling Amy's glare hit him.

"How was the movie last night? Which one was it?" Ulrich crosses his arms.

"Uh, Jurassic Experiment."

"Oh yeah? You sure it wasn't Two Rats in the Factory?" Yumi asks nexy.

"Uhh, no, what makes you say that?" Odd asks innocently.

"Because Jeremy's got the whole film on video. The actors are the spitting image of you two! Anything to say for yourself?" Yumi stares down at him.

"Hey listen, it's not what you think. I was gonna tell you about it!"

"What's in that head of yours, sawdust?! The supercomputer is on the blink. Odd, you have just betrayed your way out of our group. I can't believe you stood Amy up, what kind of guy are you?!"

"What is the problem? Yes, we visited Jeremy's mysterious laboratory and he didn't show up to his girlfriend's birthday, there is always next year! It's not the end of the world!"

Amy's mouth drops open at this. "For your information, it _could _be the end of the world!"

"How could you do this to me?" Amy whispers, tears falling down her cheeks. "You forget my birthday to spend it with her? You stood me up!"

"Ames, I swear, I just...lost track of time, and-"

"Almost two years I stuck by you through everything!" She holds up two fingers. "And yet you're giving that for HER?! You selfish PIG!"

"I really was gonna-!"

"Save it," She murmurs, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "The point is that you lied. You lied to your friends. You lied to _me_! And like an idiot, I believed you. And to top it off, you gave away our secret! 5 WHOLE hours I waited for you, and you didn't call me or text me! You made me look like a fool at the restaurant!"

"Ames..." Odd whispers softly, Ulrich and Yumi just glaring at him. "Believe me, I feel terrible about it. You don't know how bad I feel about doing that to you."

"Well, if you wanna hang out with some girl you don't even know than to remember my birthday, then go on right ahead. I don't want to see you. I don't want you to text me, and don't even think about calling. I just want to be left alone. You're a loser, Odd Della Robbia!"

She runs off, Odd reaching out a hand. "Ames, wait!"

"Odd, I think you've done enough," Ulrich warns him as Yumi glares at him.

"I've had enough of this," Bringa stands up. "I'm going to the swimming pool. Well Odd, are you coming or not?"

"No!" Odd stands up bravely. "I'm going after my girlfriend! She deserves better than what I've been giving her lately, and you don't get to talk to her like she's not important, Bringa!" He glares at her, running off after the brunette.

Ulrich answers his phone again. "Jeremy? Things could be worse. Huh? But why did you send her out alone? Be right there." He hangs up. "What's the matter today? I think everyone's gone crazy!"

"Hang in there, Aelita. Ulrich and Yumi are on the way. I'll be finished fixing the supercomputer really soon, just a couple of minutes."

"A couple of minutes? Survival out here is a matter of a few microseconds! Has there been anything from Earth that XANA's done?" Aelita asks while hiding behind a rock.

"_Strangely, no._"

As soon as he says that, Amy runs past a lamppost. A specter comes from it and turns into the brunette. She runs for the school and ends up in the courtyard a few minutes later.

"Oh, Amy!"

The fake turns around to see Sissi approaching. "You must be feeling pretty awful now that you've been stood up. Everyone's talking about it! How's it feel knowing that you'll never be as pretty as me?"

The fake Amy touches her shoulder and suddenly Sissi turns into another Amy.

* * *

The monsters continue firing at Aelita and she comes out of hiding, firing an energy field. She misses as she finds another hiding spot.

"Energy field!" She throws another one and hits a Blok, destroying it. She activates her wings and takes flight, only to be hit from behind...by William. The three monsters fire at her.

"Cease fire!"

He jumps off the rock and runs towards Aelita. "Aelita! At last, just the two of us!"

"_Aelita, watch out!_"

She throws an energy field at him, but it flies right past him. He looks up at it, and turns back to see her running away. She jumps across a platform, William and a Kankerlot doing the same.

* * *

"Ames!" Odd had lost her in the forest, calling out her name. "Ames!"

A rustle is heard from the bushes and he turns to look at it. Amy emerges from the bush, but something wasn't right about her.

"Thank goodness. Ames, I'm sorry-"

Another Amy emerges behind him and he turns to look at her. "Huh?!" He looks between the two. "Hold on, am I in one of my dreams?"

The one in front of him has her eyes filled with the XANA symbol. She holds out her hand and fires an electricity bolt at him. The one from behind does the same, but he ducks his head and they take each other out.

"XANA..." Odd murmurs as he looks at the two. "But how, he can't possess us."

Yumi and Ulrich have reached the bridge, turning around and seeing a bunch of Amys behind them. "Huh?!"

"Am I seeing things?" Yumi asks in shock, all of them with the XANA symbol.

"No time, let's go!"

They run off to the ropes as the Amy clones chase after them. They reach the bottom and push the button. Yumi calls Jeremy on her phone.

"Jeremy, we've got a problem. XANA's sent copies of Amy, and they're in the factory."

"What? How?" He asks in shock, typing on his keyboard. A news report is live over the matter.

"We're here today to warn people to stay home. A strange virus has been going around in which a teenage girl turns others into copies of themselves." An Amy clone touches a citizen, turning her into Amy. People are running around trying to get away.

"I'll cut them off, but it won't last long, just hurry into the scanners," Jeremy types away. "But that begs the question, where's the real Amy?"

* * *

The real Amy reaches the sewer entrance, only to find clones of her running around. She sighs deeply at this.

"Using my birthday to launch an attack, huh? XANA, you are a real jerk..." She shakes her head slowly. "How am I gonna get past them...?"

She facepalms herself, realizing something.

Amy stands in front of them, hands on her hips. "Let's hurry into the school, there are more people to infect!"

The clones run right past her and she opens up the entrance. "They may be me, but they can't tell the difference between the real thing and a clone..."

* * *

"Okay, you're going in right now. Aelita's in big trouble in the mountain sector," Jeremy tells Yumi and Ulrich as they arrive in the scanner room.

"Just a second, Einstein," Ulrich stops before going in. "How do you plan on sending us there if the supercomputer's all messed up?"

"_No idea, I'm trying to fix it, but we have to risk it. If not, Aelita will be at the mercy of William and then won't be able to deactivate the tower_!"

They don't have much of a choice. They step inside. "Another crazy idea. Gets better and better," Ulrich deadpans as the scanners close around the two.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization." He taps the enter key, sending both of them to the desert sector.

"Hey, didn't you say the mountain sector?! Speaking of bright ideas, Einstein!"

"_Sorry, guys_..."

"Chill, Ulrich, okay?" Yumi scolds him. "It's not Jeremy's fault. Don't forget, we could've wound up in the Digital Sea too."

"I could always try to bring you back in and then send you to the right sector."

"_No, we can't take the chance. We'll find our own way. Just point us in the right direction_," Yumi tells him.

"_Okay, the way tower is due south from your present position._"

They take off into a run. He had a feeling that if he tried to bring up their vehicles, something bad might happen.

* * *

Amy slides down the rope, alarmed to see an army of herself pounding on the elevator. She backs away a bit, but they sense her and chase after the brunette.

She pulls out her phone to call Jeremy. "Jeremy? How's it going?"

"Aelita's all alone with William. How about you?"

"My clones are chasing me in the factory, my sister needs to hurry up with that tower!" She pants as she looks over her shoulder.

"Okay, Amy, I'll tell them."

* * *

Aelita peeks from the rock she's hiding behind. The Blok looks around for her and she runs, stopping when she's face-to-face by William's sword. She fires an energy field and hits him in the arm. She flies up and kicks him down, flying away.

Ulrich and Yumi reach the way tower. "Jeremy, we're almost at the way tower!"

"_Roger, but Amy won't be much of help. Her newfound sisters don't seem to like her that much_. We'll have to do without her, so hurry it up, okay?"

"Great," Ulrich mutters as they run inside the tower.

"Listen Aelita, I'm almost through fixing the supercomputer. You okay?"

"No, I'm not okay at all!" She exclaims as she looks over her shoulder. A Kankerlot knocks her onto the ground and she looks in horror to see William arriving. He throws smoke at her, trapping her in place. He lifts her up in the air and throws her at a rock. She hits the ground and he brings her to him.

"XANA's finally gonna have your company for good!" He laughs evilly, staring at her in the eye. Fans are thrown at him, one of them knocking him away. Aelita is freed as William travels by smoke and Yumi catches her weapons.

"Hey William! When are you gonna learn that we never abandon our friends?" Ulrich calls out to him. He comes to a stop, swinging a slash from his sword. "Super Sprint!" Both of them dodge as he speeds up, Yumi flipping away. He engages in a sword fight with William while a Kankerlot materializes in front of Yumi. She absorbs a laser with her fans, flipping to the side. Three more Kankerlots and a Blok arrive.

* * *

Amy ends up back in the sewers, pressing her back against the wall. Her clones run right past her and she sighs in relief.

"Well, I can definitely say I've had better birthdays..."

She turns to her left, stopping in place to see another crowd of herself running towards her. The brunette runs off again, heading towards the manufacturing room.

At the swimming pool, Bringa does a swan dive, a bunch of boys cheering for her. She comes up to the surface, smiling at them.

"What do you say we go for a swim together later?" Nicolas waves a towel.

"Are there beaches in Iceland?"

"Hey, would you like to have a fantastic breathtaking experience in the moonlight tonight?"

"Shut up, Poliakoff!"

Bringa looks over her shoulder, seeing an Amy clone there. She disregards her and sees another one standing in front of her.

"Huh?!" She lets out a scream as she falls backwards into the water. The Amy clones start infecting all the boys, some of them jumping into the water after Bringa. She swims away from them, only to get infected.

* * *

Jeremy notices that the two are losing life points on his screen. "Hey Ulrich, Yumi, go real easy, okay? If you guys get devirtualized before I can fix the program, I'm not sure that I can bring you back to Earth again."

Yumi tosses her fan at a Kankerlot and destroys it. She catches it in her hand with an annoyed look on her face. "And you're telling us this now?!"

She absorbs some lasers with her fans. Ulrich jumps from William's swing. "Thanks a lot, what's the bad news?"

"How could I possibly ask for more? I'm gonna get three birds with one sword," William smirks at Ulrich.

"We'll see about that," Ulrich glares at him as he backs away.

"I intend to!" William swings his sword at his opponent. He swings again and Ulrich ducks, kicking his legs and knocking him onto the ground. Ulrich leaps and hits his arm, William kicking him back. Ulrich flips, landing on his feet.

* * *

Amy runs down the stairs into the manufacturing room, only to get hit by an electric shock from behind. She stumbles down the steps, landing on the ground as her copies stand at the top of the stairs. The XANA symbols in their eyes flash.

She slowly sits up, rolling away from another blast. She gets onto her feet and hits a nearby pipe, emitting smoke at the copies. She uses the smoke to get away from them, sighing in relief.

"Come on, Amy," Jeremy murmurs as he calls her. "Pick up..."

Her phone rings and her eyes widen. She quickly answers it. "Jeremy?"

"Amy, how you holding up?"

"I'm in the manufacturing room of the factory. I don't think I can stop all my doubles from reaching the factory. Why would XANA make copies of me, anyway?"

"XANA must've seen you while you were out. It's obvious that they're after you, and because of...well, you know, he wants to use your emotional state against you. So he separated you from Aelita so that you wouldn't interfere with William," He rubs his chin.

"_Well, it worked_!" She retorts back to him.

"I'm almost finished with the supercomputer and getting it back to normal, so you're gonna have to hang in there just a little longer."

One of the clones punches the wall nearby Amy and she screams in alarm, looking up at the crowd of herself.

"Easier said than done."

The elevator doors open and Jeremy thinks it's Amy clones when it's actually just Odd, which is even worse. He closes his eyes and turns away.

"Uh, could you use my help?" Odd asks nervously.

"Odd, you're not exactly welcome around here. I'm sorry, but I have no time to chat with you," Jeremy replies thinly.

"Well, that's great then, let's not waste any time and virtualize me right away! Our friends must need help. I wanna make sure Ames is okay, and the only way to do that is to deactivate the tower."

Jeremy sighs slightly, knowing that his friend is right. "Okay, but with the supercomputer down, you could be virtualized anywhere at all."

"That's my problem, one of our friends is in trouble," He presses the button to head to the scanner room.

* * *

Yumi flips away from the two Kankerlots and the Blok. She throws her fans at them and they jump over it like it's nothing. The Blok prepares to fire its ice beam and she front flips, only for her arms to be encased in ice. She gasps in disbelief, putting her legs back down. The Kankerlots fire and the ice dissolves. Aelita flies into view and destroys a Kankerlot. The Blok fires and she narrowly dodges it. She dodges again as Yumi tosses her weapons, the Blok jumping over one, but the other one devirtualizes the pesky monster.

Ulrich blocks swords with William, jumping over his weapon. He slams it on the ground and swings, Ulrich jumping to the side. They clash once again, both of them glaring at each other. Ulrich slides back a bit, hitting a rock. William devirtualizes him with one hit.

"Ulrich, no!" Yumi exclaims, and then she's devirtualized herself. Aelita fires an energy field at the Kankerlot that hit her, devirtualizing it. William runs up to her, and she's unfortunately all alone. She gasps as she looks around.

"You're next!" William declares to her. "And then when her clones bring Amelia to me, she will be the last!"

Amy gets pushed between her clones, getting hit by an electric shock each time.

Jeremy wavers his finger over a key. "It's the moment of truth, I guess..." He presses it, and the supercomputer is now repaired. "Yeah!" He pumps his fists, pushing up his glasses. "Transfer Odd."

William clenches a fist as he slowly approaches Aelita, who moves away from him.

Ulrich and Yumi come out of the scanners in relief.

Aelita is nearing the Digital Sea.

"_Virtualization_."

Odd appears right behind William and Aelita looks up at him. "Odd!"

He lands in front of William. "You think I'm afraid of that popsicle stick?" He mocks, firing a laser arrow. William deflects it with his sword, one of them hitting his shoulder.

Yumi and Ulrich are standing next to Jeremy. "How's Amy doing?"

"...Not well," Jeremy winces a bit.

Amy lands in the middle of her clones, clenching a fist in pain. They tower over her as her hair is a mess underneath her. She slowly opens her eyes, looking up at them.

"Someone help..."

Odd gets William in the arm, and he turns around and knocks Aelita towards the Digital Sea.

"Aelita!" Odd rushes over to the edge, jumping off. He notices her bracelet and aims for it. Her wings are activated and she looks up at her friend, flying towards him. She catches his arm, flying upwards as much as she can. She smiles in relief at him.

The elevator doors open to reveal the clones. Yumi, Jeremy, and Ulrich gasp in shock and they step forward.

Aelita flies upwards, landing on the platform. "We've gotta hurry to the tower! This way," They run forward as William is suddenly gone.

The clones start shocking the trio as they scream in pain.

Amy is completely surrounded by clones of her as they start to shock her, and she's too weak to do anything to stop them...

Odd watches Aelita enter the tower at the forest sector.

Ulrich, Jeremy, and Yumi are unconscious on the floor of the lab. The clones around them band together, each one holding out their hands and preparing to finish them off.

Aelita floats onto the top platform, her feet hitting it. She walks up to the interface.

The clones around Amy grin evilly, raising their arms and creating a giant ball made of electricity to hit her with. The lights from it flicker as it hits her face, her eyes still closed.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

All the clones stop, and they suddenly disappear. Everyone that was infected is turned back to normal, appearing back to the spots where they were touched. The lamppost that created them flickers out.

Yumi wakes up first, holding her head. "Ugh...you guys okay?"

Ulrich and Jeremy give her a painful thumbs up.

* * *

Odd and Aelita come out of the scanners once they return. Amy crawls back into the room, having just returned.

"Amy! Thank goodness!" Aelita hugs her in relief.

"Well, I know just what you're gonna say," Odd states once he steps out. "I betrayed you and I'm a total lame-o, and I should be kicked out of the group..." They just stare at him. "And you're right too, guys. I should never have shown the supercomputer to Bringa. It's unforgivable!"

"Well no, you simply forgot that inside that head of yours, there happens to be a brain!" Jeremy comments to him.

"You're not the only one who was lame. We were just too jealous of you," Ulrich admits to his friend.

"Yeah," Yumi smiles a little. "We all went a bit too far because of Bringa."

"Well, I forgive you mostly, Odd," Aelita smiles weakly at him. "I mean, you saved me from William!"

"Well...still friends?"

"Yeah, still friends," Ulrich answers as the others smile. Odd smiles back at them.

"there is a way to fix the mess I made. A little return to the past, hm?"

"Oh, that won't be necessary, I don't think," Jeremy admits and Odd looks around, suddenly noticing that Amy's gone.

"Hey, where's-"

The doors to the elevator close and Odd frowns sadly. "We might forgive you, Odd, but you did something really hurtful to Amy," Yumi turns to him. "And I'm not sure how long it'll take for her to forgive you."

"I know..." Odd kicks the ground a bit, hands in his pockets. "I can't believe I stood her up...I don't do that! But I should've put her first..."

"You were a Casanova before you met Amy," Jeremy crosses his arms. "You had a lot of habits with girls, but standing them up is something you never did."

"Will you guys help me with Ames?" Odd looks at them pleadingly. "I wanna let her know that I'm really sorry."

"Sure," Yumi smiles slightly.

* * *

"Bye Bringa!" The students tell the blonde as she's actually leaving Kadic. They follow her towards the park.

"Can you believe that? She completely forgot to say goodbye to me!" Odd complains jokily.

"Well, now do you see why I'm not worried about the supercomputer, Odd?" Jeremy asks him. "Not to mention, nobody remembers being an Amy clone, anyway. They were all sent back into town or at school at the spot they were touched."

"Who cares about Bringa, anyway? I have a girlfriend that I love."

"Hey Sissi," Ulrich calls out to the smug girl nearby. "I thought that Bringa was gonna stay here for four days!"

"Well, let's just say I convinced my father to send her out of town to my cousin's place. She wanted to see the country, so I said why not?"

"I guess for you, that's a real relief, cuz now that Bringa's gone, she can't steal Amy's show!" Odd comments to her, earning a jealous growl at the mention of Amy's name.

"You may not believe it, Odd, but it was really a pleasure. You know, I sometimes envy you two," She gives Yumi and Aelita a look. "Because being surrounded by guys all the time could never happen to you!"

They give blank looks at her explanation.

"Aww, now, now, that's the Sissi we all love! How could I have flipped over Bringa?"

"Get away from me!" Sissi runs away from him.

"Sissi, Sissi, wait! Wherefore art thou, Juliet?" Of course, he was only joking just to get a reaction out of her.

"Uh oh, Odd's gone bananas again!" Ulrich states as they laugh. "We better watch out, guys!"

* * *

Amy walks back to her room, suspecting nothing as she walks inside, not wanting to see anyone right now. Suddenly, she smells a floral fragrance and looks up to see bouquets of flowers in every corner and on the desks. She gasps in shock at the dozen vases. Then she eyes a gift basket decorated with flowers on the handle and in front. It's full of Amy's favorite candy, along with a heated box of ravioli and a whole chocolate cake as dessert. She's so shocked that she doesn't see someone entering the room.

"I wanted chocolates too, but they were out."

She whips around to see Odd rubbing his neck, trying not to cry. "I'm really sorry about forgetting your birthday, Ames. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you..."

"...How could you forget my birthday? How could you not show up? And to hang out with _her_?" Amy seethes at how he abandoned her and he closes his eyes. "Do you just not care about me anymore?"

"Of course I care! I just...fell for her words. She talked me into not going to the restaurant to do something...different and then we were having so much fun-"

When he says that last word, he regrets it. "So you don't have fun with me either?" She asks softly, her eyes tearing up. "Is that it?"

"No, we do," He approaches her, holding her hand. "And I'm sorry that I even fell for her tricks. I'm sorry that I was neglecting you, that I stood you up, and I'm sorry that I didn't realize all I wanted is right in front of me. You're the only one I wanna spend time with."

"You know how I was emotionally affected by my past!" She sniffles, pointing at him. "Why would you do that to me?"

"It was a huge mistake. I wish I could take it back, but I can't. Bringa...talked me into it, and I just felt trapped, and...I wasn't thinking clearly."

"A relationship is a mutual thing," She frowns deeply at him. "Two people work at it, two people make something good of it. But you can control your actions around Bringa. Being caught in her spell is no excuse." She wipes away her nose, sniffing. "And then Yumi and Ulrich told me all you said about her, and..."

He mentally facepalms himself. It pains him to see the sweetest girl he's ever known cry. "I'm willing to give up everything just to have you, Ames. I'm so sorry."

"Sorry is not enough!" She slightly raises her voice so as not to alarm anyone else.

"I know it's not," He frowns, ashamed of himself. "I'll do anything to prove that I wanna be with you and you only. I'm so sorry, Ames, please...Nothing I ever do or say could be enough." He sighs softly as he listens to her crying. He pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolds it. Amy hears the noise and looks up.

"Is that a poem?" She asks, still a little angry. "If it was for Bringa, I-"

"No...I wrote it for you. For the most beautiful girl that I took for granted."

She pauses, wanting to hear it. "Your eyes are like emeralds, your hair like chocolate. Your smile is like diamonds, your lips like silk. I have to see your eyes, to touch your hair. I have to see your smile, and to kiss your lips. I don't need another one because all I need is you. And I will love you forever, no matter what."

She tries not to cry. It wasn't the best, but it meant a lot to hear those words. "Please forgive me, Ames...I never meant to hurt you."

"Odd..." She hugs him, smiling. "I forgive you. And this is a really nice surprise."

"I'm not done yet," He smiles at her. "I may or may not have gotten you a backstage pass to a Subdigitals concert. A VIP party with the band and we get to have dinner with them."

"Oh my god...!" She squeals in excitement, smiling giddily. "Really?!"

"Oh, and you're presenting one of your paintings at the art museum after dinner. I convinced the curator to let them show it off after she saw how talented you are. And after that, we'll go out for ice cream at your favorite place. You deserve the best, and this is just one way to do that."

"I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" She shouts happily, trying not to faint at all the exciting activities. Seriously, Subdigitals, a party, dinner, showing off her painting at the local art museum, and ice cream?! It all sounded too good to be true.

"I love you just as much, Ames." He smiles at how happy she looks.

**Angel: The idea of Amy clones came from Reaper797.**


	89. Canine Conundrum

**Angel: I know, I know, later than usual, but I've been busy with assignments all day and I needed a nap. It's been...crazy to say the least -_- I'm only on episode 88, so I can't go back to 3 days a week just yet.**

In the network, Odd is being chased in his Nav Skid. "Yumi, where are you?"

"I can't shake the guy!" Yumi looks behind her as William is chasing after her in his own ship. He focuses his target on her, Odd following after them.

"Yumi, I'm coming in for you. Watch out on your left."

"I'm on it!" She replies as William fires a torpedo towards her.

"Fire!"

Yumi notices them approaching on her radar, gasping. She tilts out of the way, William still after her.

"Okay Yumi, I'll ride with you," Odd speeds up and presses a button. "Hey, tall, dark, and handsome! You'll never get anywhere with her if you don't back off a little!" William looks over his shoulder, Amy's Nav Skid appearing right above him. "Take our advice, give her some room."

"No one likes 'em clingy," Amy replies as William looks around for them.

"Yoo hoo!" Odd bumps into his ship with his Nav Skid. Amy then releases Bubble bomb onto his ship, flying off after her boyfriend. Things were still a bit tense given his mistakes with Bringa, but he's managed to earn most of her trust back.

Odd gets William to chase him instead. "Cat and mouse, huh?"

The two turn a corner, Yumi looking over her shoulder. "The coast is clear, Yumi. You can take off now," Aelita tells her and she speeds up. A Shark is around as Yumi goes back to the Skid. "Ulrich, Yumi's coming in to take over for you."

"Right, I'll break away," He heads off as Yumi sees nothing, but Ulrich does. "Yumi, watch out! Torpedoes!"

She moves out of the way as the Shark fires at her from behind. She goes flying and Ulrich flies past the Shark.

"This way, fish face!" He leads the monster away from Yumi.

"You guys are way low on energy. We're gonna have to abort the mission now," Jeremy reports as he looks at all four Skids.

"_Already? We didn't even get close to the replica._"

"That's my point," He tells Aelita. "You still have too far to go, and with XANA harassing us all the time, it's way too dangerous."

"_Thanks a lot, William_," Amy mutters under her breath bitterly.

"Aelita, I'm coming on your left!"

"Right. I'll lock in on your Nav Skid, Odd," She nods, pressing a few buttons. "Okay Odd, you're the target now."

"Here we go!" He declares, speeding away from William. Amy is still chasing after him, but she's underneath his ship.

"Now!" Aelita fires two torpedoes and they go flying. Odd flies over them.

"Away!"

She manages to hit William, Amy bumping into him from underneath. She then flies after Odd. "That's fantastic, just like in practice!" He pumps his fist.

"Good job. Our fighting techniques are improving, but it doesn't change a thing. You're still too far away. I gotta bring you in," Jeremy explains to the group.

"I gotcha," Aelita tilts a lever. "Rotation." She spins the pilot section around to face the other direction. The Shark fires at Ulrich and Yumi. "This one is mine..." She fires at the Shark, and destroys it with the torpedoes.

"Well done, Aelita. He overstayed his welcome a long time ago."

"My pleasure," Aelita comments as everything turns blue. "Nav Skids in," She pulls on the four levers to allow them to be secured. Yumi and Ulrich join back in.

"Hey, wait for us!" Odd and Amy spin back to the ship, securing themselves back.

"Maximum propulsion," Aelita presses a button for them to speed back towards Sector Five.

* * *

The elevator lifts them up into the lab, where they meet Jeremy. "That's another mission down the drain..."

"I can't even remember what we were trying to do," Ulrich lets out a small yawn.

"It's such a simple procedure: we construct an intermediate digital sinusitis with intergalactic lyrical context, all multiplied by the virtual factors of the theorems of Thales and Pythagoras. Piece of cake!" Odd states, to the girls' surprise. He was doing an impression of Jeremy.

"Perfect imitation!" Ulrich chuckles at him.

"I'm surprised while also strangely impressed," Amy blinks at her boyfriend.

"Yeah, what do you say we go to sleep?" Jeremy asks them.

"Great idea!" Yumi smiles slightly.

* * *

Odd and Ulrich step into their room, cringing. "No!" Ulrich shouts as feathers and his pillow are on the floor. "I don't believe this!"

He gestures to the barking dog. "Odd, what did we agree on about your dog?"

"Uhh, well..." He has a embarrassed look on his face, and he still has that expression the next morning. "But, there was no need to get carried away."

Ulrich is standing behind Jeremy and Aelita. Amy is sitting next to them, biting her lip. "Hi everybody," Yumi greets as she arrives, seeing Odd's face. "Let me try and guess. No seconds in the lunchroom? A prank that backfired? Amy trouble?"

"Worse, Kiwi," Ulrich narrows his eyes in anger.

"Hey Ulrich, come on, he's not that terrible, is he?" Odd wonders curiously.

"Do you wanna bet?"

_Kiwi jumped on his bed and Ulrich smiled, but then it turned into a cringe when Kiwi peed on his bed._

"You think I like the idea of sleeping in wet sheets every time you forget to take him for a walk?"

"Put yourself in his place. The poor little thing's locked up all day!" Odd defends his dog.

"Odd, not that I hate you or Kiwi, but you know you're supposed to walk him," Amy gestures to her boyfriend. "Not even Kiki pees in our room."

"The poor thing," Jeremy mocks Odd. "And me, how do you think I feel?"

_Jeremy moved his book away as Kiwi had chewed on it in his room._

"By the way, paper makes Kiwi sick, so if you didn't leave your books all over the place, huh, right Aelita?" He looks to her, thinking that she'll back him up on this.

"And what about our stuff? Is it because we leave them around that Kiwi steals them? Or that he chews on Amy's clothes?"

_Aelita dug around in the grass near the garden shed as Amy looked at her torn clothes in her room._

"I spend my life digging through the campus ground. Mr. Riley thinks I'm a nutcase!" Aelita exclaims at him.

"And I have to spend my whole allowance buying my stuff back that the cashiers know my name at this point!" Amy crosses her arms.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Odd asks the girl.

"Because you said you'd handle it!" Amy exclaims at the boy. "Kiki doesn't even come close to doing that kind of behavior with anyone! Heck, even the PUPPIES are more well-behaved! I love your dog, but sometimes he can make my life really hard."

"Look, I'm really sorry, Odd, but something's gotta be done. He oughta be punished, and that's that," Jeremy states as they glare at him, the four victims with their arms crossed.

"Objection, your honor! Before sentencing, my dog has the right to a lawyer!" Odd points at them. He walks up to Yumi with a pleading look. "Yumi, you're an animal lover," He holds her hands. "You've gotta help me and defend my little diggity dog!"

She rubs her neck awkwardly. "...Well, I wouldn't mind, but after what he did to my new shoes just last week? No," She crosses her arms, the others glad that she's on their side.

"Okay, I get the picture. What's the sentence?" He closes his eyes sadly.

"To make Kiwi understand his bad behavior, he's gotta stay in the factory for two weeks! And without seeing his family," Jeremy decides for the dog.

"What?! Two weeks in the factory? But how could you do that to him and his family? He loves them!" Odd pleads with the genius. Amy hums slightly, feeling a little bit bad as she places a hand on Odd's shoulder.

"It was easy!" The four say in unison.

"We could at least let him see the puppies only one day out of the week...they're gonna get restless without him. You thought Kiwi is a problem, try controlling his puppies," Amy warns them all and they wince slightly.

"...Fine, but only on Saturdays just so that we don't have to put the puppies in there. I don't wanna do that to them," Jeremy agrees and they walk off.

"Odd, he'll be fine there," Aelita looks over her shoulder. "The factory's not so horrible."

"Not so horrible? Staying for hours in a computer lab may be fine for Jeremy, but not for my dog!" Odd mutters to himself.

* * *

Kiwi barks as his home for the next two weeks has been set up. "I even remembered your froggy," He hands the dog his favorite toy. The puppies whine as Kiki nuzzles him. "No one understands you, especially our so-called friends."

"Odd," Amy speaks up. "You can't exactly ignore what he's done..."

"But he's just my little diggity dog! If you were him, I'd stand up for you and how do you repay me?" He pouts, pointing at Kiwi. "You were on their side!"

"Hey, I convinced them to let him see the puppies, didn't I?" She retorts back. "And besides, I'm not the one who stood you up on your birthday."

"Good point," He murmurs sheepishly.

"Look, I know you love Kiwi, but at some point, we've gotta draw a line!" She places her hands on his shoulders. "It's only temporary."

"Yeah, I know," He mutters as he takes two puppies in his hand. Amy takes the last one and they use the puppies' paws to wave to Kiwi. "Be brave, my little diggity dog!"

Kiwi whines as he watches them leave. As soon as they're gone, the computer beeps as the XANA symbol flashes. An activated tower appears and from Jeremy's computer, it's the same thing. A specter comes out of the outlets nearby, going to a box on the top shelf. It falls onto the floor and red eyes beep from inside...

* * *

"Hello there! I'm glad to see many of you here in my Penchak Silat class." It's only Ulrich, Yumi...and Sissi, Hiroki, and Johnny as well. "Penchak Silat, as its name indicates, is a combat technique. Which is half aesthetic of self defense and half spirituality." He starts doing some ridiculous poses. "Yes, well, uh, these three halves could save your life, especially if you have a parachute in the middle of the Burmese jungle at the height of the monsoon season."

"Well, I see we've got an extra student today," Yumi mutters under her breath.

"Hey, this class is open to everybody, isn't it?" Sissi defends, closing her eyes. "And besides, I wanna learn pinching skillets too."

"It's called Pencatch silar," Johnny whispers to her.

"Hey, what are you two doing here?" Yumi turns around to the boys.

"We came here to be with you. I love hanging out with you, sis," Hiroki smiles, giving peace signs with his fingers. She sighs in annoyance at him. No doubt he came to make fun of her and Ulrich, and that Sissi came to be with the boy...

"Alright, enough talking and let's get to work. I want you in groups of two for a warm-up," Jim points to his left. "We're going to begin with a short little warm-up-"

"Um, excuse us," Tamiya interrupts as she and Milly enter the gym. "Jim?"

"Hey! Just what are you two doing in here?" He demands them.

"We wanna do a story on punchy muskrat. Ishiyama said you wouldn't mind at all," Milly explains to him.

"Huh?!" He whips around to Yumi. "Did you say that?"

She stammers nervously as she doesn't remember ever telling them that. "No, not her. It was him," She points to Hiroki, who blushes in embarrassment.

* * *

"Uh, well, I, uh..." He looks away bashfully.

"Well, go on, Jeremy," Aelita encourages as they're playing a game together in the rec room.

"Who looks kinda lost. Ha ha, gotcha!" Some students are playing foosball nearby.

"Take your time, Jeremy."

"It's impossible to concentrate with all that racket going on behind us!" He gestures to the two boys behind them.

"That makes 13 to 2!"

"Hey," Jeremy turns around in annoyance. "Would you guys mind making a little bit less noise, please? We're trying to concentrate."

"Concentrate," Julian mocks them. "That's all you bookworms do. Why don't you try something important like foosball?"

Jeremy shushes them as his laptop is going off. "Are you talking to me, Belpois?"

He walks up to his bag and pulls out his computer. He sees the activated tower from the super scan. "Oh no! XANA's launched an attack."

"Which sector?" Aelita whispers to him.

"In the desert sector," He looks up at her. "We better hurry up."

Just as Odd and Amy are arriving in the park through the secret entrance, his phone rings. "Yeah, Einstein? What?! Oh no. Kiwi already has a hard time whenever I leave. Now we have to go to Lyoko?! Okay, okay, I'll see you over there. But we have to bring the puppies back to the lab with us, they don't know how to get to our rooms on their own."

Amy sighs at this as she climbs down. "Man...we don't have time to bring them back, we don't know what XANA has planned."

* * *

"Are you ready?" Jim asks the small class. "Begin!"

Sissi is sparring with Johnny, who attacks first. He steps back, moving away from her. Tamiya is recording and Jim eyes them.

"Sissi, what you tried to do was a lung kai, which is complicated for a beginner. Ulrich, Yumi, demonstrate," He turns to the dup. Yumi nods and swings towards Ulrich with her leg, who dodges. She swings her leg again and then slides, kicking him onto the ground.

"Get the idea?"

Sissi and Johnny stare in shock as she helps Ulrich up. Her phone rings and she picks up. "Aelita? Hm? It's a XANA alert."

"Ow!" Sissi holds her head. "Can't you watch what you're doing, you dork?!"

"Deep breaths, Sissi," Jim holds up a finger. "As my Burmese master said, serenity is filing in order to stay calm." He turns around to the two, who are about to go out through the exit. "Stern! Ishiyama! What are you doing?"

"Uh, sorry, we gotta go! A little emergency to take care of," He smiles sheepishly.

"Have a good training class!" The two run out the door.

"Ulrich..." Sissi frowns a little.

"Yumi..." Johnny has the same expression, looking away.

Kiwi 2, Jeremy's robot from that competition, is standing in front of the two. "Hey...that's Kiwi 2! I wonder what he's doing here."

His eyes are red as he growls at them. "If he let himself out to do his business, then Jeremy must have upgraded the program," Ulrich comments, but he has the XANA symbol in his eyes, which Yumi notices.

"You know what? I think it was XANA who pulled a few strings," She explains, Ulrich cringing.

"Head for the factory and I'll try to distract him," Ulrich tells her as she slowly moves away. It turns to Ulrich...and then suddenly multiplies so that now there's two of them! "Uh oh."

Luckily, since they know Penchak Silat, Yumi kicks one away, the other one heading towards Ulrich. He ducks his head and the robot hits the door. He opens it behind him and rushes inside. "Come on!" He shuts the door, but one of them manages to get inside the gym. He rushes towards the others, biting Johnny.

Johnny screams as he waves his arm around, shaking him off, but he bites Milly's leg. Ulrich kicks him off and he rolls into pieces. The other Kiwi 2 is still outside, multiplying into even more robots...

"Now I want a clear explanation of what's going on!" Jim stands up after checking on the kids. "Where'd all these mechanical dogs come from?"

"We don't have time to explain! The only chance we've got is if Ulrich and I can get out!"

Ulrich peeks out the door to see all the Kiwi robots, and the chances of getting out of there would prove difficult...

He closes the door and calls Jeremy. "Jeremy, do you remember your dog robot? Surprise, there's a whole army of them lined up outside the gym!"

"What are you talking about?" Jeremy asks as him and Aelita are in the elevator at the factory. "I only built one Kiwi 2. Well, it's just programmed to play basketball!"

"Well, don't look now, but I think XANA's trying to form a whole team. We're gonna try to get out to the boiler room. Meet you at the factory as soon as we can," He tells the boy as he and Aelita enter the lab.

"Good luck," He tells his friend, walking up to the couple and the four dogs.

"What's the matter?" Odd asks them.

"Kiwi," Jeremy replies in annoyance.

"Hey, don't try to pin anything else on him!" He glares at the duo, hugging Kiwi slightly.

"No, not...your Kiwi, it's mine. Kiwi 2. He's been XANAified and multiplied by XANA. Ulrich and Yumi are stuck in the gym. They're gonna try and get out, but I don't know if they will," Jeremy rubs his chin and Amy looks up.

"If that's true, then we're not gonna be able to rely on them for back-up this time..."

* * *

"You take me for a nitwit, Ms. Ishiyama?" Jim points to himself as they're trying to tell him the truth, but he won't listen.

"Absolutely not! You've already been to the factory a few times. Of course, we had to erase your memory every time by returning to the past." He stares at her in confusion. Of course, he wouldn't remember that his memory was erased...

"Right, and once this is over, you won't remember any of it either as usual," Ulrich shrugs at him.

"Craziest story I've ever heard! You watch too many stupid Japanese mongos!"

Yumi places her hands on her hips, offended at that.

"Uh, that is to say," He scratches his cheek. "Can you prove that what you're saying is true?"

"Well, how do you explain all those robot dogs out there?" Yumi points to the door. "Do you think Jeremy built them all by himself?"

"Uh..." Truth be told, he really wasn't sure.

"Listen, Jim," Ulrich speaks up. "You've gotta trust us. If we don't get to the factory, Aelita or her sister Amy won't be able to deactivate the tower, and we'll all be attacked by those mechanical dogs!"

"I don't usually trust Yumi, but since she has confidence in Ulrich, for today, I'm gonna trust her, but just for today!" Sissi says, to Yumi's slight ire.

"Me too! I trust Ulrich and I keep telling my sister she should go out with him!" Hiroki points to his sister, both the teens embarrassed as they blush. "I tell her and tell her and tell her, but she pretends she doesn't want to."

She growls towards him, clenching her fists. "Well," Jim rubs the back of his neck. "You mind telling me how you plan on getting to this factory?"

"We obviously can't just walk through the door, but there's a chance that we might be able to get from here to the sewers through an air duct," Ulrich snaps his fingers. "But for that, you'll have to create a diversion."

"Uhh, too dangerous," Jim backs away immediately, waving his hands. "Why shouldn't I be the one who tries to get out through the air ducts? Tell me that!"

"Because you're too...u-um," Yumi doesn't want to say big, or else that'd be offensive. "Because you wouldn't know where to go afterwards!"

Ulrich smiles in amusement behind her.

"Well, it seems pretty clear we have no choice..."

* * *

Jeremy is starting up the process to virtualize the three onto Lyoko. "Okay, I'm launching the process. Are you ready, guys?"

"Ready!" Aelita replies from a scanner.

"Do your stuff, Einstein," Odd says, hands in his pockets.

"Let's go!" Amy winks a bit as the scanners close in front of them.

"Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. Transfer Odd. Scanner Odd. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy."

All three are transferred and scanned as Jeremy presses the button.

"Virtualization."

They close their eyes as they feel the whoosh, sent to the desert sector. Odd lands first, followed by the girls.

"Come on, XANA! Fight like a man!" Odd challenges to no one around. Amy rolls her eyes playfully at him.

"The activated tower is northwest of your position. Keep your eyes out for uninvited visitors. Here are your vehicles. Overwing, Overboard, and OverRunner."

The three vehicles materialize in front of them. Odd flips the Overboard as he steps onto it, Aelita and Amy jumping into their vehicles. They take off towards the tower.

* * *

Ulrich removes the cover for the air duct. Yumi crawls in first, followed by the boy. She slowly moves forward along with him, hoping that this idea would work.

Amy is in front of Odd and Aelita, pointing up ahead. "I see the tower, guys."

"That's weird," Aelita looks around. "No one's around."

"Let's go while the going is good! The faster we save the world, the sooner we can get back for lunch!" Odd states confidently.

"Yeah well, just remember that XANA's played this one on us before, Odd," Amy warns him. "It just means they're planning something."

"She's right," Aelita nods at her sister, but Odd speeds up ahead anyway.

* * *

Jim and Sissi hold make-shift weapons as they've locked themselves in the locker room. Pounding comes from the door.

"Now," Jim nods at Sissi. "Are we all set? Let's be careful, kids."

There's a noise from the door and the gym teacher opens it. The mechanical dogs come charging in. Hiroki throws some weight balls, Jim swinging his golf club.

"Take that, you filthy beast!" Sissi shouts as she swings her baton at one.

"Come on, little doggies! Come and get it!" Jim exclaims, hitting several with his golf club. Hiroki continues throwing weight balls while Sissi swings her baton again. A Kiwi 2 jumps towards her, but a weight ball stops it. She turns to the winking Hiroki.

A panel from above drops onto the floor of the boiler room. Yumi peeks in from the air duct.

Suddenly, the eyes from the robots flash and they take their leave.

"Oh no! Ulrich!" Sissi calls out as she realizes where they're going. Ulrich lands in front of Yumi.

"Let's go."

The door bursts open with the robots jumping into the room. "Go on, I'll cover you!" Ulrich shouts to Yumi and she runs up to the door. She opens it and runs down the path. She emerges into the sewers, coming to a stop. Right behind her is two robots.

"Uh oh..."

* * *

"_Aelita, look out!_" Jeremy warns her. "_On your right._"

Her vehicle suddenly gets hit, Odd turning to the source. "We were expecting you!"

Amy turns around, groaning at them. "Doesn't he ever take a break?" She asks bitterly towards William.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires at him repeatedly, but he deflects them with his sword, ducking his head out of the way.

"Manta!"

A Flying Manta arrives behind him. William fires smoke at the OverRunner, stopping Amy in place. She looks around in alarm as she didn't know that he could do that.

"What?!" The smoke lifts her out of the vehicle and Aelita looks up from the ground. William jumps onto the Manta, flying towards Odd. He fires a slash at the Overboard. Odd jumps into the air.

"Laser Arrow!"

He destroys the Manta in mid-air, William landing behind him. He brings Amy over to him so she can watch him fight Odd.

"Odd!" She shouts as Aelita stands up. He backflips over the sword and unfortunately, he couldn't fire a laser arrow to get her free. Aelita activates her wings, flying in the air. She heads for the activated tower.

* * *

Yumi watches as the dog's ears lift up. They bark at her as she steps backwards. They run towards the Japanese girl, and she takes off with her skateboard. She glances over her shoulder to see them running after her.

Ulrich has bite marks on him as he's surrounded by the robot dogs, throwing one to the wall.

Aelita continues to head for the tower when a noise is heard. "Better be careful, Aelita. I see Tarantulas," Jeremy notices them from his screen.

They start firing at her and she avoids them, heading in the other direction.

Ulrich slides around a corner, being chased by the mechanical dogs. A door opens and he's suddenly pulled inside. Jim drags him inside and Ulrich smiles at him in relief.

"Yumi managed to make it out..."

Sissi covers her mouth in horror, worried for him.

He doesn't know that she's being chased by robots herself. She jumps off her skateboard and lands back on it, skating further into the tunnel.

Aelita notices that there's another Tarantula hiding behind a field of rocks. It fires at her, hitting her wings. This sends her flying over the edge.

"Aelita!"

"_It's okay, Jeremy, I'm gaining altitude again_," She tells him.

"That's great, Aelita," He sighs to himself in relief. "I'll try to find out how Yumi and Ulrich are doing." He calls Ulrich first.

His phone rings and Jim bends down to his pocket. He takes the phone and answers it since the boy is too injured.

"Hello?"

"Jim, how come you answered Ulrich's phone?" Jeremy asks curiously.

"Because he's in no condition to talk. Your robot and his clones sicced him in the leg. Just like they did Milly and Johnny. Now listen here, Belpois. I don't know whether you and your strange gang are capable of doing anything, but if you can, do it fast!"

"Odd, Amy, Aelita," Jeremy squeezes his eyes shut. "We've gotta shift into high gear right now."

William throws Amy towards the Digital Sea. "Super smoke!" He then moves away from Odd.

"_It seems Ulrich's hurt pretty bad. And Milly and Johnny aren't much better,_" He informs the cat boy as his mouth is open in horror towards the Digital Sea. Then it turns into relief as Amy flies into view.

"We're not exactly in paradise either, Einstein!" Odd calls out as Amy flies above him after William.

Yumi reaches the bridge, running across it. Suddenly the two robots that were chasing her appear on the bridge.

Aelita lands on the ground as William approaches her. She fires a pink orb quickly. "Energy field!"

He absorbs it with his sword. "Be right there, Aelita! Just a little unfinished business to attend to," Odd looks towards the Tarantulas.

"You deal with them, I'll help Aelita," Amy tells him, flying up to the duo. Odd runs away from them.

Yumi swings a rope, landing in front of the elevator. She's about to press the button when the two robot Kiwis appear in front of her. They run towards her.

"NO!" She shouts at them.

Odd slides, coming to a stop. He flips, firing a laser arrow at a Tarantula, destroying it. "Sorry, my little buggy friends, but I'm the buzz from now on!" He's about to fire again, but realizes that he's out. "Huh? Uh, I was just kidding."

He runs away from the monster. "_Hey, Einstein, reload me_!"

"Coming up!" Before he can, the elevator opens behind him. "Ah, Yumi! A good thing that you-" He turns around to see her hurt, the two robots staring at the boy. "Yumi!"

Odd dodges lasers from the Tarantula. "Hey Einstein, where are my arrows?" Odd looks up. "_Jeremy, are you still there? Or did you take Kiwi out for a walk_?"

Jeremy backs away from the clones, touching the wall. They run towards him, tackling him onto the ground and biting at him. They chase him around the lab. The puppies look up in alarm, barking at their father. Kiwi jumps onto the keyboard and taps a button, reloading Odd. Pepper, BonBon, and Lichi land on the chair. BonBon crawls up to the microphone, barking.

"Huh?" Amy asks in surprise, looking up. "That's one of the puppies..."

Odd gets hit, landing on the ground. He fires at the monster. "Hey, what do you know? I'm reloaded!"

He jumps into the air, getting on top of the Tarantula. He fires as he leaps from behind. "Laser arrow!" He destroys the monster and lands on his paws. "Nice one, Einstein!"

BonBon barks in response and he looks up in confusion. "BonBon?"

Jeremy cringes as he looks at the robots.

Jim tries to hold the door back, the kids inside looking in fear.

"Ulrich..." Sissi stares at him as his eyes are closed.

William swings a slash at Aelita, which is blocked off by Amy's spear. He growls at her, firing a slash, but she swings one of her own, counteracting his. Aelita absorbs one directed at her with her energy fields. She holds out his hand to him, creating another orb.

"Just you and me, William!" Odd shouts as he runs up to him. All three fire at the same time, but he dodges all of them. Aelita's energy field hits Odd, devirtualizing him. "Hey!"

"Odd!" Amy exclaims at this.

"Good shot, Aelita," William mocks as he watches Aelita run to the rocks, laughing. Lichi and Pepper tap some keys to look at the girls' life points.

Jeremy moves away from the robot dogs.

"I can't believe it! I called the police about ages ago, and they still haven't come!" Jim glances to the door behind.

"It's the robots," Ulrich murmurs from the ground. "They won't let anyone through. There's only one way out of this place, Jim."

"Yeah, you've already tried it, and it didn't work. From now on, I'm chief officer of this unit! Hiroki, Tamiya, take all these floor mats over to the door. Sissi, you're gonna help me pile up. We're gonna build us a barricade!"

She nods at him.

"And all I wanted to do was spend the afternoon with Milly," Hiroki whispers, but she still heard it.

William comes to a stop in front of the rocks, Aelita hiding behind one. She uses her creativity to do something, running away. William fires a slash at her, and she falls. He traps her smoke and moves her to the Digital Sea...

Amy looks up, backing away from William. He throws her into the Digital Sea. "I've fulfilled my mission, XANA!" He watches her be destroyed. "VICTORYYY!"

Jeremy kicks away a clone, running over to the computer. "Aelita!" He watches her life points deplete as Odd emerges from the scanner room.

"What's going on, Einstein? My dog's a genius, but I wouldn't give him your job."

"Odd! ...Aelita just fell into the Digital Sea..."

"Huh?" Odd's mouth opens in shock.

"They're getting in!" The kids shout to the door.

"Bring 'em on! The more, the merrier! Takes words of tin cans to scare Jim Morales! Ha!"

William waits for Franz Hopper to arrive, but he doesn't show up.

"Did you expect our father to show up to bail me out?" Aelita asks, standing next to Amy. "He won't be coming today! Surprise! I can duplicate myself too!"

"Now hold still, you jerk," Amy narrows her eyes as he throws his sword, but it hits the tower just as Aelita enters inside.

"NO!"

BonBon barks at her siblings as they tap some keys. William's sword suddenly disappears into thin air. This gives Amy the opportunity to devirtualize him with her spear. She smiles, moving a bang away from her ear.

"Thanks, guys," She smirks as she looks up, getting a bark in return. She turns around to the tower. "You got this, Aelita."

She stops running once she reaches the center of the bottom platform. She starts floating towards the top.

Jim growls as he and the rest of the students face the doors.

She does a flip before reaching the top. Aelita steps up to the interface.

Jeremy backs away from the dog in front of him. The other one bites at Odd's arm. "Ow!" Jeremy cries out in pain, clutching his leg. Lichi barks at the robot dog, growling at him. He jumps off the chair and runs up to the robot.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface.

_Aelita_

_Code _

The students inside the locker room scream as all the robot dogs barge in. Sissi hugs Ulrich out of fear.

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

Sissi opens her eyes, everyone looking up to see all the clones disappear into thin air. Lichi had been tearing apart a clone when it disappears. Odd stares at the puppy in shock, who barks up at him.

"Who's a good boy?" He smiles, patting him on the head.

"_Are you okay, Jeremy_?" Aelita asks, but he's in no shape to move.

"The clones got to him..." Odd pouts a bit, already wearing the microphone. "But wait-"

"You mean you haven't launched a return to the past yet?"

"I'm not that smart to remember that!" Odd crosses his arms, confused to see the puppies go to work. Pepper presses a few keys and starts up the return in time. The puppies bark as if to say Return to the Past now. "Return to the past now!"

* * *

Everything gets engulfed in white and time is reset to earlier that day. They're all in Odd and Ulrich's room.

"When I saw how the Kiwis multiplied themselves, I decided to do the same," Aelita reveals how she didn't actually fall into the Digital Sea. "The rest was easy!"

"Aelita, you are really amazing," Jeremy applauds her.

"Hey, she's not the only one," Odd speaks up, holding the whole Kiwi family. "She managed to get away because William was distracted!"

"That was an accident," Jeremy protests as Amy pets the puppies.

"Still, what if he hadn't been there? So who do we have to say thanks to?" Odd points out, hugging his dog.

"To you, Odd?" Aelita smiles at him.

"Me?! No, to the Kiwi family. Who do you think reloaded my laser arrows?" Odd hugs the dog to his cheek and he barks.

"Not to mention, the puppies managed to figure out how to make William's sword go away so that I could devirtualize him. And they launched the return to the past. _You _don't even know how to do the former," Amy points up at Jeremy. They bark in unison, wagging their tails.

"Okay, so they're heroes. What are you trying to say?" Yumi asks, hands behind her head.

"Just that heroes don't sleep in abandoned factories," Odd defends his dog.

"You can't just ignore the fact that the puppies did all that with no problem," Amy sets the puppies down so that they can play.

"...Well then, Ulrich," Jeremy turns to the boy, since it was mostly his idea. "It's your call. After all, you're the one who shares a room with him."

"Uh, what? Oh yeah, no problem, he can come back home," Ulrich rubs the back of his neck. He bends down and pets BonBon. "And the puppies can come here as much as they want."

"You feeling okay?" Aelita eyes the boy.

"Yeah, I was, uh...thinking of something else."

"That's great, you'll see! He's a brand new dog!" Odd pumps up his fists. "He's much more common, much more better behaved."

"Hey, Odd," Yumi looks to the ground. "Your pants, look at them."

They've been chewed on a little. "Oh, that's just...well, ventilation! It gets so hot here at school," Odd waves a hand in front of his face.

"You sure it wasn't Kiwi and his old tricks?" Aelita teases, Jeremy giggling next to her.

"I told you it wasn't him! Can we go and eat now?"

They all just laugh at him in amusement.

"Hey, tell you guys what," Ulrich bends down to the puppies. "We'll go out and buy you some well-deserved toys for doing a good job." He pets them one by one and they bark, wagging their tails. "And I'll even make a space for you guys in my drawer."

"Aww, look at Uncle Ulrich!" Odd exclaims proudly, earning a small glare in return.

"I wonder just how they managed to work the supercomputer, though..." Aelita says as she watches the three run around.

"Isn't it obvious?" Odd asks, hands on his hips. "They're smarter than they look!"

"But they also just peed on your shoes."

His eyes widen as he sees them in front of his shoes, and they are definitely wet...they laugh at this, bending down to pet the puppies.


	90. A Space Oddity

"This is it!" Odd bursts into Jeremy's room. "It's the end of the world!" Everyone turns to him.

"What's wrong, they run out of spaghetti and meatballs in the lunchroom?" Ulrich asks him.

"Almost as bad!" Odd shuts the door behind him. "I just ran into Jim and Delmas, and they're making a surprise inspection of the dorm!"

"But didn't they make one a few weeks ago?" Aelita blinks, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, but this time, they're looking for appliances that could be fire hazards!"

"So what? There's nothing dangerous here," Jeremy gestures to his room. "No appliances, not even an electric kettle."

"I know, but the problem is, what do we do with Kiwi and his family?" Odd gestures to the five dogs sleeping together.

"Do we have enough time to take him to the factory before math?" Aelita asks curiously.

"In 10 minutes?" Jeremy looks at his watch.

"That won't give Jackson any time to come over to get them either," Amy frowns slightly, petting her dog on her head.

"Anyway, I wouldn't want to leave them alone in that cold factory! Kiwi hasn't been himself lately," Odd gets onto his knees to beg. "It's all over! They're gonna end up at the pound, or worse, in some travelling circus strapped to a rocket and shot out of a cannon!"

"Wow, that's...oddly specific," Amy blinks slowly.

"Unless...Yumi, you don't have class for another hour. Could you, uh..." He giggles sheepishly at her.

"Don't even think about it!" She warns him. "I have nothing against you, Amy. It's just that-"

"Yumi, please. You're their only hope!" Odd gestures to the dogs.

"The answer is no!"

* * *

"Ah, good old surprise inspections. I love 'em! They make even the cloudiest days sunny," Jim comments to the principal as he's holding a few appliances that have already been taken away. "Look at what we've already dug up! An electric coffeemaker, an immersion heater, and a 12-person fondue set! It's like being a pioneer explorer. Let's see what we can come up with in Sissi's room. Although, I doubt if she would be hiding anything suspicious, I mean, being your daughter and everything. But let's look behind this door just in case. You never know. A hairdryer on the blink, a forgotten pack of matches, a curling iron invented by some crackpot scientist."

He opens up her closet to see pictures. One of her on her father's shoulders, one where they celebrated his birthday, and another when he was dressed as a penguin. This causes him to laugh. "I would never have guessed! For a stern school principal, you're a million laughs!"

Delmas just narrows his eyes.

* * *

"Please have pity on a poor, defenseless dog family!" Odd pleads with Yumi.

"Odd!"

"Well?" He asks her.

"You know if there's one thing my father can't stand, it's pets that shed their hair all over the house, chew up furniture, do their business...!" She looks away. "Well, mostly Kiwi and the puppies."

"Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty please!" He bows in front of her. Yumi looks to Amy, who frowns a bit in worry for her dog. She couldn't just turn her friends away in need.

"Okay Odd, you win this time."

"Oh thank you, Yumi! Nothing can stop me from kissing you!" He leans forward and she puts a hand on his mouth.

"We can!" Both she and Amy say in unison. He giggles sheepishly at his girlfriend.

Jim and Delmas enter another hallway. "Okay guys, get in. We're off," Yumi closes her backpack as the five are inside. "And no chewing on my stuff! Kiki, you're in charge of them."

She barks at her and Yumi stands up. The two faculty members open the door. "Well, Ishiyama, Della Robbia, Stern, Belpois, Smith, and Stones. All together in the same dorm. They sure don't look like they're in a big hurry to get to class, do they?"

"Well, I better be going," Yumi walks past him and thankfully, none of the dogs make a sound.

* * *

She's walking home as she remembers what the two told her about them.

"Don't just give him any old thing to eat. Only steamed, organic vegetables. And no potato chips. He can't digest them. And no mustard, whatever you do. And by the way, he hates household appliances like vacuum cleaners. The noise drives him nuts."

"The puppies can eat almost anything that's not toxic, but they love bread and cheese. Make sure that anything they do eat, that it's in small chunks. But BonBon hates vegetables, Lichi won't eat fish, and Pepper loves strawberries. Kiki loves croissants and cooked meat."

"Okay, the coast is clear," Yumi lets all the dogs out once she's in her room. Kiwi starts barking and she shushes them. "If my dumb brother hears all of you, he's bound to say something like what's that ugly mutt doing here?"

Hiroki just happens to enter the room. "Hey, what's that ugly mutt doing here? And why are they with him?"

"It's Kiwi, Odd's dog," Yumi gestures to the male. "This is Kiki, his mate and Amy's dog. And these are their puppies Lichi, Pepper, and BonBon. Hiroki, promise you won't say anything."

He looks to the dogs, the puppies walking over to him. "Okay, but promise you'll do my homework for a year," He smiles, bending down to the three puppies and petting them.

"A day."

"A week."

"Three days," She holds up three fingers.

"A deal," He holds out his hand to shake, but she walks right past him.

"You're such a little crook, but I don't have a choice. I have to go to school. Look after them til I get back, okay?" She takes her bag, leaving him in shock.

"Huh?"

She peeks back into the room. "Oh, and don't give him any steamed vegetables. It seems he can only eat chips and mustard, got that?"

Kiki barks at her to correct herself, but she doesn't listen as she closes the door. The boy turns to the five with a smile.

"Don't worry about a thing, uh, Leechie, I'll take good care of you. And your family too!"

* * *

The bell rings for classes to end and everyone leaves. Odd rushes all the way over to Yumi. "Oh, there you are, Yumi! Well?"

"No sweat. Hiroki's watching them," She answers as Amy joins his side.

"Hiroki?! Are you nuts? Did you forget what happened to poor Jean-Pierre?"

"Your tamagotchi? Sad, we're still in morning," Ulrich smiles in amusement. Jeremy and Aelita giggle as they join the others.

"I don't see what's so funny!" Odd pulls out his phone to call the house.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Yumi would kill Hiroki if anything bad happened to them," Amy waves it off, but he still dials.

"What are you doing now?"

Hiroki's phone rings and he answers it. "Sorry, we've already got encyclopedia!"

"Wait a second, don't hang up, Hiroki!" Odd stops him. "This is Odd with Ames."

"Don't worry! Everything is cool. Your dogs and the puppies are in good hands," He smiles as Kiwi is getting into the chips. "See ya!"

Kiwi barks up at him as the puppies run around. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you want. You want some more of these, okay. But I've got a surprise for you this time. These are chips with mustard!"

Kiwi barks happily as Hiroki gets out a whole baguette for the puppies and some chips for Kiki. "Here you go!"

The puppies start eating the bread, wagging their tails.

"Nice to know you trust me, guys," Yumi deadpans at Odd.

"But you don't understand! Kiwi happens to be a very sensitive dog!"

"Sensitive? You're talking about the same Kiwi who digs up everything," Amy crosses her arms.

"You know how he is, Ames! Why aren't you more worried about your own dog?"

"Because I don't let myself go crazy thinking about them. I have other things that require my focus," She tells him just as Jeremy's laptop beeps.

"Guess what, everybody? The supercomputer has just picked up a new replica on the network."

"And there's my focus now," Amy gestures to the laptop.

"Rats, now I've gotta come up with a new excuse to get out of Chardin's class again," Yumi states, she's been getting out of his class multiple times.

"You won't be missing much, 'cept maybe a little nap," Odd tells her.

"I've gotta stop by the library, but I won't be long," Aelita explains to them.

"Well, you all know where to meet up!" Jeremy closes his laptop.

* * *

Later on, they all meet at the factory. "I don't have to remind you that the more replicas we destroy, the more we weaken XANA."

Yumi, Aelita, and Ulrich all step into a scanner, Odd and Amy waiting. "Of course you don't, Einstein. And you don't have to remind us that if we can find the new supercomputer, we might be able to figure out what XANA's planning!"

"You'd get straight As if you were as good as that in school. Okay, get ready guys. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization."

One by one, they feel the whoosh and are sent to Sector 5. They land one by one, standing up. "_Virtualization_."

Odd and Amy virtualize side-by-side, landing near Yumi. "_Everybody okay_?"

"I'm good. As for Kiwi, I'm not so sure," Odd answers skeptically.

"Chill out, Odd! He couldn't be in better hands," Yumi states to him.

"He's taking care of your dog too, you know," Odd looks up at his girlfriend, who rolls her eyes.

"I'll suspend my belief solely based on the fact that it's my dog we're talking about! She doesn't act out and she's the sweetest dog to strangers. Hiroki can handle her," She waves it off.

Kiwi is going through the mustard chips bag, but it gets stuck on his head. He bumps into a chair, trying to shake the bag off. He runs around in a circle as the puppies run off. They manage to find a laundry basket and start playing with the clothes inside.

"Jeremy, we're in the Skid garage," Ulrich reports as the elevator stops with them on it.

"_Great. Get on your teleport spots_."

They run onto the platforms. "Okay, here we go."

They teleport into their spots, Aelita grabbing the levers. Odd, Amy, Ulrich, and Yumi all land in their Nav Skids. "Prepare for liftoff. Release docking mechanism."

The mechanisms move away from the Skid and Aelita pulls the levers. The ship flies into the air and through the exit door. She moves the Skid over to the left.

"Immediately opening tunnel." Jeremy gets one of the tunnels open and Aelita smirks a bit. She moves inside it and pulls the levers forward out into the Digital Sea.

"Ready to dive."

The Skid dives forward and enters the sea. Jeremy taps the enter button. "Holosphere system online. Aelita, I'm entering the coordinates of the new replica.

"Roger."

The entrance to the network opens and they emerge into it. "Rotation," Aelita tilts a lever to the side so that the skid is now horizontal. "Powering turbo growth and auxiliary generators." The generators turn on and they head for the replica.

Hiroki is playing a video game as Kiwi runs around, barking. "A little patience, Leechie, I'll play with you as soon as I finish this game."

Kiki comes into the room, watching the dog run around and shaking her head. He hits the stairwell.

"What do you think it's gonna be this time around?" Aelita asks everyone.

"_I have no idea_."

"It might be a replica of the ice sector," Yumi comments to them.

"My guess is Mountain," Ulrich adds to the conversation.

"Sector 5 for me. We haven't seen a replica of that yet," Amy chimes in.

"What do you think, Odd?" Ulrich asks the boy.

"I think I should have fed him more tofu kibbles!"

"Stay focused, Odd," Jeremy warns him, but he can't stop thinking about Kiwi.

Hiroki pets the two dogs, as he finally found Kiwi with the bag over his head. "Poor Leechie, those chips didn't agree with you." He jumps out of the boy's arms. "Hey, what do you say we play ball?"

The puppies come into the hall and he sees the clothes over them. "Oh no..." He pinches his nose.

They reach the giant big ball. "Replica in sight, Jeremy."

"Okay, Aelita, I'll unlock the portal as soon as you're connected."

Aelita comes to a stop in front of the key. She moves the Skid so that it's vertical and presses her hand across the interface.

"Digital code entered."

The beam of light shines from the front, touching the key for the replica. "Just give me a minute or two and we'll see what this replica looks like..._Okay Aelita, I'm sending you the entry portal code_." A few seconds later, the door opens. The Skid flies inside it and the door closes behind them. They emerge into the replica a few seconds later.

"What do you know? Amy was right. Welcome to a replica of Sector 5."

"Of course. We haven't seen one yet," The fairy smiles, shrugging. They enter the replica.

"I just spotted a tower in the Core Zone that can be reached from the North Pole. I'll guide you in so that you can get to it."

"_Gotcha, Jeremy. You're in the driver's seat_," Aelita replies as the ship emerges into the Celestial Dome. She moves over to the entrance that is normally for the Skid in Lyoko's Sector 5. They emerge into room where there's a way tower. "Nice piece of work. We're in a room exactly like the ones in Sector 5. Tower dead ahead. I'll take over from here."

"_Okay Aelita, do your stuff_," Jeremy tells her.

She stops the Skid in front of the tower. "Skid dock."

"Perfect. Amy, Yumi, and Odd, you wanna volunteer for teleportation?" Jeremy asks the three.

"Aye aye, Captain Einstein!" Odd salutes to him.

"Would you give the bad jokes a rest, Private? Ulrich and Aelita, you two-"

"_We stay here and guard the Skid_," Ulrich interrupts him knowingly.

"You guessed it. I'm activating the tower for our own use," He taps a button and the tower turns green. "Ready for teleportation?"

"Just say the word," Yumi smiles a bit.

"Teleportation," He taps enter and the three disappear within seconds. "Odd, Amy, Yumi, do you read me? Odd! Amy! Yumi!"

"_We read you loud and clear, Jeremy_," Yumi reports a few seconds later.

"That's great! Well, which continent did you land on this time?"

"_None of them!_" Odd answers, freaking Jeremy out.

"What?! You mean you're in the ocean?"

"0 for 2. But we are floating," Odd answers as Yumi laughs. The three are floating around in a spaceship.

"_Outer space? You guys are in outer space_?!"

"That's more like it, Einstein! I knew you'd figure it out sooner or later!" Odd exclaims as they're spinning around.

"Wow!" Amy giggles as she's floating.

"Amazing!" Jeremy smiles happily.

"Hey, look at this, guys," Yumi beckons them over to a window that overlooks outside to a satellite.

"Wow! It's unbelievable!"

"It is," Yumi agrees with him. "It's beautiful, and yet, it seems so fragile."

"I can't wait to tell Jackson I went to outer space," Amy smiles softly.

"...He gets sick even though I only feed him good healthy food. I'm beginning to think there's something seriously wrong with him," Odd says after a few seconds. Amy sighs slowly, shaking her head.

"Odd! You're looking at the most beautiful sight you're ever going to see, and all you can think about are your stupid cans of dog food?" Yumi scolds him in annoyance.

"Kibbles! I never give Kiwi canned dog food," Odd points out. "And besides, that view is nothing compared to my Ames!"

"Ah! Odd," Amy blushes deeply in embarrassment.

"What? It's true," He shrugs at her. Yumi smiles at the two, humming slightly.

"According to your coordinates, it looks like you guys are on the brand new international space station, 400 kilometers above the Earth!" Jeremy reports after getting their location.

"This is great! We can meet some astronauts and get their autographs."

"Mm-mm," Jeremy shakes his head. "I wouldn't bet on that. The station is unhabited right now. A new team is coming in about 10 days."

"Good, that'll give us time to find the supercomputer and destroy it," Yumi replies as they're playing around with the gravity. Luckily, Amy didn't have her wings on.

"_Be on your guard all the same. We can never be sure what XANA has up his sleeve_..."

"Up, up and away!" Odd soars forward, the girls floating after him with a giggle.

* * *

Kiwi wags his tail, wagging his tongue. "Okay. Ready?" Hiroki holds up a ball. "Catch, go on!" Kiki and the puppies just watch. Kiwi jumps up and catches the ball. Hiroki claps as Kiwi returns with the ball. "Good dog, you did it again!"

He pants as he walks up to his puppies, putting the ball down in front of them. Bonbon reaches for it first, barking. Lichi and Pepper run around him, wagging their tails.

"Aww," Hiroki smiles at the sight.

* * *

Odd gets the door open, pulling Amy forward so she can go first. He floats in after her as they're in a manufacturing room.

"Wow!" Yumi exclaims as silver orbs are being made. "Jeremy, there's a line of little metallic spheres here, like mini Mega tanks."

"You think XANA's manufacturing those things?" Odd asks her.

"I have no idea. Anyway, they look harmless enough," Yumi stares at them.

"Maybe XANA's taking up bocce ball."

"If he is behind this, I wouldn't trust getting so close to them," Amy stares at the silver orbs.

"_It could be nothing or something major. They're definitely not made to serve mankind. Forget about them and find that supercomputer._"

Odd reaches out his hand. "No Odd, don't touch them! You never know," Yumi smacks his hand. "Come on!"

The girls grab his arms and pull him forward. They float into the door that they came in from.

* * *

Kiwi rolls the ball to Hiroki, barking. "That's enough, lie down. I said lie down. If not, I'll lock you in my sister's room."

The three puppies all growl towards him and he looks at them in fear. A noise is heard from outside as Mr and Mrs. Ishiyama have arrived back home. "Huh?!" His eyes widen in alarm. He sees the knocked over plants, books, and chips.

"Oh no!"

The two walk up to the gate. Hiroki picks up all five dogs, running up the stairs. Mr. Ishiyama puts down his briefcase to get his keys. "Now what did I do with my keys?"

"They're in your attache key," Mrs. Ishiyama smiles at him.

"Of course. Where's my head?"

"Maybe you left it with your keys!" She smiles in amusement.

"Stay here," Hiroki instructs the dogs once they're in Yumi's room. Kiwi starts barking. "Don't move and don't make a sound!" He whispers, closing the door.

"Ah, here they are," Mr. Ishiyama pulls out his key, inching it towards the door. Hiroki races down the steps, picking up the bags of chips. He picks up the board game. "Look at this mess! What's the meaning of this, Hiroki?" The man demands him, Mrs. Ishiyama having a frown of disapproval.

"Don't get stressed out, I-I'll have it all cleaned up in no time!"

They just stare at him and the boy's relieved that the dogs haven't barked at all.

* * *

Ulrich and Aelita stand side-by-side in front of the Skid and the tower. "It's weird, usually XANA would have launched an attack by now," Ulrich comments as he stands up.

"That'd be the first time that he-" Aelita stops talking and looks up at the Skid. A shield appears around the Skid and the tower, flickering. "Jeremy, we've got a really huge problem..."

"I see it. XANA's doing all he can to wipe out the Skid," He tells them.

"_If you have a solution, I'm all for it_," Ulrich replies back.

"If the replica is an exact copy of Sector 5, then it should function exactly like it did on Lyoko." Jeremy starts typing to locate the key. "I've got it! Just like before on Lyoko, you have to activate a key to stop the mechanism. Do I have a volunteer to take care of it?"

"Okay Jeremy, I'm the fastest, so I better go," Ulrich jerks a thumb to himself. He just hoped that Aelita would be able to handle it until then.

"_The key is directly across from where you're standing right now._"

"Right. I'm off. Super sprint!" He speeds through the open door, turning right and disappearing.

* * *

The trio float into a room, smiling. "Jeremy, I think we just found the supercomputer," Yumi reports to him.

"Perfect timing because XANA's trying to wipe out the Skid. Better take out the supercomputer now. Be careful, though, to make it look like an accident. The space station is too well-known. We don't want any rumors about sabotage."

"An accident? How do we do that?" Yumi asks in disbelief.

"I hope your brother remembered to give Kiwi and the puppies enough to drink..." Odd looks towards the ground.

"We're facing disaster and all you can think about is your dog?!"

"Water, yeah, that's a good idea!" He smiles slightly, pulling Amy along with him. Yumi just stares at him in confusion. "_We'll create some water damage. There has to be water flowing through one of these things_."

Jeremy hums at his deduction, slightly impressed.

"Hey, yeah!" Amy turns to her boyfriend. "We'll make it look like a pipe burst while the astronauts were gone!"

"Nice going, Odd!" Yumi compliments him. He presses his ear against a pipe, his tail around Amy's waist.

"Don't thank me! Thank Kiwi!" He floats to another pipe. The computer nearby turns on to show the XANA symbol. The metallic orbs stop moving and then they start moving on their own. They float up into the air, spinning around and flying out of the room.

Ulrich continues running as the ceiling is moving towards him. "Uh oh. Don't expect me to bow down to you, XANA!" He declares, running as fast as he can. He jumps and lands on the other side at the last second.

"_Well done, Ulrich!_" Jeremy congratulates him. He takes off running again.

The three are still looking when Yumi finds a pipe. "Odd, Amy, over here!"

They swim over to her. "There's water in this pipe!" She means the one near the computer. "The water flows through there," She points to the pipe. Before any of them could do anything, the three orbs come into the room. Yumi glances behind them to see the objects, and they all gasp. They don't move for a few seconds before one of them grows spikes. "Watch out!" She kicks Odd away.

"What did you kick me for?"

Amy's eyes widen as she flies forward with her wings, the orb zipping past Odd and landing right underneath the fairy. "Oh, thanks Yumi."

"Guys," Amy points at the other orbs showing their spikes.

"We're out of here!" Yumi declares, pushing herself forward using one of the pipes. The orb nearby retracts its spikes as they swim out of the room. The spheres follow after them. Odd and Amy float through a door, turning back to the spikes. "Give me a hand!"

Together, they push the door closed and Odd turns the wheel. They gasp, looking towards each other.

"Forget about them. They might not be important," Amy mimics Jeremy, hands on her hips. "Thanks a lot, Jeremy."

* * *

Hiroki has finished cleaning up most of the mess in the living room when the dogs start barking. Well, mostly Kiwi and the puppies. Unfortunately, Yumi forgot to mention to Hiroki that Kiwi hates the sound of vacuum cleaners. The barking is so loud that the parents can hear it all the way from downstairs.

"That's strange," Mrs. Ishiyama turns to her husband. "It sounds like a dog. Multiple ones, in fact."

"Uhh," Hiroki looks at them nervously. He turns up the vacuum cleaner to try and block out the sounds. They stare at him as he continues cleaning. Kiwi is scratching at the door as the puppies are covering their ears with their paws. Kiwi does the same, howling in discomfort.

"Hmm..." Mr. Ishiyama turns off the vacuum and then he hears the howling. Hiroki just smiles, the man narrowing his eyes. They step into Yumi's room, seeing nothing at first. Then barks are heard from below and he looks to see the dog family. "Huh? Hey, Hiroki!"

He moves away from the hall.

* * *

"_Make your next left, Ulrich_," Jeremy guides him. He turns left and runs down a path, only to be stopped by a laser. He jumps out of the way and looks up ahead to see a Creeper near the door. It fires and he moves to the right.

"Jeremy, I transferred all of the energy into the shields," Aelita explains as she's back in the pilot's seat.

"_Let's hope they hold up_..."

"They seem to be okay for now."

However, a few seconds later, William runs into the room, sliding to a stop. "_Aelita, William just showed up_!"

He gives a tiny grin as he summons his sword. He swings it and a projectile flies towards the Skid. Aelita feels the impact and gives a look of irritation. "Doesn't he ever give up?" She asks to herself, pressing a few buttons. "Here we go."

She teleports herself out of the Skid and lands behind William. "Energy field!" She announces, getting his attention. She fires it at him, but he ducks his head and it hits the Skid. The shields start to diminish slightly. "I can't believe it, that was so dumb!"

He steps towards her, holding his weapon with a growl.

* * *

The orbs melt right through the door. "XANA's really having a ball," Odd comments at this. "And lots of them."

"Stop the joking, Odd, those things could reverse the teleportation!" Yumi warns him. "If we fail this mission, XANA wins!"

"Not to mention he'll get stronger and be able to do something worse!" Amy turns to her boyfriend.

The shields get even weaker. "The Skid just lost one shield layer! Ulrich, Aelita!"

Aelita narrowly misses the next attack from William. "I'm doing all I can, Jeremy!" William is very strong, and determined to do anything to stop them...he chases after her and she jumps off the platform. He slides to a stop at the edge. She comes up flying with her wings and prepare her hand. "Energy field!" She aims it at him, but he blocks it with his sword. However, because of her distance, it was enough to send him onto the floor.

She lands at the edge, running up to him. She places a foot on his sword.

The three look at the melting door. "What now?" Yumi asks the two. Odd places a clawed hand to his chin.

"Hmm..." He sees a door handle, grinning widely. "It feels pretty stuffy in here. Let's air the place up."

"Odd, you can't do that!" Yumi protests to him.

"That's dangerous, not to mention, we could end up out there!" Amy looks at the door.

"What? If I don't do _that_, we're gonna be bowling pins!" He states as the orbs come into the hall. He grabs the handle and Amy's hand. "Hold on tight!" He pulls it and the door opens, setting off the alarm. They scream as they hang on, legs flailing. Objects start to get sucked out of the space station. The three orbs start to get pulled towards outside. One of them flies right past Amy and Odd, then the other, and finally, the last one. They're all sent out into space and Odd pulls the lever forward. The door closes and they look to where the orbs disappeared.

"Oh, that's better. Smells less like an astronaut's dirty socks in here now."

Amy giggles at him, hugging the boy in relief. He turns it, resting his chin on her hair.

* * *

The Creeper crawls a few feet and fires at Ulrich again. He ducks and pulls out one of his swords. "It's time you stop drooling over me, pal!" He throws his sword all the way to the monster, hitting him in the chest. He watches the monster explode to pieces, sighing in relief. "Super sprint!"

He turns the corner. "_Not much further, Ulrich_!"

William gets up, facing Aelita. She looks up at the Skid and William holds out his hand. He focuses on his sword and brings it over to him. Aelita lands on the ground.

Ulrich stops, looking around. "_The key's on the other side, better hurry_!"

"Thanks a lot, Jeremy." Unfortunately for him, there's a gap between him and the platform that has the key...

With no bridge to get across. "I can see it. Well, when you gotta go..." He steps back a bit. When he's at a good distance, he takes off running. "Super sprint!"

He jumps all the way across and manages to grab the edge, dangling. He looks up at the platform and slowly brings up his arms. Then he sees that the key is about to be closed off. He speeds towards it and crawls between the space. He crawls as fast as he can towards the key. Ulrich presses it at the last minute before he's devirtualized.

The Skid gets back to normal as Ulrich kneels in the scanner. "Well, that's what I call really being pressed for time."

* * *

The three float back into the supercomputer room. Odd and Amy stop in front of the pipe. "Hope they got insurance!" He and Amy swing a hammer at the pipe, and it breaks open. Water bubbles float out of the pipe, and they watch as it goes over to the super computer. Once they touch, they smile. "It's working, Einstein!"

"Watch out, it's gonna blow! I'll bring you both in! De-energize Odd. De-energize Yumi. De-energize Amy."

Just as it explodes, they teleport back into the skid, eyes closed. William looks to the elf on the ground. She sits herself up and shakes her head. He captures her with smoke, lifting her up into the air. William brings her to him, and before he could do anything, projectiles hit him from behind.

"Leave our friend alone, you hear?!" Yumi throws her fans at him.

"Nobody messes with my sister, William!" Amy narrows her eyes, throwing her spear. He dodges one, but two weapons hit him in the shoulder. He charges forward and Odd attacks him with laser arrows. He falls onto the floor, giving Amy the chance to run towards Aelita. "Are you alright, Aelita?"

William sits up and sees the two prepared to attack again if necessary. He backs away towards the edge and jumps off, admitting defeat for now.

"I don't wanna be a pain, but if I were you, I'd get out of there fast," Jeremy reminds them. They teleport back into the Skid, Aelita taking control.

"Okay, everyone's on board. Here we go." She guides the Skid of the room and into the network. They take off towards Lyoko as the replica behind them is destroyed.

"That's one less replica," Jeremy takes off his headphone, sighing in relief. "Mission accomplished..."

* * *

Yumi, Amy, and Odd are walking to the Ishiyama house together to pick up the family. "Oh rats, my parents are home!" Yumi notices their car outside.

"Yeah, and?" Odd asks casually.

"Well, let's say I wouldn't like to be your dogs right now!"

When they step inside the living room, they see Mr. Ishiyama playing with the dogs. "Nice little doggie, you love playing with your Uncle Takeho, don't you? Yeah! Ha ha ha!" The puppies lick at his face and he chuckles, the teenagers grinning. Yumi clears her throat and he turns to them. "Oh...back already?"

He sits up and the puppies move away, wagging their tails.

"Uh yes, Mr. Ishiyama. We don't want our dogs to be bothers to you, so, uh...we'd like to take 'em home," Odd speaks up.

"Oh really?" He stands up, petting Kiwi. "Well, if you'd like, I could take care of them for a week or so!"

Amy laughs as they step forward, holding out their hands. "Thank you, sir, but we missed them."

They hug their dogs as the puppies run over to them, barking. "I can understand that," The man smiles and they start to leave.

"Just a minute, Odd, Amy!" Mrs. Ishiyama calls out, giving them boxes of sushi. "Here, take some sushi."

"Thank you, ma'am, but...I'm not crazy about raw fish."

"But it's not for you, it's for Leechie and his family! They love it, especially when it's got lots of mustard, veggies, or cheese, or with a side of strawberries."

The two just smile at each other.

"Oh, we just have to get a picture of you two!" Mrs. Ishiyama exclaims at the couple and the dog family. "Wait right here!"

"Ahh," They look up at Yumi, who smiles in amusement.

"Better you two than me."

Mrs. Ishiyama comes back with a camera. "Amelia, get in closer. Both of you kneel. Can you get the puppies in front of you?"

Amy and Odd are sitting in front of the puppies, holding their dogs in their hands. "Perfect! Smile."

Yumi moves out of the way as she takes some pictures. "Wait, where are you going?" Amy whispers to her.

"Bye," She waves to them with a small smile as she walks down the sidewalk.

"Wait, Yumi, no-!"

"I wanna take some pictures too!" Mr. Ishiyama goes off to get a camera and the two sigh slowly. This is what they get for begging Yumi to take them in...but should another inspection come up, at least they can trust her family to take care of them.


	91. Cousins Once Removed

It's another day at Kadic, and another day that Jeremy is busy at his computer. He seems to be creating a program for the Skid. His phone rings and he answers it.

"What is it now, Odd?"

"Guess what? Ames, Yumi, and Aelita just bet they can wipe us out in foosball, so Ulrich and I are gonna teach 'em a lesson! Wanna watch?" The four are walking down the hall to the rec room.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm working on the Nav Skids program and I can't get away!"

"Relax, Einstein, we thought you'd like a front row seat to see the girls get thrashed! We weren't gonna make you play," Odd states to him.

"Listen, reinforcing the Skid is slightly more important than foosball. You don't want your next expedition to end up being your last, do you?" Jeremy retorts back.

"Always the optimist, huh, Jeremy? Come on over. You could take a little break from the computer." And with that, Jeremy hangs up.

"If that guy calls again, I'm gonna break his neck! Where was I?" He looks up at his computer. "If I compress the executable file, they should be able to free enough memory to-" A knock is heard at his door, to his irritation. "Now who's gonna waste my time?!"

The principal opens up the door. "Thanks for your warm welcome, Belpois."

"Oh hi!" He stands up. "I mean, hello, Mr. Delmas."

"I hope at least that you'll be a little happier to see your cousin."

He raises a brow in confusion. "Come in," He steps forward a bit as a brown-haired boy stands at the door.

"Hello, Jeremy," He greets with a smile.

"Patrick! What are you doing here?"

"I'm surprised your parents didn't tell you. Your cousin has enrolled on their recommendation, and until we can get him a room of his own, we thought we would put him with you. Hmm, uh, camping bed should do the trick."

"But sir, it's just that I-"

"Well, young man, welcome to Kadic," Mr. Delmas pats his shoulder. "Belpois, I'll leave you to look after, uh, Belpois. It might be a good idea to show him around the school," He leaves the room and Patrick turns to Jeremy.

"How you doing, cuz? I caught you by surprise, didn't I? Glad to see me, I hope," He holds out his hand to the frowning Jeremy.

"Yeah, I'm overjoyed. Listen, I have to do work now, so don't you have to get your stuff or fill out a form or something?" He asks rather rudely.

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Hey Jeremy," Odd runs into the room, followed by the others. "Anyone tell you it's bad manners to hang up on people?!" He turns to Patrick, his eyes widening. "Incredible! Einstein's made a handsomer clone of himself!"

"Very funny," He deadpans at Odd. "This is my cousin Patrick. He's gonna be a student here."

"Hi, my name's Ulrich!" He waves a hand. "Another Belpois, huh? Are you also a nut about square roots and all that stuff?"

"Oh no, I'm not as bright as Jeremy, that's for sure," Patrick glances at his cousin.

"You think he's bright, do you?" Odd jerks a thumb to the boy. "If you ask me, he kinda wears drab colors."

Jeremy glares at him.

"Yeah, well, I guess that compared to the way you dress, anything seems kind of dull."

The others smile in amusement towards Odd. "Hey, this is a classy outfit! It's based on Kung Fu Commando, and my girlfriend Ames loves what I wear!"

"More or less," She rolls her eyes playfully.

"That's a great game. I guess you're stuck at level 7 because at level 8, the clothes get a lot more tame," Patrick smiles slightly and Odd opens his mouth in shock.

"You two should get along, you're a couple of joystick junkies," Ulrich grins a little. "And I thought we had someone new for football."

"I don't just play video games," Patrick turns to him. "I'm into aikido too."

"Oh yeah?" Ulrich smiles at the boy. "Hey, that's cool, although I prefer doing penchak silat. Anyway, we could train together."

"That sounds great...hey, aren't you opening for the Subdigitals?" He turns to the brunette. "And your artwork at the local museum is pretty cool."

"That's me!" Amy smiles, hands behind her back. "Well, not just me, Aelita is too," She gestures to the pink-haired girl.

"Great, but right now, everybody out! I've got work to do! My report on the Vikings and their legendary Drakkar ship, the Skidbladnir," Jeremy reminds them, Yumi glaring. "It's important, huh?"

"Roger. Time to ship out, we've got a date with a foosball game," Yumi replies as everyone leaves, turning to Patrick. "Hey, why don't you come with us?"

"At least you'll have less of an attitude," Amy gives Jeremy a glare before walking after the others.

"That'd be great, thanks!" Patrick smiles happily. "Your friends seem really nice, Jeremy."

"I can see exactly what you're after, so just leave my friends alone, okay?" Jeremy demands to the boy. "Make your own friends in the rec room!"

"Was that family reunion typical of the Belpois?" Yumi asks Aelita and she glances at the door.

"I'll meet you over there. I forgot my mobile," She runs down the hall. Patrick smiles at Yumi as they continue walking.

"It's definitely no different from my own family reunions," Amy mutters under her breath. Or at least, when she had them. Since coming to Kadic, she hadn't had the time to go the last 2 from the previous years. Not to mention, her 'father' is unbearable to everyone there...

"Why did you act like that with him?" Aelita asks Jeremy once she's in his room again.

"It's because I know him. He tries to act super cool to make me look bad," He closes his eyes. "It was like that at summer camp. Patrick would steal all my friends and act as if I didn't exist."

"Maybe he didn't do it on purpose," She suggests to the boy. "He seems pretty nice to me."

"Aelita, are you blind?" He turns to her. "Can't you see that he's doing the same thing he used to do at camp right now?" He turns to his computer and she gives an annoyed look.

"Don't make excuses for being such a sore loser and for behaving like a three-year-old baby! So chill out, and stop feeling sorry for yourself because you're not like him! Amy's right, you are having an attitude!" She scolds him.

"Are you done? Because I've already wasted enough time."

She stares at him and huffs, leaving the room. He looks back to his computer. It's not his fault that he's right.

* * *

"What's taking Aelita so long, anyway? I can't wait to teach you ladies a lesson!" Odd brags in the rec room. And with that, Yumi and Patrick gain a point.

"Like the one we're giving you now?" She giggles a little.

"Oh, you don't deserve the credit!" Odd points at her. "It was Patrick's pass!"

"Not everyone's a winner," Amy smiles, patting his shoulder.

"If Jeremy wasn't stuck to his computer all day, he might be able to play like you!" Ulrich smiles at Patrick.

"Well, I wouldn't be too hard on him," Patrick looks away. "After all, it's harder to be a whiz in math than playing foosball."

"That's incredible, Einstein treats you like dirt and you try to defend him! If he was my cousin, I'd ask for a divorce!" Odd comments at him.

"Don't forget that they are family," Amy turns to her boyfriend.

"I don't see you defending your father," Yumi raises a brow.

"Which one?" Amy retorts back, crossing her arms.

"What are you talking about?" Patrick glances between her and the others.

"it's...complicated," Odd rubs the back of his neck.

"What's complicated about it?" Patrick raises a brow.

"Umm, how do I put this...?" She rubs a temple. "You know Stan Smith?"

"The guy behind SafeTech?" His eyes widen at her. "He's your father?"

"Well, not exactly," Amy glances at her friends and her boyfriend. "I found out that he's not really my father, someone else is. And Mr. Smith kept that from me my whole life. My mother did too. He used to push me so hard to be like him. And everytime he came to Kadic, whatever he had to say, he had to make a big deal out of it. Like I had to listen to him even though we're not related," She narrows her eyes in annoyance. "It was like I had no say in anything about my future and my own life."

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that," Patrick looks at her in sympathy. "How's your relationship with him now?"

"Ahh," The others look away as Amy rubs the back of her neck awkwardly.

"That's...also complicated."

"Very interesting..." Sissi glances at Herb and Nicolas. She was listening to the whole conversation.

"Can we change the channel? This is the third episode of Love, Glory, and Paella in a row!" Herb complains to her.

"Just shut up!" She snaps, causing them to back away slightly. "I decide, and you obey!"

"Me, a three-year-old baby? Bit of a sore loser, but not a baby-" The door knocks again. "Who's there?"

* * *

Jim comes in the room. "Hello there, Belpois. Got a little family company?"

He simply turns around to his computer as Jim sets up the camping bed. "Oh, looks like you'd rather not talk about it. Happens to me sometimes too. You should do a little exercise, get your mind off other things," He leaves the room and something pops up, to his relief.

"Oh, thank goodness! About time!"

Aelita's phone rings as she's going to the rec room. "Hello? Is that you, Jeremy?"

"Yes, Aelita. I have to tell you something." He starts off.

"I'm warning you, Jeremy, if you're gonna be as rude as you were before, I'm gonna put Amy on the phone!"

"The super scan's picked up a replica," He ignores her warning.

"What?"

"I'll meet you at the factory. Call the others," He rushes down the stairs.

"Now?"

"Yeah, right now," He tells her.

The others are still playing as Aelita comes in. "Ah, Aelita, finally!"

"Uh, little change of program," She whispers to them, Yumi looking over her shoulder.

"XANA?" She whispers back and Aelita simply hums. Patrick stares at them curiously.

"Replica," Aelita simply whispers and everyone leaves.

"Sorry, but we have to go now. A little problem to take care of!" Ulrich exclaims as they rush out the door.

"Who are XANA and Replica, a couple of Greek friends?" Patrick asks in confusion and Odd laughs nervously.

"Right, and they make a wicked moussaka, but you gotta eat it while it's hot! See you later!"

"Really?" Amy asks him once he's outside.

"What was I supposed to say?" He shrugs sheepishly at his girlfriend. Patrick glances at the table and then leaves the rec room.

"See you later," Sissi tells the two boys, standing up. She throws the remote to Herb past Nicolas' head.

"Hey!"

"Tell me how it ends," She walks out after Patrick.

"I can't keep it from you anymore, I'm not Ramon's brother!" A male voice states from the TV.

"Change the channel, what are you waiting for?" Nicolas urges Herb. They'll just make up something later if they had to, but they were tired of Sissi having control.

As the announcer is talking, they stand up in anticipation.

* * *

They skate down the sewers, Odd catching up to Jeremy. "Already here, Einstein? Did you reprogram the Nav Skid?"

"The program's running. I let my computer working while I'm gone. The update will install itself directly on the supercomputer," Jeremy explains while continuing to move his leg.

"Yeah, but won't Patrick see it?" Ulrich asks him from his left.

"I locked my room, he can't get in until I get back," He states as they come to a stop at the ladder.

Patrick tugs at the door handle, which doesn't budge. "I guess Jeremy locked his room up." He holds up a spare key. "Good thing the principal gave me a copy of the key." He opens up the door and is about to close it when a foot stops the door. He stares at it, looking up to see Sissi peeking her head in.

"Hello, my name is Sissi. I'm really glad to meet you."

He raises his eyebrows at her.

They've reached the scanner room and Yumi steps in first, followed by Aelita and Ulrich. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization."

All of them disappear from the scanners.

* * *

"You're wrong," Patrick states to Sissi. "Jeremy and I don't hate each other. And there's no conspiracy about Amy's father, Mr. Smith is her father." He didn't trust her enough to tell her that he doesn't know who Amy's real father is, since that's personal.

"There's no need to lie to me," She's filing her nails. "I know everything. But I'm on the side of the good guys like you, Patrick. Jeremy and his gang are up to no good. But together, we can catch them."

"Jeremy?" He asks in confusion. "He wouldn't dare steal a lollipop! Besides, he's always in front of his computer."

Sissi glances to the computer, where the update is still installing. "Yeah...what if the answer was in his computer?" She smiles and he glances at it.

Herb's phone rings and he answers it. "Oh, Sissi. Uh, Miguel and Teresa were just about to kiss each other? When all of a sudden-"

"I don't care, you little dork!" She exclaims, interrupting him.

"You don't?" On the inside, he's relieved.

"Just go over to Jeremy's room and step on it!"

* * *

All of the Lyoko Warriors are in the Skid, traveling through the network. "I'm steady in the right direction. Hub 110 in sight, Jeremy."

"_Stabilize the Nav Skid over the hyper fluid while I enter the replica's coordinates and—DARN IT_!"

"Hm?" Amy looks up at his exclamation.

"_A problem_?" Aelita asks him.

"More like four problems. A quartet of Sharks at 11 o'clock."

"I'll stabilize the Nav Skid," Aelita stops the ship as everything around them turns red.

"Just one for each of us. Piece of cake," Odd glances behind him. "And I'm an expert at desserts."

"Expert isn't the right word," Amy snorts from her Skid. "More like a devourer of desserts."

The others laugh as he grabs his lever. "Would the Captain mind releasing us?" Yumi asks after the laughter. The Sharks are approaching them from behind at this moment.

"Battle station, sailors," Aelita salutes playfully. "Nav Skids away!" She pulls down all the tiny levers to release them. The Sharks start firing as they move away from the Skid.

"_Keep 'em off the Skid!_"

However, one of the Sharks hits the Skid anyway. "_Deflector shield hasn't finished uploading yet_."

* * *

Patrick and Sissi watch Herb type at the computer. "Will you hurry?!" She asks impatiently. "I thought you said you were a computer whiz!"

"There's some kind of program running, and it's blocking my access to Jeremy's personal file," He explains to her. Patrick stands up to confront her.

"Hey, what you're doing is way out of line!"

"But why?" Sissi leans towards him a bit. "If Jeremy has nothing to hide, we won't find anything, huh?"

"That doesn't matter, it's still wrong," He defends his cousin. Close or not, this is definitely not something family would do to each other.

"Miserable program!" Herb mutters in frustration. Then a file starts downloading. "Don't ask me how I did it, but I think I did it!"

* * *

Suddenly, the Skid's shields start depleting, Aelita looking around in shock. "Jeremy, my protective shield just dropped all of a sudden."

"Wait, I'll check it out," Jeremy checks the schematics and something else beeps from his screen. "Hey, what's going on?"

"You won't get away from me that easily!" Ulrich declares to a Shark in front of him. He chases after the monster. "Take this, you overgrown sardine!" He presses a button to fire his torpedoes, missing the shark, but hitting a structure that falls apart.

"Factory to Nav Skids. Head back to the Skid," Jeremy tells the four.

"What's wrong, princess? Feeling lonesome?" Odd jokes as Amy senses something wrong from Aelita.

"No time for jokes, Odd! I don't have a shield anymore!"

"What?! How is that possible?" Amy asks before the Skid gets attacked again, causing the Skid to float downwards.

"Aelita!" Both Amy and Odd shout. The Skid spins around slowly and Aelita tries to steady the Skid.

"Jeremy! I've lost power! I have no control at all! Jeremy!" She cries out.

"Listen, Nav Skids. _I've lost contact with Aelita. Catch up to her fast, she's being swept away in a digital tie!_"

"Okay, Amy and I will break off," Yumi states and the two go downwards.

"It's impossible to debug it. It's coming from the program I left running in my room," He's trying to fix it, but the program isn't responding.

"How is this happening? I thought you said you locked your room!" Amy exclaims while flying her Nav Skid next to Yumi's.

* * *

"I see her date of birth, her social security number, all of her school records. This is weird, it's like he's forged of all of Aelita's ID papers," Herb explains to the two.

"I was sure we looked hard enough, we'd find something interesting."

"Wait!" Patrick steps forward. "I'm sure that's Aelita's real ID file. He must've scanned them for the photo, he's got a crush on her, right?"

"Yeah, and her health records? Did he scan those to get her eye color?" Herb asks sarcastically as the program pops up again. "Uh oh. Hey, someone's trying to access the system from a distance. Okay, let's tango."

* * *

"Access denied?" Jeremy asks in confusion from his end. "Huh? How could that happen? Jeremy to Nav Skids. "The only way to deal with this bug is to go back to my room."

"_Thanks a lot for leaving us alone to protect Aelita_!" Yumi retorts as the two sharks chase towards the boys. They both fire their weapons and they duck out of the way. The other two join them.

"There's a whole aquarium that won't let us get through!" Ulrich looks out the window.

"I know that, Ulrich. But as soon as the bug is fixed, we can bring the Skids in, so hang on."

"_Then I really hope you can fix it, Jeremy_," Amy states to him.

In the desert sector, a tower is activated, which Jeremy is informed about instantly. "I don't believe it! Activated tower in the desert sector. Nav Skids, we're changing our plans. We've gotta bring Aelita back to Lyoko."

The boys fire at the Sharks. "You want us to turn a squadron of deadly Sharks into fish sticks, find the Skid and then haul it back with our tiny little reactors?" Odd asks the genius.

"That...pretty much sums it up."

"You do realize that's a tall order," Amy looks out the window.

"I _know _that!" He retorts to her.

"_Okay, we're on it, Einstein!_" Odd tells him.

"I'm activating a firewall in the system so you won't have any trouble while I'm gone," He activates the firewall and runs towards the elevator. He presses the button and the doors close.

* * *

"Jean Pierre Delmas speaking," The three are listening to a phone call...that was only possible by the voice synthesizer.

"This is Mr. Dunbar here. I'm calling to tell you that my son William still has the flu, and that the doctor advises more bed rest before returning to school."

"Right, thank you for calling in."

"Tapping phones is a serious offense!" Sissi exclaims proudly. "You're through, Jeremy Belpois!"

"There's another call," Herb accesses another file.

"Hi there Julien, this is Sissi, the love of your life~!"

"But...but I never sent that to him!" She protests as she doesn't remember that call.

"Oh Julien, you wouldn't believe how mad about you I am."

Herb glares at the screen. "I-It's that idiot Odd imitating my voice! So that's why that dork Julien Xao wouldn't stop following me!"

"At this hour, you should be in your room studying! You have no excuse!" Her dad's voice says again.

Herb stops the voice by pressing on the power box. A CD comes out of it. "Well, that's all. I burned a CD with all this on it for your father."

"Great, we've got enough on them to get 'em all thrown out of school! And Amy can finally stop taking all the popularity that's meant for me! Hmph," She crosses her arms.

"Not so fast. I'm sure Jeremy has a perfectly good explanation," Patrick pulls Herb away from the computer. He steps in front of the two.

"My father will be glad to hear it, I'm sure. Out of my way!"

"Over my dead body!" Patrick yells as a specter activates from the outlets.

"Stop playing the hero, I can get you kicked out of school too!" The specter surrounds her and Herb, possessing them, to his shock. He gasps in horror at the both of them as they step forward. Together, they pull him out of the room, laughing and slamming the door.

* * *

"Nav Skids, Jeremy? Do you read me?" Aelita asks, but gets no answer.

XANA Herb is typing at the computer, noticing the firewall.

Ulrich sees the Shark on his map, following after it. He locks onto his target. "Torpedo!" He fires and the second weapon hits the Shark, destroying it.

"Nice one, Ulrich!" Odd comments as the two Sharks are chasing after them.

"We've got to dive down and find Aelita!" He states, the two monsters firing at them. "Let's go!" He dives down with Odd.

* * *

Jeremy bursts into the hallway of the dorms. "Patrick! Patrick, what's the matter?" He sees his cousin on the floor.

"This guy Herb was snooping around on your computer with the principal's daughter. I tried to stop them, but they went totally mental and kicked me out of the room like I was a rag doll." Jeremy frowns, looking towards the door. From that explanation, he can only guess what's happened: XANA. "They're gonna show the ID you made for Aelita to the principal to get you all expelled. I'm sorry, this is my fault. You didn't like me much to start with, and now-"

"No, I'm the one who's sorry," Jeremy interrupts him. "For acting like a total idiot ever since you got here." He holds out his hand and Patrick takes it. "No hard feelings?"

"No sweat, cousin," Patrick replies as Jeremy helps him up.

"Listen, I don't have time to explain now, but if we let Herb and Sissi play around with my computer, getting expelled from school will be the least of our problems. Will you help me?"

"You can count on me," Patrick smiles at him and Jeremy smiles back.

XANA Herb is trying to unlock the firewall when Jeremy gets the door open. They storm in and the two look over their shoulders.

* * *

"Skid here," Aelita speaks up, hoping someone can hear. "Nav Skids, come in, please!"

Something suddenly appears nearby, heading towards the Skid. She presses a button to try and get through, but there's still no response.

"Come on, answer!"

Whatever is outside hits the ship, and she gasps in alarm. A squid-like creature latches onto the Skid. "Oh no, what's that?!"

The squid opens up, a drill coming out from the bottom end. It hits the top and she looks around in worry. The squid then aims the drill towards the window. She leans back, watching it touch the window.

"No!"

"Over there, I can see the Skid!" Odd exclaims as they've finally found her. "What have we got now? It looks like a monster from The Dentist Real Massacre!"

"Yeah, except this one looks worse!" Yumi adds in and Amy looks closer.

"It doesn't matter, look! He's attacking the Skid!" Amy points forward as it tries to break through the window.

Patrick gets slammed into the closet by XANA Sissi, who growls at him. XANA Herb swings Jeremy around until he lands on the ground, followed by Patrick. XANA Sissi looks to her partner as he's back at the computer. He breaks through the firewall.

"NOOOO!" Jeremy shouts in alarm for his friends.

XANA Herb laughs evilly. "I cracked the firewall!" He starts to use the program for the Nav Skids...

Aelita stares at the drill, gasping slowly. "Oh no...!"

"What? But you're right, the mad dentist is the same compared to this monster," Odd jerks his head to the squid.

"In formation, here we go," Yumi orders, and the three Nav Skids follow her. "Nav Skids, stand by to fire."

They try to fire their torpedoes, but because of XANA Herb, he's made them inoperable.

"Huh?" Ulrich asks in confusion, "No more power. What's going on?"

"No idea, something's wrong," Yumi states and they move past the Skid. The two Sharks arrive at their location, to Amy's annoyance.

"Now Harville, return of the sardines!" Odd looks behind him.

"Don't they ever give up?" Amy asks bitterly towards them.

* * *

XANA Sissi looms over the two boys. "Oh, they've both blown a fuse, don't you think?" Patrick turns to Jeremy.

"Now there's an idea! If I cut the electricity, my computer will switch off, and so will the access to the supercomputer!"

He runs out of the room and down the hall. XANA Sissi stares after him. She growls, about to go after him, but Patrick stops her.

"You stay here!"

Jeremy hears him, turning around and seeing the situation. He gasps, but runs away. She kicks Patrick into the ceiling.

* * *

The Nav Skids move past Aelita, the Sharks still on their tail. They fire and hit Ulrich's Nav Skid. Another torpedo fires and he dodges it. He sees the shield depleting from his screen near his foot. "Oh! My deflector shield is almost gone! One hit and it's all over!"

Odd looks out the window. "To think I'll never get to level 8 of Kung Fu Commando...Patrick's such a lucky guy! And I'll never get to propose to Ames!"

Amy coughs slightly before ducking her Skid from a Shark.

Jeremy runs past the track, XANA Sissi rushing down the stairs. She laughs evilly before Patrick jumps after her.

"Geronimo!" They tumble down the stairs. XANA Sissi gets up, growling at him. He looks up as she fires an electricity ball at him, knocking him onto the stairs.

XANA Herb is still at Jeremy's computer, about to mess with the Skids. He laughs evilly as something downloads.

The Nav Skids move around, with the monsters still chasing them. "Oh, I hope Jeremy hasn't run into any trouble..." Amy murmurs as she glances behind her.

Speaking of Jeremy, he reaches the power room, closing the door behind him. He grabs a shovel and plants it against the door, just in case XANA Sissi had caught up to him.

The squid is still attacking the Skid, drilling at the window again. It's about to burst through as Aelita leans back, gasping in horror.

Jeremy opens up the fuse box. "Hmm, must be one of these buttons," He looks between a red one and a blue one."

XANA Herb looks at the program still downloading.

"Getting ready for the wealthy kick, he runs, oh, and-" The TV cuts out right then and there in the rec room.

"Oh, what?!" Nicolas exclaims at this. Jeremy's computer also shuts off from his room.

"No, this is impossible!"

"Come back, this is impossible!" Nicolas slams at the TV, frustrated that he missed the outcome.

Aelita braces herself from the drill, until suddenly the squid moves away from her. She looks back to the controls, seeing something green emerge around the Skid. "The shield is back..." The screen pops up again. "Jeremy, you did it, right?"

She gets no answer in return, looking around. "Jeremy, can you hear me?" The others can thankfully hear her too.

"Nice to hear your voice again, Aelita," Ulrich speaks up. "Einstein strikes again," He pulls his levers forward, turning around and speeding up. The Shark is heading right towards him. "Too bad for you, fish face. I'm off the hook, but not you."

He fires straight at the monster and hits it dead on. "Yahoo!"

"I sure hope the others get a move on," Jeremy asks from inside the room. He hasn't left because XANA Sissi is still out there. The door is being pounded on, meaning that she's already found him. Jeremy rushes to his feet, running off. The door bursts open, causing the shovel to go flying into the room.

Another Shark is destroyed courtesy of Odd. "Yahoo! Come on, Sharks!"

He flies past Aelita, the squid attempting to get through the shield, but is unable too. He latches onto the Skid and tries again.

"It's not as easy as it was, is it?" Aelita asks knowingly.

"Hate to bother you, princess, but do you mind stepping aside?" Odd questions as another Skid comes into view.

"I think it's time to make some sushi..."

"Uh huh. Good one, Amy," Aelita grins, pressing a button. "Reverse propulsion." She moves the Skid backwards, getting the squid off her. It turns around to see Ulrich in front.

"Fire." He fires first. Amy flies in behind him, firing a bubble.

"Fire!"

Then Odd comes in with his torpedo. "Fire!"

Last is Yumi, who fires her weapon. "Fire."

They all hit the squid, and it explodes. "Well done. I can bring you in now. Next top, Lyoko."

"Roger," Ulrich replies as he flies in.

"Nav Skids in."

Everything turns blue as Ulrich and Yumi attach themselves. Odd and Amy fly in, attaching their Skids last.

"Maximum propulsion."

XANA Sissi slowly steps towards Jeremy. He grabs a rake to defend himself, and he can see the XANA symbol flashing in her eyes.

"Sweet talk won't get you anywhere, Sissi!" He leans forward and attacks with the rake.

The Skid emerges from the Digital Sea, flying upwards. They locate the activated tower quickly, but it's guarded by two Tarantulas. Of course XANA wouldn't let them have this one so easily...

The ship moves all the way to the edge. "Disembarkment."

Everyone exits the ship, landing on the platform of the replica. Odd stretches his legs. "Ah, that's much better," He runs a hand through his hair. "I had virtual pins and needles in my legs!"

The Tarantulas get onto their knees to fire. Ulrich and Yumi pull out their weapons, followed by Amy. "That's better. Good old-fashioned land duel."

Aelita steps forward and fires an energy field, destroying one. The other one fires at them and Amy takes flight.

"Aelita, don't be a party pooper, you're spoiling all the fun!" Ulrich blocks the lasers with his swords.

"Stop complaining, Jeremy's in trouble!" She argues back. This long with no answer from him meant that something was wrong.

Jeremy and XANA Sissi are wrestling with the rake. She then takes it and throws him across the room. He hits the wall and she pulls on the lever to turn the power back on. XANA Herb recoils back in shock at the computer turning back on.

The monster continues firing as everyone turns towards it, well, Amy flying. Yumi defends herself as best as she can before she's devirtualized.

"Yumi!" Amy shouts as Odd stares him down.

"Nice going, handsome, but you forgot to look up!"

Ulrich jumps off the tower and slices at the target. It explodes as he lands between Odd and Aelita. "Okay, it's your move, princess."

Another roar is heard, the fairy and Ulrich turning around. "Oh no..." She groans at the sight.

"Better hurry, XANA invited some friends over," Ulrich tells the pink-haired girl as three Tarantulas approach them. Aelita turns around and runs inside the tower.

XANA Herb chuckles sinisterly as he's accessing all of Aelita's files. Jeremy's phone rings and he reaches out it. XANA Sissi steps on it and it breaks into pieces. He looks up at her in fear as she grins evilly at him. He's now at her mercy...

Aelita starts to float towards the top.

XANA Sissi is holding Jeremy by the collar, shocking him with her electricity.

Aelita does a flip before she reaches the top platform.

Jeremy shouts in pain at the shocks she's giving him.

Aelita presses her hand to the interface to log in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

"Tower deactivated."

With that, Sissi drops Jeremy, fainting onto the ground. He catches his breath as his eyes widen.

"Patrick!"

The specter leaves Herb, knocking him unconscious in Jeremy's room.

Amy waits for everyone as they emerge from the scanners. The three step out. "Have you seen Jeremy?" Aelita asks in concern.

"No," Yumi answers while looking at her phone. "And he's not answering his cell phone."

"Patrick," Jeremy is looking him over as he's hurt pretty bad. He managed to find his cousin when he was coming back here. Patrick's phone rings (He gave his phone number to Ulrich earlier), and he answers it. "Aelita, are you at the factory? Launch a return to the past, hurry! Patrick's in pretty bad shape."

He hangs up just as Patrick opens his eyes. "Jeremy...you...did it..."

"Yeah," He places a hand on Patrick's shoulder. "Don't worry, you're gonna be okay..."

"I...I'm glad we settled things...between us," He looks away, closing his eyes.

"Patrick..." Jeremy murmurs in fear. "Patrick!"

The doors to the elevator open. Aelita exits first, jumping into the seat. She quickly launches the return in time.

"Return to the past now!" She presses enter and everything gets engulfed in white, including the two Belpois cousins.

* * *

Time goes back to earlier, when the gang are meeting Patrick. "Well, we can finally play foosball," Odd turns to them, crossing his arms.

"In a hurry to get crushed, Odd?" Yumi asks smugly, causing him to frown. Jeremy turns around from his computer.

"Odd's right. Come on, let's all go to the rec room!"

"Huh?" Amy blinks at him.

"You too? What about your program, I mean, your report on the Vikings?" She asks with a smile.

"They can wait," Jeremy smiles softly. "It's not every day you can hang with your cousin." After they made up, he bears no ill will towards Patrick now...not that Patrick knows the reason why he's being much nicer now.

"You give him a 3 point handicap?" Ulrich jokes as the five start to leave the room.

"It depends. If Patrick plays on third chink, and we get stuck with Jeremy, we'll be the ones needing a handicap." Patrick glances between his cousin and his friends.

"Your friends really seem nice, Jeremy."

"You're right, they are," Jeremy walks up to him. "Wait'll till you get to know them better."

"You think we could be friends?" The two step out of Jeremy's room. "I mean, you and I have never really gotten along that well..."

"Just kid jealousy and stuff, that's all," Jeremy tells him in assurance. "That's all over now. You've only been here an hour, but I feel like we're friends already."

"Belpois, I'm sorry," Mr. Delmas speaks up. "But your parents have decided not to enroll you after all. From what I understand, they'd rather you attended a school closer to your home. I'm sincerely sorry, my boy."

And with that, he leaves, both of them disappointed. "Oh, what a bummer that is."

"It's really a shame..." Jeremy turns to him.

"Well, I guess that means we'll only get to hang out at family reunions. See you around, then, cuz?" He holds out a hand.

"Uh...you still got time for a game of foosball, huh?"

"Yes!" Patrick smiles in agreement as they walk towards the doors.

"Will you be on my team? I've always been dying to whip Odd."

"Works for me!"

And with that, the two cousins are finally on better terms. Patrick may not be able to stay, but Jeremy's really glad that he got to see him again.


	92. Music to Soothe the Savage Beast

"Now, pay close attention, children," Ms. Hertz announces to her science class. "An electrical charge flows through a section of conductor. The current's intensity is expressed in amperes. The source of the tension, however, is measured in volts. This is what gives it the energy it needs to maintain the curve."

The Lyoko Warriors are taking notes as they listen. "If the tension given out from the source is constant, a continuous current flows."

"There isn't one ticket left!" Odd mutters bitterly. "Completely sold out, and I absolutely have to find one by tonight!"

"Relax, Odd. Aelita and Amy are gonna give us each a ticket. They're the opening act at the concert, and they've got comps for all of us," Ulrich whispers from behind while writing on his paper.

"I know that! The problem is, I need two tickets for tonight," Odd whispers back, loud enough for only Ulrich to hear.

"Ah, so you made a girl a promise you didn't know if you could keep?" Ulrich guesses and Odd glares at him slightly.

"No. You could never understand, it's not like that, Ulrich."

"Odd." He turns to Ms. Hertz after she says his name. "Would you repeat what I just said? What exactly is an electrical charge?"

"Uhh, it's the...the amount you have to pay every month for electricity!"

The class laughs at his answer, and he crosses his arms. "Not exactly an enlightening answer."

Ulrich leans in towards him from behind. "I know someone else who's a lot more stressed out about tonight." They glance at the two girls as they look nervous about tonight.

"Hey, Ames," Odd places a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of it. "You okay?"

"If I survive the night...I'll let you know."

The bell rings and everyone leaves the science building. Aelita watches Jeremy leave. "Aren't you coming to lunch, Jeremy?" She asks curiously.

"No, I came up with a brand new program that should help us to locate new replicas. I have just one or two more calculations to work out. See you later!" He walks off with a wave.

"I'll see you later too," Odd runs off. "I've got, uh, an important errand to run!"

"So important that he's missing lunch?" Amy raises a brow at him, wondering what he's up to. Aelita turns to her sister and they both shrug.

* * *

Odd stops in the middle of the courtyard, looking around for someone. "Hey Matthias," Odd calls out to him. "You wouldn't have a ticket left for tonight's concert, would you?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"You mean it?" Odd asks happily.

"This is the last one and it's all yours," Matthias holds up the ticket. "You're gonna love these guys!"

He smiles as he digs into his pockets. "AeroSmooth." His eyes widen in horror. "They're an incredible group."

"AeroSmooth?" He asks in confusion, giving a disappointed look.

* * *

Ulrich is reading a book as the sisters emerge with sodas. "SubDigitals. I like them better as the SubSonics."

"I like their name," Aelita comments to him.

"Well, girls, set for the big night?" Yumi walks up to the duo.

"Don't even talk about it, I'm so scared..."

"I mean, performing at that party when Aelita first performed as a DJ is one thing. But this is a bigger amount of people..." Amy bites her lip.

"Welcome to stardom! Listen to this," Yumi has a copy of the Kadic News. "In our next issue, an exclusive interview with Aelita Stones and Amelia Smith, Kadic's brightest new stars. Did you know about this?"

"Milly and Tamiya haven't stopped hassling me for over a week for that interview," Aelita rolls her eyes. "But I didn't promise them one."

"I haven't either..." Amy rubs a temple. "But maybe we should say yes just to get it over with."

"Oh, you know what those two are like. Always looking for a little gossip," Ulrich smiles a little.

"Forget about that stuff," Yumi winks at the two. "Think about the concert."

"Whenever I do, I get major butterflies in my stomach," The pink-haired girl looks at her soda can. "I wish I could stop thinking about it. If I could just get my mind off it for a little while...I'll go and see if Jeremy needs any help with his calculations. See you later."

"Bye sis," Amy waves to her. "Where's Odd, anyway?"

"I don't believe this! I'm jinxed," Odd just happens to arrive, hands in his pockets. "The last ticket slipped right under my nose just now."

"But Aelita and Amy have a free ticket for you," Yumi states to him.

"Yeah, but that's not enough for Odd's little secret," Ulrich smirks at Odd, who gestures for him not to say that out loud. Amy turns to Odd, crossing her arms.

"And that is?"

"Laugh at me, go on, but wait'll you know why. Then you know what? I've gotta make this first concert for my Ames absolutely perfect! I'm getting Kelly a ticket!"

"Kelly?" Amy stares at him in confusion. "The girl who took care of Kiki and Kiwi during the girls' inspection?"

"You mean to say this is the first time you're doing something out of gratefulness for another girl?" Yumi asks in surprise.

"Well, let's not get into all the details," Odd waves it off. "It's a shame I can't count on a little help from my friends."

"Try my brother," Yumi suggests to her friend. "The little weasel must have some sort of connection."

"Hiroki! You're right, I hadn't thought of him. Yumi, you're a genius," He kisses Amy's cheek and runs off. "Ulrich, you really oughta go out with her." He winks at his roommate and Amy laughs, holding her stomach as they're both blushing.

"Hey!" Ulrich protests at him, looking away. "Uh...you and I are just good friends, isn't that right?"

"...Right," She answers after a few seconds.

"Hello, we're looking for Aelita," Milly and Tamiya walk up to them. "We're supposed to interview her and Amy. Do you know where we can find her?"

"...She went to the gym," The three say in unison.

"Okay!"

"Thanks a lot!" Tamiya exclaims as they run off. "We'll bring her back to you, Amy!"

"Fat chance," She murmurs as she watches them leave.

"Just doing our share to support school journalism," Ulrich replies, Yumi smiling.

"Thanks guys," Amy smiles at them gratefully. "See you later!" She runs off to go check on Kiki and the puppies.

* * *

Aelita arrives in the hall, approaching Jeremy's door. "Aelita!" Nicolas and Herb approach her. "Hey, we've been looking all over for you!"

"Yeah, we have. Would you give us your autograph?" Herb holds out his copy of the newspaper.

"Please, Aelita."

"Um, ahh..." She blushes out of embarrassment over the question. Herb gets smacked on the head by Sissi.

"OW!"

"You dorks! Can't you see she's just dying to?" She scolds them.

"But-"

"I'm onto you. Mrs. Einstein thinks she's a big star now that she's a cover girl for a magazine. And her stupid friend too," She holds up the cover as Aelita is giving a bashful smile to the camera. Amy has an arm around her, giving a two-finger salute with a wink.

"I didn't know anything about-"

"Everyone knows that I should've been picked to play the opening act of the concert. And you're bound to make a total fool of yourselves tonight! Huh, can't wait to see that."

"Yeah, but you weren't, Sissi."

They turn around to see Amy walking over. "We all know you were so terrible, you broke glass. So get over it and leave her alone! You're just jealous."

"Well, Sissi, in fact, you can have any time to watch from the audience, cause it's Aelita and Amy who are gonna be onstage and not you," Nicolas points out, her eyes going wide. She glares and smacks him too. "Ouch!"

"Idiot!" She storms off in the other direction. Aelita frowns towards the ground and Amy places a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, don't listen to her. She's just mad that it's not her with all that fame."

"Thank you," Aelita smiles softly. "How'd you know to come here?"

"Sister intuition. Plus I was on my way back to our room anyway," Amy waves it off, walking in the other direction. "See you soon, Aelita."

The pink-haired girl knocks on the door. "Come in," Jeremy calls out, focused on his computer. She opens up the door.

"Am I disturbing you, Jeremy?"

"I just finished running my initial calculations," Jeremy looks over his shoulder. "Thanks to my program, we'll be able to find the last replicas with no problem."

She takes a seat on his bed, sighing a bit. "Oh, that's great. Um...uh, say Jeremy, about tonight-"

"Oh, right! The concert!" He interrupts knowingly. "I bet you can't wait to get on stage with your big sister!"

"Umm, not really," She looks towards the ground. "When I'm alone at my mixing table, I'm fine...but in such a huge auditorium..."

"You'll be great, Aelita," He removes his glasses to wipe them off. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure that Amy will cheer you right up before the concert. What's more, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd will be cheering you both on."

He turns around and she blinks in confusion. She finds it weird that he didn't mention himself. "And...what about you?"

"Uhh, I gottta wait until the calculations finish running, and then I've got a couple things to do, and...so, I might be a little late. But I promise to come as soon as I'm done."

She's so disappointed at his explanation. "As soon as you're done? I'm dying of stage fright, and all you can say is that you're going to be late to our concert?"

"No, um..." He looks at her nervously. "That isn't exactly what I meant. I meant to say that...if it's really that important to you, well then..."

"Important?!" She stands up. "I'm standing here telling you I may not be able to do it. Isn't that important enough for you?!" She digs into her backpack. "Here's your invitation," She drops his ticket onto the bed. "You can always give it to someone else if you don't find the time to come."

And with that, she leaves the room, slamming the door. He looks over to the ticket...

She leans her back against the door in the hall, trying not to cry.

* * *

"Hiroki! You've gotta be kidding!" Odd exclaims at the little boy.

"Take it or leave it, Odd. I can get double the price I'm asking you from at least a dozen other kids."

"Umm..." He takes out the money from his pocket. "Uhh, you wouldn't take an IOU from your sister's best friend, would you?"

"Mm-mm," The little boy shakes his head no. "See ya." He walks down the hall.

"And if I catch you broccoli again in front of those stuck-up pink-haired mouse and brown-haired poser, I'm taking back those comps!" Sissi shouts at them and Odd stands in front of her.

"You know what the mouse and poser think of you?!" Odd shouts in defense for the two, recalling the last sentence. "What? You wouldn't have a bunch of comps for tonight, huh?"

She huffs, looking away. "What do you think? Being the principal's daughter has its advantages."

"And, um..." He puts a finger to his lip. "You wouldn't have an extra one, by any chance? Hmm?"

"I do...but not for you, Odd." Nicolas and Herb chuckle at him as they leave. He frowns at them. "Then again..." She comes to a stop. "If you can convince Ulrich to go to the concert with me, and not with that skinny crow...what do you think? Hmm?"

He narrows his eyes at the insult, squeezing his eyes shut. "...Okay."

She smiles proudly at him.

* * *

"Tada!" Odd emerges in the rec room, chuckling as he approaches the others. He sits next to the brunette, putting an arm around her.

"How was your hunting expedition?" Yumi asks curiously.

"It was cool. Odd the great got a ticket. Odd the great got a ticket~"

"And Odd didn't pay an arm and a leg for it?" Ulrich questions him teasingly, and then Odd remembers the promise he made to Sissi.

"Uh, no, no, no. Oh, and by the way, Ulrich, I wanna ask you a teeny-weeny favor, okay?"

"To ask me a favor?" Ulrich raises a brow. "Come on, what kind of favor?"

Odd cringes towards the girls, and Yumi raises a curious brow. "Oh, no big rush," He smiles, not wanting to anger the black-haired girl right in front of Ulrich. "Why don't we talk about it later?"

"Oh, there you are," Aelita steps up to them. "I came to give you your tickets for tonight. Well, most of them. Amy has yours, Odd."

"Here," She smiles, giving him one, but it's a weak smile. All of them notice their faces.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Aelita blushes in embarrassment. "It's...it's on account of Jeremy."

"Einstein wins another first prize of diplomacy?" Odd asks knowingly, causing Aelita to smile a bit.

"Yeah, I guess you might say that."

"I don't have to give him a talking to, do I?" Amy turns to Aelita.

"Oh, no, nothing like that."

"Oh, relax, princess. You'll see, you and Amy are gonna bring the house down tonight," Ulrich speaks up.

"For sure," Yumi gives a thumbs up.

"Yeah!" Odd chimes in, "And we'll be in the crowd to support you two, remember?"

"Thanks Odd," Amy kisses his cheek.

"Anyway, don't get there too late, the crowd's gonna be really big," Aelita tells them. "Come on, sis, we should go practice a little. Just...just in case."

"Okay," Amy nods in understanding, standing up.

* * *

Later that night, Amy is helping Aelita do her make-up. Aelita is dressed in a maroon shirt with pink spaghetti straps and a skull on the shirt. She's wearing a skirt and pink boots.

The door knocks and the three peek in. "Surprise!" They all holler.

"We came to see our favorite stars before they get too famous to see us," Odd quips as Amy touches up on Aelita's cheeks.

"Don't be so silly. I'm really glad to see you all."

"Same," Amy sighs in relief, standing up. She's in a pink cocktail dress with spaghetti straps, the skirt stopping at her knees with a tutu-like skirt. The color of the dress is just like Aelita's hair so that they match. She has on white boots, her hair all down and curly thanks to Aelita. Her bangs are left straightened as her necklace from Odd is around her neck. She's already done her make-up. Odd holds up something behind his back, which is a bouquet of lilies.

"For my favorite girl!"

"Oh, Odd, thank you!" She takes them into her hands, smiling. "They're beautiful."

"Um, didn't Jeremy come?" Aelita notices that he's missing.

"Sure he did, but we lost him in the crowd," Ulrich states, Amy turning to them.

"You know Einstein, a great head for math, but it's always in the clouds everywhere else!" Odd silently tells Amy that he's not here, causing her to cringe.

"Don't worry, he'll be out there listening and cheering you on," Yumi smiles at the two.

"I hope so..." Aelita frowns a bit. It means a lot to her especially if Jeremy really is out there...

"Aelita, Amy, you're on in 5 minutes," Sophie calls out.

"Time for us to start concentrating."

"Okay then, we'll take off," Yumi announces as the boys leave first, but not before Odd gives Amy a hug. "You two look beautiful tonight. You're gonna knock 'em out." Yumi winks at them before closing the door.

Amy takes a deep breath, staring at herself in the mirror.

* * *

It seems the whole school is in the lobby as the three step inside. "Odd! Hi!" Kelly calls out to him, waving.

"Ah, there you are, Kelly. This is Yumi and Ulrich," Odd introduces the two.

"Hi."

"Hello."

"Oh hi," Kelly waves to them. "Thanks again for getting me a ticket, Odd. It was fun watching Amy's dog!"

"Oh, hey, that reminds me, Amy is visiting her mom this weekend. She wants to congratulate Amy for her performance, so could you watch Kiki-"

"Odd!" Sissi storms up to him in a pink dress, her hair in a ponytail.

"Oh, hi Sissi, what are you doing?" He asks casually, as he forgot about telling Ulrich.

"What's that skinny crow doing here?" Sissi points at Yumi, who glares at her. "I gave you a ticket in exchange for a date with Ulrich!"

"WHAT?!" Ulrich exclaims angrily as she crosses her arms.

"Well, uh..."

"In that case, give me back my ticket!" She snatches it away and storms off. Kelly crosses her arms at him.

"Uh, Kelly, you can have mine..."

"Listen, _Odd. _You told me you spent your last penny buying tickets to this concert. Not that you were wheeling dealing with Delmas! Loser! That's the last time I look after your dogs or the puppies! You can keep your ticket," And with that, she storms off.

"I wonder if she bites," Yumi places a hand on Odd's shoulder in sympathy. He just wanted to do something nice for Kelly as thanks, and now it's blown up in his face.

"By the way, Odd, what was that teeny-weeny favor you wanted me to do?"

"Forget it..." Odd mutters in disdain.

* * *

The door knocks again, Milly and Tamiya peeking in. "Oh boy," Amy murmurs at this.

"Aelita, Amy, can we ask you a couple of questions for the Kadic News?"

"Not now," Aelita looks over her shoulder. "You couldn't have picked a worse time."

Sophie then comes in. "Amy, Aelita, you're on in just two minutes. I'm afraid you'll have to leave now, girls."

On Lyoko in the mountain sector, a tower activates.

Jeremy is still in his room at Kadic when his phone rings. "Hello?"

"Jeremy, what are you doing?! The concert is about to start. Aelita was really crushed not to see you."

"Oh, I didn't realize how late it was," He looks at his watch. "Just one more calculation to run. I'll be right there," He hangs up, and the super scan comes up. "Not now!"

Sophie is walking down the hall when a specter comes in. She turns around and sees it, shouting in alarm.

The crowd cheers as it's about to start. "It's their turn now," Odd smiles at his friends.

Sophie comes back into the room. "Sophie, we're ready."

"So am I," Her eyes reveal that she's possessed by XANA!

"Oh no," Amy murmurs at this as Aelita gasps. Chris' phone rings and he answers it.

"Hello?"

"Chris. Aelita and Amy aren't well. They can't do the first part of the concert. You'll have to begin without them," XANA Sophie hangs up the phone as the two girls are unconscious in front of her. Chris hangs up, turning to his bandmates.

"The girls are sick, guys. We're going out cold without an opening act," He tells them.

"That's a real bummer. I sure hope it's not serious."

"Anyway, let's go get 'em."

Chris smiles a bit, though still a bit disappointed they couldn't perform. "Ladies and gentlemen, the SubDigitals," The band walks onto stage as the crowd cheers. They start playing, but the three friends are confused.

"But...why didn't Aelita and Amy go on?" Odd questions as Yumi's phone rings.

"Jeremy?"

"XANA just launched an attack," He reports while running in the park.

"They just cancelled the girls' opening act."

"That sounds like XANA. Check it out and then meet me at the factory," He states over the music.

"XANA alert," Yumi hangs up. "Let's go backstage and see if the girls are okay."

They follow after her, stopping in the hall. "There they are, over there!"

They see XANA Sophie holding them, and she runs off. The three chase after them, only to be stopped by Milly and Tamiya. And by their flickering, they've been possessed by XANA as well.

"Uh, you think maybe they're angry because they blew a scoop?"

Jeremy gets onto the bridge, running across.

The three back up slowly as the two possessed little girls step forward. Ulrich glances nearby to a cloth and smiles. "I'll try to distract them. You guys go and get the girls back."

"Good luck dealing with the press!" Odd tells him as the two run off. Ulrich grabs the cloth and throws it over the two. They fall to the ground while trying to get it off.

Chris and the band are still performing, the crowd cheering.

Odd and Yumi can still hear the music as her phone rings. "Jeremy, a woman's taken the girls away. She's probably heading for the factory."

"Okay, I'll try to head her off," Jeremy is already at the elevator. "You guys better hurry it up!" He hangs up, looking towards the second floor. He pushes up his glasses while thinking of a plan...

XANA Sophie is running across the bridge with the girls in tow. She jumps off to the bottom. Jeremy leaps off the top of the elevator, but she grabs him in mid-air. She tosses him away and presses the button, the door closing.

They descend towards the scanner room.

Once the two are in the scanners, XANA Sophie is starting the virtualization process. "Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy."

Both of them are still unconscious as the scanners activate. The symbols in her eyes flash. "Virtualization."

Both of them land in the mountain sector. Amy rubs her head as she sits up, watching her sister slowly wake. Aelita notices the activated tower nearby, and then they hear a noise.

"Uh oh," Amy mutters at the Kankerlots nearby. Then two Bloks arrive, surrounding them.

Yumi and Odd swing to a stop in front of the elevator. They step inside, failing to notice Jeremy nearby. He slowly wakes up, rubbing his head.

The Blok moves and the two take flight with their wings. The monsters try to fire at them, but they're too high up. They fly towards the tower, only to be hit from behind. A Manta comes flying in and they look up.

"We're surrounded..."

Amy creates a shield around them for protection.

The doors open, and the duo see XANA Sophie at the computer. "_Jeremy, if you can hear, answer us_!" Aelita calls out.

XANA Sophie turns to them. "Lateral crossing pattern and pincher strategy."

"What's that in English?" Yumi smiles in amusement.

"Let's go!"

They charge forward, but XANA Sophie fires electricity at them. It flies past Odd's shoulder, and he jumps, kicking her backwards. She looks up just in time to see Yumi leaping forward, kicking her in the face.

"Yes! How was that for strategy?"

Odd smiles at her. The door opens again as Jeremy is standing there. "Guess we beat you here, Einstein."

"Where's Amy and Aelita?" Jeremy asks in concern.

"They already got virtualized on Lyoko," Yumi reports to him.

The Blok fires and Amy minimizes the shield so that Aelita can jump on top of the Kankerlot. She runs towards the tower, the Manta flying after her. The Kankerlot chases her and Amy takes flight after the Manta. It stops in front of Aelita, the Kankerlot appearing behind the elf girl. Amy drops her wings and lands behind her sister, pulling out her spear.

"_Aelita, Amy, are you okay_?"

The Manta fires, and they both duck so that it takes out the Kankerlot.

"Jeremy! At last! This isn't exactly where I was expecting you, but I'm happy to hear your voice," She creates two energy fields.

"_I'm sorry about the concert_."

"We'll talk about it another time," She blocks a laser from the Manta, which fires again. Amy spins around her spear to deflect it, but she ends up bumping into Aelita. Aelita bumps into a certain sword, looking up.

"William!"

"Of course," Amy grunts before she takes a hit from the Manta, landing on the ground.

"Amy," Aelita bends down to her, both of them getting surrounded in smoke. The sword lifts out from the ground, landing in his hand.

XANA Sophie is tied up. "Are you ready?" Jeremy asks Yumi and Odd. "Transfer Yumi. Transfer Odd."

"William is here!" Aelita looks up at the second Manta.

"_I saw him. I'm sending in the cavalry_."

Aelita helps her sister up. "Scanner Yumi. Scanner Odd. Virtualization." He taps the key and both of them are sent to the mountain sector. The Manta fires at the duo, and they jump out of the way. Amy glares up at him in annoyance.

The Blok catches up with them, and fires. Both of them duck, looking up at the Manta. Aelita fires an energy field, missing the second Manta. Amy then throws her spear at William's Manta. He slices at the weapon, and it breaks in half, to her shock. A fan hits his arm, and he turns around to see Yumi catching it.

"Nice one, Yumi," Odd compliments her.

"Thank you. Ready for the tall, dark bad guy?"

"Uh, I think we have an audience," Odd scratches his cheek as two Kankerlots approach them. Yumi looks up at Aelita and Amy running off, trying to defeat that pesky Manta behind them.

"Jeremy, we're stuck here. No way to reach the girls without some transport."

"Okay Yumi, we'll have your vehicles in no time," He programs the Overboard and Overwing. William flies towards the two, soaring in a circle before the Manta fires at them. They flip in opposite directions, Odd landing to a crouch. He looks behind him at the two Kankerlots, which fire. He leaps over a laser and runs off to deal with them.

Yumi pulls out her fans, absorbing the lasers and flipping backwards. She throws her fan again, but misses. Thankfully the Overwing materializes behind her. She jumps onto it, flying off. Odd backflips past the two monsters, landing on all fours before jumping onto his ride. He skates up a ramp, doing a flip and jumping. His Overboard spins around before he lands on it.

"Laser Arrow!" He defeats a Kankerlot with one hit. He spins around to avoid the lasers from the second one, firing at it. He destroys that one as well.

XANA Milly and Tamiya fire their electricity to Ulrich, who's hiding behind a box. He sees a pole nearby, grabbing it. He comes out of hiding and pole vaults, spinning around and kicking them onto the ground. "Awfully sorry, ladies, but no interviews," He smirks in amusement.

Yumi swerves her Overwing to the side, flying forward. William and his Manta chase after her, the monster firing. She spins it around so that she's heading for the two. Yumi flies right past them, turning around again. The Manta does the same and she throws her fan.

"Yah!"

William ducks his head to miss it and she catches the fan. She then moves towards the path, the two still chasing her. She flies into a tunnel and the two emerge from it, with the girl nowhere to be seen. She throws her fan from the exit, and he smacks it away with his sword. Yumi gasps slightly as she catches her sword again and the Manta fires.

"Shield!" Odd flies in out of nowhere, blocking the laser.

XANA Sophie wakes up, and rips the ropes right off. She stands up to face Jeremy, who is unaware that she's up.

Odd and Yumi fly side-by-side. "Odd, lateral flight pattern and pincer strategy!"

"Are you speaking English?" He asks her.

William's Manta fires at the two, and they dodge out of the way. "Laser Arrow!" Odd fires and hits William's sword. Then a fan hits William in the back, causing him to fall.

Jeremy lies unconscious on the floor as XANA Sophie is at the computer. "Great," Odd gives Yumi a thumbs up, but their vehicles start to disappear. "What's going on?"

Luckily, they go to a platform before the two vehicles completely disappear. "Jeremy?"

"This time, we're on our own," Odd turns to her. "No help from the factory."

William appears behind them. Yumi tosses her fan, only to get hit. Odd ducks as the Manta flies over him. He fires a Laser Arrow, but misses. The two take off into a run. "We're all alone on this one! We're gonna have to chase the music!"

Ulrich is thrown across the room by XANA Tamiya. She holds out her hands and when she fires, he holds up a mirror. The electric shock deflects back and hits the possessed girl, to his shock.

Aelita and Amy are being chased by the Manta away from the tower. "XANA just loves to watch us run around like ants, huh?" Amy looks over her shoulder. Aelita fires an energy field from behind, missing the Manta completely. Amy sees a Blok, which fires at her sister. She lightly pulls her to the left so that the laser narrowly misses her.

Aelita aims forward this time and destroys the Blok. The Manta hits Aelita in the back, causing her to slide off the platform. She's hanging onto the edge.

"AELITA!" Amy screams, running faster. The Manta flies off as Amy reaches her sister. Then the monster flies back around and hits the fairy from behind. She ends up falling and holding the edge next to Aelita, looking at the Digital Sea.

"Odd, trampoline spinning top action!" Yumi instructs him.

"Gotcha!"

He picks up speed, the Manta firing at him. He slides onto the platform, his feet up. Yumi jumps off his feet, spinning around and striking the Manta. She lands safely as William super smokes over to her.

"It's game over for you, Yumi!" He slices at her once to devirtualize her.

"For you too, handsome!" She replies as her fans come back and devirtualize him too. Odd watches the Manta.

"Oh, great. I was in the mood for fish today." The monster fires as he runs. He backflips and jumps onto the Manta, scratching at the target on its back. He hangs on as much as he can, scratching again and turning it around.

XANA Milly looks at XANA Tamiya, gritting her teeth. She fires at Ulrich and he ducks his head. The electricity reaches the stage, getting the crowd excited.

"Rock and roll!" Chris continues playing.

Aelita slowly gets back onto the platform, turning around to help her sister up. "No, Aelita, go on. I'll be fine," Amy murmurs, her hands slipping.

"But Amy-"

"Now!" She interrupts as the Manta is firing at Aelita. She deflects a long-range laser that ends up pushing her back a few feet. The energy fields dissolve.

"Oh no...!" She's now cornered just as Amy's fingers slip.

The fairy screams before she lands in Odd's arms. "Sorry I came in late, girls! Laser Arrow!" He hits the Manta and it's destroyed right in front of Aelita.

"Odd!" Aelita exclaims in relief.

"Oh...thanks," Amy sighs in relief, hugging him.

"I couldn't leave my favorite girl in peril! Okay then, let's go, princess!" He flies forward with Amy. Aelita activates her wings, chuckling as she follows them.

Jeremy opens his eyes to see XANA Sophie cackling, preparing electricity in her hands. "Noooo!"

The Manta and Aelita land in front of the tower. The two watch as Aelita runs inside. She reaches the middle and flies towards the top.

XANA Milly fires at Ulrich, who defends himself as best as he can with the mirror. Aelita does a flip before reaching the top. She slowly walks up to the interface, pressing her hand against it.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

Milly falls onto the ground, back to normal. The SubDigitals finish their song, the crowd cheering. Sophie turns back to normal as well, falling near Jeremy.

"Tower deactivated..."

Jeremy slowly reaches the chair. "Return to the past now!" He activates the return in time.

Everything is engulfed in white, and time is set to back before the sisters perform. Amy is touching up Aelita's hair to make it look nice. "Why did you tell me to leave you back there, Amy? I could've helped you..."

"Yeah, but...I knew you could do it," Amy smiles at her sister through the mirror. The younger girl smiles back. The door knocks and the brunette looks up.

"Come in."

Jeremy opens the door. "I, uh, wanted to see how you two were doing, Aelita."

She turns to him with a smile, Amy grinning. "Well, I have less stage fright, but I guess it's because I've already been here, if you know what I mean."

"Same here," Amy chuckles at her.

"No way I was gonna miss the concert for the second time," Jeremy steps up to them.

"Good, because if you did, I would've broken an arm," Amy points at him threateningly.

"Noted," He sweats nervously, lucky that she didn't get to him the first time.

"...You know, I...I didn't mean to blow up at you like that. I put too much pressure on myself. Maybe it was insane to wanna do this concert."

"Aelita...sometimes the sanest thing is to be insane," Jeremy grins and she smiles softly. Odd comes in with the flowers and Amy takes them, smiling.

"And now, let's put it together for a brand new DJ and her dance partner, Aelita Stones and Amelia Smith!"

The crowd cheers, along with the four friends as the two sisters get on stage. Aelita starts her mix and Amy starts dancing. The spotlights flicker on them as the band and Sophie watch. Chris gives Sophie a thumbs up and she smiles.

The four friends cheer and dance. "That's your girlfriend up there," Yumi smiles at Odd.

"You bet it is! I LOVE YOU, AMES!"

Even Sissi is dancing as Amy shakes her hips, shimming her arms. She sees her friends and smiles at them. Thankfully, the two were able to get over this stage fright and get the crowd excited for the rest of the concert.


	93. Wrong Exposure

"Are you sure we'll find something useful in our father's house? We've already cut everything that seemed important," Aelita says to Jeremy as they walk past the fence.

"We left everything behind that we thought was useless, and that was our mistake. We did find Franz Hopper's notes thanks to your little Mister Puck. And we probably never would've find out that Amy is your half-sister if he didn't have that family photo of her," Jeremy looks at the brunette.

Aelita chuckles a little. "It's just as I thought, you're really desperate."

"No, it's just that I don't wanna leave anything to chance when it comes to fighting XANA," He explains to her.

"But we haven't been to the house in months!" Amy gestures to the Hermitage. "I don't know if we'll find anything, but if you insist..."

Aelita opens the door. "Well, where do we start?"

"Try the living room. I'll look in the study."

They split up, the girls walking into the living room. Aelita gasps as she can remember what it looked like before all the damage...she bends down to the floor.

Jeremy drops a book, tapping his watch.

Aelita picks up something, raising a brow. Amy covers her mouth in shock. "Aelita, Amy, have you two found anything yet?" Jeremy peeks in.

"Yeah...my former life."

"What is it?" He asks curiously.

"Nothing, just a picture of...of me and our father."

"You and your father? That's so cool that you found it! Can I see it?" She hands it to him and he sees a picture of the two together. "You look so happy..."

"I was...it must have been one of the last pictures taken with Daddy just before...I mean, you know, before..."

Amy places a comforting hand on her shoulder, smiling weakly. "Haven't found anything with me in it yet..."

"What's that there behind your father?" Jeremy examines the photo closer as Amy is looking through the box. "...Bingo! Those formulas, I can read some of them! It's a rough draft of a programming code. We have to blow up this photo!"

"Hang on, it's a one in a billion chance those formulas have something to do with the supercomputer."

"Yeah, wasn't he a teacher at Kadic before?" Amy raises a brow.

"I love challenging the probability!" He smiles in amusement. "Besides, you said yourself that I was desperate, right? So what have we got to lose?"

"Oh wow..."

They turn to Amy as she holds up a framed photo of Franz Hopper, Anthea, Aelita, Amy, and her mother in front of a Christmas tree. The two girls are hugging each other.

"It's all of us...well, besides Mr. Smith..."

"That must've been...before my mother disappeared..." Aelita closes her eyes.

"Well, it makes sense that he'd keep some photos of you, Amy. But I'm not really sure if you had anything to do with Lyoko before they were virtualized together."

"I don't really remember seeing him much after a while..." She frowns a little. "It was...it was a long time ago. Hm? What's this?"

She holds up a file similar to the ones they found from Franz Hopper. "It's a lost file!" Aelita takes it into her hands. "But why wasn't this included in the other files we found?"

"I don't know. I'll check it out," Jeremy stares at it.

* * *

Jeremy is typing at his computer in his room, pulling up the photo. He enhances it, zooming in closer on the chalkboard. "I was right! It is a program!"

Odd takes a bite out of his mashed potatoes, Yumi and Ulrich staring at him. "Odd, you only took two rounds of seconds, are you sick?"

"No, I'm okay," He looks up at them.

"Is this about Amy, by any chance?" Ulrich asks knowingly.

Odd frowns to himself as he watches Amy stand in line. "Incredible, I can't tell if she's still mad about Bringa or not whatever I do."

"You could try growing a few inches," Ulrich quips with a grin.

"You wanna try wearing today's lunch?!" Odd stands up.

"Ah, here come the sisters," Yumi states as they arrive. Amy sits next to her boyfriend, Aelita sitting next to her sister. "So, is Jeremy still at the Hermitage?"

"He's in his room, he's not hungry."

"Guess that means you struck paydirt while you were there," Ulrich looks at her.

"I have no idea, he thinks there may be something useful in an old picture we found."

"A picture!" Odd's eyes widen. "Now why didn't I think of that before? Right, I just have to send her my best photo, the one with my killer smile, and she'll be eating out of my hand!"

"Hm?" Amy looks at him in confusion. "Who's she?"

"If you ask me, you'd be better off sending a picture of Kiwi, she loves little dogs," Ulrich calls out as Odd is starting to leave.

"How do you know that?" Yumi asks teasingly and he gives a nervous look. It's obvious Amy loves dogs, but they can't really say what Odd's doing in front of her.

Aelita and Amy both giggle at them. "Who are they talking about?" Amy whispers to Aelita, who shrugs at her.

"No idea."

"We also found a lost file," The brunette speaks up, taking a bite out of his food.

"Really?" Yumi blinks in shock. "What's in it?"

"We don't know. But it looks like the ones our father had before Jeremy put them on his computer."

* * *

Jeremy is analyzing the formula, burning a CD. His door knocks and Odd opens it. "Einstein, I need your computer."

"Yeah, what for?" Jeremy asks the boy.

"To send an important message," He holds up his flash drive. "I just need to log into my email."

He narrows his eyes slightly. "...Okay, I finished anyway. I'm gonna go eat. Let me know when you're done here, and don't touch anything else!"

"No problem, you know me," He plugs in his flash drive.

"I do, that's the problem," Jeremy replies before closing the door. Odd giggles at his plan, pulling up a picture.

"If you don't fall head over heels for me over this, Ames, then my name is not Odd Della Robbia!" He taps enter.

An email notification pops up on Sissi's computer. She reads it. "Hm, a new message. From Odd?! I wonder what that dork wants. Well, let's have a look." She opens up the attachment...to see the picture of Aelita with her father. "Let's see now, a picture of Mrs. Einstein? Now that's a pretty dumb thing to send..." She stares at Franz Hopper. "That guy, I'm sure I've seen him before...Huh?!"

Then she sees the photo of Amy, her mother, and with Franz's family.

Odd removes the flash drive. "Now that's what I call a job well done. Tonight, I'll be out with the prettiest girl at Kadic, by the name of..." He then sees who he really sent the message to. "To Sissi Delmas?! What did I just do? How could I have done that? Oh, and I even sent the wrong photograph! Oh, I can't believe I'm such a computer lame-o and Einstein is gonna kill me for this!"

He puts his head on his arms sadly on the desk.

* * *

"I cannot believe this!" Mr. Delmas has been given the photo by Sissi. "I had no idea that Franz Hopper had family connections with Aelita Stones or Amelia Smith."

"And who is this, uh, Franz Hopper guy?" She asks curiously while sitting on her desk.

"A former teacher here at Kadic who disappeared one day without a trace. Suzanne Hertz took his place, you were much too young at the time to have known anything about it."

"Not really. Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought you the pictures," She rubs her chin.

"Hm...and where did this photo come from?" He looks up at her.

"It was in an email that I just got today from Odd Della Robbia."

"Della Robbia? Isn't he Aelita's cousin? So then he's related to Franz Hopper too...but he couldn't possibly be related to Amelia, and she wouldn't be related to Aelita...very interesting. I think I'd better call the three of them in here for an explanation."

"Very good idea," She agrees with him. "Make them tell the truth and give you a clear explanation. And if they don't, make sure they get a really hard punishment!"

"Mm, shouldn't you be in class now, Elizabeth?" He gives her a look and she smiles sheepishly, walking off. He stares at the photo again.

* * *

"I didn't find anything useful in the photo, just a set-up program to reboot the supercomputer," Jeremy reports as they walk through the courtyard. "Nothing to write home about. Although, it could come in handy one day."

"So I guess the pictures aren't so top secret after all?" Odd asks him, he hasn't told them what happened.

"No, but we'd better keep it a secret. I wouldn't want a picture of the girls with their father fall into the wrong hands."

"Uh, you mean like Sissi's hands?" Odd wonders and the two stop walking, turning to him.

"Oh no, Odd, you couldn't have!"

"Yes, I could," He replies quickly.

"Odd!" Amy exclaims at him.

"I'm sorry, I was only trying to-"

"Hey," Jim suddenly stands in front of them. "Stones, Smith, and Della Robbia. The principal wants to see you in his office on the double! And, uh, while we're at it, Belpois, Stern, and Ishiyama, you go with 'em. I'm sure Mr. Delmas has a bunch of questions for you too."

"But, uh, we've got a class right now," Yumi tells him, trying to get out of it.

"You heard me, get going!" He points forward and they reluctantly walk off, groaning.

* * *

"You heard the principal, young ladies! No more fun and games. I've had a whole lot tougher nuts to crack than you two! So, last name, first name, occupation!"

"Well," Aelita glances at her sister. "Umm, Stones, Aelita, uh, um...girl?"

"Smith, Amelia, student of Kadic," Amy raises a brow, wondering why he wants to talk to her too.

"Huh, you think I'm an idiot, don't you?!" Jim points at them accusingly.

"Calm down, Jim. There's no need for the third degree," Mr. Delmas warns him. "I've just a few questions to ask, that's all."

"S-Sorry sir," He stammers in embarrassment. He slides the two pictures onto the desk, their eyes widening. He clears his throat. "What intrigues me about these photographs are the presence of both Franz Hopper and Aelita Stones, and they seem to be very close too. Same goes with Aelita and Amelia Smith, despite the fact that they hadn't met until Aelita was a student. One might say that they look like sisters in the second photo. Same hair color present in both. Same eye color. And so the obvious question is whether your name is really Aelita Stones. Or that Amelia is just a stranger to you or Franz Hopper for that matter."

Amy sweats a bit. "Yes sir, Aelita Stones is my real name. I'm the daughter of uh...Franz, uh...and Anthea Stones!"

Jeremy, Yumi, and Ulrich glance at each other. "I don't know a Franz Hopper. And Aelita and I are close, but we didn't know each other until she came to Kadic," Amy bites her lip.

"And are you really Canadian?" Mr. Delmas asks Aelita.

"Yes, I am."

"And are you really an orphan?" He asks again.

"I am."

"And is Odd Della Robbia really your cousin?" He questions, glancing between Odd and Amy.

"Yes, sir."

"Hmm...and are you related to Franz Hopper, making Odd related to you, Amelia?" The man asks the brunette. Both of them gasp sharply.

"No way!" She steps back a bit. "Mr. Delmas, I can't believe you're insinuating such a thing! I didn't meet him until my first day at Kadic! And with my...father, don't you think I would've known if I had a distant relative such as Franz Hopper?"

He glances at Jim, who rubs his chin. She did have a good point...

"With your permission, Mr. Delmas, on the photo, Aelita looks about 13. And in the older photo, Amy looks to be 5 or 6, with Aelita in that photo being 5," Jeremy points to both photos.

"Yes, and what of it?"

"Well, you said that Franz Hopper taught here at Kadic about 9 years ago? So if those really are the girls, Amy would be...25 now, and not 15. And Aelita would be 24 now, and not 14. But as you can see, the two are 15 and 14 years old respectively, and not 25 and 24. So that can't be the girls in the photo. We can thus conclude that Amy and Aelita are not related about Franz Hopper, that they are telling the truth about themselves, and the fact that Aelita really is Odd's cousin. And Amy is definitely NOT Odd's relative."

Jim blinks in shock at his deducing. "...Very interesting. So then, while I'm checking out this identity business, you're all confined to the library for the rest of the day, under Jim's supervision." Their mouths all open in shock.

"Wonderful," Jim mutters under his breath. Mr. Delmas gives him a slight glare, as he heard that.

In the forest sector on Lyoko, an activated tower appears...

"I see. So then, the Canadian Consulate has no record whatsoever of an Aelita Stones in its birth records. Yes, I'll definitely keep you informed, thank you. Goodbye."

Electricity activates from an outlet near Mr. Delmas' desk, looming over him. He flinches as he's touched, dropping his pen. He makes his hand into a fist as he's possessed. He opens his eyes to reveal the XANA symbol in them.

* * *

Jim looks up from his comic, watching the 6 sitting at the desk. Aelita has her head in the desk, Yumi is playing with a pencil, while Odd is eating. The other two boys are just sitting around as Amy has a fist to her cheek. Jeremy is typing at his laptop. Jim goes back to reading.

"Huh?" Jeremy murmurs as his computer beeps. "Oh no. An activated tower!"

"What?!" Ulrich whispers in alarm.

"Now?" Amy gestures to Jim. The possessed principal walks in.

"Anything wrong, Mr. Delmas?" The gym teacher throws away his comic book, standing up quickly.

"Uh, Miss Aelita Stones and Amelia Smith, I'd like to have a word with you alone. Jim, make certain no one leaves this library."

"What now?" Amy whispers to her boyfriend, who shakes his head rapidly to signify he didn't do anything. She stands up and follows Aelita. Jeremy narrows his eyes suspiciously at the man as he leads the girls away. He briefly glances to Jeremy, who sees the symbols in his eyes!

"Huh?! Aelita, Amy, no!" Jeremy runs towards the exit, but Jim blocks his way.

"Where do you think you're going, Belpois?"

"It's Delmas, he's been XANAified. Aelita or Amy mustn't go with him, Jim," Jeremy insists, but Jim has no clue what he's talking about.

"Well, I don't know if I'd go as far as sanctifying him...and by the way, it's not Delmas, it's Mr. Delmas to you!"

* * *

The man takes the two all the way into the park. "Aren't we going to your office, sir?"

"No, I'd rather stay on the campus."

"What is this even about?" Amy demands to him.

"And I'd rather we went to your office!" Aelita shouts to XANA Delmas. He turns around and reveals his true nature, the two gasping.

* * *

"Get back to your seats. No one's going anywhere!" Jim tells the four.

"But Jim, the girls are in danger," Jeremy narrows his eyes.

"So you wanna play hard ball? You wanna get through, you're gonna have to use what I've taught you in my commando cab!" He holds up his hands defensively.

"If you say so."

"Attack!" They all charge, tackling him to the ground.

"Touchdown," Ulrich says while Jeremy and Odd are holding him.

"Hurry guys, tie him up!"

* * *

XANA Delmas is carrying Aelita over his shoulder, but Amy isn't with him. He reaches the factory and presses the button. The elevator closes in front of him.

The four are running in the park. "Just think what'll happen if the return to the past doesn't work. Jim will kill us!" Odd exclaims to Jeremy.

"We've got a bigger problem to deal with first. Compared to that, Jim's a piece of cake."

"Oh no!" Yumi gasps up ahead as an unconscious Amy is on the grass in front of the secret entrance. "Amy!"

They come to a stop in front of her and she sits up, holding her head. "Ames, you okay?" Odd helps her stand up.

"I'll be fine, but we have to hurry. He took Aelita to the factory," She murmurs at them.

The doors open in front of XANA Delmas, and he steps into the scanner room. He places Aelita in one, walking away.

The five skate down the sewers.

XANA Delmas sits at the computer, starting up the virtualization process for the pink-haired girl. The scanner doors close in front of her, and he watches as she's scanned and transferred. He presses the enter button, and she lands in the forest sector.

She's still unconscious when she lands on the ground.

Ulrich crawls onto the bridge first, the others following. They swing across the ropes, landing in front of the elevator. Ulrich presses the button. "Come on," He urges it to go faster as the elevator arrives. The door opens, and they come face-to-face with XANA Delmas.

"Uh oh," Amy sweats a little.

"Huh, he looks like when he's had a fight with his daughter. Go and find Aelita," Odd tells the others.

"Odd, wait-"

"If something happens to Aelita, they might need you on Lyoko," He looks over his shoulder. "Go, Ames."

"...Alright..."

"Good luck," Ulrich replies as they run off. Odd jumps towards the man, who picks him up and throws him across the floor. He looks up to see the four running down the stairs. XANA Delmas goes after them, only to fall onto the floor. Odd is holding onto his leg.

"Two point conversion!"

He stands up as Odd looks up at him.

* * *

The four reach the lab through the ladder and Jeremy rushes over to the computer. "He's virtualized Aelita. She's in the forest sector. I'm sending you three right now."

Ulrich nods and they run off.

Aelita finally wakes up, getting onto her feet. "Jeremy? Are you there, Jeremy?" She asks as she looks around.

"_I'm with you, Aelita. Hang in there_."

She hears a familiar noise and turns around. "_Amy, Yumi, and Ulrich are on their way._"

The Scyphozoa is standing right in front of her. She gasps as she backs away from it.

"Huh?!" Jeremy gasps in surprise. "The Scyphozoa?!"

"Hello, you slimy...ugly...jellyfish," Aelita murmurs nervously as it thrusts its tentacles forward. She takes off into a run.

"_Hurry up, the Scyphozoa is going after Aelita_!"

The three step into the scanners. "We're ready," Ulrich states as the door close around them.

"Transfer Yumi. Scanner Yumi. Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Ulrich. Transfer Amy. Scanner Amy. Virtualization." He taps the key and the three are sent into the forest sector. They land one by one, seeing the jellyfish chasing Aelita.

"Ugh. I forgot how ugly it was," Ulrich comments at the monster.

"I thought you liked seafood."

"Not the nasty type," He turns to Yumi. "Ready to go?"

"I'll follow them on flight," Amy opens her wings and flies off. The two follow after her, but two Krabs virtualize, landing in front of them. The fairy stops in her tracks and they start firing.

"XANA sent some visitors, but they're not gonna stop us!" Yumi throws her fan, missing entirely. Ulrich jumps and lands on the back. He pulls out his sword and stabs the target.

"Impact!" He lands on the grass. "I don't like jellyfish or shellfish. Amy, we'll deal with the other Krab. Go track Aelita."

"Okay," She nods at him, following after the jellyfish and Aelita.

* * *

Odd backs away from XANA Delmas, his body flickering. He prepares himself to face against Odd. "Well, all of a sudden, our principal's a ninja!" Odd takes a stance, dodging a kick from XANA Delmas. He dodges again, jumping away as the man was going in to punch him.

The boy sees a plank nearby, glancing at it. "Pretty good there, Jackie Chan. Let's see how good you are at baseball!"

He takes the plank into his hands, holding it with a smirk. The possessed principal merely stares at him before slicing it clean off with his hand.

"Whoops, ah...why don't we talk this over, okay?" Odd smiles nervously, getting a glare in return. "I guess that's a no." He throws away the plank, leaping forward. "Bonzai!"

He kicks the man onto the ground, chuckling to himself.

* * *

Aelita looks behind her as the Scyphozoa is on her trail. She turns around, firing her energy fields, but the jellyfish ducks his head from both.

"This can't be happening!" She reaches out to fire again, but he smacks her arm. He reaches forward and takes hold of the girl, lifting her into the air.

"Aelita! Oh no! That awful monster is implanting data in Aelita's brain! Yumi, Ulrich, Amy!"

All of their ID cards pop up.

"_Yes Jeremy?"_

"What's going on? The Scyphozoa's caught Aelita. She's not too far from you. Why can't you get to her?!"

"_Well, we're taking a nap, Einstein. What do you think?! We're up to our ears in shellfish_!"

"_Not to mention they had a head start_!" Amy exclaims to him.

The Krab fires and Ulrich blocks it with his sword. "Take that, you clammy monster!" He throws his weapon, but it hits a tree. "Super sprint!" He runs around to go get it. Yumi jumps up into the air, hitting the target. Ulrich lands at the tree, getting his sword back. He lands next to Yumi.

"Krabs might just become my favorite dish..."

"_Hurry, Amy shouldn't be that far up ahead from you_."

They take off to go find the fairy.

Odd steps up to XANA Delmas, who flips onto his feet. The boy stares at him in shock, and he takes a stance again. "Oh, you know, you really oughta be on Dance Fever, Mr. Delmas! Well, I hate to fight and run, but..."

He whimpers slightly as he runs in the opposite direction. XANA Delmas simply walks to follow him.

Aelita is released from the Scyphozoa, Amy gasping as she sees her up ahead.

"Too late!" Yumi exclaims as they reach the two sisters. "Aelita!" They see the jellyfish floating away.

Odd grabs a crowbar, looking over his shoulder as he's hiding. "Oh, I don't believe it! That guy's a tough cookie! He's gotta be out there..."

He turns around and runs off as a metal sheet hits the space he was hiding. He runs away from the principal.

"Aelita!" Ulrich calls out as the three reach her.

"Aelita, are you okay?" Yumi reaches out to touch the pink-haired girl, but she smacks it away, revealing that she's possessed.

"I'm fine!" She yells at the shocked three. She aims for Yumi, but Ulrich pushes her out of the way. She lands on the grass, hearing something. She looks to her right.

"Ulrich!"

Two Tarantulas are approaching and Ulrich points his sword at them, the other one towards Aelita. The two monsters get on their knees and fire. Ulrich swings his swords around to dodge them. Yumi pulls out her fans, narrowly missing a laser. Aelita is starting to leave.

"Aelita!"

"Yumi, watch out!" Amy creates a shield around her friend made of vines.

"Where's she going? She's crazy!"

"_XANA used the Scyphozoa to brainwash Aelita!_ She's heading for the Digital Sea to throw herself in! Make her stop!" Jeremy informs them.

"_And how do you expect us to do that? You can devirtualize her, why don't you bring her in_?!" Ulrich calls out.

"What do you think I've been trying to do? But I can't, the Scyphozoa must have implanted some sort of inhibitor in her brain. You have to attack her!"

The tarantulas fire and Ulrich goes over to a tree. "You've gotta be kidding."

"_You heard me. I am telling you to devirtualize Aelita. Amy, your powers in this sector have an advantage, use them to attack Aelita!"_

"Are you insane?! That's my sister, Jeremy!" She exclaims, flying away from the lasers.

"Look, I know I'm asking a lot of you, but please!"

Amy frowns a bit. Either she has to devirtualize her sister...or let Odd perish at the hands of Delmas. The fairy bites her lip nervously, unsure of what to do. Either way, she'll be hurting someone...but she has to believe that both of them will be okay after this.

"I...I can't, Jeremy."

He stares at her ID card on the screen. "_Please don't have me do that. She's my sister." _Amy sniffles a little, and his eyes soften. He doesn't want Aelita to get hurt either.

"_I love her. I don't wanna hurt her..."_

He nods slowly in understanding.

"Okay, I'm on it. Super sprint!" Ulrich rushes forward and attacks, XANA Aelita grabbing the sword between her hands. She takes it away and he gasps. He glares at her as she grins evilly. He pulls out his other sword. "Okay."

She holds the sword and they both clash, circling each other.

Amy looks over to Yumi, who's still blocking lasers from the Tarantulas. Amy flies over to help her, both of them dodging in their own way.

"_Jeremy, things are getting complicated over here. How's Odd doing with Delmas? We could use a little backup!_"

His eyebrows furrow in worry and he looks at the camera footage. Odd is on the floor as XANA Delmas is about to attack him again.

He stands up, backing away. Another metal sheet is thrown, and Odd jumps out of the way.

"_Ulrich, stop everything. And whatever you do, don't devirtualize Aelita_!"

Ulrich jumps away from the pink-haired girl, landing near a tree. "Don't worry, I wasn't even close. What's up?"

"Odd's getting walloped by Delmas. We have to get Aelita or Amy to deactivate the tower."

"Yeah, why don't you just ask them? I'm sure they'll be happy to accommodate," Ulrich replies sarcastically.

"I don't know what to tell you. Either we lose Aelita or we lose Odd!"

Odd trips, spraining his ankle as he falls onto the ground. The principal grabs the metal sheet again. "This guy's out of his mind!"

XANA Delmas raises the sheet over his head. "Not getting any better, either."

XANA Aelita and Ulrich clash again, and he pushes her back. She sees Amy trying to get to the tower, throwing the sword at Amy's wings. It pierces her back and she lets out a pained cry, landing on the grass.

"Amy, no!" Ulrich cries out at this as Aelita stands over her sister.

Amy is slowly panting, looking up at her younger sister. "You can hurt me all you want...but I won't lay a finger on you, Aelita. And nothing you say or do will ever change that."

XANA Aelita is about to devirtualize her when Ulrich runs up to the possessed girl, driving her away from Amy. He pushes her back again and they take a few moments to catch their breaths. Ulrich lowers his sword for a second, and she rushes forward. He charges and swings, but she kicks him back. He slides to a stop and she attacks again, elbowing him.

"Hey, I'm the one who taught you that!"

She simply responds by firing her energy field. He absorbs it with his sword. She runs towards him again, leaping into the air. She swings the sword, but it only hits his. Then she kicks him from behind, and he turns around to clash with her again.

"I don't believe it," Jeremy holds his head. "If only I could erase everything and start over...but, why not? I can do that!" He smiles as he pulls out a disc, putting it in.

Yumi backflips away from the Tarantulas, standing up. She pulls out her fans and throws them, getting one with the second fan.

Jeremy begins working as the second Tarantula fires at Yumi. She jumps and hides behind a tree. "_Yumi, Ulrich, check up on Amy and get ready. I'm gonna reboot the supercomputer with my new program."_

Yumi glances at the Tarantula before looking up in confusion. "Huh? But couldn't that bug up the whole system?" The lasers fly past her as the monster fires.

"_Yeah, maybe. _But it just might give us the kind of electroshock we need to free Aelita from the Scyphozoa's control."

"_You sure you know what you're doing_?" Yumi asks him.

"Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we?"

Ulrich ducks from XANA Aelita's swing, and she knocks his sword out of his hand. Then she kicks him onto the ground near Amy.

"You okay, Amy?" He glances at her.

"I can't move..." She murmurs to him. "The sword weakened me."

XANA Aelita steps towards them, raising her sword.

"Here we go," Jeremy murmurs to himself. He taps the key and the computer turns off for a few brief seconds. Then the screen returns and when it reboots, the screen starts flickering. He narrows his eyes as the ground shakes. This gets Aelita's attention, the monster and Yumi looking around in confusion. Wind comes in before a wall comes in, washing over all of them and freezing everyone in place. Soon, the process repeats, but this time, they can all move.

Aelita closes her eyes, falling onto the ground. "Looks like it might've worked, Jeremy. But I think Aelita's almost out of life points."

"_She and Amy will regenerate themselves as soon as they're in the tower._"

The Tarantula focuses on Yumi again. "Anyway, it didn't put the Tarantula in a better mood," She ducks her head, running off.

Aelita slowly wakes up, looking at Ulrich. "What happened?"

"Aelita, you can rest later. There's a tower to deactivate, Odd is in danger. I'm sending you the Overbike and OverRunner," Jeremy tells her.

"_Roger_."

"How is Odd, anyway?" Amy frowns in concern, getting no answer.

Odd struggles to get up, but can't because of his ankle. XANA Delmas raises a plank over him, and he screams. Thankfully, he moves out of the way just in time.

Ulrich helps up Aelita first as the Overbike appears. Nearby, the Tarantula is firing at Yumi, who has her fans out. The ninja rushes over to Amy, helping her into her OverRunner. "Are you gonna be able to drive it?"

"I should be fine..." She grips the steering wheel and takes off. Ulrich follows after her. Yumi moves away as a laser misses her shoulder. She looks to see the three heading for the tower, turning around to the monster. It fires and devirtualizes her. Then it starts going after the others.

Ulrich goes as fast as he can, Amy looking over her shoulder. "Uhh, Ulrich? We gotta hurry!" She sees the Tarantula walking after them. He puts an arm around Aelita.

"Come on, princess, this is no time to go to sleep."

Amy slowly tries to get out, but she's still weak. Ulrich helps the pink-haired girl onto her feet. The Tarantula gets on its knees, and Aelita goes over to help her sister. He stands in front of the two as Aelita slowly helps the fairy onto her feet. They start going over to the tower, dragging their feet. The monster fires and Ulrich deflects them with his swords.

Aelita looks up at the tower, Amy falling onto the ground nearby. "Aelita...hurry...save Odd," The girl murmurs to her.

"No, I'm not leaving you!" Aelita helps her up and they slowly enter the tower.

"Too late," Ulrich teases the Tarantula. It simply fires and devirtualizes Ulrich.

"Okay Jean-Pierre," Odd looks up at the man. "You win, I give up. Why don't you just give me detention on Saturday instead of...?"

The girls reach the top.

"What if I do your dishes for you and all the cleaning up?" Odd offers, but the possessed man raises the beam.

The two sign in together.

_Aelita & Amelia_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

The principal falls in front of Odd. "Oh, you disappoint me, you know, Mr. Delmas," Odd comments at him. "I thought you were stronger than that."

"Tower deactivated," The two sisters say in unison.

Jeremy sighs in relief as he presses the button. "Return to the past now."

Time is reset, and they find themselves in the hallways.

"No, Delmas couldn't possibly know me," Aelita tells the others. "Or Amy for that matter. My father may have been a teacher here, but I studied at home, so I never attended Kadic."

"And I stopped visiting Aelita after her mother disappeared since my mom was worried about my safety," Amy crosses her arms.

"So no chance of finding any trace of Aelita Hopper," Yumi replies back. "Or Amelia Hopper."

"No, none. Especially since our real last names aren't Hopper!" Aelita reveals, confusing them. "Schaffer is my real name! When we moved to the Hermitage, my father wanted to make a brand new start. Franz was his middle name, Hopper's my mother's maiden name!"

"And it's not on my birth certificate, but after I was born, my mom got another copy of my birth certificate. My real last name is Schaffer-Smith. She wanted to hyphen it to remind herself of the good thing my father did regarding my birth," Amy smiles softly.

"Aelita Schaffer and Amelia Schaffer-Smith? That's really incredible," Odd comments, looking away. "You knew that, Einstein?"

"Yeah, but it makes no difference," He answers, getting smug smiles from the two sisters. "As far as everyone's concerned, Aelita's name is now and forever Aelita Stones. Same thing with Amelia's name being Amelia Smith."

"Yeah, but doesn't being on Lyoko for so long mean that Aelita is technically older than you?" Ulrich raises a brow at the two sisters.

"Well, no, actually. I was still born first," Amy shakes her head slowly. "It turns out that my real birthday was in 1981."

"Huh?!" Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich blink in shock.

"But how are you still 15?" Ulrich couldn't help but wonder.

"My original birth certificate explained a lot of things. My mom made multiple copies of it: one with a fake date of 1992, one with my real name for Franz Hopper to keep, and the original one, which says that my birthday was on September 22nd, 1981. And remember the file we found in the Hermitage? Jeremy managed to find a video diary from Hopper," Amy smiles a bit towards Jeremy.

"It's actually quite simple: all the time jumps Franz Hopper did in 1994 caused Amy and her family to be suspended in time. He did it enough times to cause time for them to be stopped when Amy was 13. Her connection to the supercomputer also played a part: because she had the keys to Sector Five, when Aelita was virtualized with their father, the supercomputer activated a program. Hopper created it to stop them from aging, but time still went on normally, which is why she's here in 2004. None of them were aware of it and lived their lives normally. Well, Mr. Smith did, anyway. I'm sure that Ms. Johnson was the only other person to know about this. Up until Aelita was brought to Earth did they age again. When she left Lyoko, it stopped the time suspension program," Jeremy rubs his chin. "Fascinating."

"Stop looking at me like I'm on display," Amy backs a bit.

"So you stayed 13...for 12 years?" Odd blinks at her.

"Yeah, but I never knew and I didn't think much of it since I wasn't aware it was happening. In my mind, I was still 13," Amy crosses her arms. "I'm actually 25, but I look 15. I guess that whenever Dad could be brought back to Earth...I'd still stay the same way instead of looking older."

"It does explain how Amy was with me during all those winters we spent together," Aelita comments, glancing at the brunette.

"And her physical appearance never changed since she's connected to the supercomputer like Aelita," Jeremy tells the others.

"Huh. That's actually pretty cool once you think about it. She's like a time traveler," Ulrich states and she waves a hand.

"I wouldn't go that far."

"I'm really sorry I hurt you on Lyoko, Amy," Aelita closes her eyes.

"That's okay," She smiles at the girl. "I know you didn't mean it, and besides, I'm fine now. Even with the whole age thing. I mean, I did lose years of life I should have lived, but I understand why Dad did it."

"I love you, big sister."

"I love you too, Aelita."

The two share a hug, the others smiling.

The bell rings and they walk off. "Time for class, Lyoko Warriors!"

Aelita stays behind, looking at the childhood photos with a smile.

* * *

"Hey, Odd?" Amy speaks up as she and Odd are walking back from dinner. Of course, they're the last ones to leave because he scarfs down every plate their friends leave behind. "Who were you trying to send a picture to?"

"Huh?" He turns to her in surprise and remembers that he never really sent it to her. "Oh...well, I thought you were still mad for what happened with Bringa...so I wanted to send you a picture of me to make you feel better."

"...Aww," She smiles softly, kissing his cheek. "Odd, I'm over that. You don't really need to do that just for me."

"But I wanted to," He wraps an arm around her. "I love you, Ames, and I wanna make sure you know that."

She turns to him, grinning. "I love you too."

Together they share a kiss under the moonlight. Their friends are nearby, watching with small smiles.


	94. Code Lyoko Timeline

**Angel: Okay, so…not a chapter. Sorry about that. I am going to address the age issue that someone pointed out to me. I'd rather explain this sooner than wait till Friday. We're only left to assume that Aelita was born in the 80s and the fact that she is actually 24. I got the information that she was 26 from a guide of the show. They need a proper timeline for this universe… **

**Which I actually found on tumblr! So I'm gonna try and deduce this...**

**Since the show is set in France, they do their schooling different, but they don't exactly match with the English system when I factor in everyone's age as we're left to assume what grade they're supposed to be in within each year based on what we're told. Odd and Ulrich don't celebrate their birthdays in the show, so that does make this harder to narrow down. In the first season, everyone except Yumi is in the 8th grade. So that would make Aelita 12 in season 1, Amy being 13. Or in this case, Aelita would be 22. **

**In season 2, they did say that Aelita is 12 in Common Interest, but I think that was an inconsistency on their part. Aelita had to have been born in winter since there's a picture of her parents in front of their winter cabin where Anthea is still pregnant. She had a birthday in season 1, but she's still 12 even though she would've turned 23, or 13. Since she was in Lyoko, she's still 12 in this season. She's actually supposed to be 13, or 23. Since she was born between January and March, and Common Interest took place after Saint Valentine's Day, 13 is Aelita's real age in season 2—physically!**

**In season 3, everyone went up a grade at the beginning of the season, so everyone besides Yumi is in the 9th grade now, with Yumi being in 10th. All the episodes in this season aired in October, and I'm pretty sure that it's 2004 in that season...**

**So, here's where it got tricky for me. In the last episode, they said that Aelita had to be 22...even though she was supposed to be 22 already in the first season. They DID say in an episode of season 4 that Aelita doesn't remember her birthday, so it's hard to tell if she did age in season 4. In the last episode, they said she would be 22, so that does make her birth year 1982 and the current year of season 4 2004. But she's actually supposed to be 14, physically. We don't know the month of her birthday, just that it's between January and March. I think that was another inconsistency of her being 13, when she's 14. In actuality, Aelita is 24 because she said she was in Lyoko for 10 years.**

**Yes, Amy is in a sense physically older than Aelita, and that's what the sisters, including everyone that knows they're related, decided to accept. Amy has always been an older sister figure to Aelita even before they found out that they were half-sisters. Amy had her birthday in September, and it's...2 years since the show started? So I think she'd actually be 15 (my bad, I suck at math). Amy was 13 at the start of the series...so in season 2, she was supposed to be 14 since she's a year older...and season 3 I don't think she aged. Yup, she's supposed to be 15 now, physically.**

**Time is complicated in this show I swear…and I also hate math! It's just like the Friends universe trying to figure out their ages XD I think what happened was that I forgot at the time that I wrote season 3, which was months ago, that Amy was supposed to age in season 2. But I had written season 1 and 2 like a year before I started season 3, and so I just forgot to factor in Amy's age and how being off Lyoko was supposed to affect her. Like I said in the past, I wrote the first two seasons back in 2018 (I looked back and checked the dates). I didn't start season 3 until like months later, so my memory just didn't click. **

**And now for Amy's childhood. Okay, so she is actually not 15, she is 25. And how that's possible is to remember those times that Franz Hopper went back in time so many times on June 6, 1994. But of course, Amy doesn't remember what happened after Anthea disappeared. All those times that Franz Hopper went back in time actually affected Amy more than he thought. It left Amy the same age because of her connection to the supercomputer so that when her sister and father went to Lyoko, the returns back in time affected Amy and her family. They were suspended in time (no, Mr. Smith doesn't know it since he's too busy at work to notice a thing) until the time that Aelita was materialized on Earth, and they didn't age. Amy stayed 13 for 12 years the whole time Aelita and Franz Hopper were on Lyoko. She was supposed to find that out last episode, but it didn't get put in! She doesn't remember that she was stuck in time because of all the returns to the past. Amy's actual birthday is September 22****nd****, 1981. So she always was older than Aelita physically. The reason why it's not written into Wrong Exposure is that I had it written down in my notes, but by the time I got to the episode where I was supposed to write it, I had forgotten about it since it was so long between season 2 and 3 that I had written anything for this story.**

**Aelita was 12 when she was virtualized for the first time. I don't know the exact age she was from when her mom was taken or what year it happened, I just know she was younger. I'm not mad at anyone in particular, I'm just frustrated and embarrassed that I didn't realize the actual ages sooner. Now that I think about it, that would make Amy the oldest out of the 9****th**** graders, I think...but that wouldn't affect what grade she's in since her birthday is late in the year. Ahh, this is driving me crazy...**

**When the story is over, I'll go back and fix it where Amy's age is explicably mentioned, and add in the fact that her entire family was supposed to be affected by the time jumps in 1994 like I was supposed to do, but forgot about it. I'm on episode 94, so I'm almost done. All this is giving me a brain cramp...so for now, Amy being 14 is not canon, she's 15 please ignore the inconsistency in the last episode until I fix it. Now I have to make a mental note to change the ages in Common Interest...**


	95. Bad Connection

"Come on, Odd!" Ulrich complains on an early morning. "Knock it off and open this door right now!" He's outside his room, knocking on the door. Odd's locked him out for some reason.

"Stern, what do you think you're doing walking around half-naked?!" Jeremy calls out in a deep voice, the girls averting their eyes.

"Ha ha, very funny," Ulrich deadpans at him. "It's a pretty awful imitation of Delmas."

"It wasn't Delmas, it was Jim," Jeremy looks away as the girls behind him laugh. "But what are you dressed like that for?"

Ulrich turns around to the door. "I've been stuck out here for 15 minutes. Odd refuses to open up."

"How come?" Aelita raises a brow.

"Who knows? He won't even answer me."

"I could try calling him," Amy pulls out her phone.

"Let me handle it," Jeremy knocks on the door. "Odd, if you don't open up this door right now, you can forget about my portion of meatballs!"

"Nice try, but it's not gonna work," Ulrich frowns a little. The door is unlocked a few seconds later and Jeremy smiles proudly.

"Never fails." The door creaks open. "After you, sir."

They step into the room to see him sulking. "What's wrong with you, Odd? Is it because of your film?"

"Yes," Odd looks away. "I mean, no. It's not the first time that a film of mine will be screened for an audience of ignoramuses."

Amy sits next to him. "Well then, what's wrong?" Aelita stares at the boy.

"My parents are in town, and they're coming to see my film..." Odd reveals quietly.

"That's really nice of them."

"Mm," Amy shakes her head no at them.

"No, it stinks!" They share looks of confusion. Ulrich joins his other side, clearing his throat.

"You didn't have a fight with them?"

"No, just the opposite," Odd stands up, hands behind his back.

"What is it, then?"

"A weird relationship problem," Odd stands in front of a desk. "Teenagers are always having lots of conflicts with their parents. A generation gap, except for one: me. My mother and father are always cool, supporting, understanding. In fact, they're just perfect."

"Bummer. I'll trade yours for mine any time," Ulrich calls out. "It's kind of funny. Amy's parents are the worst in the gap, and you have the best in the gap."

"Ugh, why?" Amy gives him a slightly annoyed look for the comparison.

"What? It's true. Well, about your dad. At least your mom's nicer."

"If there was only something we could fight over, so I could finally be a normal adolescent," Odd places his hands on his desk.

"Let me ask you something," Amy speaks up, crossing her arms. "Would you rather have parents like mine or a good relationship with yours?"

He winces, turning around to her. "Good point, but I've never fought with my parents. You saw them when you came to my house for winter break. I'm not saying I want parents like yours, but just normal ones."

"What a major drag," Jeremy closes his eyes. "I really feel sorry for you, Odd."

"We can really feel your pain," Yumi deadpans at him.

"That's right, I wouldn't wanna be in your shoes," Aelita adds in.

"I knew I couldn't expect you to understand. Well, except Ames," He steps forward, hugging the girl. "And that's only because she has it the worst."

"Yeah, sure, keep saying it," Amy rolls her eyes. "That's really helping my so-called pain."

* * *

They step out of the building after Ulrich's gotten dressed. "Cheer up, with a little luck, they'll hate your film!"

"Yeah, that would be too good to be true," Odd comments as a car pulls up in front of them.

"How's it going, kid?" His father asks with a smile.

"Couldn't be better," Odd mutters and Amy elbows him.

They come around to greet him, his mother kissing his cheek. "Odd, it's really so good to see you. And you look wonderful, you've still got that great appetite, don't you?" He simply glances at her briefly, and then the woman hugs Amy. "Oh, Amelia, you look so great! How were those dog treats I sent you?"

"They were great, Kiki and the puppies loved them! It's good to see you again, Mrs. Della Robbia."

"Oh please, call me Marguerite. So polite, she is," The woman smiles at Odd.

"And call me Robert. You've left such an impression on us that we brought you a gift," Odd's father gives her a wrapped present and she sweats a little.

"Thank you, but you didn't have to do that-"

"We insist," Mrs. Della Robbia guides it into her hands. The girl opens it up to see a silver brooch. "It was my mother's. I want you to have it."

"Oh, how sentimental," Amy laughs sheepishly as she takes it into her hand. She's only seen them during Christmas break, so getting a gift on a second visit is a bit extreme...especially a hand-me-down. But then again, they're so nice to her that she can look past that.

"And these must be your friends," Mr. Della Robbia looks to the four. "Odd talks a lot about you, well, when he's not talking about his girlfriend."

Odd blushes in embarrassment as Amy smirks at him. "How do you do?" Aelita greets them.

"Hello, sir," Jeremy adds in.

"Hello."

"Uh, hello," Ulrich smiles at them, and they bow their heads.

"We're really delighted to meet you all at last. Here, this is a present for you. You can wear it to the screening, son. Why don't you try it on?" Mrs. Della Robbia gives him a box. "Oh, we almost forgot! Our daughters left some presents for you too, Amelia!"

"Oh wow," Amy sweats in embarrassment. She wasn't used to having this much...sincerity from her boyfriend's family. She must've really left an impression on them...

"Okay, but later. I'm really much too busy right now," Odd grabs Amy's hand and runs back into the building. The two parents smile at each other, the four friends glancing at each other.

"Guess he's a little uptight because of the screening. And that he wants to spend some time with that wonderful girl."

"That's understandable. After all, it is a premiere!" Mrs. Della Robbia agrees with him.

"So, you must approve of her, huh?" Aelita smiles a bit.

"Of course we do! We can't help but feel bad for her situation at home. We give both of them our blessings!"

* * *

The two are speaking with Mr. Delmas in his office. "You're absolutely right, of course. Odd is undeniably talented, he's very creative, intelligent. He participates orally in class, but-"

"It's true, he is intelligent," Mr. Della Robbia interrupts. "You know, when he was barely 2 years old, he managed to completely take apart his uncle's stereo."

"And I'm sure that if he'd been 4 at the time, he would have been able to put it back together," Mrs. Della Robbia adds in.

"IS that so? I happen to be quite an electronics buff myself. And, uh, well, I..." He clears his throat, unsure of what to say. "Anyway, as I was saying, your son has many fine qualities, but-"

"Oh, you needn't to tell us that!" Mrs. Della Robbia interrupts him this time. "He's got qualities coming out of his ears! He eats well, he's a wonderful sense of humor, he loves a good joke!"

"Even when it's not funny," Mr. Della Robbia points out.

"He's a daredevil on a skateboard, and he has an excellent ear for music too," She smiles at him. "It's no question why he managed to get a girlfriend such as Amelia! She's smart, artistically talented, and she loves dogs like him!"

"Yes, undoubtedly no doubt about it, no. However-"

"If he wanted to, Odd can be at the head of his class," Another interruption from the father. "But he's just too modest for that."

The principal sighs in defeat. "You were saying, Mr. Delmas?"

"No, nothing..." Now it's easy to see why Odd would have a problem with his parents.

"Oh, you've been very reassuring. You know better than I do that young people today just don't work hard enough at school!"

"That's true," Mr. Della Robbia stands up. "They have trouble concentrating. "Well, we don't wanna keep you any longer, Mr. Delmas. You must have a lot of work to do."

"Yes."

"Goodbye," Mrs. Della Robbia calls out as they leave. He turns on his computer and starts playing his penguin game. He tries to get the head on the body, getting a game over. His door opens as Sissi comes in.

"Oh, what's the matter with this piece of junk?!"

"Something wrong, Elizabeth?" He asks as she storms in.

"Yes, it stopped working," She holds up her phone.

"It did? I paid a lot of money for that."

"I told you to buy the higher price model," She places a hand on her hip with a huff. He pushes up his glasses.

"Now, now, Elizabeth. Let me have a look at it. I'll fix it for you in no time at all." He takes her phone.

"You know how to do that?" She smiles at him.

"Why, of course I do," He examines the phone. "I have a true gift for delicate work," He gets a screwdriver and sticks it through the phone. "When I was your age, my nickname was Mr. Circuit Breaker or Fix-it, that is-" He sticks the tool right through the phone, to her dismay. "Is this thing still under the warranty? Sissi, hold on!"

She simply slams the door behind her.

* * *

"I'm sorry for my parents, Ames," Odd covers his eyes with his hands, slightly mortified by earlier. They're back in his room.

"Oh, no, don't be," She waves it off. "I love your parents, Odd," Amy has a smile on her face. "They're really nice, you know. You could appreciate their efforts a little bit more."

"I know, but...we just don't have a normal relationship."

"No one has a normal relationship with their parents all the time," She crosses her arms. "Now come on, they're really good people. I'd give anything to have parents like yours...well, mostly just a dad like yours. You're one of the lucky kids that has parents like that. They haven't said a bad thing about you the whole time I've known them."

Odd frowns a bit as she seems to have a point. "Yeah...thanks, Ames," He pecks her lips. "But you made a good impression on them."

She rubs her neck a little. "That's great...it's good to know that at least our parents approve. Well, not sure how my real father thinks since I can't really talk to him...sometimes I wonder if he still thinks about me. I mean, after I stopped visiting their vacation villa, he hadn't spoken to me..."

"Yeah, but your mom was just trying to protect you from Lyoko and the consequences from it," Odd raises a brow.

"I know...especially about the whole age thing. She knew the whole time."

"Well, I do know one thing about your dad," He says, confusing her.

"What's that?"

"That he loves you. Just like I love you," He smiles at her and she smiles back.

"I love you too, Odd...in a romantic way," She chuckles and he laughs too, realizing that he should've worded that better.

* * *

"Good evening," Jim greets Odd's parents with a salute. "There are some seats in the first row."

"We'll have a large popcorn, please," Mr. Della Robbia places a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, sorry, I don't have any. But I might just have a box of nibble jack's lying around somewhere in my room."

"I was only kidding," The man chuckles, and Jim pursues his lips a little.

"Yeah, sure. So was I."

Jeremy pulls up his laptop. "I'm putting it to sleep. Odd would kill me if the super scan went off in the middle of his film."

"And anyway, there's not much chance that XANA would launch an attack during the three minutes the film lasts," Aelita laughs at him. Sissi is sitting a few seats back, still upset about her phone and because of another thing.

"Hey Sissi, what's the matter?" Herb asks next to her. "You don't look so great."

"Odd has made fun of me in every single one of his films!" She grumbles, turning to him.

"Yeah!" Nicolas starts laughing.

"Keep laughing, Nicolas, and the whole school's gonna find out what happened to Mrs. Hertz's hammer!" Sissi threatens and he shuts up.

"Okay, I'll stop."

Mrs. Della Robbia looks around, standing up. "But where's Odd?"

"I have no idea," Her husband answers nearby. Ulrich gets onto his feet.

"I better go see if I can find him. I'll text Amy too and see if she knows something. Kinda weird she's not here either," He walks off and the others hum. Ulrich walks past the principal as he walks in.

"Very well, now we can begin," Mr. Chardin speaks up. He clears his throat in front of the podium. "Welcome, cinema lovers, to this special screening of Mandibles and Purple Mauve, the latest creation of our own Odd Della Robbia. Please do forgive me for not having seen this work yet. I understand, however, that the film cleverly combines fiction with documentary. Truth, in short, but, in the end, what is truth?"

"Where could he have gone?" Ulrich murmurs to himself outside the auditorium. Odd's phone rings and he looks up at the stairs. "What are you doing there?"

"Shh!" Odd shushes him and Amy pinches her nose in defeat. "Quiet or you'll give me away!"

"This is ridiculous, your parents are looking for you."

"I know, I'm already stressed out enough," Odd bites at his finger nail.

"Oh yeah? I've got the answer to your problem. You're gonna get off your butt and get to a seat inside, you got that?" He shouts the last question into Odd's phone, causing him to drop it. Odd peeks at him.

"You think so?"

"Mmhm," Ulrich points inside.

A certain duo arrive and Amy groans at their appearance. "Oh no..."

"What?" Odd turns to the double doors. It was them...

Amy's parents.

"Huh?!" Ulrich's eyes go wide.

"What are they doing here?!" Odd whispers in surprise.

"I don't know! I didn't ask them to come!" Amy whispers back. Mr. Smith looks around...locking eyes right with Amy, causing Odd to panic.

"What do we do?! Every time they show up, they make a big scene."

"We ask them why they're here, because I definitely wouldn't have asked them to come. At least, not _him_. My mother I could actually tolerate." She says him with annoyance. "And this is _your _film, Odd. I don't want them to ruin it..."

He smiles at her softly, hugging her. "I don't hate you for your parents, Ames. It's not your fault they can never get along."

"Aw, you two are so sweet," Ms. Johnson smiles weakly, knowing that Amy is feeling uncomfortable with her ex-husband around.

"Oh please," Mr. Smith rolls her eyes. "She should be worrying about college. Not that you would care since I watched you give birth to my daughter and cut the umbilical cord, but she's not actually mine!"

Amy groans, dragging a hand down her face. "Guys, can we not talk about whatever this is in earshot of the whole school?"

"Okay, baby," Ms. Johnson nods at her, Odd leaning in towards Amy.

"Do you need me to come with you?"

"No, but thank you. I can handle them, Odd. I'm done breaking up their fights," They both stand up, and she ushers Odd inside. Ulrich follows after him, and she stares at Odd to make sure he doesn't try to pull anything.

"You tricked me, cheated on me!" Mr. Smith accuses at the woman as soon as they're alone. "And she deceived you, Amelia."

"Don't talk to my mother that way," Amy glares at him angrily. "At least she actually cares about me. And she's the only parent I've known for years. She divorced you. And what happened? I thought you were at least a good person now."

"You both took away all of my money and now I'm on the streets!" He yells in her face and she stands there bravely, giving him a blank look. Out of all the things that made him this way, it had to be greed. She hadn't even seen him since his last visit. "School isn't good enough for you. You need me and a better boyfriend."

"I can take care of myself!" Amy fumes at his accusations. "Mom actually spends time with me when you were always in business meetings! You're just mad because you have to actually pay child support!" She clenches her fists full of anger. She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to talk to him. If she could, she'd punch him, but she doesn't need anyone else finding out about her problems.

"Every time I try to get my life together..." He paces around, gritting his teeth. "I'm the only one in this family who is working to help us survive! And this is how you both treat me?!"

"Take it easy," Ms. Johnson warns him, not wanting to cause a scene.

"No, you take it easy! You took my child. You took my bank accounts, my house. And now you want my freedom! How much more of this do I have to take?"

"This is really low, even for you," Amy narrows her eyes. "Blaming us for your shortcomings? It was bound to happen the way you neglected us."

"I made you! Not this Franz Hopper!"

Thankfully, he's not loud enough for others to hear.

"Is this why you came here?" Ms. Johnson grabs Amy's shoulders, pulling her away from him. "To insult us and whine about how your own life is? I came here to support Odd and my daughter, and you're only thinking of yourself. This isn't about you, Stan."

"Of course it is! I came here to convince my flesh and blood to come home. It's her birthday and I believe she deserves a day with her _real _parent."

"I'm not going anywhere and how dare you show up months after my actual birthday! That just goes to show how much you don't really know about me! So no, I won't be going anywhere with you. And if you bother me or Mom again, we'll call the police and have a restraining order put on you. You don't have legal standing here. Stop trying to put me through this again," Amy storms off and he stares at her in shock. When she emerges, Odd is standing in front of her. He looks sympathetic.

"Are you okay? I heard what happened..."

"I'll be fine," She takes a deep breath. "This isn't about me, it's about you. Come on, let's start the film." They walk down the path.

"Oh, you must be Amelia's parents," Mrs. Della Robbia smiles as they both sit down. "It's so nice to meet you."

"Oh, it's a pleasure," Ms. Johnson shakes their hands with a smile. "I can see where Odd gets his personality from!"

"Your daughter seems very lovely," Mr. Della Robbia smiles slightly. "And so ambitious! I saw her painting at the local museum. Very talented."

"She gets it from me," Mr. Smith brags with a proud smirk, Ms. Johnson shaking her head slowly. Last time he had that conversation with Amy, he didn't even want her to be an artist.

Mr. Chardin clears his throat as he sees the principal tapping his watch. "Right," He adjusts his coat. "But why don't we all listen now to the filmmaker himself about his latest work and the star of the film herself? Odd, Amelia, you two have the floor."

Everyone waits patiently as Ulrich closes the door behind him.

On the mountain sector, a tower is activated once again...

The fuse box activates as a specter flies out. "Uh, hello," Odd greets the crowd, Amy standing next to him. "First of all, I would like to-" A phone rings and he glances at his father, who holds up his phone. He leaves the room, Odd giving a small frown. Mr. Smith is not even paying attention, to Amy's ire. Was he that delusional to the point where he ignores everyone?

"We'll start the screening as soon as the director's father returns," Mr. Delmas stands up.

"Hello?" He answers the phone. "Is this some sort of joke?"

His phone flickers with electricity, and he starts to become possessed by XANA. He enters the room. "Who was it, darling?" Mrs. Della Robbia asks him.

"Why don't you keep quiet and stop batting your eyes at that old goat?" He replies, Amy's mouth opening in shock. She's never seen him so hostile. Mr. Delmas stands up.

"What? Let's not fly off the handle here."

"You're the fly that needs handling!" The man spits back. "I'm onto your game!"

"But...have you lost your mind, darling?" Mrs. Della Robbia asks him.

"Let's just calm down," Ms. Johnson stands up, holding up her hands as a sign of peace.

"I prefer losing my mind than having yours! Here, it's for you," He puts his phone to her ear, possessing her as well. Mr. Delmas then gets a call and answers it.

"Yes, hello? What is it now?" The same thing happens to everyone else's phones, except Sissi, or the four friends.

"Since when do you keep your, uh, cell phones on in a movie theater?" Jim questions, seeing them answer. "Huh? Hey, take the cells out of your ears and listen!" He then gets a phone call, laughing. "Mommy, is that you?"

The electricity hits his ear.

"If it's okay with everyone, we can begin," Odd speaks up.

"What does that little brat want?" Mrs. Della Robbia asks in annoyance.

"Maybe he wants us to shut his trap for him!"

"Wouldn't do him any harm," She agrees with him.

"Or that little twit he's with," Ms. Johnson speaks up, possessed as well.

"Mom!" Amy exclaims in shock at her.

"Something is going on, and I don't like the looks of it," Jeremy states, opening up his laptop. He sees the activated tower from the scan. "Just what I was afraid of. An activated tower," He closes his computer. "Looks like XANA is using cell phones. If you get a call, whatever you do, don't answer."

The four stand up, Ulrich winking at Odd. He smirks knowingly, stepping backwards. Amy follows his example, glancing around the room.

Amy follows after the others as Odd slips past them. "Look at that coward, slipping away like a little rat!" Mr. Della Robbia sees him.

"Are we going to let that ungrateful snot nose take off like that?" Mrs. Della Robbia calls out, the crowd protesting. Sissi, who still doesn't have her phone, looks up at them in confusion. Odd tries to make a break for it, but someone steps in front of him.

"Hey, It's not very polite to sneak off like a thief in the night, you know?" He asks the boy.

"He needs to learn a little respect whether he likes it or not!" Mr. Della Robbia exclaims, the crowd agreeing. They stand up, walking up to Odd.

"There's no need to get all worked up. I'll give each of you an autograph," Odd tells them.

"He deserves to be taught a lesson, doesn't he?"

Sissi, who's blending in with the crowd, opens her mouth in shock. "I vote for...voting against him," Jim holds up a finger, looking to where Odd was. The boy's suddenly disappeared. "Oh man."

"Don't just stand there like a bunch of clowns! Go on, hurry, after him!" Mrs. Della Robbia declares.

Odd runs off to the park, sliding to a stop. Milly, Mrs. Hertz, and Tamiya are waiting for him. "Well, are we looking for a little spanking?"

"There he is!"

"This time, he's not gonna get away!" Tamiya holds up gardening tools. Odd looks behind him to see an angry mob of people.

"Keep up the pace! We'll get him this time!"

"What's wrong with everyone?" He stares at them like they're crazy. And in hindsight, they are. "Is it something they ate?" He runs away from the secret entrance while the others are climbing down the ladder. They grab their vehicles and ride down the sewers, with Yumi in front. Ulrich skids off the railing.

"Where's Odd?" Amy frowns in worry as she looks over her shoulder.

He runs into the boiler room, only to be met with Mr. Fumet and Rosa. "Odd, my boy, how would you like a loving spoonful?"

"Thanks Rosa, but I'm not very hungry," He states, opening the door and running off.

The others have reached the factory, Jeremy sitting at his chair. All of them are waiting for Odd. "What's he doing? Where is he?"

"I thought he was behind us. He must have been held up by his fan club," Ulrich replies from the elevator.

"I'll check out what's happening by scanning the location of their cell phones," Jeremy taps a button, locating Odd. "Okay, I found him."

"Where is he?" Yumi asks curiously.

"Take a guess."

He's hiding in the cafeteria underneath a table, panting heavily. He removes a lid and finds food. "Mm, meatballs...come to think of it, I am hungry."

"Looks pretty bad for him," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "He's totally surrounded."

"We've gotta rescue him," Ulrich speaks up.

"But how? The whole school is out to get him!" Aelita points out.

"It'd be faster if we deactivated the tower," Yumi explains to them.

"As much as I wanna rescue him, Yumi's right. It's the only way to get them back off," Amy crosses her arms with a small frown on her face.

"That's what we've gotta do Go on, head for the scanner room. You're going in right now. Let's hope that Odd can play for time."

"In the cafeteria? He'll find time," Amy smiles a bit.

And she's right as Odd is eating. "Mm, gravy. There isn't enough gravy..."

The four descend into the scanner room. Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi go in first. "Scanner Aelita. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization."

All three are sent to the mountain sector. They land one by one. Amy virtualizes up in the air a few seconds later, opening her eyes and flying.

"_The tower in front of you, at the end of the path_," Jeremy informs them. The four take off as the tower is on a giant rock. The three come to a stop.

"Any suggestions, Einstein, like a ladder maybe? Without vehicles, forget about it," Ulrich comments as it's very high up. "You could have virtualized us at the summit."

"Sorry, but there's a bug. I couldn't do any better."

"Of course there is," Amy rolls her eyes at this.

Jeremy groans as he presses the enter button multiple times. "Ugh, and I can't even bring up your vehicles. XANA threw a virus into the program. _All I can get you is the Overwing_."

"Send it anyway, it'll have to do," Ulrich looks over his shoulder as it appears.

"_Coming up_."

Yumi jumps on, turning Ulrich. "Wanna keep me company?"

He smiles, jumping on behind her. Aelita summons her wings, looking around. "Okay, let's go. Come on, Amy."

They both fly into the air, circling around the rock. However, a laser fires and a Manta comes into view. Another one follows, and they chase after the two. Ulrich pulls out his sword and deflects the lasers from behind his back. However, it hits the Overwing, and Ulrich falls off the vehicle. Yumi goes after him, but another laser hits the vehicle, devirtualizing it.

The two sisters look over their shoulders, gasping. Ulrich stabs his sword into the rock, sliding to a stop. He holds out his hand as Yumi catches it, and they're left dangling.

"Just in time. Thanks, Ulrich."

Another laser is fired at them, and they look at the Mantas.

"Energy field!" Aelita flies in from behind, hitting one. Amy waves her hands to fire a large rock at the other one, missing.

* * *

Nicolas and Herb burst into the cafeteria. "He's gotta be in here somewhere," Herb peeks in as Nicolas is waving around a dust pan.

"Don't worry, watch. I'm gonna sweep him away!"

"Yeah, he'll be biting a desk when we get through with him," Herb agrees with him. Odd swallows his meatballs and gravy. "Hey Nicolas."

He peeks underneath a table. "Thought you could hide from us. Huh?"

"Lunchtime!" Odd announces, throwing multiple plates at him.

"You can't touch me. I'm invulnerable thanks to my shield," Nicolas dodges all of the plates with a dustpan. "Go on, keep on trying." He waves a finger as Odd pushes the pot of gravy onto him, knocking him out.

"That is really awful. Wasting perfectly good food on a vegetable like him..."

"Aha, alone again at last," Herb is about to strike him when he's hit from behind. He falls down, and it's revealed to be Sissi who helped him out.

"Incredible, huh?"

"What is happening?" She asks, glancing around. "It looks like everyone at school has gone crazy..."

"It's because of the cell phones. How come you haven't gone bananas too?" Odd can't help but wonder.

"Cuz my phone's a broken down piece of junk!"

"The one place we haven't checked from top to bottom is the lunchroom!" Jim announces from outside.

"Let's split!"

Mrs. Hertz growls as she turns her head. "There he is!" They notice the two teenagers.

"What...what is my daughter doing with that little scoundrel?" Mr. Delmas points to Odd.

"He must've forced her to be on his side!" Mrs. Della Robbia deduces, even though that's not true.

"Children become monsters when they're not instilled with a sense of discipline."

"Get him! We'll show him for cheating on my daughter!" Ms. Johnson shakes an angry fist. The two run off and the group of adults chase after them.

* * *

"Jeremy, what are you waiting for? Reprogram the Overwing!" Yumi urges him as she watches the Manta approach.

"It's not working. I'll try the Overboard." However, that doesn't work either. "Ugh, I've got a problem."

"You're not the only one, hurry up!"

The Manta fires at them again, and Ulrich narrowly misses it. Another one hits the rock right next to him. The manta attacks again and he swings Yumi a bit so that it doesn't hit them. It flies off as Yumi pulls out her fan, and then it comes back around, firing. Yumi deflects it with her weapon just as Aelita and Amy fly into view.

She prepares an energy field as Amy prepares some rocks. They both fire and hit the target, destroying it.

"Nice one, girls," Yumi compliments them.

"I can't hold on any longer," Ulrich grunts as his grip slips from his sword. Both of them start to fall and Aelita gasps. She concentrates, using her creativity to create a platform for them to land on.

"Yes!" Aelita cheers at this, high-fiving her sister.

* * *

In the park, Sissi and Odd are running towards the shed. They enter quickly, and Odd sighs in relief. "Well, here at least we might have a little peace!"

"Peace, huh?" The gardener comes out of the shadows. "A shred of pieces is what you'll get!"

Sissi cringes at him as he charges forward with a rake. She opens the door and they run off screaming.

* * *

Amy and Aelita reach their friends, landing on the rock. "You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks, you two," Yumi smiles at them. Ulrich steps up to the edge, looking at the path. His vision gets blurry and he steps back.

"Oh...this is great. Jeremy, what's happening with Odd's board?"

"_It's loading, but it'll take a little time_," He tells them. The four look up at the edge of the platform.

"We could try to climb up," Yumi suggests to Ulrich.

"The rock face is much too smooth, we'd never make it," Ulrich rubs his arm.

"Still scared of heights, huh?" Yumi teases, and before he could say anything else, a laser flies right past them. A few feet above them is a Krab, and they hide behind the rock.

"XANA is pulling out all the challenges, huh?" Amy sighs a little.

* * *

Sissi and Odd come to a stop as they're suddenly faced by everyone, and they look ready to fight. They back away, only to be stopped by the gardener.

"You just can't get good gardeners nowadays..." Odd comments as they're pushed forward.

"I do not think it is a very good idea to frighten these poor children with your gardening tool, sir," Mrs. Della Robbia shakes her head.

"Well, that's a pity."

"Rest assured, we're not the type of parents who would have ever assured their responsibility. We promised you a fitting punishment, and you're going to get it!" She steps forward to stare at Odd in the eye.

"I promise never to complain about not having conflicts with my parents again," Odd murmurs at this.

* * *

The Krab is still firing at them as Aelita and Amy take flight. "Looks like shellfish are back in season."

"Yeah, welcoming us with open claws."

"Okay, we're on it," Aelita says as the two sisters circle each other, flying in the air. Another Krab has joined in on the attack and she fires an energy field at one, missing. Amy retaliates with a giant rock hurled towards them, but misses as well. They fire and they fly to opposite sides.

"I'm gonna try something," Yumi pulls out her fan. She runs and backflips off the rock.

"Yumi!" Ulrich shouts as she throws her fan, landing on another rock. She looks up as the fan slices off the leg, causing the Krab to fall. She catches her weapon as the Krab fires, hitting her in the arm. Then it disappears into the fog.

"Yumi, you just lost 40 life points, you hear me?" Jeremy asks her as she holds her arm.

"Yeah, and I can feel it too. I'll try my best not to take another hit." Just as she says that, she's hit again and then devirtualized thanks to a Kankerlot.

She slightly hits her head against the scanner once the doors open. "Oh, what an idiot I am!"

The Kankerlot reaches the others, firing at Ulrich. He presses his back against the rock, looking up as the Krab attacks him next. He absorbs the laser from the Kankerlot, glancing at the Krab. Amy and Aelita fly in front of him. Aelita creates an energy field as Amy's hands glow purple. They fly into view of the Krab.

"Energy field!" She fires it at the same time Amy fires a dart made of rock. Both of them miss again, and they dodge the lasers. "I don't believe this!"

"These guys are pretty tough," Amy frowns a little and Aelita fires a bit forward. Both monsters are still attacking from both sides.

"Jeremy, we're not getting anywhere here..."

"_I'm almost there_." Jeremy finally pulls up the Overboard successfully. "Yeah! Ulrich, Overboard in two or three seconds."

"It's about time," Ulrich comments while dodging from both sides. The Overboard appears nearby and Ulrich looks at it, stepping back from the lasers. "Here I go." He jumps onto it, wobbling a bit. He has a little bit of trouble controlling it as he flies past the two sisters. "Whoa, how does Odd manage to pilot this thing?"

"Probably because it's like his skateboard," Amy giggles in amusement.

"He's not afraid of falling," Aelita comments to him.

* * *

"I'm afraid!" Odd exclaims as he and Sissi are standing at the edge of the roof, facing the track. "Oh no, anything but this."

"Trust us, kid, it's for your own good," Mr. Della Robbia states behind them.

"Just a little step forward, and you won't be afraid anymore!" Mrs. Della Robbia adds in.

"You'll pay for what's in your life!" Jim exclaims at the two.

"Hey, don't we get a last request?" Odd asks, Mr. Delmas playing with something.

"It's true, they do have the right to that."

"I'd like one last club sandwich with organic mayo," Odd tells them, confusing Sissi.

"Okay, one club sandwich, but forget the organic mayo."

"And I would like a purple parachute to go with my top," Sissi requests, Mr. Della Robbia stopping the conversation.

"Okay, okay, time out. Last requests are gonna have to wait till later!"

"And then after we deal with them, we'll punish my daughter too!" Mr. Smith shouts, to which everyone cheers at.

"Mr. Smith, don't do this! Amy might not be your real daughter, but that doesn't mean you should take it out on her."

The possessed man stares at him in confusion. "What do you mean she's not his real daughter?" Sissi asks, equally confused.

"I know what it's like to almost lose someone you love. I felt the same way when I forgot Amy's birthday," Odd glances away sadly at the memory. "But I would never hurt her, I've sworn off on other girls. I may be average, but...but I love Ames, and I want to make her happy. Don't you want that too?"

Mr. Smith looks at him as if he understands the boy...

* * *

Ulrich flies upwards towards the Krab, appearing in front of it. It fires and Ulrich ducks his head, flying around and distracting it. The girls fly up from behind as Aelita comes flying in first. She fires an energy field, and the Krab moves out of the way. She flies off and it fires. Aelita flies past it, getting hit and falling near the tower.

"Aelita!" Ulrich turns around as the Krab approaches her. It raises a leg, Ulrich throwing his sword at it. The Krab devirtualizes him and the monster moves past the sword. However, Amy comes out of nowhere, landing on top of the Krab and striking it with her spear. She flies away from it, watching the Krab disappear.

"You okay, sis?" Amy asks her in concern.

"Thanks to you, I am," She smiles up at her.

"_Hurry, Aelita! The coast is clear!"_

She runs for the tower, Amy staring after her. She lands in the middle, lifting herself slowly.

"I think these children could use a little parental guidance!" Mrs. Della Robbia grins wickedly.

"Absolutely!" Mr. Delmas agrees with them, and the two step forward. Sissi covers her eyes.

Aelita does a flip, reaching the top. She lands safely and steps forward, the screen appearing in front of her. She signs in with her hand.

_Aelita_

_Code_

"Alright, let's get this over with!" Mr. Della Robbia announces, the two parents reaching their hands out.

"NO!" Mr. Smith rushes forward.

_Lyoko_

They all turn back to normal, Mr. Smith pulling the two kids to safety. "What are we doing up here?" Odd's father asks in confusion.

"Tower deactivated..."

Mrs. Della Robbia and Mr. Delmas gasp as they go to their child. "You know better than to get so close to the edge, don't you?"

"Oh yeah? I wonder who could have pushed me to the edge," Odd grins, to her confusion.

"Uh, return to the past now!" Jeremy taps the button.

* * *

Time is reset to the screening. "And here, we have a splendid specimen of a dung beetle," He announces as Jim is pushing a soccer ball, the audience laughing. Jim even laughs too. "And now, we have a magnificent field grasshopper."

It's Mr. Delmas playing with his ball in a cup, getting stuck in it. The man gives a look of embarrassment.

Then it shows someone wrapped into a blanket. "Oh, he's saved the worst for last!"

"But what could this strange creature be? A spring roll? No, no! It's an enormous larva!" Everyone is laughing except Sissi, Odd smiling next to Amy. Sissi gets out of bed, stretching. "A caterpillar! Metamorphosizing into a lovely butterfly!"

Sissi looks in confusion as Odd winks, and then she cringes.

"We were so glad to see you again, Amelia," Mrs. Della Robbia hugs the brunette at the front gate. "Make sure that Odd is being a gentleman."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry," Amy smiles sheepishly as Odd rubs his neck. "He's the best boyfriend ever."

He smiles at her and Mr. Della Robbia pulls out a camera. "Oh, we just have to get in a family photo with our future daughter-in-law!"

"Wait, what?" Odd and Amy ask, but before they can get a word in, they're squished in together with both Odd's parents and Amy's mother. Mr. Smith awkwardly takes the photo and Amy blinks, rubbing her eyes.

"Perfect!" Mrs. Della Robbia clasps her hands together. "Amelia, when you can, please join us for dinner sometime."

"No, no, no," Odd whispers to Amy, making gestures for her to decline.

"Um...sure. Why not?" Amy smirks as Odd drags a hand down his face. "I'd love to come over when I have the time."

"Bye bye!" Mrs. Della Robbia waves to the girl, her husband opening the car door for her.

"Odd, she's a keeper. Don't let her go, son," Mr. Della Robbia laughs.

"I'll write you soon, Mom and Dad," Odd laughs in embarrassment, waving as they leave. "Hey, what'd I ever do to you, Ames?"

She crosses her arms, raising a brow. "Do I really have to answer that? Besides, they're nice people."

"Mm," He pouts at her in defeat.

"I should go too. I have to drop him off at the courthouse so I can file a protection order," Ms. Johnson glances at Mr. Smith, who is just frowning sadly.

"Do you think he'll finally get it together and back off now?" Odd asks as they stare at him.

"No. He'll never change," She narrows her eyes, hugging Amy. "I'll call you as soon as I arrive home, okay?"

"Okay Mom. I love you."

"...I love you too, baby girl," She smiles happily at having heard that for the first time in a while. She lets go, both teenagers waving as she leaves with Mr. Smith, who looks at Odd one last time. Odd says nothing as the man smiles a bit, getting inside.

"I'm just glad both our parents get along," Amy sighs at Odd in relief.

"I know. Your dad didn't even pick a fight with them about me. I can't help it. You just can't get enough of me," Odd runs a finger through his hair, his girlfriend laughing.

"Whatever. I noticed it too...maybe he realized that you're not who he thought he was," Amy shrugs, Odd chuckling.

She had no idea...

**Angel: For those wondering about the whole age thing Amy mentioned, please go back and read the Timeline, where I explained the ages of Amy and Aelita. I was gonna put that in after the story was over, but I figured why wait?**


	96. Cold Sweat

**Angel: Well...I've officially finished the series as of today. So I decided to upload the rest of the episodes since I have other stories to work on. Took me 6 months to finish seasons 3 and 4, but I did it. I'm thankful that it didn't take me a year to finish, because this has been the second-longest fanfic I've worked on in my life XD As for my plans after this story, I left a note at the end of the last episode, but it's also on my profile under Future Stories. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed, and read the whole story (especially my timeline XD).**

**And thanks to those who read my explanations over my mistakes with Aelita and Amy's ages. I will fix Wrong Exposure later today. And...yeah, that's all I have to say XD**

Hiroki and Yumi are walking to school together on an early morning. "If you had the choice, would you rather be a screwdriver or a monkey wrench?" The girl has an annoyed look on her face. She looks like she'd rather do anything else than to listen to this. "Hey, you dreamin' or what?"

"...What was that?" She asks after a few seconds.

"If you were a tool, which one would you choose?" He repeats to her.

"Can't you think of anything less dumb to ask?"

"Sure. Are you still in love with Ulrich or aren't you?" Hiroki asks with a smug smile.

"Ugh, I'll never be a tool, but you'll always be a fool," She groans as she walks off, leaving him snickering.

"Get your Kadic News hot off the presses!" Milly announces from the courtyard. "Rosa and the tuna salad caper! Jim Morales, a former professional athlete, tells us how to throw a shotput without breaking a toe! Mrs. Hertz reveals how to make a volt meter out of your MP3 with just a few simple operations! Plus, an exclusive picture of the secret past of Yumi Ishiyama!"

Yumi just happens to be walking by. She stops short at the sound of her name. "Huh?!" She turns around and grabs a copy of the paper.

"But...where did you get that picture?" She demands to them.

"Sorry, but we never reveal our sources! It's an absolutely fundamental rule of journalism."

"Um, all we can tell you is that it's one of your very best friends, and that at this very minute, he's in the rec room," Tamiya tells her. Yumi squeezes her eyes shut, growling in anger as she storms off. "Wait till I get my hands on him!"

"How could you do something so lame?!" Milly exclaims to her friend.

"What's wrong? I didn't say his name," She raises a brow, the red-haired girl looking away.

* * *

"It's the Champions Cup Final for the favorites Brazilian coffee beans. 6 to 5 against the German Liverwurst!" Odd announces in the rec room. "The tension is high, you can hardly hear a pin drop as Walter Brown-"

Odd's phone rings, interrupting him. "Another one of your ex-girlfriends, I'll bet," Ulrich deadpans as Odd answers.

"Hello? Oh, hi Milly. Yeah, what's happening?" Ulrich watches as his eyes widen. "What?! But why she'd have to do that? That's the last time I'll ever give you a scoop." He hangs up the phone.

"Can we play now?" Ulrich questions him.

"Yeah, sure, right away...uh, Ulrich? I've got a little problem with Yumi. You really have to bail me out this time," Odd looks away nervously.

"What did you do now, Odd?" Ulrich asks the boy knowingly. Every time he asks for something like that, it means he did something wrong.

"A little practical joke, nothing at all, but you gotta say it was you," Odd points at his roommate, who raises a brow in confusion. "I mean, please?"

"I asked you what you did, Odd," Ulrich reminds him.

"Please, in the name of our friendship."

"I'm gonna regret this, I know it," He looks away.

"You'll do it?!" Odd exclaims happily. "Lyoko Warrior's honor?"

"Yeah, okay," Ulrich chuckles a bit.

"Great!" Odd puts down the ball on the foosball board. Yumi opens the door, shoving the paper into his face for him to see.

"Odd! Are you the one who gave this picture to Tamiya and Milly?!" She demands him.

"Why are you angry? You look adorable," Odd comments with a small smile.

"For once, Odd the dope is right," Sissi speaks up. "It's true, pink does wonders for you, Yumi." The picture is of Yumi in pink clothing with a blonde wig, basically looking like a fairy princess. "When I think of all the times you made fun of my look, you must feel like an idiot!" She giggles along with Herb and Nicolas.

"BLACK is my color. BLACK like your eye is gonna be if you don't back off!" Yumi threatens them. Sissi just hmphs and walks off.

"Come on, boys, let me beat you at ping pong again!"

Yumi sighs in irritation just as Amy comes in. She winces as she's holding a copy of the paper. "This time, Odd, you're gonna be sorry, because I'm gonna give Delmas a list of all the pranks you've pulled over the past 2 years! I'm sure he'll be happy to have it!"

"You're wrong, Yumi," Ulrich speaks up, to her boiling anger. "I gave the picture to Milly and Tamiya." She gasps sharply, turning to him.

"It was you? But why'd you do it?"

"I, um..." He looks away awkwardly. "Haven't the slightest idea."

Amy glares at Odd knowingly, but doesn't say anything. "Dumb dork!" Yumi chastises before she leaves. "Don't ever speak to me again!" And with that, she slams the door, much to Ulrich's dismay.

"You really are a good buddy. Thanks," Odd smiles at the fact he got away with it.

"Don't bet on that," Ulrich glances at him. Amy smacks Odd across the head.

"Ouch!"

"Why would you do that?! Because of you, she's mad at the wrong person," Amy gestures to Ulrich. "And you're willing to risk his relationship with Yumi over a dumb prank?!"

"How'd you know it was me?" He rubs his head.

"Because I've known you for 2 years, Odd," She holds up 2 fingers. "You better fess up to Yumi now!"

"It's too late now..." Ulrich closes his eyes. "I promised that I'd take the rap for him."

"Promise or not, the real person behind it deserves to get punished," Amy storms off, opening the door. She looks over her shoulder. "And until you do that, I'm not speaking to you, Odd!"

She slams the door shut, Odd frowning a little. "Nice to know I'm not the only one in trouble," Ulrich smirks a little.

* * *

Yumi is walking through school, blushing in embarrassment as girls are laughing at her picture. "Yumi, lend me your pink princess costume for Halloween?"

"Can I use your wig?"

"Why don't you shut up?!" Yumi screams at them.

"Are you okay, Yumi?" Jeremy asks as he and Aelita approach her.

"You look upset, is anything wrong?" Aelita questions next. Yumi looks away, crossing her arms.

"I really don't want to talk about it," Then she puts on a smile as if nothing happened. "What's happening?"

"We just located a new replica in the network!" Aelita reveals, the two geniuses smiling.

"We're gonna destroy it tonight. See you at the factory later!" Jeremy explains as the bell rings for class.

"I'll be there," She gives a thumbs up. "I've got history now, see ya," She walks past the two, and by the looks on their faces...they've seen the paper today.

"Let's face it, she does look awful in pink," Jeremy holds up his copy of the Kadic News. "Although the color really looks great on you, Aelita."

The two blush at his statement.

* * *

Later that night, Jeremy is in the lab while the others are already on Lyoko. "_It's okay, Jeremy. The Skid is docked."_

"That's great," He smiles a bit. "I'll activate the tower," He taps enter as they're in an ice replica this time. The Skid is then turned green, the Skid docked to it. "Well, who's gonna get teleported tonight with Amy?"

"I vote for Yumi and Ulrich. They're good together on a mission," Aelita speaks up, trying to get them alone together so they can work things out.

"No way, I'd rather go on my own than go with him!" Yumi refuses, still upset with him.

"I don't believe it..." Ulrich murmurs to himself.

"Whoa, chill out, Yumi," Jeremy smiles weakly. "Why don't you and Odd go this time?"

"...Yeah, sure," She agrees after a few minutes. Amy huffs at this, Odd pouting. She's still upset with him too...

"Why not with me?" Ulrich protests at this.

"He wasn't dumb enough to make me look bad in front of the whole school."

"And I don't wanna go with that jerk boyfriend of mine," Amy opens an eye.

"_Sorry, Amy, but Aelita needs to stay on the replica in case there's an activated tower_."

She gives a look of irritation.

"Odd, we gotta talk," Ulrich speaks up. "I just changed my mind."

"Uh, too busy for that, sorry. Teleportation time, Jeremy, come on, will you? Wake up."

"Ugh," Amy deadpans at this.

"Patience, okay, Odd?" Jeremy holds his head, getting to work. "Why is everyone so wound up tonight...? Energize Odd. Energize Amy. Energize Yumi."

The three of them land in a place that's snowing, Yumi putting a hand in front of her face. "_Where are you_?"

"In the middle of a snowstorm," Yumi shivers a little.

"That's like any one of a thousand areas," Jeremy smiles in amusement.

"I think I can see some kind of a base. We'll go check it out," She sees a building up ahead.

"_Gotcha. Okay._"

"Come on, let's go," Yumi points up ahead and they run off. Since there's a snow storm, it'd be difficult for Amy to fly with her wings.

"Are you gonna talk to me?" Odd pouts at his girlfriend, who ignores him. "Ames?"

"Sorry, it seems like someone's talking to me, but I can't hear them!" She retorts, looking away from him.

"Be careful, guys," Jeremy warns them.

* * *

"Tell me, Ulrich, what did you do to Yumi to make her so angry with you?" Aelita can't help but ask. "And do you know why my sister seems to be just as mad with Odd?"

"...It seems I gave that picture of her to the Kadic News."

Jeremy's eyes widen at the revelation, closing them knowingly. "That sounds more like the kind of idiotic stunt that Odd would pull."

"Funny you should say that. And that's why Amy is mad at Odd."

"Yumi must really hate you," Aelita couldn't help but feel sympathetic for him. "Got any ideas how to get back on her good side?"

"The only way is to tell her the truth," He tells them. "That's what Amy said too."

* * *

The three arrive at the base, Amy dusting snow off her wings. "Jeremy, I think I found a clue. It says Union Base, _position 63 degrees, 16 minutes, 143 degrees, 15 minutes east_." He types in the coordinates and locates them on the map.

"You're in Siberia, at a scientific base that XANA's taken control of. I'll see if I can download a floor plan. Go on inside at the meantime," He instructs the trio. They open the door, stepping inside. Amy rubs her arms at the cold, Odd doing the same. Yumi closes the door behind her, eyes closed.

"...How could Ulrich have ever done such a thing?" She sounds like she's on the verge of crying. Amy gives Odd a look. "I've never been this mad at anybody in my life!"

"Even the day when I threw your math homework in the incinerator? Or the day I killed Ms. Johnson's fish by accident, and Ames got grounded?"

"That was you?!" She screams at him and he laughs nervously.

"It was great gags, though. And at least it got you to talk to me."

"Are you trying to get on my hit list or what?" Yumi asks in annoyance.

"Oh, come on, relax, girls. After all, you've gotta admit that the photo thing was funny, wasn't it?"

"Ha ha ha, NO," Yumi narrows her eyes.

"Obviously it was something that wasn't supposed to go public, Yumi," Amy crosses her arms. "Why would I ever think it was funny, even for the sake of a joke?" She raises a brow at Odd at the last word, huffing at him in disbelief. Sometimes her boyfriend can be a real jerk.

"Oh yeah, sure it was," He sees their angry looks. "You don't think so?"

"It was mean and nasty," His mouth opens in shock. "I don't even know if I can even call Ulrich a friend after what he did. What do you think?"

"Uh, nothing," He answers anxiously. "W-What about you, Ames?"

"Hmph," She turns away with an angry look on her face.

"Why are you angry with him?" Yumi couldn't help but ask, sensing the tension between the two.

"I-It's complicated," Odd looks away, feeling just as bad as he did with that whole Bringa business. "Why don't we just concentrate on the mission? Hey Jeremy, how's the floor plan coming?"

"_It's coming_!" Jeremy informs them. "Okay, now I've got you. Head for the staircase at the end of the corridor. It'll take you right down to the basement."

"_We're on our way, Einstein!" _

Together, they go down the hall. Then Jeremy gets an alert from his end. "Rats," He gives an annoyed look. "An activated tower. Yumi, XANA's counter-attacking."

"Roger," She states as a door opens in front of them, but they were ready.

"What kind of attack?" Odd asks as he has his arm pointed.

"_Search me. Surprise_."

Suddenly, green lightning and a black cloud forms in front of them. There's a flash, and their eyes are shut. William turns around, sword ready at his hand.

"William!"

"Here?! In Siberia?" Amy exclaims at this.

"Did you get that, Jeremy? XANA's managed to teleport William!" Yumi stares at him.

"That is a pretty awful surprise," Jeremy deadpans at this.

"_Sure is. This might be a good time to deactivate the tower_!"

"I'm on it. You three head for the door on the other side of the room. Aelita, activated tower east of your position," He gives them the plan.

"We're on our way. Disembarking," She and Ulrich disappear from their seats, landing in front of the tower.

"_Here come your vehicles_."

"Thanks, Jeremy," Aelita replies as the OverBike and Overwing appear next to them. The duo take off down the path.

Yumi pulls out her fans as Amy readies her glowing hands. "Too bad the other side is blocked...that's gonna be easy," She deadpans at William, Yumi throwing her fans. William spins around his sword, deflecting them back to her hands.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires at him, but William deflects each shot like it was nothing, the last one hitting him in the arm. Then a pink beam hits him in the arm again thanks to Amy. He drops his sword and Odd kisses his knuckles. Yumi runs down the stairs with the fairy.

"Come on, Odd! Hurry up!" Yumi runs past him.

"I'm coming!" He follows on all fours, the door closing. Amy is behind them as William grits his teeth, the symbol in his eyes flashing. He holds out his hand and Amy is suddenly trapped in smoke. He lifts her up in the air.

"Let me go, William!" She shouts as the door locks, the two looking at William. His sword flies back into his hand.

"Jeremy, William has locked the door and has Amy in his grasp!" Yumi glares at him.

"Don't panic, I'll take care of the door in no time. You guys give Amy a hand in the meantime," He replies as he works on the door. "Okay, I just have to crack the code for the electromagnetic lock. Can you hold on that long?"

"We'll try," Yumi states as he lifts up Amy higher. She struggles to get out, but her bindings are too strong for her to do anything from her end. Odd aims for the right spot at the smoke, and when he finds it, he fires. It hits the spot he was aiming for, and Amy flies into the air, sighing in relief. She glances at Odd, who smirks a bit. She just smiles weakly as thanks.

"Laser arrow!" Odd fires once more, the sword absorbing the lasers. The sword stabs the door, Yumi flipping away. He swings towards Yumi next, but she uses her fan to deflect it. "Laser arrow!" Odd hits him from behind as Amy strikes him with another beam. William starts to flicker, and then he disappears.

"There you go!" Jeremy taps the enter button. "Open sesame, guys."

The door opens for them and they step backwards. "Nice work, Einstein," Odd comments as they step into the hallway. "Laser arrow!" He hits the lock, trapping William inside the room.

"Jeremy, which way do we go?"

"Take the second hallway on your left," He instructs them.

"_Okay, we're off_."

"Ulrich, Aelita, how's it going?" Jeremy wonders as Aelita squints up ahead.

"We can see the activated tower," She reports to him, with surprisingly no monsters in sight...yet.

"_Good. From this end, everything's cool for the moment. Go for it_."

The two race forward on their vehicles. A megatank appears nearby, opening itself up and preparing its laser. Aelita looks on in alarm, going upward as Ulrich stands on his Overbike. He jumps out of the way from the laser just as his bike is hit. Aelita fires an energy field and destroys the monster with one hit. Ulrich lands behind her.

"That's what I call coordination," He compliments her.

"_You're gonna need it. Two Tarantulas at 11 o'clock._"

Unfortunately, they're right in front of the tower...they begin firing at the two.

"Strategic retreat," Aelita turns around and goes in the opposite direction. One of the lasers hits the Overwing, causing them to fall onto the platform. They turn around to the two monsters, who get on their knees and fire again. They hide behind a rock.

* * *

William forces the door open as he looks really angry now, looking around for the three. He steps into the hall and goes to the left.

"Odd, Amy, Yumi," Jeremy speaks up. "William is on your tail. Hide somewhere until Aelita has deactivated the tower."

"_Okay, we'll hide in the room just in front of us_," Odd opens a door. The three step inside and they look inside the room to see a room that has wires and panels everywhere. "Wow, this looks like Dr. Shrank's laboratory!"

Yumi steps further into the room. "What's this stuff, I wonder?" She looks at the pods.

"Beats me," Odd steps up to her. Amy glances over her shoulder. "Looks like some kind of soup." The fairy looks up and squints closer. "And it's beginning to look like brain soup."

The brunette sticks out her tongue in disgust. "Whatever this is, it's creepy..."

"Like Hospital of Horrors? I always ask you to watch it, so that we can cuddle," Odd smiles a bit, but she just ignores him, to his dismay.

"Listen, Ulrich," Jeremy says once Ulrich's ID Card pops up. "Amy, Odd, and Yumi have William to deal with. I hope Aelita's already in the tower."

Not even close as they still have the Tarantulas to deal with. The two are still hiding behind the rock.

"Nearly there. We'll have to force our way through..."

"Have you got a better idea?" Aelita asks him.

"No," He looks at her briefly.

"Do you think it might work?" She questions next.

"No. Super sprint!" He takes off into a run, the Tarantulas firing at him. He speeds past the lasers and leaps into the air. He throws his sword at the target, destroying the Tarantula. Ulrich lands on his feet, looking up at the other Tarantula. An energy field hits the monster and he braces himself for the incoming explosion. He looks behind him to see Aelita standing out of hiding.

"Well done, princess," He compliments as he stands up. She runs up towards him, running into the tower. "I'll wait here for you."

She reaches the center and rises into the air.

The door gets opened by William and he holds out a hand towards Amy. "He never gives up!" Yumi exclaims as Amy gets trapped again. "Jeremy, William is here!"

"Don't sweat it," He pushes up his glasses smugly. "Aelita's already in the tower."

She reaches the top and walks up to the interface. She hesitates to log in as she sees something. "Uh, Jeremy?"

He raises a brow. "A problem?"

"This tower commands William's teleportation, so the interface must contain the protocols and programs that XANA uses to control him."

"Yeah, so?" He asks in confusion, not seeing what she's getting at.

"_So, if we hack into the data, maybe we can find a way to free William!_"

He smiles in realization. "That's right! Aelita, you're a genius!"

"I'll send you the program," She taps the interface.

William squeezes his hand, causing the smoke around Amy to go tighter. He spins around his sword, the other two stepping backwards.

"Yoohoo! William!" Odd sings as he waves to him. He prepares his arm as William turns around, and Odd jumps into the air in front of Amy. William throws his sword, and Odd lands, causing the sword to hit the smoke. It lands in the wall and Odd holds out his arms, catching Amy bridal style. "Two birds with one stone."

"Thanks..." She murmurs as he puts her down, but she's still mad at him. Yumi throws her fans at his leg, and he looks to see it flickering. She catches her weapon, closing her fan with a smirk.

"Laser arrow!" Odd's about to fire, but he's out of arrows. "I'm out of ammunition!" He exclaims in lament, William kicking him.

"Jeremy, it's no picnic around here," Yumi stares as Amy takes flight, firing at William. He just jumps out of the way. "Is Aelita gonna deactivate the tower or not?"

"_Yeah, right, yeah. Hang on a minute_," He tells them.

"What's the hold-up? You said she was in the tower!" Amy exclaims, getting hit by a punch to the face.

Aelita is interacting with the interface and then she stops. "Okay, Aelita, I've got what I need. You can enter the code Lyoko."

Yumi hits the wall as William raises his sword into the air, chuckling. "No!" She braces herself just as Aelita logs in.

_Aelita_

_Code_

_Lyoko_

Just as William swings his weapon, he disappears into thin air. Yumi sighs in relief, Amy whipping off her forehead.

"Nap time..."

"Tower deactivated," Aelita says as the tower goes inactive.

Ulrich watches as the tower goes from red to white. Jeremy scratches the back of his head in relief. "Odd, Yumi, and Amy, go back into the hallway. The supercomputer is not too far away. _Nap time is over._"

Aelita steps out of the tower with a smile on her face. "That takes care of that."

"Now we can go home and get some sleep."

"Not yet," Jeremy interrupts the peace as something is approaching the Skid and the tower it's docked to.

"_What do you mean, not yet_?" Ulrich asks in annoyance.

"William is back, and he's heading straight for the Skid. _He can still wreck our mission if he enters the code XANA in the tower._"

William reaches the tower, laughing. "You can always count on William to mess everything up," Ulrich comments to Aelita.

"Any vehicles left for us in your garage?" Aelita asks Jeremy in amusement.

"Odd hates lending out his equipment, but anyway, here's the Overboard and OverRunner," He virtualizes the two vehicles.

"I'll take care of the Overboard, I promise," Ulrich smiles a bit, running towards it. "Now that I know how to use it!"

Aelita jumps into her sister's racecar, and together, they take off. Ulrich laughs as he seems to have gotten the hang of the Overboard.

* * *

Yumi is running while Odd is on all fours. Amy flies above them down the hall. "_Stop_!" They all screech to a stop. "_To the right_!"

They turn right, only to be met with a locked door. "It's locked, Jeremy!"

"_Okay, I'll hack the lock. Just give me a couple of seconds_."

Yumi glances at the couple. "Odd, you know Ulrich pretty well. Why'd he do it?"

"Oh, are you still hung up on that dumb photograph?" He asks casually while sitting on the steps.

"I wanna know why, that's all!" Yumi exclaims at him.

"She deserves to know what kind of a jerk somebody would have to be to do something like this," Amy crosses her arms at Odd. He winces at her statement, sighing lightly.

"I don't know why, maybe he...uh, maybe it's because he wanted you to notice him!"

"Unbelievable," Amy pinches her nose.

"Weird way to do it," Yumi stares at the cat boy.

"Well, he's not always that bright, and besides, they say that love can make you a little crazy," He winks at her, and she just stares at him in confusion.

"What did you just say?"

"That Ulrich isn't always that bright?" Odd rubs the back of his head.

"Uh-uh, after that," Yumi points at the boy. "And will one of you tell me why Amy won't talk to you, Odd?"

"No!" Amy exclaims in defense.

"_It's open, get going_." The door opens behind them.

"Sorry, no time to chat, Yumi. Let's go!" Odd runs inside the room.

"Mm, yeah..." She decides to let it go for now. The two girls follow Odd inside.

* * *

William reaches the tower and the ship, stopping in front of them.

"Hey, William!" Ulrich calls out, and he turns around to see the two coming in. Ulrich jumps off the Overboard so that it could hit William. William dodges out of the way and it hits the tower instead. Aelita flies into the air, getting out of the OverRunner. "Oh no, Odd's precious Overboard, huh?"

He'll gladly do it again for the sake of what Odd did with Yumi.

Aelita stares at William as he makes his sword appear. Ulrich pulls out his weapons, dodging William's blows. He spins around and swings, missing. William swings at him, and Ulrich flips backwards. William leaps forward towards him, but he leaps backwards, the sword getting stabbed into the ground. William pulls at his sword, getting hit from behind.

Aelita flies in, energy field ready.

* * *

"_Jeremy, what do we do with the supercomputer? _Should we bust everything or should we finesse it?" The trio are staring down at the machine.

"_I think finessing it would be a safer bet_," Jeremy explains as they stand down with their weapons. "_Describe the thing to me_."

"Well, there are a lot of wires and a ton of electric thing-a-majigs."

"What vocabulary," Amy snorts at her.

"_Thanks, that's a big help_," Jeremy replies sarcastically. "_You're gonna have to be a little more specific_."

Aelita and Ulrich are fighting William together, Aelita hitting him with another energy field. "All good, Jeremy. We took care of William."

"Perfect!" He smiles at this news. "It's smooth sailing from now on! _Yumi, Odd, Amy, I think the supercomputer is based on a Russian M13 machine!_"

"_Da, if you say so, comrade_!" Odd just agrees with him since he doesn't know what it is.

"Give me a couple of minutes, and I'll tell you how to destroy it," Something else pops up on his screen and he raises a brow at it. "What do you know?"

"Jeremy, what's going on?" Aelita asks in front of the tower.

"_XANA's consolidating the energy from all of the replicas_!" He explains, to their surprise. "And I'm not talking about just two or three!"

"_Why is he doing it_?" Aelita questions curiously.

"I wish I knew..."

Her question is answered a few seconds later as there's a big thump. They look at their feet and it happens again.

"What was that?"

"I have no idea," Aelita answers him, and it happens a third time. Suddenly, a giant monster made out od rocks and lava steps in. She glances at her friend. "What's that noise?"

"It's coming from...behind us!"

She gasps as it's coming closer, and they finally see it. "That's incredible..."

The two step back out of shock. "Jeremy?"

"Ulrich! I'm getting something on my screen! What is it? Ulrich? Aelita?"

He gets no answer as they stare at it. "We've got a new monster to deal with, Jeremy, and he's gigantic!" Ulrich exclaims as it comes closer. "Any idea how to get rid of it?"

"_Sorry, guys, but I don't. Not for now_. _There's only one solution: Run_!"

And that's exactly what they do as they run away from the tower. Aelita fires her energy field while Ulrich throws his sword. Neither have any effect as the projectile is absorbed, the sword flying away from the monster once hit. It swings a giant arm in front of them, sliding forward and devirtualizing both of them in a single hit!

Jeremy watches both of their ID Cards disappear. The two appear in the scanners.

"Jeremy, XANA has created a new kind of monster!" Aelita reports to him. "And he's gigantic! He could destroy the Skid in a fraction of a second!"

The new monster steps forward, walking towards the ship. And with the others still in Siberia, there's nothing to do to stop it...

Jeremy debates something in his head before contacting the others. "_Amy, Yumi, Odd._"

"Has he got any info?" Odd glances at the two. "Not that we're bored or anything, but uh..."

"_I'm gonna bring you in_."

"Huh? We're so close now," Yumi gestures to the computer.

"Why bring us in before we can even destroy it?" Amy can't help but ask, confused.

"_We have no choice_. If not, you can stay virtualized forever! So let's not waste any time. Energize Odd. Energize Amy. Energize Yumi."

Odd appears in his Nav Skid first and he recoils back in shock once looking outside. "Wow, that's this chunky hunk doing here?"

The fairy lands in the pilot seat and sees the monster as well. "What the heck is that thing?!" Amy exclaims at it.

"He's probably as mean as he is ugly," Odd adds in. Once Yumi is in, her eyes open in shock.

"Jeremy, major trouble, get us out of here now!"

"You got it. Docking release."

The Skid is released from the tower and Amy drives it away before the monster could destroy them in one hit. She flies it towards the Digital Sea.

"Close one. Good work, Einstein," Odd replies as she flies it higher into the air. Jeremy places down his headphone in relief.

"He's a mountain, not a monster," Aelita points out from the left.

"I can't wait to see what Odd's gonna call him," Ulrich smirks in amusement.

* * *

"Hmm, the Kolossus, with a K like in KO!" He smiles once he's come up with the name.

"I dunno who's gonna get KO'd, but the name sure suits him."

"We'll never make it now. Soon as we try to set foot on a replica, he'll be there to devirtualize us before we can say Lyoko," Yumi points out.

"He's definitely stronger than the regular monsters based on what you guys told us," Amy crosses her arms.

"One thing is sure, we gotta change our strategy. Because right now, XANA controls hundreds of supercomputers all over the world. We'll never be able to destroy all of them..." Jeremy rubs his chin as he thinks.

"Got anything in mind?" Aelita asks him.

"No, nothing yet. But I'm working on it!" He gives her a wink.

Odd lets out a yawn. "Stick with it. But I'm ready to stick to my pillow right now. If not, I'll sleep through my math test tomorrow!"

* * *

The group walk down the bridge to return to Kadic. "I'm warning you, Odd, if you don't tell Yumi the truth about the picture, I will, you understand?" Ulrich threatens him.

"I want to, but I can't. I'm too chicken..."

Ulrich pulls him forward. "Do it if you don't wanna get plucked! And I don't think you can really handle your own girlfriend not talking to you for the rest of your life!" They look up ahead as Amy is chatting with her sister.

"Okay, okay, but let me think it over a little."

"Yeah, how long?" Ulrich leans in towards him.

"Mm, a hundred years?"

Ulrich grits his teeth, moving him away as Yumi approaches. "Can I talk to you, Ulrich?"

"Well, I'm off to bed! See you guys, see you!" Odd nervously crawls down a ladder.

"I had a talk with Odd about the photo..." He glances at her, waiting for her to speak again. "And I think I understand why you did it."

"But there's something you oughta know, I-"

"No, no, let me talk," She shakes her head, interrupting him. "Let me talk, okay? You wanted to get my attention, didn't you? I guess you thought if we had a fight, that I would start thinking about you all the time." She smiles, confusing him.

"Huh?"

"You don't need that to get my attention," She kisses his forehead, walking off. "Next time, try talking to me instead of doing something so dumb. Goodnight."

He blushes as he waves to her, baffled. "U-uh, g-goodnight!"

* * *

Yumi arrives home, her phone ringing. "Hey Odd, what's the matter?"

"You see, I can't go on being such a coward," He looks up at Amy, who is watching him speak. She gave him a choice: either fess up or she wouldn't ever speak to him again. "I wanna tell you the truth, the photo prank was me."

"WHAT?!" She shouts at him so loud he moves his phone away from his ear.

"Ulrich took the blame to cover for me, but he's innocent. You're not still mad, are you? Let's forget about it and start from square one tomorrow, okay?"

She simply hangs up, punching the gate open. "What a bunch of dorks!"

"Y-Yumi? You still there? Yumi?" He asks as Ulrich arrives.

"Odd, something wrong?"

"No, you?" He replies, hanging up.

"No, I'm cool."

"Good job, Odd," Amy kisses his cheek and he giggles with a big smile on his face. "But don't you dare do something like that again."

"I'm sorry, Ames. You were right to be mad, I was being a jerk and a coward."

"Well, you did tell the truth, so I can forgive you," She smiles a bit as he takes her hand and they leave towards the dorms.

* * *

The next morning, there's a new paper out. "Get your Kadic News here! Extra!" Tamiya waves a paper.

"The Kadic News: How to be the first in line for your medical check-up, another easy, quick recipe—liverwurst pancakes, and an exclusive picture of Odd and Ulrich, that you're definitely not going to wanna miss!" Milly announces as they walk by.

"What, did you photoshop this thing?" Jeremy looks up as they're in the courtyard.

"No way, I took it when they were coming out of the shower," Yumi whistles innocently.

"I helped," Amy smirks in amusement, hands behind her back. Jeremy pushes up his glasses. Odd is running away from an angry roommate.

"You told me to tell her, didn't you?!" He calls out as he moves past trees.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Ulrich shouts in anger. Amy smiles proudly, crossing her arms.

"This is why I'm glad Odd tells me when he showers," She comments and they all laugh, watching the two.


	97. Down to Earth

"Hang on, let me get this straight," Odd speaks up as they're near the vending machines. "You and Einstein spent an entire weekend together and all you did was work?" He asks Aelita incredibly.

"Well, we had to work on the super scan," Aelita answers as Amy gets her drink, walking up to them.

"Yeah, right. You guys are worse than Yumi and Ulrich!"

Both of their eyes widen in alarm. "Hey!" Ulrich exclaims at him, Amy giggling.

"Well, it's true. You're always trying to convince us that you're just good friends and all that stuff," Odd replies nonchalantly, the two blushing towards each other.

"Hey, what about you? It took you a year to tell Amy you liked her," Ulrich points a finger at Odd's chest.

"I didn't even know I had feelings for my Ames until a year later," Odd pouts, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, compared to you guys, we beat you," Amy replies, sipping her drink as the boy holds her hand.

"By the way, where is Einstein?"

"I don't know, I'm a little worried about him," Aelita states, "Ever since he found out that XANA had infected hundreds of super computers around the world, he's always at the factory, here in his room, and..." Her phone rings and she looks at the screen. "That's him now! Yes Jeremy? Oh, I was beginning to worry, where are you?"

Jeremy appears right behind her. "Right behind you!"

"You're so silly," She giggles as she hangs up.

"Einstein a comedian? Hm, you were right to be worried about him, I don't think he's all there!" Ulrich smiles in amusement. Aelita giggles at his joke.

"Got some good news, Jeremy?" Yumi wonders, since he wouldn't come out of his room unless it was important.

"Just a little. I finally figured out a way to wipe out XANA!"

This news causes everyone to stare at him in shock.

* * *

"Huh? Are you absolutely sure? A multi-agent system?" Yumi asks once they've heard the explanation.

"Yup, that's it! I decided to go over all of Franz Hopper's notes again," He pushes up his glasses. "As well as the data he sent from the network when he was escaping from Lyoko. And of course, the data you gathered when you were traveling on the Skid. And that's when I realized that if we wanna get rid of XANA, it's through a system of multi-agents!"

"It sounds pretty dangerous," Aelita speaks up. "Don't you think? I mean, because XANA himself is a multi-agent system. And don't forget what happened with the Marabounta!"

"That was definitely a disaster I don't want repeated," Amy pinches her nose.

"Yeah, Ames and Aelita are right," Odd agrees with them. "You know, Frankenstein, that was a pretty creepy invention!"

"Will you stop worrying?" He has an embarrassed smile on his face. "I'm not gonna launch my program until I'm totally sure it's gonna work! Right now, all that I can destroy are two or three megatanks. On the other hand..."

"Go on, we're listening," Ulrich says after the slight pause.

"XANA made a really big mistake when he teleported William during your last mission to the ice sector replica."

"And the data I found in the tower, was it of any use to you?" Aelita points up to him.

"Was it ever! Thanks to that data, I was able to imagine a program for freeing William!"

"Hm?" Yumi raises a brow. "You mean for good?"

"You bet for good! And it's so simple. All Aelita has to do is get to the supercomputer that corresponds to the ice sector replica, and a run a program at the exact moment that one of you devirtualizes William." Aelita looks a bit worried, as does her older sister.

"Oh wow, that's simple, alright," Yumi turns away, hands behind her back. "Piece of cake, huh?"

"It's pretty precise and specific," Amy sighs a little.

"And you think William's just gonna twiddle his thumbs while Aelita enters the program?" Ulrich asks the genius.

"I said it was simple, but not easy," Jeremy shrugs at them.

"You forgot one little detail. What if XANA sends us King Kong like he did last time?" Odd turns to him.

"Oh, the Kolossus? Think of him as just another one of XANA's monsters that you've gotta fight against."

"Heh," Ulrich scoffs as he sits up. "Maybe we should introduce you to him. Then you'd understand."

"Exact moment, he says. Another one of XANA's monsters he says," Amy rolls her eyes. "Unless you wanna come and fight it, you don't know what we have to deal with here!"

"Hey, fighting happens to be your job, mine happens to be programming," Jeremy gestures to himself. "You all know that!"

"If there's a chance of bringing the real William back, then what are we waiting for? Let's go," Aelita smiles encouragingly.

"Yeah, no reason to wait," Jeremy smiles, rubbing his chin. "Everyone to the factory!"

"What? Like now?" Odd asks in alarm as he's the last one to leave. "But they've got tuna casserole, sauerkraut and sausages for lunch today!"

"You can have lunch tonight! Let's go."

"Anyone ever tell you you eat dinner at night?!" Odd exclaims as he runs into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

* * *

"William!" Jim shouts, frowning. William 2 walks over to him. "Didn't you hear me call you, Dunbar?"

"No. I'm sorry, but I don't have a phone." If he did, he'd spent most of his time trying to figure out how it worked...

"Trying to be clever, huh? I'm not that dumb. If you think you can pull the wool over my ears, you're wrong! Your parents are here to see you," Jim tells him.

"My parents? But who are they?" William 2 isn't aware that the real William actually has a family...

"Hey, would you stop acting so stupid, Dunbar? They're waiting for you in the principal's office, so get going! Go on, now!"

"I'm certain William will be delighted to see you," Mr. Delmas says to Mr and Mrs. Dunbar. "He's changed quite a bit as you'll see, especially since that trip you all went on."

The two turn to each other in confusion, since Jeremy was acting as Mr. Dunbar at the time. "What trip? We didn't go on any trip."

The door knocks before Mr. Delmas can elaborate. "Ah, yes, there he is now. Come in!"

They turn to the door, but it doesn't open. "Come in, I said!"

Still nothing and the principal walks up to the door. He opens it for William 2. "What's the matter, William? Didn't you hear me tell you to come in?"

"I did, but the door wasn't open," He replies dumbly.

"Oh...well, your parents are here."

William 2 steps into the room. "Is everything alright, darling? You seem to be a little out of sorts..."

"That's right, but I never had any sorts to begin with."

"You were right, he certainly has changed," Mr. Dunbar looks up at the principal.

* * *

Jeremy taps a key as the others are already on Lyoko. "Holo web system online. Aelita, I'm sending you the ice sector replica coordinates."

"_Alright, Jeremy_," The entrance to the network opens and the Skid flies out.

"Rotation," Aelita tilts the lever towards her and the Skid moves so that it's facing horizontally. They take off into the network. "Here we go."

* * *

"What'll it be? Tuna casserole or sauerkraut and sausages?" Rosa asks once William 2 and his—well, the parents are in line.

"Uh, you wouldn't by any chance have anything lighter?" Mrs. Dunbar questions in concern.

"Sauerkraut's light, you'll see," She places it on the shocked woman's plate, and she moves away from the line. William 2 stands in front of her. "So, William, my boy, how's it going?"

He glances up at her. "It goes any direction I want it to," He replies dumbly.

"Huh?" She starts laughing at him. "You kill me, William! What a cut-up. Here, have some of this," She gives him sauerkraut. "This'll stick to your ribs!"

"I can't eat it if it's on my ribs..." He walks away, confusing the two. Mr. Dunbar gets his food as they could only look on in concern.

The Skid tilts back vertically. "High speed acceleration in 3 seconds." It goes through the opening and they continue on their way to the replica.

Mrs. Dunbar is staring at the clone as he's not even touching his food. "Ah, Mr and Mrs. Dunbar," Jim approaches their table. "Hello, I'm really glad to meet you. You know, that son of yours, he's really quite a piece of work."

"I'm not just any piece of work," William 2 speaks up. "To be specific, I'm a digitally generated random polymorphic energy field controlled by a basic non-evolving behavioral program."

They stare at him, wondering just what that was supposed to mean. "Uh, chip off the old black, huh?" Jim glances away awkwardly. "Well, I'll leave you now. I'm sure you have lots to talk about together, huh?" He chuckles a bit, walking away.

"Your father and I were wondering, William," Mrs. Dunbar starts off as she turns to the clone. "...Why you don't call us much at the moment."

"You're right here in front of me. If I called, you wouldn't be home."

She blinks at him, her mouth open as she cringes at her husband.

* * *

"I've got a visual on the replica," Aelita stops the Skid in front of the replica entrance. She pulls down the lever so that the ship is vertical again. "Digital key activated," She presses her hand against the interface. The Skid connects to the symbol.

"_Good work, Aelita. I'll let you in._"

Jeremy gets the door open a few seconds later, the door slowly creaking. The ship enters inside and then they emerge into the ice sector replica. Aelita flies the ship upwards.

"Okay, no sign of any activated tower. There's a tower south south-west of your position. You can dock the Skid there. I'm gonna teleport you with Odd and Amy," Jeremy tells Aelita.

"_Gotcha._"

A few moments later, the trio are teleported into Siberia, landing one by one. Amy opens her wings and flies above the two since it's not snowing. She takes the lead as she flies over to the door, Aelita peeking inside. There doesn't seem to be anyone inside from what she sees, but she's not letting her guard down...

The door opens and Odd steps inside. "Jeremy, everything's cool, we're inside the base," Aelita reports to him.

"_That's great, make it fast. XANA's bound to rear his ugly head pretty soon_."

"Mhm," Odd gestures to the hallway. "After you, my fairy!"

Amy giggles and flies inside, dropping her wings. She lands on the ground safely as Aelita steps in next. The girls lead the way.

* * *

"Are you trying to tell me he isn't your son?" Mr. Delmas asks the two parents as they're speaking in his office. "But you are the parents of William Dunbar...?" He rubs his chin.

"Of the real William Dunbar," Mr. Dunbar slams down his hands. "Our son is a dynamic and rebellious youngster who was expelled from the last school he attended for gluing stickers all over the school! Including on the principal's windshield."

"I don't recall you ever telling me that when you enrolled him here at Kadic," The principal pushes up his glasses, giving them an accusing look.

Mr. Dunbar's eyes widen. "Well, uh...mm..."

Even his wife is glaring at him since she didn't enroll him herself. In fact, he said he would handle it on his own. "Well, what if I did?! That's not the point! I'm telling you, this child is not my son!" He gestures to the clone, who hasn't said a word.

"Hmm. Well, it's true that your son has been behaving somewhat strangely these past few weeks...but I can assure you that this is the one and only William Dunbar we know!" He points to William 2. Mr. Dunbar steps up to him.

"Tell me, sir. You said earlier that William had taken some sort of trip? What trip were you referring to?"

He's a bit hesitant to say, since he can tell that they're not familiar with it. "Oh, well, of course the trip he took overseas with you, just before he came down with that terrible flu!"

"What flu?" Mrs. Dunbar turns to the two, and Mr. Dunbar simply turns to William. They don't remember him being sick, because he was supposed to be in school during the time. The two hadn't really seen their real son since his first year...

* * *

Yumi and Ulrich are standing guard in front of the replica tower. "It's crazy: I can't believe we're actually going to bring home the real William!" Yumi states, Ulrich closing his eyes. He couldn't help but think that she sounds happy...

"Yeah, but in the meantime, let's hope his clone is keeping out of trouble."

"Ulrich, I hope..." Yumi pauses for a second. "That when we set William free, you won't be jealous if he starts hanging around me again.

"Uh, no," He stammers, as much as he hates that fact, he knew that one day they'd bring him back... "Why should I? There's no reason to. After all, we decided that we were just good friends, didn't we?"

She gives a sad look, turning away. "_Yumi, Ulrich_," Jeremy interrupts the conversation. "_Sorry to bother you, but speaking of William, the radar shows him coming in dead ahead."_

They look up ahead. "Uh huh. Speak of the devil," Ulrich replies sarcastically, Yumi giving him a small smile. "There he is!"

He's approaching on a Manta, another one beside him. "_Try to slow him down. Here come your vehicles._"

"Okay." The Overwing and Overbike appear in front of their owners. They jump on and take off to lead William away from the tower. Something pops up on Jeremy's screen, causing him to stop working. His eyes widen at it.

"What bothers me most is that XANA is drawing energy from all the replicas and I'm sure that means trouble..." He just wished he knew what it meant for them and Lyoko... "Aelita, Odd, Amy, how's it going?"

They step into a room where ice is surrounding the door. "We're coming into the main room. Wow! It's a lot more crowded than the last time we were here."

"Why?" Jeremy asks Odd. "What do you see over there?"

"_Jeremy._.." Aelita speaks up. "_There are dozens of robots in here. All lined up like an army waiting for orders_."

"So that could be XANA's secret plan: to use an army of robots to enslave all of mankind!" He narrows his eyes, leaning back in his chair. "_Get to the supercomputer room as fast as you can_!"

"We're on our way," Aelita states as they walk across the catwalk, right above all the robots. Amy flies over them, her wings slowly flapping.

Yumi and Ulrich are still moving away from the tower. "Leave pretty boy to me!" Ulrich calls out to Yumi.

"Don't forget, we're just about to slow him down," Yumi reminds him.

"No problem," He nods in agreement, speeding up. William and the Manta continue to chase him. The second Manta fires at them and Yumi swerves out of the way. They head for the enemies straight forward.

"Go on!" William waves the other Manta forward, and it flies off.

The three go down the stairs. "Hi guys!" Odd greets the robots. They're so shiny they can see their reflection from them. "They're not much on conversation, that's for sure."

Amy giggles a bit as she stops in front of the door. "Open up, Grandma! It's Little Red Riding Hood! Uh, pink that is," He glances at the girls, the two smiling in amusement.

"I'm working on the door," Jeremy gets to work. Aelita looks over her shoulder to examine the robots.

"It's scary looking at all those robots standing at attention," She comments to the two.

"It sure is," Odd stands in front of the door, looking at all of them. "Hey! One of them just moved!"

"What?!" Amy whips around to look at them.

"Where? Which one?" Aelita asks in alarm. Odd laughs at their expressions.

"Will you two relax? I was just kidding!"

"Oh!" Aelita gasps at him in disbelief, Amy slightly glaring at him. "Dumbbell!" She turns around, crossing her arms.

"You are such a jerk sometimes..." The fairy rolls her eyes at her boyfriend.

"But you love me anyway~" He winks at her and she gives a small amused smile. He stares in confusion as he looks up ahead. "Hey, one of them just moved!"

"It's not funny this time either!" Aelita exclaims, refusing to turn around.

"We're not falling for that again," Amy huffs slightly.

"Only it's no joke this time!" He interjects and they turn around to see the robots coming to life. They stomp their feet as they move forward towards the trio. "Uh, Einstein? Tell us you found us the right key, because things are getting kind of weird around here!"

William's Manta fires at Ulrich and his Overbike. "I feel a storm brewing!" He pulls out his sword as the Manta flies upwards. Ulrich jumps forward from his bike and stabs the monster underneath. "Impact!"

The Manta explodes, knocking William off it. "Last stop, everybody off," Ulrich jokes as William lands on his feet. He glares towards his opponent.

The robots are getting closer to the stairs, Amy stepping forward as Odd stands in front of Aelita.

"Sheild!" they both exclaim, deflecting the lasers from the robots.

"Jeremy, hurry up! The robots are firing at us!" Aelita exclaims in a panic.

"_I'm almost there_," He reports to them. "_Hang on_!"

The robots step further towards the three. "Easy for you to say!" Odd calls out. Aelita fires an energy field, knocking several of them down. But there are still more approaching them.

Amy throws her hand to fire a few arrows, defeating a few.

Jeremy looks up with a smile. "I got it!" The symbol changes from red to green.

"Laser arrow!"

"Energy field!"

"Ice Flame!"

All three of them throw attacks at the robots, the door finally opening behind them. "Odd, let's go!" Aelita runs off, followed by Odd and Amy. She opens up her wings, but a laser hits her back from behind. She lets out a small cry of pain, managing to get inside.

"Ames!"

"Are you okay?" Aelita helps her stand.

"My wings..." She murmurs and they can guess what happened.

"Come on," Odd carries her piggy back style and starts to run.

"Jeremy, it's a nightmare!" Aelita exclaims as the robots are on their tail.

"_Try to go to the supercomputer room. I'll see what the others are up to_," Jeremy instructs as they come to a stop, looking around.

"This way!" Odd points to the right and Aelita follows them.

The second Manta gets destroyed by Yumi's fan before it can even fire. She catches her weapon, turning around.

William clashes swords with Ulrich, swinging back and forth. Ulrich deflects each one with his swords. William swings again, but he jumps over it. He then ducks from the weapon, swinging his leg to knock William to the ground. He looks up to see Ulrich swinging at him, and he jumps out of the way.

"Super smoke!" He turns into smoke once he jumps into the air, landing in the Digital Sea.

"Jeremy, you see that?" Ulrich looks up.

"_Yeah, and I don't like it at all_." It seems as if William has given up.

"So much for bringing him back home..." His statement is contradicted as the ground is shaking again. And he unfortunately knew this feeling...large horns rise from the water.

"_That's it, the Kolossus! That's why XANA was drawing energy from all the replicas_!" Jeremy exclaims as the large monster rises out of the water. The water falls from his body as he slowly stands up, Ulrich staring up at it in shock. William is standing on its right shoulder, looking smug.

Odd, with Amy still on his back, runs behind Aelita, who's taking the lead. "That way!" They run to the right. "Hurry, Einstein, open up the door!"

"_Hang on, I've got an emergency on the replica_."

Amy looks over her shoulder in worry as the robots are standing a few feet away. "Shield!" She cries out, a shield covering her back as Odd stands in front of the pink-haired girl.

"Super sprint!" Ulrich runs up to the Kolossus, jumping into the air. He lands on the arm, struggling to hang on. He manages to gain his balance, climbing up the arm. The big monster takes a few steps forward, and Ulrich looks at the XANA symbol on the arm.

Yumi comes to a stop in front of the monster as she arrives. "I've gotcha now!" She throws her fan as hard as she can, hitting the eye...but the weapon disintegrates once it's touched. William just smiles wickedly as he watches her fly around.

"You're not gonna bring him down that way!" Ulrich calls out to her.

"I don't get it, I was right on target!" She gestures to the monster. "He should have been destroyed!"

"No, I saw another target on his arm," Ulrich points to the left arm. "It's not gonna be easy getting rid of him."

The Kolossus continues moving, Yumi flying up ahead. "Concentrate your efforts on William. I'll try to get you a hand with the Kolossus, okay?" Jeremy tells the two.

"_How are you gonna do that_?!" Ulrich exclaims at him.

"I'm gonna launch the multi-agent program," He states, Ulrich jumping further up the arm of the giant monster. He jumps over the lava-like substance.

"Will it destroy him?"

"No, the program isn't finished, but it might immobilize him long enough to devirtualize William," Jeremy taps a key, activating the program. It spreads out and turns into ice, trapping the monster in place. He slams a fist against the ice, trying to break it, but it has no effect.

"No!" William shouts at this.

"Looks like it's working, Jeremy," Ulrich smiles in relief. "He doesn't seem to be getting anywhere."

"_Fantastic, Jeremy! The Kolossus is paralyzed_!" Yumi compliments the genius and he smiles proudly.

"Amy, Odd, Aelita, I'm back to you now," He announces to them.

"_It's about time_!"

"Open sesame," He grins as he gets the door open.

"Come on, guys," Aelita urges the couple.

"No, we'll hold them off! Get William home!" He tells her, Amy jumping off his back. Odd creates another shield as they stand side-by-side.

"We're counting on you, sis!" Amy looks over her shoulder. "Now hurry!"

Aelita runs down the hall as the two drop the shields. Odd jumps into the air while Amy manages to bring back her wings, flying over Odd. He fires his laser arrows at the robots and they fall onto the ground.

"_Aelita, there's a terminal next door_," Jeremy instructs her. She runs past the supercomputer and enters the next room. "Alright Jeremy, I'm there."

"Okay, now listen up. I'm gonna dictate the program. Enter it word for word and we'll be just fine."

She runs inside the room and places herself at a station. "I'm ready, Jeremy. Go ahead."

Ulrich jumps towards William, swords ready. "It's just you and me, William!"

He creates his sword out of smoke as they charge at each other, swords clashing. William slams it harder against Ulrich's swords. He turns around and kicks William onto the arm.

"Go easy, Ulrich," Yumi calls out as she flies above the head. "Jeremy said we have to wait before we devirtualize William!"

"Sorry, but right now, it's him or me!" Ulrich turns around to his opponent.

Aelita is typing while Amy and Odd are dealing with more robots in front of them.

"Laser Arrow!"

"Shattering Ice!" Amy sends tiny little shards to a robot as Odd's laser arrow hits the other.

"Hey uglies, you don't look so stainless now!" He fires another arrow, looking at the pile of robots in front of them.

"Uhh, you might as well say it to them too!" Amy points up ahead as another army arrives.

"Hey, don't go inviting your pals! We can't entertain everybody! Well, maybe Ames could."

"Odd-" Before she can scold him, they both get hit by the robots, teleported back to the Skid. Aelita hits enter, leaning back.

"It's entered, Jeremy."

"Alright, Aelita...get ready to launch the program," He adjusts his glasses, preparing himself. "_Ulrich, Yumi, when I give you the signal, devirtualize William_."

"Okay," Ulrich jumps forward, William blocking his sword with his arm.

"Huh? What's going on around here?" Jeremy stares at the screen.

The Kolossus slowly moves around before he breaks free. "Jeremy, the Kolossus is breaking free!"

"_I know, the multi-agent system doesn't have enough power_..."

Yumi isn't paying attention when the Overwing flies into the arm of the monster, devirtualizing her. "Oh, that hurt..." She murmurs from the scanner.

The door opens and Aelita looks up to see the robots. "Jeremy, the robots are here!" She grits her teeth, readying her energy fields. She throws them at the robots.

The Kolossus is on its way to the docked tower and the Skid. Ulrich flips over William's sword, getting tackled. They continue clashing as they fall, landing safely. They manage to maneuver around the foot, William landing on the ground. Ulrich points his sword at him.

"Jeremy!" He looks up.

"Aelita...right now!"

She stops firing and presses enter. However, William disappears before Ulrich could devirtualize him. "Huh?" Then he looks up at the big foot. "NO!" Before he could super sprint, the Kolossus steps on him, devirtualizing the boy.

"_I don't believe this! Ulrich_!" Jeremy exclaims in horror.

William reappears behind the monster, chuckling.

Ulrich falls out of the scanner.

The robots fire at Aelita, and she's brought back to the Skid. "NO!" Jeremy shouts and it seems like it's all over for them...

William watches the Kolossus approaching the Skid in glee, clenching a fist. "Victory!"

He's hit from behind and devirtualized by Odd and Amy. "Better luck next time, handsome!"

"That felt good," Amy smiles a bit.

Jeremy looks at the ID Card popping up in shock. "YEAH!" He cheers for his friends.

The scanner opens and William finally steps out, shocking Yumi and Ulrich. Ulrich gets onto his feet and they blink, unsure if it was a trick again. But then the boy smiles up at them.

"William!" They run up to him, helping him stand.

Odd looks towards the Skid in worry. "Oh no...the heap is already near the Skid! Jeremy, we can't do anything from here."

"Yeah, I saw."

"Wait...Aelita is in there!" Amy's eyes widen.

"_Aelita, get out of there fast_!" Jeremy's voice wakes her up and she looks outside to see the giant monster. It raises the giant arm. "NO!" It swings and hits the window, knocking Aelita around inside.

"AELITA!" Amy screams, Odd holding her back. The Skid drifts all the way to the edge, one of the Nav Skids falling into the Digital Sea.

"Aelita! No!" Jeremy screams as the ship falls, smoke coming from it. And Aelita goes into the sea with the ship.

"Oh, Aelita..."

Amy starts to cry, turning around and hugging Odd. He hugs her back, looking towards the edge with a small frown on his face.

A scanner opens in front of Yumi. "It's okay, Jeremy, Aelita's here with us."

"Aelita...I was never so scared for my life," Jeremy smiles in relief and she smirks.

"Lucky for me, I was devirtualized just before the Skid was totally destroyed."

"Yeah. And what's more, we saved William!" Jeremy points out. The boy looks up at Yumi.

"I did a pretty good job, didn't I?"

"Ahh..." Yumi looks up at the others and they decide to keep quiet.

* * *

"Mr and Mrs. Dunbar are right," Sissi tells her father in his office. "There's some really weird things going on at this Academy."

"There, you see that?" Mr. Dunbar gestures to the girl. "Even your own daughter agrees with me!"

"What are you talking about, Elizabeth dear?" He stares at her in surprise.

"Well," She starts off. "At first William was more or less normal. But ever since he started hanging out with Jeremy Belpois' gang, he turned into a real space cowboy. I don't know exactly what they'd done to him-"

"What was that?" Mr. Dunbar interrupts.

"But if you ask me, Belpois is using him for some sort of mini pig!"

"It's guinea pig, dear," Her father corrects her. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure!" She defends to him. "After all, I am your daughter, so I'm always right!"

"I'd still like to know more about this flu you said he had," Mr. Dunbar points to the principal accusingly. "And that imaginary trip! And the only way to find out is to talk to this, uh...Belpois!"

* * *

Jim leads all of them to Jeremy's room. "This is it," He knocks on the door, but gets no answer. "No one's there."

"Listen, this nonsense has gone long enough!" Mr. Dunbar exclaims, pointing at the clone. "I'm going to call the authorities! We'll run some tests and see if he's my son or not!"

Amy, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich peek from the boys' room. "Ready, Aelita? Now's the time!"

"Okay," She's at the lab with Jeremy. "Now."

Jeremy deactivates the tower that created the clone. And then the clone completely disappears out of thin air.

"Please, try to calm down, sir!" Mr. Delmas tries to ease the parents. Jim looks to William and screams.

"There, he—there!" No one else is around the hall.

"Will you calm down as well, Jim? What's the matter with you?"

"He was here...and-and then he wasn't here! He evaporated!" Jim stammers to his boss.

"But he's still here, look Jim!" The principal gestures to the real William. Jim blinks in shock.

"But I swear, he was here, and then he wasn't here! And now he's here again."

"Uh, you could use a day or two off," The principal states, the four teenagers giggling.

"As you can see, I'm here. And yes, Dad, this nonsense has gone on long enough," William speaks up.

"Oh? William?" Mr. Dunbar stares at him.

"It's true that I haven't been quite myself lately, but I'm fine now, really. Sorry I worried you."

"Oh, darling!" The two parents embrace him in relief, the others confused.

* * *

"You think he can live a normal life after all this?" Aelita asks as they stare at William talking to his parents.

"He's gonna have to. Luckily he can't remember exactly what happened to him. Although he does know that he was under XANA's power," Jeremy explains to them.

"Well, if you ask me, I'm gonna miss his clone," Odd speaks up. "He was a lot more fun at least!"

"Don't say that, Odd! XANA's just lost one of his most dangerous weapons, William!"

"Don't forget the clone sometimes gave us trouble too," Amy crosses her arms.

"In the meantime, we lost the Skid," Yumi furrows her eyebrows. "It'll take months to program another one."

"I guess we can forget about wiping out other replicas now," Ulrich comments in disdain.

"And what about those robots in Siberia? The army that XANA's created to take over the entire world?" Aelita glances away.

"That's why the only hope we've got of ever beating XANA is my multi-agent system. I'll get back on it tonight."

Yumi looks up ahead to William, who waves at her. Her eyes widen in surprise before she waves back. Ulrich looks between the two in worry...


	98. Fight to the Finish

_Franz Hopper was being attacked by Mantas on Lyoko in Sector 5. Aelita and Amy were nearby as they watched. "Daddy, no! Energy field!" Aelita fired an energy field, but missed. The Mantas ignored them in favor of attacking their father, and before Amy could do anything, the orb exploded._

"_No!"_

The brunette and pinkette sit up with a scream. "Not again," Amy murmurs, holding her head. Aelita steps out first, Amy tending to Kiki and the puppies. She looks towards the open door in worry. These nightmares hadn't appeared for a while now...and the recent one meant something...

Aelita closes the door to the showers. She turned on the water and let it wash over her...

* * *

Jeremy is at his computer per usual as someone knocks on his door. "Come in."

Aelita steps in wearing her pajamas. "How come you're not asleep at this hour?" He looks over his shoulder to the girl.

"Because it's time to get up," She stares at him in confusion.

"Oh wow," He murmurs to himself. "Time sure does fly." He's so focused on the screen he hadn't even realized the time or the sun outside.

"Jeremy, you've hardly slept all week long," Aelita takes a seat on her bed. "You've gotta get some rest."

"I haven't got time," He turns to her with a small smile. "I've almost finished my multi-agent program."

"Already?" She asks in surprise.

"Yeah, we'll be able to attack replicas simultaneously! And soon we'll be able to wipe out XANA for good!"

"And you're ready to die of exhaustion for that?" She raises a brow at him.

"If that's what it takes, I am!" He turns back to his computer and she stands up, walking to the door.

"Breakfast time..." And with that, she leaves his room, leaving him to work.

William walks out of his room. "Well, Dunbar, good to see you've got your head screwed back on," Jim walks up to him. "You've gotta pace yourself, kid. Just because you're half as bright doesn't mean you'll go twice as far. Something like that."

He stares at the teacher in confusion before walking down the hall.

* * *

Ulrich takes a croissant, eating it. "Ugh! I wonder what they put in these croissants today, yuck!"

"I'll take 'em off your hands," Odd takes one and eats it.

"How can you eat those things, Odd?" Ulrich asks in disbelief.

"Just watch."

Yumi glances to the two sisters. "Are you worried about Jeremy?" Yumi asks the pinkette.

"Yes, but..." She turns to her friend. "That's not all." The boys stare at her. "Well, I've got a premonition that all of this stuff is gonna have a bad ending."

"Same here," Amy puts a hand to her cheek. "It's nothing like we've seen before..."

"Hey, don't worry. We're gonna get rid of XANA, Aelita," Yumi places a hand on Aelita's shoulder.

"That's for sure! He's no match for the one and only Odd the Magnificent!" Odd brags with croissant in his teeth.

"You're gonna scare 'im with those crumbs on your teeth," Ulrich jerks a thumb to his mouth and Odd covers it in embarrassment. Everyone around the table couldn't help but laugh at him. Amy smiles at all of them, feeling a little bit better.

William arrives at the cafeteria, Milly and Tamiya trailing after him. "William!"

"Would you mind answering a few questions for the Kadic News? There's a rumor going around that you've got a twin brother, can you confirm?"

He gives a look of annoyance. He really can't account for his clone's actions, not that he wants to. He looks over his shoulder. "All I can confirm is that I'm going to breakfast."

"Hey William," Matthias speaks up once he's got his breakfast. "Great gag, you had us all fooled. We really thought you'd lost it!"

He ignores the boy and continues forward. "And then Sissi asked me if spaghetti grew on trees or in the ground!" Odd states, earning laughter again.

"Hello." The laughter stops as they look to see William. "Can I sit down here?"

"Um..." Yumi looks up at him, unsure.

"Thanks a lot. I got the message," He starts to walk off.

"No William, don't go," Aelita calls out to him.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Aelita. I know when I'm not wanted..." He leaves the table and Aelita whips around to them.

"It's not fair of us to treat him like that. He's not our enemy now."

"Maybe not now," Odd narrows her eyes. "But he was XANA's trusty ally."

"Not of his own free will," Aelita points out.

"He doesn't have a good track record of being a team player," Amy crosses her arms.

"She's right, it was his fault too. If he hadn't tried playing the hero, the Scyphozoa wouldn't have caught him," Ulrich explains next.

"The Scyphozoa caught me too, and Amy. Lots of times, and it could have happened to you as well," Aelita states bluntly, Yumi turning to the boys.

"...Listen, we'll try to be nice to him, but he can't ever go to the factory."

"Yeah, okay," Aelita replies in defeat. "But Amy, we're sisters. I thought you would at least understand."

"I don't because he did a lot of stuff to us on Lyoko. He threw us into the Digital Sea, Aelita," Amy closes her eyes. "And targeted us on numerous occasions..."

"But he's living his life now without knowing what really happened," Aelita looks at her with a frown, getting a bit angry. "I know we can't forget what he did, but he's exactly like you before you found out that Franz Hopper was your father."

Amy leans in angrily. "Yeah well, I don't need to live in a computer for 10 years or to be possessed by XANA to know how to pass judgement on someone else." She stands up abruptly and leaves the table. "I don't need to listen to this."

Aelita huffs, crossing her arms. "Uh oh..." Yumi murmurs at this.

* * *

Jeremy is still hard at work, having skipped breakfast. Suddenly a chat pulls up, with the picture of Franz Hopper...

"Huh? Unbelievable!" He picks up his phone.

Aelita's phone rings and she answers it. "Jeremy...what?"

"Yeah, it was a message from Franz Hopper," Jeremy closes the door behind him. "He wants to meet us at the factory in 15 minutes."

"But...how do you know it's not a fake message?" Aelita narrows her eyes, because XANA did that to her before. "Sounds like a XANA tactic."

"I know, but it came just when I finished the program. That's no coincidence."

"You're right," She closes her eyes. "It could be my father."

"Better hurry."

"Be right there," She replies back, hanging up. Jeremy runs out of the dorms. "My father just sent Jeremy a message, sounds important. Let's head for the factory."

Their eyes widen in alarm and William glances at them. The four stand up and leave the table. William decides to follow them. They run into Amy near the park. "Message from your father. Hurry!" Yumi calls out and she runs up to them.

"Hey!" William calls out, getting their attention. "Anything wrong?" They glance to each other, silent. "If you want, I'd sure like to help."

"Uh, no, no, no, no, everything's cool. Thanks a lot. No attack in sight, so, uh, we don't really need you, William," Odd states to the boy.

"Well, that's a shame, because I've got a score to settle with XANA," He closes his eyes, wanting revenge for being possessed.

"Yeah well, some other time. Well, see you later." And with that, they run off.

Sissi is in the park, listening to the SubDigitals. Jeremy runs by and she watches him dash past the trees. "Well, well, well..." She pauses her walkman and walks after him. He closes the manhole cover and climbs down the ladder.

Sissi stops and looks around, not having seen where he went. "Huh...where could he have? He couldn't have just disappeared like that. Hey!" The five slide to a stop.

"Sissi!"

"First William and now Sissi? What is it now?" Amy murmurs to herself, rubbing a temple.

"Looking for your friend sourpuss, I guess?" She asks in annoyance.

"What are you doing here?"

"The park is still open to everybody, last time I heard. But what about you?" She stares at him and he says nothing. "You 5 look like you're in a hurry."

"Well, uh..." Ulrich stammers to the girl.

"We've got ah...water polo practice!" Yumi smiles nervously, hoping she'll buy it. "Uh, right now too!"

"Yeah," Ulrich chuckles anxiously and she has a blank look on her face. "And we're late too, uh...we've got practice in the gym with uh, Jim."

"Mmhm. I'm not as stupid as you think, what are you doing here?" She demands to them.

"Nothing at all," Odd states as the others run off. "Hey, you would look really great as a blonde, suits your personality! Bye now!" He runs off and she narrows her eyes.

"For once, I'm not mad that you said that about someone," Amy raises a brow at Odd as he joins her side. "And by how close she was, she must've seen Jeremy run by here."

Jeremy arrives at the bridge. Once he reaches the lab, the doors open in front of him. He runs inside just as the others are arriving in the boiler room. Ulrich pulls at the door knob, but it's locked.

"Bummer! Look, the door's locked!"

"That's the first time ever, bad sign," Odd comments at this.

"You can get in if we go outside of school," Aelita suggests, Ulrich pulling away from the doorknob.

"That's a long way to go," Yumi frowns a bit.

"Mmhm," Amy nods, crossing her arms. Aelita's phone rings again and she answers.

"Aelita? What are you waiting for, hurry up!" Jeremy narrows his eyes in annoyance.

"We're sorry, Jeremy, we'll be there as fast as we can..."

"We have no choice, let's move it guys!" Ulrich declares, pushing open the doors. They run through, only to be stopped by Sissi once again.

"What's wrong? You run out of water in the gym?"

"Sissi, why do you always have to-"

"Sissi!" A voice calls out and it belongs to William. "There you are, my lovely princess, my beautiful flower," He reaches out to hug her, the others smiling in amusement.

"Are you out of your mind, William?!" Sissi shouts at him. "Have you gone bananas again?"

"No, don't go, please. I've missed you so much, Sissi," He reaches out to tilt her chin.

"I haven't gone anywhere lately. Hands off or I'll tell my father!" She pushes him away. "Would you guys tell him to stop-" She sees that all five of them are gone. "Huh? Where'd they go?"

"Well, if you're gonna reject me, I guess I'll try my luck elsewhere. See ya," And with that, William walks off.

"See you, dork!" She glares at him.

* * *

The Lyoko Warriors skate through the sewers. Odd skids down the railing, followed by Ulrich. William opens up the entrance to the sewers from the park, climbing down the ladder.

The five run across the bridge. Aelita and Odd swing down the ropes first, followed by Ulrich and Yumi. Amy lands last, running behind them. Aelita huffs and turns away. Amy does the same thing, crossing her arms.

"Come on, you guys, you're sisters," Yumi frowns at them. "And this is important to both of you, can't you just make up?"

"No!" They exclaim in unison, getting a cringe from all three of them.

The lab doors open and Jeremy turns to them. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever get here!"

"It took a little while to get Sissi superglue off our tails," Odd tells him.

"She can never stop butting into our business, ugh," Amy rolls her eyes.

"Anyway, what's all this about our father?" Aelita glances at the brunette briefly, crossing her arms with a grunt.

Jeremy raises a brow at this, but decides to worry about it later. "Franz Hopper sent me some interesting data and coordinates. He's preparing something on the ice sector, something really critical."

"Critical in what way?" Aelita asks curiously.

"I wish I knew, but if he suddenly decided to reappear, I don't think it's only to say hello." He has a worried look on his face since Franz Hopper isn't like the Lyoko Warriors. He has no physical body and no way to defend himself.

"He's gonna need an escort to protect him from XANA's monsters," Ulrich speaks up.

"Right. That's why all five of you are going in."

"Yeah, all six of us," They turn to William climbing into the lab.

"William, what do you think you're doing here?" Yumi narrows her eyes in anger.

"Well, I thought that after I got rid of Sissi for you..." He steps up towards them. "You might let me go with you."

"Better have another thing," Ulrich mutters in disdain.

"There's no way William goes back to Lyoko," Yumi says quickly and he narrows his eyes at her. "It's too dangerous."

"...Amy?" He turns to her and she closes her eyes, crossing her arms.

"I know exactly what you're gonna say. I may be a trustworthy person, but I'm not agreeing to this either."

"You forgave your fake dad easily, so why not me?" He gestures to himself.

"He has nothing to do it, so just butt out!" She yells defensively with a glare, shocking everyone. Odd places a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"So that's it, huh? You don't trust me anymore. Look, I was XANA's prisoner totally against my will!"

"XANA captured you once. He can do it again. And you're not like us, you're not...strong enough," Yumi states, glaring back at him. They glance at each other, wondering just what to do with him. He obviously won't leave, and they can't prevent him from coming back.

"Okay, we have no time to lose. William stays here in the factory with me, but if you guys need some back-up, I'll send it to you, okay?" Jeremy tries to keep the peace as the boys glance to Yumi, and then Amy.

"I guess so..."

"Not that we'll need it," Amy mutters to herself.

"Count me in," William states eagerly.

"You five get down to the scanner room. I'll start up the virtualization process," Jeremy turns to the computer. Everyone except Yumi leaves for the scanner room, as she lingers behind for a few seconds. She glances over her shoulder, giving him a look before walking off.

They reach the scanners, running inside. Aelita stays behind as she gets another vision. She and Amy were firing, but missed, and the Mantas attacked their father again...

"Aelita?" Yumi and everyone else are staring at her. "Are you alright?"

She rubs her head as the older girl approaches her. "It's gonna be okay."

"Yeah, I know..." Aelita whispers quietly.

"Yeah, you might even get to see your father today," Ulrich smiles a little. "And maybe Amy can properly meet him."

Amy doesn't really remember much of Franz after she stopped visiting them, so it's like she's meeting him for the first time...well, technically, it is the first time in who knows how many years?

"And Ulrich can ask him for some tips on how to get better grades in computer class!" Odd jokes to him, but Ulrich has a smug look while Amy is laughing.

"And you can ask him for your blessings, he is Amy's dad too, you know."

Odd's eyes widen as he hasn't thought of that. "Everybody in!" Jeremy instructs them.

"We're ready," Ulrich states from inside a scanner.

"Ice flow, here you come!" The scanners close around Odd and Ulrich, both of them looking slightly worried. "The meeting point is in the south of the sector. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

He taps the key and the boys virtualize in the ice sector. Ulrich lands first, then Odd. "_The ladies are on the way_."

The three girls step in, the two sisters glaring at each other. Yumi has a weak smile on her face as the doors close around them.

"Transfer Aelita. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Amy. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."

Then the girls are virtualized, Amy flying in the air as the two land underneath her. "_According to this message, your meeting point should correspond to an iceberg dead ahead of you_."

"How come you're always right, Einstein?" Odd asks in amusement.

"Here we go!" Yumi runs forward, the others running along with her. Amy flies above the four.

"Hopefully XANA's taken a day off," Jeremy murmurs to himself.

They stop at the waterfall. "We're here, Jeremy."

"_I'm picking up intense activity on the other side of the waterfall_," Jeremy reports to the five.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Odd steps forward, but Aelita stops him from moving.

"Odd...we'd like to have a minute alone with our father."

"I understand, princess," He smiles up at Amy, who lands between Aelita and Odd.

"And besides, you won't be far away if something goes wrong," Aelita turns to Ulrich and Yumi.

"Go on, you two. Hurry," Yumi nods at them. Amy joins Aelita's side, her wings flapping behind her back slowly.

"Amy...I'm sorry for earlier. I know that your...other father left you with some trust problems, but...I'm glad that you're here to meet our father finally."

Amy smiles weakly at her. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't be so distrusting of William. He did help us..."

The two share a small hug, humming. The others smile at the family moment before they run into the waterfall, slowly stepping inside.

"Daddy, are you there?" Aelita calls out, and they step forward...to face Franz Hopper.

"It's him..." Amy murmurs slowly.

And then XANA activates a tower. "Huh?! An activated tower? I wonder what XANA has up his sleeve this time..."

Neither of them notice the wires sparking behind them. "William?" The sparks hit William. "You know what, I think it's time-" He turns to the boy, only to see him possessed by XANA. He gasps sharply and William throws him into the wall, knocking him unconscious. He walks up towards the elevator.

"Jeremy, I think that our father is going to send you some more data," Aelita speaks up, but gets no answer. "Jeremy?"

"I think something's wrong," Amy turns to her sister. The ground starts to shake and they look at the water. Debris falls from the ceiling.

"Hurry, Daddy! We can't stay here!" Aelita runs off and Hopper follows after them. They run out into the open, where they see Odd firing at a Manta.

"Laser arrow!"

They look in the other direction to see the Kolossus nearby. "The Kolossus!"

"Oh no," Amy murmurs in horror as the giant monster smacks into ice.

"Yeah, and he looks ready for action too," Odd comments as a Manta flies past Yumi and Ulrich. Yumi throws her fans at it, and misses. She catches it into her hands.

"We're gonna need our vehicles."

"I doubt we'll get 'em, Jeremy's not answering," Amy calls out to her.

"Jeremy? Jeremy, what's wrong?" Aelita asks for him, but he's still unconscious on the floor. "_Jeremy, can you hear me_?"

The Mantas fly around the Kolossus as it walks forward. "I don't get it. Jeremy should have warned us that the Kolossus was on the way. Something must have happened. We have to play for time!" Yumi states as they look up at the monsters.

"Yumi, use the monster to get you back to the factory," Aelita suggests to her.

"Okay, Aelita."

"And I'll keep him busy. Super sprint!" Ulrich jumps onto a rock, then a wall as he dives for the monster's arm. He latches onto the hand and it swings around, taking Ulrich with it. Amy looks between the three and her father, unsure of what to do. She wants to help protect him, but her friends also need her help...

Yumi runs up to the Kolossus. "For once, I have to bow down to you, XANA." She braces herself as she lets the monster stomp her to devirtualization.

XANA William is taking apart a scanner when Yumi steps out of one, groaning. "I wonder why I'm not surprised."

He growls at her, standing up.

Odd, Amy, and Aelita run away with Franz Hopper, Mantas firing at them from behind. Aelita slides down a little slope, the monster diving at them. The three duck their heads.

"That Manta just won't give up!"

"And neither will XANA until we settle this," Amy narrows her eyes.

"And he's making me dizzy too!" Odd adds in.

"Energy field!" Aelita fires into the air, defeating the Manta.

"Nice shot, Aelita!" Amy compliments her.

"Bulls-eye, Aelita!" Odd pumps his fists, the fairy giggling.

Yumi is thrown against the elevator, landing on the floor. She looks up at the possessed boy and quickly presses the elevator button. The doors close just before he could reach her. She sighs in relief, but his hand phases through the doors, causing her to back up in alarm. He completely phases inside and grabs her collar, pushing her to the wall. She stares into the XANA symbol from his eyes.

Jeremy finally wakes up, walking over to the computer. He sees what's happening. "Huh? What's going on around here? That's incredible!"

The elevator reaches the lobby. Once the door opens, Yumi is thrown across the room. XANA William steps up to her.

"_Hey, do you read me, guys_?" Jeremy speaks up.

"Loud and clear! It's about time, Einstein," Odd calls out. "You almost missed a wild party with the Kolossus and a bunch of Mantas!"

"_Whatever you do, protect Franz Hopper. He's sending me some data right now_!" He informs them, the three turning to each other in shock.

"Some family reunion, huh?" Odd glances at his girlfriend, who smiles in amusement.

"Jeremy, what happened to you?"

"XANA launched an attack. He knocked me out and XANAified William!" Jeremy explains, Odd blinking in confusion.

"_We should have brought him to Lyoko with us. But I thought he couldn't be possessed because he's fought on Lyoko before_!"

"_But not long enough to repel being possessed by XANA," _Amy points out_. "The same thing happened to Jeremy, remember_?"

"She's right. William has experience fighting on Lyoko, but not as a Lyoko Warrior. He was only fighting for less than a day before he was possessed the first time around. But maybe we should've brought him to Lyoko..." Jeremy pulls up security footage of William holding Yumi in the air. "Go and tell that to Yumi."

XANA William tosses her against a wall, her head hitting it. He walks up to her with a chuckle. She stands up and runs off, XANA William walking after her.

Ulrich crawls up the arm of the monster, jumping up and grabbing onto another spot. A Manta flies by and Odd jumps up. "Shield!" He blocks the laser from approaching Franz Hopper.

"Energy field!" Aelita fires at it, but misses. Though it does give Amy a chance to fire her little arrows from underneath, defeating it.

"How's that for teamwork?" Odd asks the sisters.

Jeremy sighs in relief, leaning back in his seat. "Good work, you three. Oh! I don't like that. Holo web system online. Oh no! _Be careful, XANA's drawing energy from all the replicas to strengthen the Kolossus_!"

They steady themselves from the shaking. "_Ulrich, you've gotta find a way to slow down the Kolossus_!"

"I've just about reached his head," Ulrich reports, pulling out his swords. "I'm gonna try something." He absorbs the lasers fired at him from the Manta. He ducks his head as the monster flies over his head. "Now! Super sprint!" He runs across the head and jumps off. "Impact!" He slices at the eye, hanging onto his sword. The others look on as this irritates the Kolossus.

"_Well done, Ulrich! You immobilized the Kolossus! For a while, at least."_

"How is the data transfer going?" Aelita looks up.

"Nearly there," Jeremy pushes up his glasses. "But you have to protect Hopper from the Kolossus."

"_Thanks a lot. Did you happen to notice the size of that guy_?"

"I know, Odd," Jeremy holds his head. "But I absolutely have to get that data-! Oh no...yes! No, I-it can't be possible!"

Hopper moves away from the three. "Jeremy, our father's heading for the Digital Sea!" Aelita runs off, Amy and Odd following after her. Hopper flies past the edge and they watch as he goes towards the water. "He disappeared..."

"I know. But he sent me the data I needed to complete my...my anti-XANA program."

"Would you say that again?" Odd asks him as they look up in surprise.

"_You heard right. Thanks to this program, I can destroy XANA_."

"Well, better hurry up and run the thing, cause the Kolossus seems to be getting his strength back," Ulrich calls out, still hanging onto his sword. The monster steps towards them, the two sisters gasping.

"For it to work, you've all gotta be in Sector Five. I can't do it alone," Jeremy tells them.

"There's no way with the Kolossus around! As soon as he shows up, he'll be playing ping pong with the transporter!"

"_Ulrich is on it._"

"He's on it, alright! Let's hope he doesn't fall off it," Odd comments as they look on to the monster.

"Jeremy, wouldn't it be better to deactivate the tower first? William's in danger," Aelita speaks up.

"So is Yumi," Amy frowns a little. "We might be at the edge of the sector, but with the Kolossus, it might be impossible to get there..."

"I know, but it's our only chance of finally getting rid of XANA for good. Yumi will be safe no matter what. At least...I hope so."

"_Excuse me, you hope so?! It's William_!" Amy screeches at him and he cringes. He didn't mean to say that out loud...

Yumi swings her leg to kick XANA William, but he ducks his head and pulls off the same maneuver successfully. He smirks, getting onto his feet.

"I'm entering the code Scipio," Jeremy types it in and presses enter.

"There it is," Aelita points up at it.

"Yeah!" Odd and Amy cheer, the Kolossus stepping forward. "There he is!"

Ulrich manages to wiggle away from the eye, falling off. But he does hit the arm, stopping the monster just before he could devirtualize his friends. "Yeah!"

The boy slides to a stop as the transporter comes around. "So long, Volcano Brain! Say hello to XANA for us!"

"Good luck, Ulrich!" Amy waves to him as they disappear. The Kolossus falls backwards and Ulrich tries to get away, only to be devirtualized when the monster lands on his back. The Kolossus has been defeated.

Ulrich emerges from a scanner, sighing in relief. "_Good job, Ulrich, but you can celebrate another time._ Yumi's not having what you'd call a great day."

"Gotcha," He runs off to go help.

Yumi runs down the steps as she's in the factory room. XANA William jumps and lands in front of her. She takes a battle stance.

"I'm sorry, William, but let's face it. We were never meant for each other."

She swings around to kick, but he leaps away and lands on the stairs. He tackles her all the way down to the conveyor belt. Yumi looks up at him, groaning. He chuckles evilly at her.

"Aelita, Odd, Amy, how you doing?"

"_We're in the Celestial Dome_," Aelita reports as the three run onto the platform.

"_Perfect. I'm sending you the anti-XANA program_," He states as Aelita stops in front of the screen.

"Okay, Jeremy."

"Uh oh," Odd looks up as Amy notices his gaze, gasping. "Looks like we're in for a flying fish show."

"Thanks for the warning, Einstein," Amy deadpans at their friend.

"Sorry, Amy! You there, Aelita?"

"_Yes_," She answers Jeremy.

"Run the program right now!" He taps a key and she runs it, the screen glitching.

"Well? Is it working?" Odd asks, but nothing happens.

"Jeremy, what's going on?"

"Oh no," His eyes widen, pushing up his glasses. "We haven't got enough power to run the program! And we're only a step away from beating XANA!"

A Manta fires at Odd and he fires back. "Laser arrow!"

He gets hit by another one, kneeling slightly. "Odd!" Amy checks over him.

Yumi grabs a crowbar, but XANA William steps over it. She tackles him and he goes flying over the conveyor belt. He tackles back, knocking her onto the ground. He smirks at her.

"William!" Ulrich jumps in out of nowhere, knocking XANA William off his feet.

"I don't wanna see you hanging around Yumi ever again!" He exclaims confidently. XANA William just opens his eyes, smirking up at him.

"You okay, Odd?" Aelita questions in concern as Amy helps him up. "Odd, watch out!"

He gets hit from behind and devirtualized. "No!" Amy cries out before the two are hit as well from the Mantas. Suddenly they both look up.

"Daddy...?"

Ulrich tries to kick XANA William, but he steps back. The brunet boy just smiles confidently, leaping forward. XANA William steps back, disappearing into the wall. He reappears next to Ulrich, preparing an attack.

"Careful Ulrich!" Yumi calls out. Ulrich ducks just in time, knocking the possessed boy off his feet again.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," He smiles proudly. But then XANA William stands up, worrying him. "Uh oh."

"Ulrich, no!"

Ulrich gets thrown across the room.

Just like in their visions, Franz Hopper is being fired at by the Mantas.

"Daddy, no!"

Just like the previous times, Aelita fires a pink orb. "Energy field!"

Amy stands up, preparing to fire. "What is he trying to do?" Jeremy stares at the sphere. "The power! Amy, Aelita, try running the program right now!"

"Are you crazy?" Amy seethes a little, firing her powers at them and missing as well.

"What?! But...our father-"

"_Your father is supplying the energy that we need! Try to run the program again, now_!"

"No...no!" Aelita spins around and fires again, but it flies right past the Mantas. Amy does the same, but the Manta flies past it.

"Girls, if you don't launch the program now, then your father will have sacrificed himself for nothing! Do it! _Do it_!"

Amy clenches a fist, eyes closed. Aelita stands up and uses the interface. "Please help him, sis."

"I'll try," The fairy flies forward, firing, but the Mantas hit the projectiles, destroying them. Aelita looks up at Hopper, and then the sphere explodes.

"NO!" The two shout, Aelita finally running the program.

"Gone..."

Something emerges from the heart of Lyoko, traveling all the way down the staircase. Then it exits the dome, flying all the way past the two. Amy flies out of the way as it hits the Mantas.

"Dad..."

All of the sectors of Lyoko get engulfed in white.

XANA William stands in front of Ulrich, about to finish him off when the specter leaves his body. Ulrich and Yumi could only stare as the boy kneels, the specter holding its head.

The program goes into the network, running through the water and spreading out. "The program is destroying all the replicas!"

The program continues to run through. "_XANA is dying_!"

"What's going on?" Ulrich murmurs to Yumi.

"I don't know..." They watch as the specter disappears out of thin air.

All of the towers turn white. "It can't be, but it is..." Jeremy states in shock.

Yumi and Ulrich turn to each other, wondering what just happened.

Odd is in the scanner room alone.

Aelita wipes away tears as Amy's knees hit the floor, sobbing. "_Aelita, Amy, we've done it. XANA's been destroyed. I'll bring you two home now_."

He removes his headphone and places it down, running to the ladder. He climbs down it just as the two sisters appear. Aelita steps out first and then Amy. Odd reaches out his arms and Amy runs into them, crying. Aelita cries as well, tears streaming down her face. Odd runs his hand through the brunette.

Yumi and Ulrich step into the room as Odd starts to cry as well. They could only stand in silence. They've defeated XANA...

But at the cost of Hopper.


	99. Echoes

**Angel: Welp...the last episode of the season and the series...it took me two days to go back for Amy's memories XD Because there was a lot!**

It's a melancholy tone around their table. Odd plays with his spoon from his soup as for once, he doesn't feel very hungry. Ulrich has his palm pressed against his cheek, Jeremy rocking his chair back and forth. Amy has her chin on top of her arms, occasionally shedding a tear. All of them are silent as Aelita turns to the boy next to her.

"Odd, do you want my croissant?" She offers him.

"No, I've got my own, and I'm not that hungry," He closes his eyes.

"Yeah, me neither," The others except Amy reply. She's been pretty quiet ever since what happened to Franz Hopper...

"How you doing, losers?" Sissi stands in front of them with a smirk. Herb and Nicolas join her side. "Well, it looks like the lame-o club is all depressed today."

"That always happens when you show up," Odd glares up at her.

"Very funny, Della Robbia," She retorts as Nicolas laughs. Herb elbows him and he shuts up. Sissi leans in towards the brunet, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Ulrich, honey, if there's anything I can do to cheer you up...just say the word." She plants a small chip behind his collar.

"Yeah, disappear," He tells her, Amy pointing to her tongue in disgust.

"No problem. Bye now~" She waves and leaves to her table. Amy raises a brow at her. She left pretty quickly after he said that. Wouldn't she have said something about how he'll be by her side or something like that?

She gives Yumi a scoff as the older girl walks past them. She approaches the table with a smile on her face. "Hey guys. Well, today's the day, I guess. Everyone ready?"

"Yeah," Odd comments sadly, and she doesn't seem to notice the depressing mood.

"Well then, let's go and shut down the supercomputer!"

Amy closes her eyes sadly, Odd patting her back. She stands up and walks out of the cafeteria. "Huh? What's up with her?"

"Family stuff," Odd tells her, closing his eyes.

"Oh no, did her dad strike again?" Yumi groans a little.

"No, it's about her real father," Ulrich states, giving Aelita a quick glance.

* * *

Yumi opens the manhole cover as she steps in first, followed by Amy, Odd, Jeremy, Aelita, and Ulrich. However, none of them are aware of what Sissi has done as the chip is beeping.

It turns out that the chip is a tracker that is telling Sissi Ulrich's exact location. "Bingo! Thanks to this mini GPS, I'm gonna find out what Ulrich and his dorky little gang's secret is at last!" She smiles up at Nicolas and Herb, who have proud looks on their faces.

They enter the supercomputer room, Jeremy slowly walking up to it. He presses the button as the lever lowers.

_I don't wanna be here..._

Amy sighs to herself, hugging her arms. It reminds her too much of her real father...

"Well, it'll all be over this time...do any of you wanna say something?"

No one speaks up as Yumi clears her throat. "We've had our share of ups and downs. Hours of detention, hours of glory. The six of us have gotten used to life with Lyoko. Now it's time for new life without it."

_Yumi flipped, throwing her fan. She swung around the air in Sector Five, holding the edge._

_In her new avatar in the Digital Sea, she moved a lever backward, spinning her Nav Skid around._

_She jumped and threw her fans, defeating a monster. She landed in front of her Overwing._

_Yumi absorbed lasers with her weapons in Sector Five from a Manta._

_She used a Krab's leg to jump onto another one, the first one firing. She dodged and spun around, throwing her fan._

_She jumped and landed on William's sword. She kicked him away._

_She backflipped from William's sword as he swung at her repeatedly. She spun around and pointed her fan at his forehead._

_William leaped into the air, sword in hand. He hit the ground as she backflipped away. He kept on swinging until he sliced forward._

_Yumi threw her fan at William, but he turned into smoke, traveling behind her back._

_She jumped over his sword, barely ducking._

_She slid across the floor, William on her feet. She kicked him over the edge and devirtualized him with her fans._

_She flew past a Tarantula on her Overwing, throwing her fan and destroying the monster. She flew away on her vehicle._

_She eyed a monster in the Digital Sea, locking on target. She moved the lever forward and fired the torpedoes._

_She spun around, dodging lasers with her fans._

_She jumped onto her Overwing, turning around._

_While on her vehicle, she was holding her fan._

_The Overwing got hit from behind, knocking her onto the ground._

_William landed on the floor after falling off a pillar. Then one of them tipped over, devirtualizing him before he could get away. Yumi had controlled it with her telekinesis._

_With her power, she summoned her fans to fly back to her._

_Yumi's Nav Skid spun around._

_William was chasing after her on top of a Manta in the mountain sector. She flew through a tunnel on her Overwing._

_She ran in the ice sector towards a monster, frontflipping to hide behind a rock._

_She backflipped past lasers, jumping around._

_She landed on her feet in front of a Krab, flipping past it._

_Yumi landed safely, fans in hand and jumping up._

_She backflipped and threw her fan at William's Manta._

_She caught her fans swiftly._

Yumi has a smile on her face at the memories. "Go on, Jeremy."

He grips the lever, but is hesitant to pull it. He can remember when he first discovered this room...

"_I sure hope I'm not gonna regret this in a minute," He spoke as he turned it on, activating the supercomputer. "Huh?! Wow!" Everything flashed in front of him._

_Aelita woke up on the monitor. "What's all this?" He asked in confusion as she opened her eyes. "A video game?"_

"_Huh? Who...who are you? Where am I?" She questioned as she didn't remember anything._

"_XANA? What's that?" Odd wondered in puzzlement._

"_A super dangerous program, like a virus, which can control electricity and that activates towers on Lyoko to gain access to your world."_

"_Only Aelita can counteract it by deactivating the tower that it uses for attacks in the real world," Jeremy explained to his friends. "Aelita is linked to XANA. We have to find a way to materialize her."_

_After a year of fighting XANA, Aelita sat in a scanner, finally in the real world._

"_And this is your room," Jim stated as he walked into Amy's room. "Or rather, yours and Amelia's. There's not that much space for you, but you'll like it here, Miss...um..."_

"_Stones," Aelita told him, Odd glancing at the others. "Aelita Stones."_

"_I've already seen this house in a dream," Aelita stated about the Hermitage._

"_Aelita, you're the daughter of Franz Hopper, the creator of Lyoko. And Amelia, through the DNA of him and her mother, is his daughter too, making her your half-sister!"_

_Everyone gasped at the news, looking at the brunette._

"_XANA's escaped from the supercomputer!"_

_The tornado swirled above the factory._

"_With this virtual submarine, we'll be able to track XANA on the network!"_

_The Skid approached a big black ball that was eventually discovered as a replica._

"_It's another virtual world, just like Lyoko! A replica, created by XANA!"_

"_But for what?" Yumi asked curiously._

"_It looks like some sort of factory assembly line," Yumi stated as she and Ulrich walked down the steps._

"_Yeah, what did they assemble here?" Ulrich asked with a smug look on his face._

"_XANA's plan is take control of hundreds of supercomputers all over the world, in order to make an army of robots to take over all of humanity."_

_Odd, Amy, and Aelita walked past the army._

"_Our only hope of destroying XANA is my multi-agent system."_

_The program activated, spreading out through all the sectors and the Digital Sea._

"_Aelita, Amy, we've done it. XANA's been destroyed," Jeremy reported as the two were standing alone in the Celestial Dome. _

Jeremy ends up letting go of the lever, glancing over his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

"What?!" Yumi exclaims at this. "Are you out of your mind? What's wrong with you?"

"I can't shut it down," He tells her, looking away.

"You can't, Jeremy, or you won't?" She asks, narrowing her eyes.

"I don't know," He whispers, holding his head. It's because of Lyoko that he even has his friends in the first place...

"Look, it's very simple. We destroyed XANA, and now we have to shut down this horrible machine! What are you the rest of you waiting for, tell him!" She turns to the others, who have sad looks on their faces. Yum looks at Amy expectantly and the brunette blinks in tears.

"I can't!" She sobs, running into the elevator and pressing the button. They watch sadly as she leaves.

"What is wrong with all of you?"

"Well," Odd looks up at her. "It's just that we all feel a little shook up."

"I can see that," She retorts back, crossing her arms. "Any suggestions?"

"I've got one. Why don't we take a vote? And see who does or doesn't want to shut it down?" Jeremy suggests to her.

"Sure, why not?"

"Okay," Aelita agrees quietly.

"Okay," Odd agrees for her.

"Who votes for?" Jeremy asks and only Yumi raises a finger. She glances at everyone as they don't vote for...

* * *

"So that's where they hang out," Sissi writes down in her notebook, smiling. "The old, abandoned factory is their secret hiding place!"

"Let's go there now!" Herb exclaims eagerly.

"Not right away, dork," She narrows her eyes. "If we go now, we'll run right into them! I think I'll go over there during gym class, but you guys are gonna have to find some excuse for my being absent."

"What do you want us to say?" Nicolas asks cluelessly.

"I don't know, just say the first thing that pops into your head!"

"Uh, okay," Nicolas nods, Herb dumbfounded.

* * *

Yumi is looking at a soda can by herself. Jeremy walks up to her alone. "Hey," He speaks up and she simply sips her drink.

"I'm not in the mood to talk."

"Good, cuz it's me who wants to talk to you. I wanted to explain to you why I voted against shutting down the supercomputer..."

"I'm not in the mood to hear that, either," She stands up, about to leave.

"Do you remember me when I came here?" He calls out and she stops walking. "The big brain of Kadic, straight-A computer genius and not one single friend." He looks towards the ground sadly. "I discovered Lyoko and everything changed for me. I became a hero who could save the world."

Yumi whips around to him. "Did you expect us to keep playing superhero until we were 80? It had to end sometime."

"I know, but...I don't wanna lose what we've got together, our friendship..."

Her eyes widen at him.

"_We're gonna do everything we can to find your father, girls," Yumi told the two sisters._

"_Fighting against XANA is my job," Aelita closed her eyes._

"_No, Aelita," Jeremy spoke up as Yumi held out a hand to her. Odd held out a hand to Amy. "It's our job."_

_Aelita smiled hopefully, taking Yumi and her sister's hand._

"Our friendship is directly linked to the supercomputer. I'm afraid that if we shut it, it'll also shut our friendship down," Jeremy tells Yumi before the bell rings. "See you later. I got gym..."

"Hold on," Yumi grabs his arm, preventing him from moving further. "I understand what you're feeling, but you're wrong. Our friendship is too strong to shut down."

He smiles in relief. Though Amy might be the most reluctant to convince...

* * *

"Belpois?" Jim is taking role. "Belpois!"

He rushes into the room in his gym clothes. "Present!"

"...Delmas?"

"Where were you?" Aelita whispers to him.

"Delmas!"

"With Yumi, I'll tell you later," Jeremy whispers back. Amy has a depressed look on her face next to her sister.

"Elizabeth Delmas!" Jim shouts, but gets no answer. Herb and Nicolas glance at each other. "Does anyone know where Sissi is?"

"She ran into some aliens and went totally crazy," Nicolas states, earning laughter from the class.

"Are you nuts or are you just dumb?" Herb narrows his eyes at his friend.

"Aliens, huh?" Jim stares them down. "And little green men like you, Poliakoff? After class, we'll go tell the principal that his daughter's crazy, and if she's not, it's detention for you on Planet Jim!"

"That was the first thing that popped into my head," Nicolas glances at his friend.

Sissi runs across the bridge to the factory. She walks up to the stairs, staring down at the floor.

"Right. Today's lesson is RSG. No, RSG does not stand for Rough Spots Games or for Raunchy Slobbering Gorilla, or for Reeking Stink of Garlic. RSG means Rhythmic Sport of Gymnastics, known today just as rhythmic gymnastics."

"Odd, can I ask you a question?" Ulrich whispers to his roommate.

"About RSG?" He asks with an amused smile.

"No! About the supercomputer. Why'd you vote not to shut it down?"

He closes his eyes for a brief second, leaning in towards Ulrich. "I was afraid I'd miss it."

"Miss what?" Ulrich questions curiously.

"The fighting, the adventure, the heroics...all that fun stuff."

_Odd flipped into the air, landing on the Overboard._

_In his new avatar, he fired torpedoes from his Nav Skid. They went flying._

_He flew above a Blok that was firing at him._

_He spun around on his Overboard._

_He vaulted in the air with his Overboard._

_Odd spun around in the ice sector, using make-shift ramps to fly into the air. With a cheer, he went forward._

_Odd flipped into the air while defending the Skid, hitting a Creeper with a laser arrow._

_He jumped up and grabbed Amy's arms. She flew up the ice wall that a possessed Aelita was behind._

_Odd flew over a Tarantula, firing and destroying it. He landed on his Overboard._

_He spun around his Overboard, heading off in the Mountain Sector._

_He jumped and landed on a Manta, scratching at its back._

_He dodged William's sword by ducking and jumping._

_He punched a Creeper in the face, battling it like he was in a boxing match._

_Odd fell and landed on a Manta in Sector Five._

_Odd flew the board around in the Forest Sector._

_He landed on a block of ice, a Tarantula staring him down._

_He jumped off his Overboard, flipping around and firing his laser arrow._

_He landed on the top of a Blok and jumped, gripping the end of his Overboard. "Laser arrow!" He fired at a Hornet._

"Without Lyoko, life's gonna be awfully boring, don't you think so?"

"Boring? Finally having the time for music and sports is not exactly what I call boring," Ulrich whispers to his friend.

_Odd skated down a ramp in the skateboard competition, showing off some moves. The crowd clapped for him, including Amy and Ulrich._

"_Way to go, Odd, nice one!" Ulrich cheered, standing up. Amy got onto her feet too, bouncing up and down as she clapped for him._

"Okay, point for you," Odd admits, cringing to himself as he remembered Sam after that performance. "It's true, I know how to have fun when I have the time. Especially with my little Ames."

"And you'll also have more time to spend with your girlfriend," Ulrich quips, earning a playful look from Odd.

"My Ames is crazy about me already! I don't need any extra time. I'm just lucky it didn't take me that long to see that she was the one."

"_Hi," Odd placed a hand on a girl's shoulder, and she whipped around to him._

"_I thought I told you never to talk to me again!"_

_Someone patted his shoulder and he looked to see an angry Emily standing there. "How dare you lie to everyone and say that I'm in love with Jim?!"_

"_Uhh..." He sweated nervously. Amy, Jeremy, and Ulrich all cringed as they heard the slap._

"_Ouch!"_

_He was left with a red mark on his right cheek. "Try that again and even your dog won't recognize you!"_

_The three behind him laughed._

_Yumi as Odd got slapped across the face by Magali. "I know all about Claire! You are so despicable!"_

"_Odd, I know all about Magali," Claire walked up to Yumi/Odd. "You sneaky rat!" Then Yumi as Odd got slapped again._

Odd coughs awkwardly at that last one since Yumi was in his body. She only told him what happened after they switched back.

"Now that you mention it, a little extra time with Ames wouldn't hurt. You're right, that's 2 points for you."

"Stern, Della Robbia!" Jim calls out, getting their attention. "If this lesson is disturbing your little private conversation, please let me know!"

"Uh, we're sorry, Jim," Ulrich says in embarrassment. Jim just huffs at them. "Okay. My first demonstration, one, two-" He makes one move and cracks his spine. "Ah, my Flannigan! I'm stuck! I can't straight up! Oh, it hurts, ahh!"

Everyone laughs again at him. "Rusty Squeaking Gym Teacher, so that's what RSG stands for!" Odd jokes at Ulrich.

"Stern, Della Robbia! To the principal's office right now! Smith, please escort them!"

"Ugh," She pinches her nose at this, pushing the two away. "Let's go, you two chuckleheads..."

Sissi is still using the GPS, looking around the factory.

* * *

"By the way, Ulrich, what about you?" Odd asks his roommate, his arm around Amy. They're walking across the field in their normal clothing. "Why didn't you wanna shut the supercomputer down? And don't give me Jim's 'I'd rather not talk about it' routine."

"Mm..." Ulrich looks away in thought.

_Ulrich and Odd landed side-by-side._

_He drove down a platform with his Overbike._

_He sped forward towards a Tarantula that fired at him. He stepped onto the Overbike and leaped into the air._

_He jumped and threw his sword, defeating a monster. _

_His sword landed behind him._

_He skidded to a stop on his Overbike._

_He spun around the bike, heading towards William. He ran up towards the boy, sword ready. He leaned down and grabbed his sword, both of them clashing. He knocked Ulrich off the Overbike._

_He landed on Lyoko, catching his sword._

_In the Digital Sea, he fired his weapons at a Shark, getting it on the second try._

_He flung around his swords to deflect the lasers. He turned around and super sprinted away, defeating a Tarantula._

_He crawled through the space to reach the key, pressing it just before devirtualization._

_He leaped into the air, clashing swords with William. He pushed Ulrich back a bit before Ulrich backflipped away. William swung his sword down._

_Ulrich landed in the hangar of the Skid._

_He stood up and ducked from William's attacks. He knocked William off his feet and pressed his sword against William's arm. William kicked him away._

_Ulrich landed in front of William and they fought in yet another sword battle. Ulrich threw his sword and devirtualized William._

_He spun around and jumped, stabbing a Krab in the eye._

"_Super sprint!" He sped past monsters, going up a wall._

_He landed against a tree and jumped forward._

_He skidded his Overbike and jumped, and it hit a Tarantula._

"I liked being a hero," Ulrich says eventually to the two. Odd hums in agreement with him, looking towards his girlfriend.

"Ames? Are you okay?"

"Huh?" She looks over her shoulder, closing her eyes. "Oh...well, not really. The supercomputer is what linked me to Aelita. And...it was the reason I found out that we're related in the first place. If Jeremy hadn't turned it on for the first time, I might've never figured out the truth, even though all the signs were there. I'm gonna miss all the adventure."

_Amy backflipped into the air, landing in her OverRunner._

_She drifted with her OverRunner, smoke appearing behind her._

_She prepared her bow and arrow, firing her Sapphire Arrow._

_Amy got hit in the back and fell into the Digital Sea._

_In the Digital Sea, she fired a few of her powers, defeating a monster._

_She touched the interface from the tower in Sector Five, deactivating it._

_She and Odd used the Overboard, flying off together. He wrapped his tail around her._

_She slid underneath a Krab._

_Amy released Venus Gobbler and watched it swallow up a monster._

_She took off with her wings, flying above her friends._

_Amy's wings went away so she could land in front of the tower._

_With Virtual Flow, she and Franz Hopper restored Sector Five._

_Amy flung her spear while Odd fired his laser arrow at a Creeper. His hit the eye before Amy's spear hit the body._

_With her power, she used sand to swallow up William, running towards the tower._

_She threw her spear at William, devirtualizing him._

_Aelita and Amy deactivated a tower together._

_She hesitated to hurt Aelita, deciding that she couldn't do it._

_Amy picked up speed as her body started to disappear from a bug, reaching the tower just in time._

"Chances are if it wasn't for the supercomputer, I still would've been living my life suspended in time," Amy states to the two boys. "I mean...at first I was fine with shutting it down, but ever since I learned about who I really am..."

"You have second thoughts," Ulrich finishes for her in sympathy.

* * *

Sissi crawls down the ladder and reaches the lab. "Wonder what this is all about?" She turns on the computer and finds Jeremy's files. "Let's see now...Diary of Jeremy Belpois. Very interesting~" She taps the enter button and played the video diary.

"The Diary of Jeremy Belpois, a student at Kadic Academy, 8th grade, October 9th. A few weeks ago, I was looking for some parts to finish my miniature robots." She gasps and skips forward. "I discovered a sort of data processing complex with the lab, and scanners. Most of all, a totally incredibly computer! Tonight...even though I'm scared stiff, I decided to start up the computer. Hope everything goes okay."

* * *

The bell rings and everyone leaves class. Yumi walks down the hall. "Yumi!" William calls out to her. "Wait up."

She turns around to him. "Is it a done deal?" He glances around to make sure no one is hearing. "Did you shut it down?"

"No, not yet," She closes her eyes. "The others aren't ready..."

"But...that's crazy!" He blinks in surprise. "Did they forget how dangerous the supercomputer is?"

_Aelita approached the now-possessed William in Sector Five. "William, are you okay?"_

_He growled and turned around, revealing the XANA symbols from his eyes._

"Of course they know how dangerous it is. But they're just too nostalgic. Amy most of all. I mean, both she and Aelita were just strangers before they found out they were half-sisters."

"And you're not?" He asks curiously.

"No, I think life without Lyoko is gonna be different, but okay," She smiles a bit.

"So you're exactly like me," He steps forward and grabs her hand. "You're an eternal optimist."

"Not when it's a lost cause!" She grabs her hand back, walking away. "See you around, pretty boy!"

* * *

"At least shutting down the supercomputer means you two have all the time in the world," Ulrich teases the couple, who smile softly at each other.

"_I'm sorry about your parents, Ames," Odd closed his eyes as they were sitting in a classroom together. Sissi had told Jim about their dogs. "I didn't realize you were going through that..."_

"_Only the principal knows...don't tell anyone, okay?" She turned to him and he nodded._

"_It'll be our little secret," He grinned, holding up his pinky. Amy stared at it, a little unsure. "Come on, Ames...you can trust me."_

_She smiled, linking her pinky with his. "Okay. I trust you."_

"_At least it's Odd and Ames again, taking on monsters!" Odd gave Amy a wide smile on Lyoko._

"_Odd?" Amy murmured, a bit red._

"_Yeah?"_

"_...You're still holding my hand..."_

_He blushed, eyes widened in realization. "O-Oh, sorry," He released her hand, rubbing the back of his neck._

_The two hugged each other after the whole Sam thing and Odd waved to her. She closed the door and slightly hit her head against it, whining._

_Odd was on top of the girl, tickling her. She giggled until they noticed their position. The two blushed at each other as Amy stared into Odd's eyes._

"_Ames, I...wow..." Odd wanted to apologize, but he couldn't._

_Amy gasped at the necklace he gave her for Valentine's Day. "Odd...! For me?"_

"_Yeah. Sapphire's your birthstone, isn't it?" He rubbed the back of his neck._

"_She's my best friend. I can't...fall for her," Odd stammered to Aelita._

"_Odd, there's nothing bad about falling in love," Aelita smiled in amusement. "I think you two are great for each other."_

"_Amy, move!" Odd shouted as Amy was standing near the Digital Sea. The laser hit her and she fell. Odd could only stare as she fell into the Digital Sea._

"_NOOOOOOOO!"_

_He stopped moving as soon as he saw Amy standing near the vending machines. She didn't look up at him. "I don't...what...Amy...?"_

"_Hey."_

_Amy looked up at him to see a rose in his hand._

"_Will you...be my girlfriend?" Odd asked Amy in her room._

"_Odd...! Of course I will!"_

_People crowded around them, asking them questions after they revealed their relationship._

"_Better believe it! I love food as much as I love my girlfriend," Odd stated to Ulrich._

"_Oh wow," Amy blushed in embarrassment._

"_W-What?!" The two stammered to Sissi while she was with the Kadic News._

"_Hey, I don't need to prove that I love her, because I do!"_

_Both of them blushed profusely, everyone around them shocked that Odd said that on camera._

"_I...I love you," Amy confessed to Odd._

_Odd kissed her and he pulled away, tilting her head so that she can look at him. "Thanks Ames. I love you too...but you probably knew that since I blurted it out loud."_

"_Yeah, it was pretty stupid to do that," She giggled at him._

"_Hey!" Odd pouted at her._

Odd takes a hold of Amy's hand. "I promise we'll spend more time together."

"It's fine, Odd. I mean, even though we had to deal with XANA, we still managed to find the time," She smiles weakly. In a way...Lyoko brought them together. She just hoped that they'll still stay strong after the supercomputer is shut down.

* * *

"XANA managed to broadcast this deadly music. Aelita deactivated the tower, before everyone in the city was wiped out." Sissi fast-forwarded even more. "The principal was possessed by XANA, but everything turned out just fine. Interesting anecdote: Sissi helps us out and kissed Ulrich on the bridge."

"I WHAT?!" Obviously Sissi doesn't remember.

"And Ulrich and I confronted Odd about his obvious feelings for Amy. XANA's attacking all the time. We're too busy to think about school. I suggested that we recruit William Dunbar into our group, but Yumi absolutely refuses."

"Huh?" She asks in confusion, fast forwarding again.

"Yumi, Ulrich, Amy, and Odd were able to save Lyoko...but William is gone, and I think for good. Today XANA possessed Sissi, his new victim. She almost killed my cousin. There are giant roots in the park. Krabs are attacking the school. We have to save Lyoko! The Earth is in danger!"

"NOOOOOO!" Sissi holds her head.

* * *

Aelita and Jeremy are walking together, sitting at the stairs. "Well, we just have to wait for Delmas to finish chewing out Ulrich and Odd."

"...Jeremy, I wanted to talk to you about the supercomputer," Aelita speaks up. "I..."

"No need to explain, Aelita," He holds up a hand. "I know exactly why you voted the way you did."

She sighs a little, looking towards the ground. "If we shut down the machine, it means saying goodbye to my past...and then my father."

_Franz Hopper played the piano as Aelita ran inside the Hermitage, smiling. "Daddy! I'm going up to my room."_

_She sat on the floor before a car skidded up to the house._

"_Come out of there!" She stood up in fear at the man's voice. _

"_Huh?"_

"_She can't be with us now...but we will always remember her. Never stop loving your sister, Aelita," Franz Hopper told her as they were in the scanner room._

"_Amy's my...my sister...?" Aelita murmured in shock._

"_See you in a bit, Aelita."_

"_See you in a minute, Daddy," She said as they were virtualized onto Lyoko for the first time. She landed in the forest sector._

"_You mustn't forget me...ever...never forget, Aelita."_

_She ran up to the simulation bubble, stepping inside of it. She appeared in front of the villa they used to visit..._

_Franz Hopper turned to her. "Daddy?"_

"_Aelita?" He held out his arms to the girl._

"_Daddy!" She ran into them happily._

"_We have so much catching up to do...and in so little time."_

_William swung at Aelita and her foot touched the edge of the sector. She fired her energy field, but he absorbed it with his sword. Then he reflected it back at her, causing her to fall. She activated her wings._

_She flew in front of William, firing her energy field. He came crashing down. She landed at the platform._

_She ran away from the Scyphozoa in the forest sector, looking over her shoulder. She turned around and fired at it._

_An energy field flew past a Krab, and he fired at her. She ducked using her wings._

_A megatank opened up, preparing to fire._

_She gasped up ahead, flying the Overwing upward and firing at the megatank._

_She hit a Manta with an energy field._

_She piloted the Skid, firing torpedoes of her own. She tilted the lever._

_She brought the ship into a replica._

_Aelita reached out and used the interface._

_She docked the Skid to a tower._

_She piloted the Skid, releasing the Nav Skids. _

_A smile hit her face as she moved the lever._

_She flew into a path of rocks, Amy following close behind. Both of them were being chased by Hornets. They dodged left and right._

_Odd hit Aelita's bracelet, causing her wings to activate. She flew upwards to catch him._

_The simulation broke into pieces._

_She used her creativity to create a rock for Yumi and Ulrich to land on._

_She flew into the air, flying towards an activated tower._

_She stepped into an activated tower, running inside. She lifted herself into the air._

"_Amy...you have half of Franz Hopper's DNA and half from your mother," Jeremy informed the brunette. "Biologically..."_

"_...No...it can't be true! If Franz Hopper is in my DNA and I also have my mom's, that means...it means..." Tears streamed down from Amy's face._

"_Stan Smith isn't your father," Jeremy revealed slowly. "Franz Hopper...is. That's what we've been missing all this time."_

"All of this is so terrible...and great at the same time. But...but..."

"but now, it's time to move on to something new?" Jeremy finishes for her, placing a hand on her arm.

"Yes. Something more carefree..."

He sighs deeply, smiling at her. "I'm starting to think that way too, Aelita. You know, it's really crazy when you think of all we did and no one is ever gonna know anything about it."

"I know everything," Sissi speaks up, shocking the both of them. "And wait until I tell my father!"

"And so if I understand correctly, you said that RSG stood for Rusty Squeaking Jim?" Mr. Delmas asks the two boys.

"Gym teacher with a G, not J for Jim," Odd elaborates, holding up a finger. Amy sighs a bit near the door. That doesn't make it any better.

"Thank you for the clarification, but that's...just as bad," Mr. Delmas tells them.

"Daddy!" Sissi storms into the office, surprising the three.

"Elizabeth, dear, you've already had an 18-month advance on your allowance, and I refuse to give you another cent! And you interrupted me as I was scolding Stern and Della Robbia!" He scolds his daughter.

"You shouldn't scold them, you should lock all of them up! They're lunatics!" She points at the three, who turn to each other in shock. "They put the whole world in danger!" The door opens behind her.

"You can't go in there!" Ms. Meyer protests to Aelita and Jeremy as they run in.

"We have to!"

"Ah ha! Jeremy! Who's the smart one now that I'm onto your little secret! Don't feel like making fun of me now, do you, Odd?" She gives him an accusing look.

"Elizabeth, that is enough!" Mr. Delmas stands up.

"Listen to me, I'm serious," She places a hand on his shoulder. "For months they've been fighting a dangerous computer program in a virtual universe. They put their own lives in danger, and us too!" Amy's eyes widen as she looks to Aelita and Jeremy, open-mouthed. "Because of them, the school was invaded by killer hornets, killer crows, and even a deadly giant teddy bear! Even you, my sweet little daddy, was possessed by the program! You even fought against Ulrich on the bridge to the old factory! Luckily I was there and I was able to knock you out at the time, but other times I could've been killed! I was violently attacked by electric cables, I was stranded in the elevator and then a crazy teacher possessed my body so he could have a long conversation with them! Don't you understand what I'm trying to say?!"

"Hm?" Amy notices something on Ulrich's back, removing the tracker. "Hey, what's this?"

"Uh?" Sissi turns around and notices the tracker, snatching it from the brunette. "Give that back!"

"You are really low, you know that?!" Amy grits her teeth at her.

"At least this proves that I'm right! When I put that tracker on Ulrich, I knew I'd find out eventually! At least now you'll be expelled and I'll be the most popular girl in Kadic! So what are you gonna do, Daddy?"

He simply narrows his eyes.

* * *

"No, not the infirmary!" Sissi protests as her father is dragging her away in the courtyard. "Let me go! You have to go to the factory."

Jim and Nicolas watch as Sissi is still screaming. "Huh. Looks like that poor kid Sissi really is off her rocker. I apologize, Poliakoff."

He just smiles, glad that he's not in trouble.

Ulrich approaches Yumi at a bench. "Where'd you run off to? Where are the others?"

"At the factory. Jeremy's gotta launch a return to the past. The last one..."

"How about you, Ulrich?" Yumi gets onto her feet. "Still against shutting down the supercomputer?"

"Well, I honestly don't know..."

"Oh, yes you do," She narrows her eyes a little.

_Yumi landed near Ulrich in Sector Five._

_They ran side-by-side together in the ice sector. They separated and she slid, holding her feet up. He landed on them and she gave him a boost._

_He stabbed his sword against the rock, coming to a stop. He caught Yumi's hand._

_She was left dangling above the Digital Sea until she fell. Ulrich grabbed her hand. "Gotcha!" She smiled up at him._

_Ulrich landed near her as she jumped off her Overwing._

_She backflipped past him as he blocked lasers with his swords._

_They jumped onto their vehicles, running off together._

"_Here, a little birthday gift," Ulrich held out the present to Yumi. She took it with a smile._

"_Uh, thanks Ulrich. That's very sweet." She kissed his cheek, causing him to blush._

"_Hey, don't forget that Yumi and I are just good friends," Ulrich reminded Odd._

"_Not to mention, you're gonna suggest that we read Yumi's diary right in front of her best female friend?" Amy turned to her boyfriend in disbelief, hands on her hips._

"_Are you sure about that, Ulrich?" Odd asked with a smug smile._

"_Well, actually, I'm not sure at all."_

"_I guess you thought that maybe we had a fight, I'd think about you all the time. You don't need to do that to get my attention," Yumi kissed Ulrich's forehead and walked off. "Goodnight."_

"I-It's been so great...I just don't want it to end," He frowns sadly.

"There'll be plenty of other good times, even without Lyoko," Yumi grabs his hands.

"Promise?" He smiles up at her.

"I swear."

_The two leaned in towards each other, about to kiss on Lyoko._

"I can't believe she put a tracker on us," Amy grumbles as she crosses her arms. Jeremy is at the computer, the two sisters and Odd standing behind him.

"Yeah, but she won't remember a thing. Return to the past now," Jeremy taps the button, Yumi and Ulrich getting engulfed in white.

* * *

The group are in the cafeteria again, the mood much more happier than last time. Sissi approaches their table.

"Hey lame-os what's up?"

"You want my croissant, Sissi?" Odd smiles as he holds it up.

"I'd rather kiss your dog! Ulrich honey, how's it going-" She reaches out to touch his shoulder, but he stops her.

"Better without your GPS locator."

"What are you talking about?" She plays dumb.

"Sissi, cut it out. We don't have any secrets. And if you wanna stay friends with us, just stop trying to mess us up."

She blinks at him slowly. "You mean...we're really friends?"

"Why, sure," Jeremy agrees with Ulrich. It's better to have her as a friend than an enemy now that XANA is destroyed.

"Yeah, school would be so boring without you," Odd comments, causing her to smile.

"And if you stop trying to best me in everything, I suppose we could start becoming friends," Amy crosses her arms.

"Oh, well...see you later, good buddies!" She whips around to Herb and Nicolas. "As for you, don't let me catch either you two dorks trying to mess my friends up!" She storms off, the two looking at each other in confusion. "Hi Yumi, nice to see you," She greets to the girl kindly, earning a smile.

"Well, are you guys ready?" The black-haired girl asks her friends.

"Yup!"

"Mmhm."

"Yeah..." Amy says slowly, sighing a bit. Aelita rubs her back.

* * *

"And now, who's in favor of shutting down the supercomputer?" Jeremy asks the group. Everyone raises their hand, Amy the last one to do so. "Amy?!"

"Yeah...I'm voting for," She nods slowly. "As much as I'll miss it...I need to move on with my life...starting with talking to my...other father again. It'll be good for the both of us."

Her friends smile at her proudly. "Good for you," Aelita gives her a one-armed hug. "And I'll be right there to support you."

"And...I hope that we'll still be together, Odd," Amy glances at him.

"What?! Of course we will. I love you, Ames, and I'm not letting this break us up!" He grabs her hand, staring into her eyes. "Yeah, we had some good times on Lyoko, and it was because you fell into the Digital Sea that I realized I liked you. But don't ever think I'll stop loving you just because we're shutting the supercomputer."

She blushes at him as the others smile. "I love you too..." Odd pecks her lips.

"I'm really sorry about my attitude, Amy," Yumi places a hand on her back. "I know how important Franz Hopper was to you...for so long, you were living a lie, and I should've been more understanding about it."

"That's okay, I know why you said yes in the first place," Amy closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I might not have known him well, but moving on is what he would've wanted...with my little sister," The two sisters smile at each other.

Jeremy smiles too and finally pulls the lever. They watch as the battery descends down, the XANA symbol on the doors.

They emerge into the park. "Well, if it isn't the fantastic six," Jim comes in out of nowhere. "What kind of trouble are you up to now?"

"Oh, nothing at all. We just closed the book on an unforgettable adventure filled life of heroism and danger," Odd states to the gym teacher.

"Yeah, hmm. Well, we've all been there, Della Robbia. You know, one fine day, I also gave up my teenage dreams to become an adult."

"No kidding, you're actually an adult?" Odd jokes, looking away.

"I'd rather not talk about it." He smiles at the joke.

Yumi gives a salute with two fingers. Ulrich salutes too. "So long!" Odd winks and Aelita waves with a smile.

Amy flies into view, spinning around to a stop. "Bye bye!"

Jeremy smiles too, the five heroes looking at the digital sky. The closed case of the supercomputer glows as the adventure...is over...

**Angel: Honestly, I'm just gonna end it here with them shutting off the supercomputer, because Evolution follows right after this, a fact that still haunts me. I'm not touching that mess of a season, and I don't think I ever will. Whether or not it's canon in my opinion wouldn't matter, because I can't just act like it's not a thing. That'd be like if I ignored Sonic's first design from his movie or even Sonic Underground. **

**Yeah, I could change a lot of things in it, but I would still have to sit through the whole season and I really don't wanna write it! *rubs a temple* I'd rather address the season in this author's note than just pretend it didn't happen, which...doesn't really work for me XD Not to mention I'd have to watch it all over again since it's been like 7 years and I would rather watch anything else than to torture myself with Evolution...and it was never dubbed in English, so that would be 26 episodes of subbed HELL even though I like the French language. But not enough to watch Evolution.**

**I know it continues the story, but just...ugh, I can't get past the live-action...not having Kiwi...and freaking Laura, I HATE her. I was honestly fine with the ending we got here. Yes, Evolution was a thing. We can't just say it doesn't exist. But I personally don't see it as canon even if I rewatched it for whatever reason besides me being stupid enough to do it. So therefore, Amy's a non-canon character in Evolution, and so is her relationship with Odd or the fact that she's Aelita's half-sister.**

**Anyway, this week I will be releasing a Randy Cunningham story, hope you guys watch out for it!**


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